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diff --git a/16276-h/16276-h.htm b/16276-h/16276-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9e9c51 --- /dev/null +++ b/16276-h/16276-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13364 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st June 2004), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>The Power of Faith, by Mrs. Isabella Graham.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; font-size: smaller;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 1.5em; margin-right: 0em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .bkads {font-size: smaller; text-align: center;} /* book ads */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .poem {margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%; font-size: smaller; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .centerdiv {width: 19em; margin: auto;} + .centerdiv2 {width: 30em; margin: auto;} + .right {text-align: right; margin-right: 1em} + ul li { padding-top: 1em ; } + ul ul ul, ul li ul li { padding: 0; } + ul { list-style: none; } + ul, ul ul ul li { display: inline; } + .subitem { display: block; padding-left: 2em; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Power of Faith, by Isabella Graham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Power of Faith + Exemplified In The Life And Writings Of The Late Mrs. Isabella Graham. + +Author: Isabella Graham + +Release Date: July 12, 2005 [EBook #16276] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POWER OF FAITH *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tom Roch and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div> +<center><img src="images/0443.jpg" alt= +"MRS ISABELLA GRAHAM" width="535" height="900" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<!--Page 001--><a name="P001" id="P001"></a> +<h2>THE POWER OF FAITH,</h2> +<h4>EXEMPLIFIED IN</h4> +<h2>THE LIFE AND WRITINGS</h2> +<h4>OF THE LATE</h4> +<h1>MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM.</h1> +<br /> +<br /> +<center>A NEW EDITION,<br /> +<br /> +<font size="-1">ENRICHED BY HER NARRATIVE OF HER HUSBAND'S +DEATH,<br /> +AND OTHER SELECT CORRESPONDENCE</font><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor +is humility. The Lord will destroy the house of the proud; but he +will establish the border of the widow. P<font size= +"-1">ROV</font>. 15:25, 33.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<font size="-1">PUBLISHED BY THE</font><br /> +AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,<br /> +<font size="-1">150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK:<br /> +28 CORNHILL, BOSTON.</font><br /></center> +<!--Page 002--><a name="P002" id="P002"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<p class="center">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year +1843, by J<font size="-1">OANNA</font> B<font size= +"-1">ETHUNE</font>, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for +the Southern District of New York.<br /> +<br /> +The American Tract Society.</p> +<!--Page 003--><a name="P003" id="P003"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3><a href="#P007">CHAPTER I.</a></h3> +<h4>EARLY LIFE — RESIDENCE IN CANADA.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter I"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Foundation of the excellence of her character +— Birth — Education — Conversion — Marriage +— Voyage to Quebec — Doddridge's Rise and Progress +— Residence at Montreal and Fort Niagara — Sails for +Antigua — 1742-1772,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom">  <a href="#P007">7</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P022">CHAPTER II.</a></h3> +<h4>RESIDENCE AT ANTIGUA — DR. GRAHAM'S DEATH.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter II"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Dr. Graham called to St. Vincents — His +safe return — State of his mind — Death of Mrs. +Graham's mother — Letter describing the death of Dr. Graham +— Kindness of Dr. H. — Reflections — Letters to +Mrs. Grandidier and to her father — Departure for +Scotland — 1773-1775,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"> <a href="#P022">22</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P054">CHAPTER III.</a></h3> +<h4>RETURN TO SCOTLAND — SCHOOL AT EDINBURGH.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter III"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Perilous voyage — Trust in God — +Return to Cartside — Care of her father — Residence at +Paisley — Depressed circumstances — Peace in God +— Singular investment and result — School in Edinburgh +— Friends — Benevolence to poor tradesmen — +Dancing — Letter of Lady Glenorchy — Origin of the +Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick — Death and +character of Lady Glenorchy — Letter to a daughter — +Visit to Cartside and Paisley — Reposes all upon Christ +— Removal to New York — Devotional exercises — +1776-1789,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"> <a href="#P054">54</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<!--Page 004--><a name="P004" id="P004"></a> +<h3><a href="#P082">CHAPTER IV.</a></h3> +<h4>SCHOOL IN NEW YORK — DEATH OF HER PASTOR, DR. JOHN +MASON — LAST NEWS OF HER SON.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter IV"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Voyage and reception at New York — +Marriage of Mrs. Stevenson — Anxiety for her son — He +escapes a press-gang — Confidence in God — Sickness and +death of her pastor, Dr. John Mason — His character — +Dr. John M. Mason installed pastor — Devotional exercises +— Letter to A.D. — Letter to her son — Last +intelligence of him — Reflections — 1789-1794,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"> <a href="#P082">82</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P115">CHAPTER V.</a></h3> +<h4>DEATH OF HER DAUGHTER — FIRST MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN NEW +YORK.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter V"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Marriage of Mrs. Bethune — Death of Mrs. +Stevenson — Strong consolation — Singular receipts and +liberality — Devotional exercises — Anniversary of her +daughter's birth and death — First Missionary Society in New +York — Reflections — Acquaintance with Mrs. C—— near +Boston — Letter and devotional exercises — +1795-1797,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P115">115</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P144">CHAPTER VI.</a></h3> +<h4>FORMATION OF THE WIDOWS' SOCIETY — CLOSE OF HER +SCHOOL.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter VI"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Rise of the Widows' Society — First +monthly missionary prayer-meeting — Letter to a young man on +joining the church — The Essay on Man — Marriage of +Mrs. Smith — Close of her school — Labors for widows +and the poor — Letters to Mrs. C. — The yellow-fever +— Death of Washington — Devotional exercises — +1797-1800,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P144">144</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P167">CHAPTER VII.</a></h3> +<h4>BENEVOLENT LABORS — MRS. HOFFMAN — +CORRESPONDENCE.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter VII"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Schools and labors connected with the Widows' +Society — Her friend Mrs. Hoffman — Anniversary of the +Widows' Society — Visit to Boston — Want of evangelical +preaching — Letters to Miss M—— of Boston — Letters +to Mr. and Mrs. Bethune in Britain — Anxiety for them — +Confidence in God — Church discipline — Dr. Mason sails +for Britain — 1800-1801,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P167">167</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<!--Page 005--><a name="P005" id="P005"></a> +<h3><a href="#P200">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h3> +<h4>JOURNAL AND LETTERS — LADIES' SCHOOL FOR POOR +CHILDREN.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter VIII"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Death of a grandchild — Letters to Mr. +and Mrs. Bethune in Britain — Death of B. — Of another +grandchild — Of Pero, a colored man — Return of Mr. and +Mrs. Bethune — Takes up her abode with them — +Devotional exercises — Ladies' school for poor children +— Address on its formation — Supplications for a +revival of God's work — Labors for the suffering poor — +Letters to Mrs. C. — Letter to the widow of her brother +— 1801-1805,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P200">200</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P250">CHAPTER IX.</a></h3> +<h4>ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY — FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter IX"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Letters — Formation and success of the +Orphan Asylum — Inscription for Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Hoffman +— Labors in the New York hospital and among female convicts +— Miss Farquharson, first American missionary to foreign +lands — Visit of Rev. Dr. Morrison and others — Letter +to her children at the Springs — Letter to Mrs. Juliet S. +— Visits Rockaway — Reminiscence of Elderslie — +1806-1809,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P250">250</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P270">CHAPTER X.</a></h3> +<h4>NEW YORK BIBLE SOCIETY — ASSOCIATIONS FOR PRAYER — +HAPPY OLD AGE.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter X"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Letters — Bible Society organized — +Efforts for the revival and extension of religion — +Admissions to the communion — Narrow escape from drowning at +Rockaway — Barrenness of preaching without Christ — +Devotional exercises — Letters to Miss Van Wyck and James +Todd — Happy old age — Letter to Mrs. C—— in +affliction — Letter to Mrs. G.Y. — Prayer for ministers +— Magdalen Society — Lancasterian school — +1809-1811,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P270">270</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<!--Page 006--><a name="P006" id="P006"></a> +<h3><a href="#P309">CHAPTER XI.</a></h3> +<h4>DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES AND LETTERS.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter XI"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Indwelling sin lamented — Day of fasting +— Happiness of the aged Christian — Sermon in the +state-prison — Happy reminiscences — Two grandchildren +unite with the church — Unfaithfulness to people of the world +lamented — Rich temporal blessings — Letter to Mrs. +J.W. — Day of fasting — 1812-1814,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P309">309</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3><a href="#P348">CHAPTER XII.</a></h3> +<h4>CLOSING LABORS FOR THE POOR — SICKNESS AND DEATH.</h4> +<table summary="Chapter XII"> +<tr> +<td align="justify">Society for the promotion of industry among the +poor — Sunday-school of eighty children — Love of +evangelical books Last two weeks — Communion — Last +sickness — Peaceful death — Character by Dr. Mason +— Epitaph — 1814,</td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="bottom"><a href="#P348">348</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<h4><a href="#P379">PROVISION FOR PASSING OVER JORDAN.</a></h4> +<table summary="Provision for Passing"> +<tr> +<td>Scripture extracts — Meditations — Poetic +effusions, +           +          </td> +<td>  </td> +<td valign="top"><a href="#P379">379</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<br /> +<!--Page 007--><a name="P007" id="P007"></a><br /> +<h2>LIFE</h2> +<h4>OF</h4> +<h2>MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> +<h4>EARLY LIFE — RESIDENCE IN CANADA.</h4> +<p>M<font size="-1">ANKIND</font> take an interest in the history +of those who, like themselves, have encountered the trials and +discharged the duties of life. Too often, however, publicity is +given to the lives of men splendid in acts of mighty mischief, in +whom the secret exercises of the heart would not bear a scrutiny. +The memoirs are comparatively few of those engaged in the humble +and useful walks of active benevolence, where the breathings of the +soul would display a character much to be admired, and more to be +imitated.</p> +<p>As the celebrated Dr. Buchanan has observed, that if you were to +ask certain persons in Christian countries, if they had any +acquaintance with the <i>religious</i> world, they would say "they +had never heard there <i>was</i> such a world;" so, while the +external conduct of individuals is made the subject of much +critical remark, the religion of the heart, the secret source of +action, too frequently escapes unnoticed and unexplored. +<!--Page 008--><a name="P008" id="P008"></a></p> +<p>It is only when the career of life is closed, that the character +is completely established. On this account memoirs of the living +are, in few instances, read with much interest; but when the soul +has departed, and the body sleeps in dust, it may prove useful to +survivors to examine the principles which led their departed friend +to a life of honorable benevolence, and to a peaceful end.</p> +<p>Such considerations as these, and the urgent request of many +respectable individuals, have induced the preparation of the +following sketch of the life and writings of Mrs. I<font size= +"-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>, whose character +was so esteemed, and whose memory is so venerated by all who knew +her. The evident purity of motive which impelled her to activity in +deeds of benevolence, at once commanded love and respect, which, in +her case peculiarly, was unalloyed with any risings of jealousy, +envy, or distrust.</p> +<p>Blessed with a spirit of philanthropy, with an ardent and +generous mind, a sound judgment, and an excess of that sensibility +which moulds the soul for friendship, a cultivated intellect and +rich experience, her company was eagerly sought and highly valued +by old and young. Though happily qualified to shine in the +drawing-room, her time was seldom wasted there; for such a +disposition of it would have been waste, contrasted with her usual +employments. Her steps were not seen ascending the hill, of +ambition, nor tracing the mazes of popular applause. Where the +widow and the orphan wept, where the sick and the dying moaned, +thither her footsteps hastened; and there, seen only by her +heavenly Father, she administered to their temporal wants, breathed +the voice of <!--Page 009--><a name="P009" id="P009"></a> +consolation on their ear, shed the tear of sympathy, exhibited the +truths of the gospel from the sacred volume, and poured out her +soul for them in prayer to her Saviour and her God.</p> +<p>In a few such deeds she rested not, nor was the story of them +obtruded upon others, or recorded by herself. The recollection of +past exertions was lost in her zeal to accomplish greater purposes +and greater good: her heart expanded with her experience, and her +means were too limited, the active powers of her vigorous mind too +feeble, to fulfil the abounding desires of her soul in alleviating +the miseries and increasing the comforts of the poor, the +destitute, and afflicted. To learn the latent springs of such +excellence is worthy of research; they may be all summed up in +this, <i>the religion of the heart</i>.</p> +<p>The extracts from Mrs. Graham's letters and devotional +exercises, which constitute so large a part of the following pages, +will furnish the best development of her principles; and may, with +the blessing of God, prove useful to those who read them. In all +her writings will be manifested the power of <i>faith</i>, the +efficiency of <i>grace</i>, and in them, as in her own uniform +confession, Jesus will be magnified and self will be humbled. Her +life was chiefly distinguished by her continual dependence on God, +and his unceasing faithfulness and mercy towards her.</p> +<br /> +<p>I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> M<font size="-1">ARSHALL</font>, +afterwards Mrs. Graham, was born July 29, 1742, in the shire of +Lanark, in Scotland. Her grandfather was one of the elders who +quitted the established church with the Rev. Messrs. Ralph and +Ebenezer Erskine. She was educated <!--Page 010--><a name="P010" +id="P010"></a> in the principles of the church of Scotland. Her +father and mother were both pious; indeed, her mother, whose maiden +name was Janet Hamilton, appears, from her letters yet extant, to +have possessed a mind of the same character as her daughter +afterwards exhibited.</p> +<p>Isabella was trained to an active life, as well as favored with +a superior education. Her grandfather, whose dying-bed she +assiduously attended, bequeathed her a legacy of some hundred +pounds. In the use to which she applied this money, the soundness +of her judgment was thus early manifested. She requested it might +be appropriated to the purpose of procuring a thorough +<i>education</i>. When ten years of age, she was sent to a +boarding-school taught by a lady of distinguished talents and +piety. Often has Mrs. Graham repeated to her children the maxims of +Mrs. Betty Morehead. With ardent and unwearied endeavors to attain +mental endowments, and especially moral and religious knowledge, +she attended the instructions of Mrs. Morehead for seven successive +winters. How valuable is early instruction. With the blessing of +God, it is probable that this instructress laid the foundation of +the exertions and usefulness of her pupil in after-life. How wise +and how gracious are the ways of the Lord. Knowing the path in +which he was afterwards to lead Isabella Marshall, her God was +pleased to provide her an education of a much higher kind than was +usual in those days. Who would not trust that God, who alone can be +<i>the guide of our youth</i>?</p> +<p>Her father, John Marshall, farmed a paternal estate, called the +Heads, near Hamilton. This estate <!--Page 011--><a name="P011" id= +"P011"></a> he sold, and rented the estate of Elderslie, once +the habitation of Sir William Wallace. There Isabella passed her +childhood and her youth.</p> +<p>She had no definite recollection of the period at which her +heart first <i>tasted that the Lord is gracious</i>. As far back as +she could remember, she took delight in pouring out her soul to +God. In the woods of Elderslie she selected a bush, to which she +resorted in seasons of devotion. Under this bush she believed she +was enabled to devote herself to God, through faith in her +Redeemer, before she had entered on her tenth year. To this +favorite, and to her, sacred spot, she would repair, when exposed +to temptation or perplexed with childish troubles. From thence she +caused her prayers to ascend, and there she found peace and +consolation.</p> +<p>Children cannot at too early a period seek the favor of the God +of heaven. How blessed to be reared and fed by his hand, taught by +his Spirit, and strengthened by his grace.</p> +<p>The late Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, afterwards president of Princeton +college, was at this time one of the ministers of the town of +Paisley. Isabella sat under his ministry, and at the age of +seventeen publicly professed her faith in Christ. In the year 1765 +she was married to Dr. John Graham, then a practising physician in +Paisley, a gentleman of liberal education and of respectable +standing.</p> +<p>About a year after their marriage, Dr. Graham, having been +appointed surgeon to the 60th or royal American regiment, was +ordered to Canada, where that corps was stationed. Mrs. Graham +accompanied him, and a plan was digested — with how limited a +<!--Page 012--><a name="P012" id="P012"></a> knowledge of the +future will appear — for their permanent residence in +America. Dr. Graham calculated on disposing of his commission, and +purchasing a tract of land on the Mohawk river, where his +father-in-law, Mr. Marshall, was to follow him. The letter +subjoined gives the interesting incidents of their voyage, and +forms a pleasant introduction to the character of Mrs. Graham at +this period of her life.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"Q<font size="-1">UEBEC</font>, August 29, +1767.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAREST</font> P<font size= +"-1">ARENTS</font> — This is the fifth letter I have written +to you, although I know it is the first that can reach you. All the +time I was at sea I kept a letter lying by me, in hope of getting +it put on board some vessel bound for Britain; but I have met with +many disappointments. We spoke several ships, but I never could get +a letter put on board. At one time I was told the wind was too +high, at another that the ship was at too great a distance, and so +was put off till I began to understand a more substantial reason, +namely, that it would cost the captain rather too much trouble.</p> +<p>"We have now, however, got safe here, after a tedious voyage of +nine weeks, and I will give you a short account of what happened +during that time.</p> +<p>"We sailed, as you know, from Greenock, June 10. For the first +five or six days we had fine weather and fair winds, and got quite +clear of land; after this, we had nearly six weeks of most +tempestuous weather, and the wind, except for about two days, +directly against us. The gentlemen after some time began to be very +impatient; for my part I should not have cared although it had +lasted twelve months. I had left all that was dear to me behind, +except one <!--Page 013--><a name="P013" id="P013"></a> dear +friend, that one was constantly with me, and although the rest of +the company in the ship was very agreeable, yet I was the great +object of his attention, and his invention was ever on the stretch +to find amusement for me. It is not possible for me to say with +what indulgent tenderness I was treated; but though I love my +husband even to extravagance, yet my dear friends whom I left +behind have a large share of my heart. They dwell on my mind in the +daytime; and at night, when sleep lays the body aside and leaves +the soul at liberty, she on the wings of imagination makes one skip +over whole seas, and is immediately with those dear friends whose +absence she so much lamented during the day, and in an imaginary +body as truly enjoys you for the time as if really present with +you.</p> +<p>"The gentlemen on board soon found reason to be thankful for the +preservation of life, and got something very different to think of +than fret at the contrary winds. A leak sprung in the ship, which +alarmed them all so much that a consultation was held among them +whether if any ship came near they should hail it and go on board +wherever she was bound. I was perfectly unconcerned about the whole +matter, not being aware of the danger, which was kept secret from +me till we came on shore. I saw the men constantly pumping, but +thought it was what they were obliged to do in every ship. After +coming to land, on examining the ship, they found the leak to be so +large that one might put his five fingers into it; indeed, it +seemed next to a miracle that she kept above water; but every day +of our lives may convince us what dependent creatures we are. While +<!--Page 014--><a name="P014" id="P014"></a> God's merciful +providence protects us we are safe, though in the midst of apparent +danger; should he withdraw that protection but for a moment, +inevitable evils surround us, even when we think ourselves in +perfect safety.</p> +<p>"A proof of this we had in a most distressing event, which took +place about six weeks after we left Greenock. The wind was in our +favor, the day was fine, and we were all amusing ourselves on deck +in various ways, when Captain Kerr, who was standing close by us, +stumbling backwards, fell overboard. He got above water before the +ship passed him, and called to throw him a rope, but alas, no rope +was at hand, and before one was got the ship was out of his reach. +Immediately they threw over a large hen-coop, but, poor man, he +could not swim, so he soon disappeared. The boats were put out with +great expedition, and in less than a quarter of an hour he was +found. You may believe no means were left unemployed to restore +animation; but alas, the spirit had taken its final leave; it was +no longer an inhabitant of earth, not the least signs of life +appeared. The day after, being Sunday, his body was committed to +the deep, from whence it had been rescued the day before. Dr. +Graham read in public the church of England burial service. Every +one on board seemed much affected; I cannot tell you how much I +was.</p> +<p>"About eight days after, we got to the Banks of Newfoundland; +while there the fog was so dense we could not see forty yards in +any direction, and the cold was excessive, notwithstanding the +season of the year. There were a great many islands of ice floating +on the water; I saw three within twenty yards +<!--Page 015--><a name="P015" id="P015"></a> of us, much larger +than the ship. The captain said if the ship ran against any one of +them, she would be dashed to pieces. And here, again, my former +observation holds good, for sure it could not be the art of man, +either in the dark night or in the dense fog, which could protect +the ship flying before the wind, through dangers so thick on every +side of us. For several days and nights we saw neither sun nor +stars, which distressed the captain much, for he knew not where we +were, and apprehending we were near land, was afraid of running +upon some rock; so we were obliged to cruise about till the +atmosphere cleared.</p> +<p>"The sail up the river St. Lawrence is extremely pleasant. You +know how fond I have ever been of wood and water. This country, in +this respect, is quite to my taste, and could I only get half a +dozen of those friends I could name settled down on either side of +us, with five hundred pounds' worth of land to give to each, I +should ask no more in this world.</p> +<p>"When we arrived, the doctor's friend Mr. Findley came on board, +took us on shore, and brought us to his elegant mansion. He begged +we would look on him as an old friend, feel perfectly at home, and +remain with him as long as we could. Give my love to my dear boys;* +you see them often, I have no doubt. Do, my dearest mamma, write me +soon, and tell me all about them and yourself; and ever believe me, +my dear parents, with the greatest affection,</p> +<p class="note">*Dr. Graham's two sons by a former marriage, who +were left under the care of Mr. Davidson, rector of the +grammar-school of Paisley.</p> +<p class="center">"Your dutiful daughter,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<!--Page 016--><a name="P016" id="P016"></a> +<p>In a letter a month, later, Mrs. Graham refers to the gay and +fashionable circles to which they were introduced in Quebec, and +mentions her visiting the beautiful falls of Montmorency; but +mourns over the low state of religion, and the prevailing +desecration of the Sabbath. She adds:</p> +<p>"I have read Doddridge's Rise and Progress. I little knew what a +treasure Mr. Ellis put into my hand when he gave me that book. I +cannot say it is my daily companion, but I can with truth say it is +often so. Let my mind be in ever so giddy and thoughtless a frame, +or ever so much busied in those amusements I am engaged in, it +makes me serious, and gives my thoughts a different turn; there is +scarce any situation the mind can be in, but it will find something +suitable there. I must not, however, make remarks on the particular +contents of it; it would occupy more paper than I have to spare. I +would have you purchase the book; I am sure you would like it; and +when you have read it, it will be matter of great satisfaction to +you that John and I have such a treasure in our possession. In it +are contained every advice you could give us, and cautions against +the temptations which, on account of youth, company, and the +country we are in, we are exposed to."</p> +<p>They were expecting to spend the winter in Quebec, but were +ordered to Montreal, where Jessie, her eldest daughter, was born, +and where Mrs. Graham received intelligence of the death of her +infant son, who had been left with her mother in Scotland. Further +orders were soon received for the doctor to join the second +battalion of his regiment at fort Niagara, <!--Page 017--><a name= +"P017" id="P017"></a> on lake Ontario; Mrs. Graham followed him, +and they continued here in garrison for four years, during which +her second and third daughters, Joanna and Isabella, were added to +her charge.</p> +<p>Under date of February 3, 1771, we find, from her own pen, the +following description of her occupations and enjoyments, in a +letter addressed to her beloved mother:</p> +<p>"My two Indian girls come on very well indeed. The eldest milked +the cows all summer; she washes and irons all the clothes for the +family, scrubs the floors, and does the most part of the kitchen +work. The young one's charge is the children, and some other little +turns when the infant is asleep. I teach them to read and to sew +when they have any spare time. As for me, I find I have enough to +do to superintend. You may be sure I help a little too, now and +then. I make and mend what is necessary for the family, for I must +be tailor, mantua-maker, and milliner.</p> +<p>"In the forenoon the doctor makes his rounds as usual. I +generally trot about till two o'clock, dress the children, order +dinner, dress myself, and twenty other things, which you know are +necessary to be looked after by the mistress of a family. After +dinner I sit down to my work, and we have always a book, which the +doctor reads when I can attend; when I cannot, he reads something +else.</p> +<p>"As I am at present the only wife in the place, we have a +regular tea-table, and now and then a little frugal supper; for the +doctor has come more into my way of thinking, and does not insist +upon cutting a figure as much as some time ago. When alone, he +<!--Page 018--><a name="P018" id="P018"></a> reads and I work, +as usual. He is seldom out, and never but when I am with him. We +are easy in our circumstances, and want for nothing that is +necessary; in short, my ever dear parents, my life is easy and +pleasant. The Lord my God make it pious and useful.</p> +<p>"Could I place myself and family in the same circumstances, and +every thing go on in the same manner, within a few miles of you, I +should be happy for life; and were it not for this hope, which my +heart is set upon, I could not be so, with all I have told you.</p> +<p>"We find the newspapers full of preparations for war; may the +Lord dispose all hearts to peace, for I hate the sound, though it +is the wish of the greatest number about me. There is no prospect +of our leaving this place for a year yet. For my part I have only +two reasons for wishing it. The first is, I should like to be in +some Christian society; the other, that I might do something +towards getting home. To return to the gay world, again I have no +ambition. My family here, and my friends at home, engross all my +attention; and when I see the one, and hear of the other being +well, I am happy. Time never hangs heavy on my hand; I can always +find employment, and amusement too, without the assistance of what +go under the name of diversions.</p> +<p>"We have lately had several visits from a great family. The +chief of the Seneca nation having a daughter not well, brought her +to the doctor to see what could be done for her; he, his squaw or +lady, and daughters breakfasted with us several times. I was kind, +and made all the court to them I could, though we could not +converse but by an interpreter. <!--Page 019--><a name="P019" id= +"P019"></a> I made the daughters some little presents, and the +doctor would not be feed. Who knows but these little services may +one day save our scalps? There have been several threatenings of an +Indian war; thank God, it seems to be quite hushed again.</p> +<p>"War with civilized nations is nothing to war with Indians. They +have no mercy, nor give any quarter to man, woman, or child: all +meet the same fate, except where they take a liking to particular +persons; those they adopt as their children, and use them as +such.</p> +<p>"The doctor joins in affectionate respects to my dear father, +and you, the boys, and all our dear friends. I am as much as ever, +and will be to my latest breath, my dear mamma, your affectionate +daughter,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p>Mrs. Graham always considered the time she passed at Niagara as +the happiest of her days, considered in a temporal view. The +officers of the regiment were amiable men, attached to each other, +and the ladies were united in the ties of friendship. The society +there, secluded from the world, exempt from the collision of +individual and separate interests, which often create so much +discord in large communities, and studious to promote the happiness +of each other, enjoyed that tranquillity and contentment which ever +accompany a disinterested interchange of friendly offices. But this +fort being detached from other settlements, the garrison were +deprived of ordinances and the public means of grace, and the life +of religion in the soul of Mrs. Graham sunk to a low ebb. A +conscientious observance of the Sabbath, which +<!--Page 020--><a name="P020" id="P020"></a> throughout life she +maintained, proved to her at Niagara as a remembrance and revival +of devotional exercises. She wandered on those sacred days into the +woods around Niagara, searched her Bible, communed with God and +herself, and poured out her soul in prayer to her covenant Lord. +Throughout the week, the attentions to her friends, her domestic +comfort and employments, and the amusements pursued in the +garrison, she used to confess, occupied too much of her time and of +her affections.</p> +<p>Here we behold a little society enjoying much comfort and +happiness in each other, yet falling short of that preëminent +duty and superior blessedness of glorifying, as they ought to have +done, the God of heaven, who fed them by his bounty, and offered +them a full and free salvation in the gospel of his Son. No +enjoyments nor possessions, however ample and acceptable, can crown +the soul with peace and true felicity, unless accompanied with the +fear and favor of Him who can speak pardon to the transgressor, and +<i>shed abroad his love in the hearts</i> of his children; thus +giving an earnest of spiritual and eternal blessedness along with +temporal good.</p> +<p>The commencement of the revolutionary struggle in America +rendered it necessary, in the estimation of the British government, +to order to another and very diverse scene of action the sixtieth +regiment, composed in a great measure of Americans.</p> +<p>Their destination was the island of Antigua: Dr. and Mrs. Graham +and their family, consisting of three infant daughters and two +young Indian girls, sailed from Niagara to Oswego, and from thence, +by a path through the woods, reached the Mohawk, which river +<!--Page 021--><a name="P021" id="P021"></a> they descended in +batteaux to Schenectady. Here Dr. Graham left his family, and went +to New York to complete a negotiation he had entered into for +disposing of his commission, to enable him to settle, as he +originally intended, on a tract of land which it was in his power +to purchase on the banks of the river they had just descended. The +gentleman proposing to purchase his commission, not being able to +perfect the arrangement in time, Dr. Graham found himself under the +necessity of proceeding to Antigua with the regiment. Mrs. Graham +on learning this, hurried down with her family to accompany him, +although he had left it optional with her to remain till he should +have ascertained the nature of the climate, and the probability of +his continuing in the West Indies.</p> +<p>At New York they were treated with much kindness by the late +Rev. Dr. John Rodgers and others, especially by the family of Mr. +Vanbrugh Livingston. With Mr. Livingston's daughter, the wife of +Major Brown, of the sixtieth regiment, Mrs. Graham formed a very +intimate friendship, which continued during the life of Mrs. +Brown.</p> +<p>They embarked with the regiment, November 5, 1772, for +Antigua.</p> +<!--Page 022--><a name="P022" id="P022"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> +<h4>RESIDENCE AT ANTIGUA — DR. GRAHAM'S DEATH.</h4> +<p>W<font size="-1">ITHIN</font> three weeks after their arrival at +Antigua, six companies were ordered to the island of St. Vincents +to quell an insurrection of the Caribs. The doctor accompanied +them, and Mrs. Graham was called to the pain of separation under +circumstances more trying than she had as yet experienced, as the +war with savages might expose him to the most cruel death. In these +circumstances she wrote him as follows:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">NTIGUA</font>, January 16, +1773.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAREST</font> D<font size="-1">OCTOR</font> +— This goes by Mr. W——, who sails to-morrow; also a letter +to Captain G——. Mr. M—— begs to be remembered to you; he has +been foot and hand to me since you left. My dearest doctor, suffer +me to put you in remembrance of what you put in the end of your +trunk the morning you left me,* and let it not lie idle. Read it as +the voice of God to your soul. My dearest love, I have been greatly +distressed for fear of your dear life; but the love I bear to your +soul is as superior to that of your body, as the value of one +surpasses the other; consequently my anxiety for its interest is +proportioned. May heaven preserve my dearest love — lead you, +guide you, direct you, so can you never go wrong — protect +and defend you, so shall you ever be safe, is the daily prayer of +your affectionate wife,</p> +<p class="note">*Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the +Soul.</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>.</p> +<!--Page 023--><a name="P023" id="P023"></a> +<p>"P.S. I am told that you have taken a number of prisoners. I +know not if you have any right to entail slavery on these poor +creatures. If any fall to your share, do set them at liberty."</p> +<p>On the 8th of June, Mrs. Graham wrote to her mother, expressing +her gratitude for her husband's safe return, and noticing some +gratifying indications of the calm and peaceful state of his +mind:</p> +<p>"You would be surprised to hear the doctor preach. He says we +ought to be thankful; we have hitherto been richly and bountifully +provided for; we ought not to repine, nor doubt, seeing we have the +same Providence to depend upon; that we ought not to set our hearts +upon any thing in this world; being very short-sighted, we cannot +know what is proper for us. Having done for the best, when we are +disappointed, we ought to rest satisfied that either what we wish +is not for our good, or it will in some future dispensation of +Providence be brought about another way and in a fitter time. +Indeed, my dear mamma, in some things he is a better Christian than +I am. <i>May God make him so in every thing.</i>"</p> +<p>Thus was the Lord preparing his servant for what was so soon to +follow — not his dismission from the regiment, which he so +ardently desired, but from this world and its temptations and +snares. Mrs. Graham's prayers were answered, but "by terrible +things in righteousness."</p> +<p>She added a request that her mother would receive her eldest +daughter, who, though at the early age of <i>five years</i>, she +feared would receive injurious influences from the corrupt state of +society around her, and <!--Page 024--><a name="P024" id= +"P024"></a> accordingly, not long after, sent her to Scotland; +but before her arrival, her grandmother had been called to a better +world. In reference to this event Mrs. Graham wrote to her bereaved +father as follows:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">NTIGUA</font>, August 21, +1773.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAREST</font> P<font size="-1">APA</font> +— The heart-rending tidings of my dear, my tender, my +affectionate mother's death reached me yesterday. I am so +distressed that I can scarcely write, and no wonder, for never was +there such a mother. My loss is indeed great; but O, my dear, my +afflicted father, how my heart bleeds for you. Father of mercies, +support my aged parent, and enable him to place his hopes of +happiness beyond this transitory world, and to follow the footsteps +of the dear departed saint till he joins her in glory, never, never +more to be separated.</p> +<p>"My dearest father, we may indeed mourn for ourselves; but she +is happy — that is beyond all doubt. Her delight was with God +while she was here; her closet was a Bethel; her Bible was her +heart's treasure, and His people were her loved companions. She has +now joined the innumerable company above, where she continues the +same services without human frailty, and the enjoyment heightened +beyond our highest conceptions.</p> +<p>"O then, my dear father, be comforted; let us now try to follow +her; let her Saviour now be ours, and then shall we be blest with +like consolations.</p> +<p>"My dearest father, I cannot tell you how much I feel for you; +my tears will not allow me, they flow so fast that I cannot write; +what would I give to be with you. But these are vain words.</p> +<p>"The doctor, however, fully expects that next +<!--Page 025--><a name="P025" id="P025"></a> summer will bring +him leave to go home; then, I trust, we shall be in some fixed +place of abode, and, my dear papa, you will come and live with us. +I shall feel it to be a privilege beyond what I can tell, to +perform every service you stand in need of, soothe your pains and +comfort you under the infirmities of old age.</p> +<p>"My dear, my worthy brother — how has that tender letter, +and the noble resolution he has taken, endeared him to me. It is +certainly his indispensable duty to stay with you in your present +solitary situation; such a dutiful, affectionate son must be a +great comfort to you, and he will not lose his reward.</p> +<p>"I am anxious, my dearest father, to know the particulars of my +mother's death: who attended her in her illness? was the nurse who +was with her a good woman? was she sensible? did she expect death? +and did she mention me, and leave me her blessing? My dear, dear +father, tell me all.</p> +<p>"Farewell, my beloved father; may your God and Redeemer be your +support and final portion, is the prayer of your affectionate +daughter,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>In her grief for the loss of her inestimable mother, Dr. Graham +had said to her that "God might perhaps call her to a severer trial +by taking her husband also," and the warning appeared prophetic; +but her own words best describe the emotions of her bleeding +heart.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Miss Margaret Graham, Glasgow.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> S<font size="-1">ISTER</font> +— Prepare yourself for a severe shock from an event that has +robbed me of every earthly <!--Page 026--><a name="P026" id= +"P026"></a> joy. Your amiable brother is no longer an inhabitant +of this lower world. On the seventeenth of November he was seized +with a putrid fever, which, on the twenty-second, numbered him with +the dead, and left me a thing not to be envied by the most abject +beggar that crawls from door to door. Expect not consolation from +me: I neither can give nor take it. But why say I so? <i>Yes, I +can.</i> He died as a Christian, sensible to the last, and in full +expectation of his approaching end. O, you knew not your brother's +worth; you knew him not as a husband: he was not the same as when +you knew him in his giddy years: he was to me all love, all +affection, and partial to my every fault; prudent too in providing +for his family. I had gained such an entire ascendency over his +heart as I would not have given for the crown of Britain.</p> +<p>"On Wednesday, at one o'clock, the seventeenth day of November, +1773, my dear doctor was seized with a violent fever. I sent for +his assistant, Dr. Bowie: he not being at home, Dr. Muir came, who +prescribed an emetic in the evening, and his fever having greatly +abated, it was accordingly given. In the morning Dr. Bowie thought +him so well I did not ask for any other assistance. At ten o'clock +his fever greatly increased, though not so violent as it had been +the day before. He was advised to lose a little blood, which he +did; and towards evening it again abated.</p> +<p>"I found he was not quite satisfied with what had been done for +him; at the same time he would do nothing for himself. Thursday +evening I begged Dr. Bowie to call in Dr. Warner's assistance, +notwithstanding he <!--Page 027--><a name="P027" id="P027"></a> +assured me there was not one dangerous symptom. Friday morning they +both attended, and both pronounced him in a fair way of +recovery.</p> +<p>"About three o'clock Dr. Eird came, who seemed surprised the +thing had not been done which Dr. Graham himself had been +dissatisfied for the want of the day before. Soon after the +medicine was sent; but O, my dear doctor said it was then too late. +In the evening they all again attended, and insisted there was no +danger. Saturday morning he seemed very easy, and the physicians +said he was in a fine way. The fever was gone; the decoction of +bark prescribed; and they said he would be able to-morrow to take +it in substance. I was not now the least apprehensive of danger, +and was very earnest in prayer that the Lord would sanctify his +affliction, and not suffer it to go off without leaving a sensible +effect on his mind. Nay, I even said in my heart, 'the rod is too +soon removed, it will do him no good.' Oh, that fools will still +persist to prescribe to infinite wisdom and goodness. I was soon +severely punished.</p> +<p>"About eleven he took the hiccup. I did not like it, but little +knew it was so dangerous a symptom as I afterwards understood. I +sent for Dr. Bowie, who assured me that though it was a +disagreeable symptom with other attendants, in his case it was of +no more consequence than if he or I were to take it. All that day +it was so moderate that a mouthful of any liquid stopped it, though +it always returned again: he often said it would be his death; but +I imagined the pain it gave him extorted these words from him +rather than a sense of danger, and was much pleased to hear him +often pray that the Lord would give him patience and +<!--Page 028--><a name="P028" id="P028"></a> resignation to his +blessed will, and still more to observe that he bore it with a +patience beyond what was natural to him. He was of a quick temper, +and being of a healthy constitution, was but little accustomed to +pain; but, during the whole of his severe and trying affliction, I +do not remember to have heard a murmuring word escape his lips; so +that I cannot doubt but his prayers were heard, and the grace +prayed for bestowed. In the evening the hiccup increased, and all +that night it was very severe, so that he could not bear to be any +way disturbed, nor could I possibly prevail upon him to take his +medicine, from two in the morning until ten o'clock, when the +physicians again attended and persuaded him to comply. This was +Sunday. About mid-day Dr. Warner sent some old hock, with orders +that he should take some in his drink, and now and then a little +plain. When the wine was brought in and put on the table, he asked +me what it was. I told him. He said, 'Yes, they are now come to the +last shift.'</p> +<p>"Mr. Frank Gilbert, a good man, and, I believe, a real +Christian, having come to town to preach — for he is a +Methodist minister — sent a note, kindly inquiring after him, +and intimating, if it would be agreeable to him, he would visit him +in the morning. He said, by all means, he should be very glad to +see him. I said, 'My love, you know I have great faith in the +prayers of God's people; suppose you should beg an interest in them +this afternoon?' He answered, 'My dear, do you think they will +forget me?' I said, 'I hope, my love, you are not ashamed to desire +the prayers of the people of God; it is not now a time to mind the +ridicule of the world.' He said, 'No, Bell, I care not a +<!--Page 029--><a name="P029" id="P029"></a> farthing for the +whole world, and you may make it my own request.'</p> +<p>"His disorder gained ground very fast that day, and I began to +be much alarmed; yet still I thought it would not end in death, but +though severe and dangerous, was sent in answer to my repeated, +earnest prayers to awaken in him a real concern about his eternal +interest, to set the world and its vanities in their true light, +and bring about that entire change of heart which our blessed Lord +styles the new birth, and without which, he says, we cannot enter +the kingdom of heaven.</p> +<p>"It was now become very difficult for him to speak; but by the +motion of his hands and eyes, which were continually lifted up when +he had the smallest respite, I could easily see his thoughts were +fixed on the importance of his situation; besides, many sentences +and half sentences broke from his lips at different times, which +left me without a doubt. 'Farewell,' said he, 'vain world; an idle +world it is, nothing but shadows, and we keep chasing them as +children do bubbles of water, till they break, and we find them +nothing but air.'</p> +<p>"Observing this inward recollection, I seldom disturbed him. He +was perfectly acquainted with the truth, and believed it. The +doctrines of religion were often the subject of our conversation, +and in every point of faith we entirely agreed: they only wanted to +be felt and applied to the heart. I remained in silence to my dear +husband, but not to my God: I was incessant in prayer, begging and +beseeching that the Lord himself would carry on what he had so +graciously begun — that he would every way suit himself to +his necessities, and give conviction or consolation, as he +<!--Page 030--><a name="P030" id="P030"></a> saw needful; but +when he spoke I endeavored to answer him from God's own word, as I +was able or assisted. Once he exclaimed, 'Draw me, and I will run +after thee;' at another time, 'Surely thou wilt not allow thy +blessed Son to plead in vain for me, an obstinate sinner.' This was +a degree of faith, and I endeavored to strengthen it. I said, 'My +love, you know the way to the Father, through Christ, the only +Mediator. You say right, he cannot plead in vain; fly to him; cast +yourself at his feet; trust in him; hear his own invitation, 'Come +unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you +rest;' 'him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' At +another time these words broke from his lips, 'Form me, train me, +prepare me for thyself.' Here was a breathing after sanctification; +might not the promise be applied, 'I will create a clean heart, and +renew a right spirit within thee.'</p> +<p>"In the evening the physicians again attended, but could hardly +get a word from him. While they sat by the bedside I went out to +the gallery with Mrs. Grandidier; the apparent struggle she had to +conceal her distress, the compassion and sympathy in her +countenance struck me. I easily perceived she gave up hope, and, I +began to suspect, not from her own judgment alone; she advised me +to send away my children to a friend's house, and to send for a +person who was capable of assisting me, it being no longer proper +for me to be alone. Thus far I had not allowed any person to do the +least thing about him but myself, nor stirred from his bedside, +except for a few minutes, to pour out my soul into the bosom of my +God. I hardly, if ever, prayed for his recovery, being willing the +<!--Page 031--><a name="P031" id="P031"></a> rod should remain +till it effected the purpose for which it was sent, and then I +believed it would be removed — as if the Lord was to follow +exactly the rules prescribed by my weak, foolish, ignorant +heart.</p> +<p>"Hitherto I had suffered little, believing all to be the answer +to my prayers; but I had not seriously thought of parting with him. +I was now truly alarmed, and determined to know, as far as +appearances went, the worst. Accordingly I stopped Dr. Bowie on the +gallery: 'Tell me, doctor,' said I, 'what have I to expect? It is +cruel to flatter me: if you give me some warning, and prepare me, I +may perhaps be able to support it; but if you suffer it to come +upon me all at once, I shall certainly sink under the shock.' He +was silent for some time, and then replied, 'I am really at a loss +how to answer you.' I said, 'I will answer for you, there is no +hope.' He said, 'God forbid — he is in great danger; but +still there is hope; and if you value his life, be calm.' I was +composed. Strange composure; I neither cried nor complained; tears +were denied a passage; I was fixed and dumb like a statue. Can I, +or any one else, describe my situation, or what I felt at that +moment? It was urged of what consequence it was that I should be +composed, that I might be able to do my duty to him, as no one +could supply my place to his satisfaction, and perhaps even now he +might be in want of me. I returned to my post, which was, except +when doing some necessary office about him, generally on my knees +by his bedside, partly that I might not lose the least whisper that +came from his lips, and partly because it is my favorite posture +for prayer, from which I could not cease, no, not for one minute. +<!--Page 032--><a name="P032" id="P032"></a></p> +<p>"There were different medicines prescribed for that night, some +in case that others proved too strong for his stomach, others in +case of the increase of the hiccup. I found my head confused and my +memory incapable of retaining the variety of directions given. I +therefore accepted of the offer of a friend of his to sit up with +us that night, whom I begged to pay particular attention to the +directions, and to watch the proper times the medicines were to be +given. This he did with great care, and my dear doctor was very +pliable in taking them as they were offered. As for me I was so +deeply engaged with the concerns of his soul, I was unfit for any +thing else.</p> +<p>"After Dr. Bowie let me know the danger he was in, I sent a +letter to Mr. Gilbert, begging he would not delay his visit till +morning, as perhaps by that time he might not be able to speak to +him. Accordingly he came; he asked him how he did; he answered, +'Very ill;' he asked him the situation of his mind; he answered, +'Entirely resigned to the divine will;' he asked him what hopes he +had; he said, 'his hope was in the mercy of God, through Christ;' +Mr. Gilbert said, 'You have no dependence on any thing besides?' he +said, 'No, no, I have nothing else to depend upon.' Then the doctor +desired him to pray, but at the same time to be short, as he had +but short intervals from the hiccup. After prayer, Mr. Gilbert told +me it seemed difficult for him to speak, and he did not think it +would be prudent to say more; that he would call again in the +morning.</p> +<p>"Monday morning he was greatly weakened, having had little rest +all night from the severity of the hiccup. At ten o'clock the +physicians again attended; <!--Page 033--><a name="P033" id= +"P033"></a> but I could easily perceive they had but small +hopes. My doctor asked Dr. Warner if he thought it would be long +before he would be at rest, who said his pulse was still strong. He +said, 'It is a hard thing to die!" Mrs. Brannan came to spend the +day with us, one of the Methodist society, and Mr. McNab, whom my +doctor desired to pray with him, which he did. All this day he said +little, but still continued in inward prayer, as was visible by the +motions of his hands and eyes; he had many agonizing struggles, and +often exclaimed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' 'Blessed Jesus, +come and receive me to thyself — come — come — +blessed Jesus, come!' Once, after a long struggle, he exclaimed, +'Release me, O release me, and let me fly to the bosom of my +Father!' All this time I never parted from his bedside but a few +minutes to give my soul a freer vent at the throne of grace. I +never prayed for life, but that he might be washed, sanctified, and +have all God's salvation completed in his soul, and be received +into the arms of his mercy. I also had been, and still was, very +importunate that God would give me some token, some assurance that +he would save his soul, and give him an abundant entrance into the +kingdom of his glory; and, by all that I had heard, seen, and felt, +I was now satisfied that the most merciful God had sealed his +pardon for Jesus' sake; and I found myself ready, dearly as I loved +him, to resign him into the hands of divine mercy; but still I +breathed after some further manifestation.</p> +<p>"In the evening Dr. Galloway, an old acquaintance, arrived from +the island of Dominico, and hearing of his friend's illness, came +immediately to visit him. When my doctor heard his voice only +whisper how he <!--Page 034--><a name="P034" id="P034"></a> was, +he said, 'I hear Galloway's voice,' and stretched out his hand; so +fully had he his senses to the last. Upon their feeling his pulse, +he asked if they thought he would be long in dying. Dr. Eird +replied, 'You must not talk of dying, but of living; you are +stronger than when I was here this morning, and I have seen many +worse recover. Do, do be advised, take your medicine, and try for +life.' These words brought a gleam of hope to my despairing soul, +and what had been denied me for twenty-four hours, a flood of +tears, and I was greatly relieved. I went out to the gallery and +gave a free vent to my bursting heart. I now also begged the Lord +for his life, and said in my heart, should he now be restored, how +doubly blessed would he be, healed in soul and body. I returned to +his bedside and thus addressed my beloved: 'My dearest life, the +doctors still have hopes, and we know nothing is impossible with +God. Who knows what further service he may have for you in this +world; or whether he may not give you to my prayers, and restore +you to your Bell and family? God works by means; O be persuaded to +take every thing prescribed, and pray to God for the blessing; +devote your future life to his service, and, for poor Bell's sake, +offer up a petition for life.' He did not interrupt me, but +answered, 'Disengage yourself, Bell, disengage yourself from me. I +want to lift up my soul to God, and bless him for Jesus +Christ.'</p> +<p>"Dr. Galloway was determined to stay with him all night, and see +him take his medicine. Some time after, he had a severe attack of +hiccup, and said to Dr. Galloway, 'I hope you are now convinced.' +He said, 'Of what?' My doctor said, 'That dissolution is near.' +<!--Page 035--><a name="P035" id="P035"></a> A little after, he +said, 'Who died for all?' and again repeated, 'Who died for all?' I +was forbid to speak to him, as rest was so much wanted, so I +answered, 'Christ, my love; but give up your soul to God, and try +to shut your weary eyes, and get a little rest for your body;' and +so he did, and got a little sleep. All that night he did every +thing he was desired, but would drink nothing but cold water, which +had been allowed him; the wine he would not touch. His disorder +increased so fast that Dr. Galloway, about five in the morning, +said to me, 'I may go home — I can be of no service, and I +cannot stand it.' I said, 'I suppose I need not disturb him any +more with medicine.' He said, 'No, you may give him what he calls +for.' Now, my God, all is over; I resign him up to thee. Only one +parting word — something yet I require, to assure my heart +that thou wilt receive his soul. Some time after he laid his hand +upon Mrs. Brannan's lap and made a sign to her; afterwards he made +a sign to me, who was at the back of the bed, to come round. Mrs. +Brannan thought he wanted her to retire, which she did. He looked +after her. I said, 'My love, she thinks you want to say something +to me; can you speak?' He said, 'Join — pray,' which we did. +He spoke no more for some time, only, 'Come, sweet Jesus,' and +frequently, 'Receive my spirit.' These words were given for my +sake. I cried, 'I am satisfied, Lord, and I yield him up to thee +with all my heart; thou hast given me all my asking. I will not be +longer faithless, but believing. Continue to support his departing +soul, and let the enemy find nothing in him.'</p> +<p>"The next attack of hiccup laid him back speechless, and I +believe senseless in the last parting work: he +<!--Page 036--><a name="P036" id="P036"></a> had no further +struggle, nor need of any person to support him. I therefore again +placed myself on my knees by his bedside, determined not to quit +the posture till his soul had entered its rest; but nature was worn +out, and though I swallowed hartshorn and water in great +quantities, I was so overcome that I was obliged to lie down at the +back of the bed to save me from fainting. Three hours did he +continue in this last work of the heart. I watched his last, and +delivered him up with a hearty prayer and a full assurance; but O, +how earnestly I wished to go with him! I was, for the time, +entirely insensible to my own loss: my soul pursued him into the +invisible world, and for the time cordially rejoiced with the +Spirit. I thought I saw the angel band ready to receive him, among +whom stood my dear mother, the first to bid him welcome to the +regions of bliss.</p> +<p>"I was then desired to leave the room, which I did, saying, 'My +doctor is gone. I have accompanied him to the gates of heaven: he +is safely landed; that is now not him that lies there. You, nurse, +will see it decently dressed; then I may again be permitted to take +another parting kiss.' So, embracing the precious clay, I went into +the parlor. Some friends came in to see me. My composure they could +not account for: our sincere and tender regard for each other was +too well known to allow them to impute it to indifference. My +distress at parting with him, even for a couple of months, when he +went to St. Vincent, and dejection of spirit the whole time till +his return, left them as little room to impute it to want of +sensibility: at last they imagined that I was stupefied with grief +and fatigue; but they little knew that at that hour I rejoiced; +<!--Page 037--><a name="P037" id="P037"></a> indeed I told them, +but I suppose was not believed. I was asked if I had any thing +particular to say respecting the funeral. I said, 'Nothing — +my charge is gone to rest; I would leave it to them.' It was then +proposed to bury next day at ten o'clock. I said that was very +early; they answered, by that time I would be satisfied it was not +too early.</p> +<p>"In the evening I returned to our bed-chamber to take a last +farewell of the dear remains. The countenance was so very pleasant +I thought there was even something heavenly, and could not help +saying, 'You smile upon me, my love; surely the delightful prospect +opening on the parting soul left that benign smile on its companion +the body.' I thought I could have stood and gazed for ever; but for +fear of relapsing into immoderate grief, I withdrew after a parting +embrace, and with an intention not to ask for another, lest a +change in his countenance might shake my peace; for Oh, we are +weak, and at certain times not subject to reason. I went to bed +purely to get alone, for I had little expectation of sleep; but I +was mistaken; nature was fairly overcome with watching and fatigue. +I dropped asleep, and for a few hours forgot my woes; but Oh; the +pangs I felt on my first awaking. I could not for some time believe +it true that I was indeed a widow, and that I had lost my heart's +treasure — my all I held dear on earth. It was long before +day. I was in no danger of closing my eyes again, for I was at that +time abandoned to despair, till recollection and the same +considerations which at first supported me brought me a little to +myself. I considered, I wept for one that wept no more; that all my +fears for his eternal happiness were now over, +<!--Page 038--><a name="P038" id="P038"></a> and he beyond the +reach of being lost; neither was he lost to me, but added to my +heavenly treasure, more securely mine than ever. Those snares and +temptations arising from the corrupt customs of a degenerate age, +which had so often caused my fears, could never reach him there. +The better, dearer half of myself was now secure beyond the +possibility of falling, and waiting my arrival to complete his +bliss. O happy hour, which shall also set my soul at liberty, and +unite us, never to part more.</p> +<p>"In the morning I asked the nurse if there was any alteration; +she said, no. I again returned to take another view, and was +surprised to find his color and countenance unchanged. I began to +be extremely uneasy at having consented to so early a burial. I +returned again, and again; O, how I wished to have kept him for +ever. Ten o'clock came; the company assembled; I became very +uneasy; at last I discovered it to Dr. Bowie, begged he would only +view him; how fresh the color — how every way like life. He +assured me there was not the smallest doubt but that he was gone. I +was not satisfied with this, but made them all inspect him. All +agreed in the same thing, and I was obliged to yield, and the dear +remains were ravished from my sight. What a night I passed the +night after the funeral! I had ordered our own bed to be made up, +and at the usual time retired; but in vain did I try to sleep; the +moment my senses began to lose sensibility, I was in a kind of +dream. Finding myself alone, I imagined he was out at supper, +though he seldom was without me; now I thought I heard his foot on +the stairs, and started up to listen if it were he, and to bid him +welcome, when my <!--Page 039--><a name="P039" id="P039"></a> +roused senses told me what I could still hardly credit, that I had +no husband to expect, and threw me into a fresh agony, which kept +me awake till I had in some measure again reconciled myself to my +solitary situation. But having only slept a few hours since my dear +doctor was taken ill, I no sooner got my mind a little composed, +than sleep again began to overpower my senses, when the same, or a +similar imagination roused me.</p> +<p>"The morning came. When I was called down to breakfast, the +sight of his empty seat distracted me. I returned to my room, +though I thought it my duty to take some nourishment. I had it +brought to me. Alas, I could nowhere turn my eyes but the sight was +connected with this dear idea, and recalled past delights, never +more to return. Our back windows looked into the garden, on which +he had bestowed so much labor and pains, and which he was just +bringing to perfection. Here we had spent many pleasant hours +together, and indulged that freedom of conversation, the natural +consequence of an unbounded confidence. The double arbor he had +reared, and so contrived as to screen from both the south and the +western sun, bid fair, in a short time, to screen us also from +every eye. Hitherto we had been confined to morning hours, or +afternoon, when it was shaded by the house; but had often pleased +ourselves with the hours we should spend in this cool retreat, even +at noonday, while, screened from the sun's scorching rays, we might +enjoy the refreshing breeze through its leafy openings; but these +delightful prospects were now for ever at an end. I might, indeed, +there take my seat; but the tongue which everywhere +<!--Page 040--><a name="P040" id="P040"></a> charmed, was buried +in deepest silence. The company which rendered every scene pleasant +was gone, never to return: his sheep, his goats, nay, even the +poultry, were often fed from his hand: every thing served to +distract. As for my children, they were by kind friends kept for +some time out of my sight; for not only to view them fatherless +distressed me, but their thoughtless mirth and play was altogether +insupportable.</p> +<p>"I accepted an invitation from Mr. Gilbert's family to spend +some time in the country with them; for though it was impossible +for me to forget for one moment, yet, when these objects were +removed from my sight, I was more able to turn my thoughts upward, +to where my heart's treasure now is, and where I myself expect to +be. We had two men-servants, and my two Indian girls; one of the +men I dismissed, the other I left to take care of the living +creatures about the place. One of my girls I boarded where she +would be in good company, and with my children and their maid I +abandoned my solitary dwelling. I met with a very tender reception +from that worthy family. My situation here was such as I both +expected and wished, and attended with many outward circumstances +which had the probability of making it supportable. I was allowed +to be as much by myself as I chose. No one intruded on my privacy +without my consent; but one or other of the Mrs. Gilberts often +visited me in my own room, and drew from my bursting heart all its +griefs, sympathizing, soothing, and advising at the same time. They +are both women of great piety, having for many years devoted their +hearts, time, talents, and fortune to the service of +<!--Page 041--><a name="P041" id="P041"></a> God; and their two +husbands likewise, whose business it has been to instruct the +ignorant negroes without fee or reward. Had it not been for this +family, I know not where the distraction of my mind might have +ended."  *  *  *  *</p> +<br /> +<p>Thus was Mrs. Graham, at the early age of thirty-one, left a +widow in a land of strangers. Her husband, companion, protector, +was gone: a man of superior mind, great taste, warm affection, and +domestic habits. She was left with three daughters, the eldest of +whom was not over five years of age, and expecting an increase of +her infant charge. Of temporal property she possessed very little: +she was at a distance from her father's house: the widow and the +fatherless were in a foreign land. The change in her circumstances +was as sudden as it was great.</p> +<p>That sympathizing heart with which she was accustomed to receive +and return the confidence of unbounded friendship, and thus, by +reciprocal communion, to alleviate the trials and enrich the +enjoyments of life, was chilled in death. All the pleasing plans, +all the cherished prospects of future settlement in life were cut +off in a moment. While sinking into a softened indifference to the +world, in the contemplation of her severe loss, she was, on the +other hand, roused into exertion for the sustenance and support of +her young family, whose earthly dependence was now necessarily upon +her.</p> +<p>Not satisfied with the custom of the island, in burying so soon +after life is extinct, her uneasiness became so great that her +friends judged it prudent to have her husband's grave opened, to +convince her that <!--Page 042--><a name="P042" id="P042"></a> +no symptoms of returning life had been exhibited there. The +fidelity of her heart was now as strongly marked as her tenderness. +She dressed herself in the habiliments of a widow, and determined +never to lay them aside. This she strictly adhered to, and rejected +every overture afterwards made to her of again entering into the +married state. She breathed the feelings of her heart in a little +poem, in which she dedicated herself to her God as a widow +indeed.</p> +<p>On examining into the state of her husband's affairs, she +discovered that there remained not quite two hundred pounds +sterling in his agent's hands.</p> +<p>These circumstances afforded an opportunity for the display of +the purity of Mrs. Graham's principles, and her rigid adherence to +the commandments of her God in every situation.</p> +<p>It was proposed to her, and urged with much argument, to sell +the two Indian girls, her late husband's property; but no +considerations of interest or necessity could prevail upon her thus +to dispose of immortal beings, the work of her heavenly Father's +hand. One of these girls accompanied her to Scotland, where she was +married; and the other died in Antigua, leaving an affectionate +testimony to the kindness of her dear master and mistress.</p> +<p>The surgeon's mate of the regiment was a young man whom Dr. +Graham had early taken under his patronage. The kindness of his +patron had so far favored him with a medical education, that he was +enabled to succeed him as surgeon to the regiment.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the slender finances of Mrs. Graham, feeling for +the situation of Dr. H——, she presented to him her husband's +medical library and his <!--Page 043--><a name="P043" id= +"P043"></a> sword: a rare instance of disinterested regard for +the welfare of another.</p> +<p>This was an effort towards observing the second table of the +law, in doing which she was actuated likewise by that principle +which flows from keeping the first table also. Nor was the +friendship of Dr. and Mrs. Graham misplaced. The seeds of gratitude +were sown in an upright heart. Dr. H——, from year to year, +manifested his sense of obligation, by remitting to the widow such +sums of money as he could afford. This was a reciprocity of kind +offices, equally honorable to the benefactors and to them who +received the benefit: an instance, alas, too rarely met with in a +selfish world.</p> +<p>It may here be remarked, in order to show how much temporal +supplies are under the direction of a special providence, that Dr. +H——'s remittances and friendly letters were occasionally received +by Mrs. Graham until the year 1795; after this period her +circumstances were so favorably altered as to render such aid +unnecessary; and from that time she heard no more from Dr. H——, +neither could she learn what was his subsequent history.</p> +<p>It may be profitable here to look at Mrs. Graham, contrasted +with those around her whose condition in the world was prosperous. +Many persons then in Antigua were busy and successful in the +accumulation of wealth, to the exclusion of every thought tending +to holiness, to God, and to heaven. The portion which they desired +they possessed. What then? They are since gone to another world. +The magic of the words, "my property," "an independent fortune," +has been dispelled; and that for which they <!--Page 044--><a name= +"P044" id="P044"></a> toiled, and in which they gloried, has +since passed into a hundred hands; the illusion is vanished, and +unless they made their peace with God through the blood of the +cross, they left this world, and alas, found no heaven before them. +But amidst apparent affliction and outward distress, God was +preparing the heart of this widow, by the discipline of his +covenant, for future usefulness — to be a blessing, probably +to thousands of her race, and to enter finally on that "rest which +remaineth for the people of God."</p> +<p>Her temporal support was not, in her esteem, "an independent +fortune," but a life of dependence on the care of her heavenly +Father: she had more delight in suffering and doing his will, than +in all riches. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, +and he will show them his covenant." To those who walk with God, he +will show the way in which they should go, and their experience +will assure them that he directs their paths. "Bread shall be given +them, and their water shall be sure." She passed through many +trials of a temporal nature, but she was comforted of her God +through them all; and at last was put in possession of an eternal +treasure in heaven, "where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor +thieves break through and steal." May this contrast be solemnly +examined, and the example of this child of God made a blessing to +many.</p> +<p>In anticipation of her approaching trial, with which her own +life might be suddenly terminated, Mrs. Graham <i>set her house in +order</i>, and wrote the two following letters: one to her friend +Mrs. Grandidier, to whom and her husband Capt. Grandidier, she +committed the charge of her family and affairs; the other +<!--Page 045--><a name="P045" id="P045"></a> to her father in +Scotland, commending her children to his protection. Her tender and +affectionate appeals to each of them in respect to their own +eternal welfare, are a beautiful specimen of that Christian +fidelity and love of the souls of men which so strongly +characterized her future life.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">T</font>. J<font size= +"-1">OHNS</font>, Antigua, 1774.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> M<font size="-1">RS.</font> +G<font size="-1">RANDIDIER</font> — The long and steady +friendship which has subsisted between us, in sickness and in +health, in prosperity and adversity, ever the same, without change +or diminution, leaves me no room to doubt that it will extend to my +little family, and that you will be as ready, to the utmost of your +power, to befriend them, as you have been to the dear father +already gone, and your friend, who is, perhaps, about to +follow.</p> +<p>"If it should please God to take me away in my approaching +confinement, I leave you and Capt. Grandidier full power to dispose +of every thing in this house, and belonging to me in this island, +as you shall think most for the advantage of my little family. You +know my extreme tenderness for their dear father made me unable to +part with any of his clothes, but these can be of no consequence to +me when I shall again have joined him for whose sake I kept them; +you may therefore dispose of them, and also of my own, if you think +the avails will be of more service to the children. But I do not +choose to leave any particular directions about my trifling +effects; you will consult with other friends, and I am certain you +will act for them to the best of your judgment. It is a great +relief to my mind that I have such steady and tried friends to +leave the charge of them upon. Miss <!--Page 046--><a name="P046" +id="P046"></a> G. B—— has promised to take J——, and it is my +desire that the others, and the infant yet unborn, if it survive, +be sent to my father, where I will leave them to be disposed of and +provided for by that God who has fed me all my life, by their +heavenly Father, who has commanded me to leave my fatherless +children upon him, that he will preserve them alive, and whose +promise I have, that he will never leave them nor forsake them.</p> +<p>"Mr. Reid will not be less kind to the offspring of his friend +when they have lost, than when they were under a mother's +protection. May the blessing of the widow and the fatherless follow +him wherever he goes, and may God recompense him a thousand-fold in +blessings spiritual and temporal. Let Diana* be sent with my +children; if there be an infant, you know a nurse must be found for +it, whatever it cost. As for Susan,* I am at a loss what to do with +her; my heart tells me I have no right to entail slavery upon her +and her offspring; I know I shall be blamed, but I am about to be +called to account by a higher power than any in this world for my +conduct, and I dare not allow her to be sold. I therefore leave it +to herself either to remain here, or if it be her desire, to +accompany the children. I beg Mr. Reid will be kind enough to allow +her a passage with the rest.</p> +<p class="note">*The two Indian girls.</p> +<p>"And now, my dear friend, as the greatest happiness I can wish +you, may that God whom I have chosen as my own portion, be yours +also; may he, by his outward providence and by the inward +operations of his Spirit on your heart, lead you to himself and +convince you of the truth. But O, my dear friend, shut +<!--Page 047--><a name="P047" id="P047"></a> not your eyes and +ears against conviction. You are not satisfied that the Bible is +indeed the word of God. Is it not worth inquiring into? What would +you think of a man who had a large fortune, and the whole depending +on proving some certain facts, and yet would not be at the pains to +inform himself? Are the interests of this world of such importance, +which in a few fleeting years we must leave and have done with for +ever, and our final state in the next, which is to fix us in +happiness or misery through the endless days of eternity, not worth +a thought? Think then, and seriously ask, 'What if it be so? What +if this be indeed the word of God given by inspiration, for the +rule of both our faith and manners, and by which we are to be +judged? What if this same God, who so kindly reveals his will to +men, has with it given the clearest evidences and strongest proofs +that it is his own word?' Think, I say, my dear friend, if it +should be so, what they deserve who either reject or neglect it +without taking the trouble to inform themselves, or to be convinced +that it either is or is not of divine authority.</p> +<p>"How many great, learned, and wise men have sifted these +evidences with the greatest care, and the deeper they entered into +the search, the more clear they appeared, even those whose lives +are entirely contrary to it, and whose interest it is to wish it +false, cannot deny. As to the various explanations of it, it is +every one's duty to read for himself, and although there may be +some parts of it too deep for every capacity, and which may perhaps +require a knowledge of the history of the times to understand, yet +the simple truths of the gospel, what we are to believe concerning +<!--Page 048--><a name="P048" id="P048"></a> God, and what +duties he requires of us, and what he forbids, are equally plain +and easy. If we can only once be satisfied that it is indeed the +word of God, set ourselves to study it with an unprejudiced mind, +with a sincere desire to know the truth and be led by it, with +earnest prayer that the same Spirit which inspired the writers +would make it plain to our hearts and understandings, that God +himself would teach us its true meaning, and save us from error, we +shall, I venture to say, be taught all necessary knowledge, and be +led in the way to eternal life, and not suffered to err: we have +God's promise that it shall be so. 'If any man will do His will, he +shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.'</p> +<p>"Forgive me, my dear friend; the subject appears to me so +important that I know not how to have done. I love you with a true +and sincere friendship: I love your soul, and am deeply interested +in its eternal happiness. Once more I commit you to that God, who +only can lead you to himself and to true happiness; and that you +may know the truth of this from deep experience, to the eternal +joy, peace, and safety of your immortal soul, is the last prayer of +your affectionate friend, who hopes to meet and rejoice with you in +our Redeemer's kingdom.</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">Mrs. Graham to her Father.</p> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">NTIGUA</font>, May, 1774.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y EVER-DEAR</font> F<font size= +"-1">ATHER</font> — If this ever reach you, it will be when I +have taken my final leave of this world, and received my portion +for eternity in the next, when I hope I shall have gained the +summit of my wishes, and be happy in the society of my dear +<!--Page 049--><a name="P049" id="P049"></a> husband and +much-loved mother, in the kingdom of our Redeemer.</p> +<p>"My truly orphan children I have desired to be sent to you; +though I see no visible way you have to provide for them, yet I am +perfectly easy concerning them. I leave them upon that God who has +fed me all my life, and whose tender care I have experienced in a +thousand dangers — upon their and my heavenly Father, who has +commanded me to leave my fatherless children upon him, and he will +preserve them alive. The God of providence will prepare for them a +home, and raise up friends, perhaps from a quarter neither you nor +I could expect.</p> +<p>"My only concern and prayer to God for them is, that they may be +early taught to love God and serve him — that they may fall +into such hands as will carefully instruct them in the principles +of morality and religion, and teach them the great, but too little +thought of truth, that our chief business in life is to prepare for +death. As to the polite parts of education, I look upon them as of +no consequence; they may be as good Christians, perhaps better, +without than with them; the perfection of their nature no way +depends upon them. I am equally indifferent what station of life +they may occupy, whether they swim in affluence or earn their daily +bread, if they only act their part properly, and obtain the +approbation of their God in that station wherein he in his infinite +wisdom sees fit to place them.</p> +<p>"Remember to give my love to all my dear children. I reckon all +that sprung from my dear doctor mine; and though I did not suffer a +mother's pangs for them, Heaven knows how equally I love them with +<!--Page 050--><a name="P050" id="P050"></a> those who cost me +dearer. Tell them I leave them a mother's blessing; and my last +prayers, if it please God to continue my senses, shall be for their +best interests.</p> +<p>"And now, my dear father, suffer one parting word, though from +one no way entitled to advise: this is the third loud call for you +to be also ready; according to the course of nature, you must very +shortly follow; you can have very little more to do in this world, +and therefore the smallest share of your attention is due to it. +The young, the gay, the giddy, and thoughtless hold it a wise maxim +to forget their departed friends as soon as possible; this may be +worldly, but it cannot be heavenly wisdom. To be fully and entirely +resigned to the will of God in all things, is certainly the +characteristic of a Christian; but this is perfectly consistent +with the most tender remembrance. That resignation — but +indeed it deserves not the name — which consists in +forgetfulness, in banishing thought and drowning reflection in +worldly cares and amusements, can be no grateful offering to Him +who has commanded us to have our loins girt and our lamps trimmed, +and to be always ready, for in such an hour as we think not 'the +Son of man cometh.' How often are we commanded to watch, to set our +affections on things above, to be dead to the world, to lay up +treasure for ourselves in heaven. These injunctions are +inconsistent with forgetfulness; and if it be our duty to meditate +on death and eternity, nothing more naturally leads our minds to +that subject than the recollection of departed friends, who, if +pious, are not lost, but only gone a little while before, taken +from our earthly and added to our heavenly treasure.</p> +<p>"Believe me, my dear father, to a mind abstracted +<!--Page 051--><a name="P051" id="P051"></a> from the world and +devoted to God, death, though solemn, has nothing dreadful in it; +on the contrary, to a mind rightly disposed it is rather a +desirable object. Just conceptions of God, and converse with him, +will very soon change the aspect of the king of terrors to a +welcome messenger, who comes to set open the gates of immortality, +and to usher us into the kingdom of our heavenly Father. And now +may our most gracious God grant you, through your few remaining +days, his direction and consolation; may he bestow upon you that +peace which the world can neither give nor take away; and when the +appointed time of your change shall come, may the comforts of his +Holy Spirit so cheer and refresh your soul, that you may be able, +without a doubt or a fear, to resign it into the hands of your +Redeemer.</p> +<p>"Give my love to Hugh. The sentiments expressed in his letters +bespeak him a worthy brother, and deserving of my highest esteem. I +would have written to him, but I have still some directions to +commit to writing concerning my little family, and my hour is at +hand; but tell him I will remember him in my last prayers. I charge +him not to banish the idea of his worthy and now glorified mother, +lest with that he also forget her precepts; but prepare to meet us +who are gone before; and O, that our meeting may be with joy on +both sides. It is hard for youth, in the present age, to follow our +Christian pattern. Every real Christian, every Bible Christian, +must lay his account with being branded with the name of +enthusiast; but tell him to remember that the opinion of the world +cannot alter the nature of holiness, nor the maxims of Christ. Let +him read, think, and judge for <!--Page 052--><a name="P052" id= +"P052"></a> himself with an unprejudiced mind; with a hearty +desire to know and be led by the truth; to be taught of God, and +conformed to his will in all things, and I venture to promise he +will not be suffered to err. But let him avoid disputes about +religion, they are seldom productive of any good; let him fortify +his mind against banter and ridicule, it is no small degree of +persecution. Yet, if he be determined to follow his Lord, he must +expect to meet with it, and I know from experience it is hard to +bear. I have found the safest way is to receive it in silence; for +those who are disposed to ridicule the appearance of religion in +another, are not in a fit disposition to be convinced by any +argument, at least at that time, and few can dispute without heat, +which is a transgression against the virtue of meekness, and very +apt to lessen our love to the person who opposes us. We lose the +spirit of brotherly love in hot-headed zeal, which perhaps deserves +a harder name, but conceals itself under that appearance; and it is +no small victory gained over ourselves if we are able to love, wish +well to, and be ready to serve those whose sentiments differ from +ours.</p> +<p>"I leave you and yours, and mine, upon the Fountain of all +goodness, and may the peace of God, which passeth all +understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love +of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of +God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be among you, and +remain with you always. Amen.</p> +<p class="center">"Your ever dutiful and affectionate daughter,</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>It pleased God to preserve the life of Mrs. Graham, and to make +her the grateful mother of a son, whom <!--Page 053--><a name= +"P053" id="P053"></a> she called after the name of his father, +and endeavored, in humble trust, to consecrate to the Author of his +being.</p> +<p>Having now no object to induce her to stay longer at Antigua, +she disposed of her slender property, and placing her money in the +hands of Major Brown, requested him to take a passage for herself +and family, and to lay in their sea-stores. After seeing a railing +placed around the grave of her beloved husband, that his remains +might not be disturbed until mingled with their kindred dust, she +bade adieu to her kind friends, and with a sorrowful heart turned +her face towards her native land.</p> +<!--Page 054--><a name="P054" id="P054"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> +<h4>RETURN TO SCOTLAND — SCHOOL IN EDINBURGH.</h4> +<p>N<font size="-1">O</font> ship offering at this time from +Antigua for Scotland, Mrs. Graham embarked with her family in one +bound to Belfast, Ireland. Major Brown and his brother officers saw +her safely out to sea; and he gave her a letter to a gentleman in +Belfast, containing, as he said, a bill for the balance of the +money she had deposited with him. After a stormy and trying voyage, +she arrived in safety at her destined port. The correspondent in +Ireland of Major Brown delivered her a letter from that officer +expressive of esteem and affection, and stating that as a proof of +respect for the memory of their deceased friend, he and his brother +officers had taken the liberty of defraying the expenses of her +voyage.</p> +<p>Consequently the bill he had given was for the full amount of +her original deposit; and thus, like the brethren of Joseph, <i>she +found all her money in the sack's mouth.</i> Being a stranger in +Ireland, without a friend to look out for a proper vessel in which +to embark for Scotland, she and her children went passengers in a +packet; on board of which, as she afterwards learned, there was not +even a compass. A storm arose and they were tossed to and fro for +nine hours in imminent danger. The rudder and the mast were carried +away; every thing on deck thrown overboard; and at length the +vessel struck in the night upon a rock, on the coast of Ayr, in +Scotland. The greatest confusion pervaded <!--Page 055--><a name= +"P055" id="P055"></a> the passengers and crew. Among a number of +young students, going to the University at Edinburgh, some were +swearing, some praying, and all were in despair. The widow only +remained composed. With her babe in her arms she hushed her weeping +family, and told them that in a few minutes they should all go to +join their father in a better world. The passengers wrote their +names in their pocket-books, that their bodies might be recognized +and reported for the information of their friends. One young man +came into the cabin, asking, "Is there any peace here?" He was +surprised to find a female so tranquil; a short conversation soon +evinced that religion was the source of comfort and hope to them +both in this perilous hour. He engaged in prayer and then read the +107th Psalm. While repeating these words, "he maketh the storm a +calm, so that the waves thereof are still," the vessel swung off +the rock by the rising of the tide. She had been dashing against it +for an hour and a half, the sea making a breach over her, so that +the hold was now nearly filled with water. Towards morning the +storm subsided, and the vessel floated until she rested on a +sand-bank. Assistance was afforded from the shore, and the +shipwrecked company took shelter in a small inn, where the men +seemed anxious to drown the remembrance of danger in a bowl of +punch. How faithful a monitor is conscience! This voice is listened +to in extreme peril; but O, infatuated man, how anxious art thou to +stifle the warnings of wisdom in the hour of prosperity. Thousands +of our race, no doubt, delay their preparation for eternity until, +by sudden death, they have scarcely a moment left to perform this +solemn work. <!--Page 056--><a name="P056" id="P056"></a></p> +<p>Mrs. Graham retired to a private room, to offer up thanksgiving +to God for his goodness, and to commend herself and her orphans to +his future care.</p> +<p>A gentleman from Ayr, hearing of the shipwreck, came down to +offer assistance; and in him Mrs. Graham was happy to recognize an +old friend. This gentleman paid her and her family much attention, +carrying them to his own house, and treating them with kindness and +hospitality.</p> +<p>In a day or two after this she reached Cartside, and entered her +father's dwelling; not the large ancient mansion in which she had +left him, but a thatched cottage, consisting of three apartments. +Possessed of a too easy temper and unsuspecting disposition, Mr. +Marshall had been induced to become security for some of his +friends, whose failure in business had reduced him to poverty. He +now acted as factor of a gentleman's estate in this neighborhood, +of whose father he had been the intimate friend, with a salary of +twenty pounds sterling per annum and the use of a small farm.</p> +<p>In a short time, however, his health failed, and he was deprived +of this scanty pittance, being incapable, as the proprietor was +pleased to think, of fulfilling the duties of factor.</p> +<p>Alive to every call of duty, Mrs. Graham now considered her +father as added, with her children, to the number of dependents on +her industry. She proved indeed a good daughter — faithful, +affectionate, and dutiful, she supported her father through his +declining years; and he died at her house, Feb. 13, 1783, aged 75, +during her residence in Edinburgh, surrounded by his daughter and +her children, who tenderly watched him during his last illness. +<!--Page 057--><a name="P057" id="P057"></a></p> +<p>Having resided two years at Cartside, she removed to Paisley in +1778, where she taught a small school. The slender profits of such +an establishment, with a widow's pension of sixteen pounds +sterling, were the means of subsistence for herself and her family. +When she first returned to Cartside a few religious friends called +to welcome her home. The gay and wealthy part of her former +acquaintances, who, like the butterfly, spread their silken wings +only to bask in the warmth of a summer sun, found not their way to +the lonely cottage of an afflicted widow. Her worth, though in +after-life rendered splendid by its own fruits, was at this time +hidden, excepting to those whose reflection and wisdom had taught +them to discern it more in the faith and submission of the soul, +than in the selfish and extravagant exhibitions of that wealth +bestowed by the bounty of Providence, but expended too often for +the purposes of vanity and dissipation.</p> +<p>In such circumstances, the Christian character of Mrs. Graham +was strongly marked. Sensible that her heavenly Father saw it good, +at this time, to depress her outward condition, full of filial +tenderness, and like a real child of God resigned to whatever +should appear to be his will, her conduct conformed to his +dispensations. With a cheerful heart, and in the hope of faith, she +set herself to walk down into the valley of humiliation, "leaning +upon Jesus," as the beloved of her soul. "I delight to do thy will, +O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart," was the spontaneous +effusion of her genuine faith. She received with affection the +scriptural admonition, "Humble yourselves therefore under the +mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due +<!--Page 058--><a name="P058" id="P058"></a> time; casting all +your care upon him, for he careth for you."</p> +<p>She laid aside her children's fine frocks, and clothed them in +homespun. At Cartside she sold the butter she made, and her +children were fed on the milk. It was her wish to eat her own +bread, however coarse, and to owe no person anything but love. At +Paisley, for a season, her breakfast and supper was porridge, and +her dinner potatoes and salt. Peace with God and a contented mind +supplied the lack of earthly prosperity, and she adverted to this +her humble fare, to comfort the hearts of suffering sisters, with +whom she corresponded at a later period of life, when in +comfortable circumstances.</p> +<p>Meantime the Lord was not unmindful of his believing child; but +was preparing the minds of her friends for introducing her to a +more enlarged sphere of usefulness.</p> +<p>Her pious and attached friend, Mrs. Major Brown, had accompanied +her husband to Scotland, and they now resided on their estate in +Ayrshire. Mr. Peter Reid, a kind friend when in Antigua, was now a +merchant in London. This gentleman advised her to invest the little +money she had brought home — and which she had still +preserved — in muslins; which she could work into finer +articles of dress, and he would ship them in a vessel of his +own/freight free, to be sold in the West Indies. His object was +partly to increase her little capital, and partly to divert her +mind from meditating so deeply on the loss of her lamented husband. +The plan so kindly proposed was soon adopted; the muslin dresses +were shipped; but she soon afterwards learned that the ship was +captured by the <!--Page 059--><a name="P059" id="P059"></a> +French. This was a severe loss, and more deeply felt as it was +received at the time when her father was deprived of his +office.</p> +<p>Mrs. Brown, after consulting with the Rev. Mr. Randall of +Glasgow, the Rev. Mr. Ellis of Paisley, Lady Glenorchy and Mrs. +Walker of Edinburgh, proposed to Mrs. Graham to take charge of a +boarding-school in that metropolis.</p> +<p>The friends of religion were of opinion that such an +establishment, under the direction of one possessing the +qualifications of Mrs. Graham, would be of singular benefit to +young ladies destined for important stations in society. Her +liberal education, her acquaintance with life, and her humble yet +ardent piety, were considered peculiarly calculated to qualify her +for so important a trust.</p> +<p>Another friend had suggested to Mrs. Graham the propriety of +opening a boarding-house in Edinburgh, which he thought could, +through his influence, be easily filled by students.</p> +<p>She saw obstacles to both: a boarding-house did not appear +suitable, as her daughters would not be so likely to have the same +advantages of education as from a boarding-school; and to engage as +an instructress of youth on so large a scale, with so many +competitors, appeared for her an arduous undertaking.</p> +<p>In this perplexity, as in former trials, she fled to her +unerring counsellor the Lord, her covenant God. She set apart a day +for fasting and prayer. She spread her case before the Lord, +earnestly beseeching him to make his word "a light to her feet and +a lamp to her path," and "to lead her in the way in which she +should <!--Page 060--><a name="P060" id="P060"></a> go;" +especially that she might be directed to choose the path in which +she could best promote his glory and the highest interests of +herself and her children. On searching the Scriptures, her mind +fastened on these words in John 21:15, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest +thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest +that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs."</p> +<p>Never, perhaps, was this commandment applied with more filial +confidence, or accompanied with a richer blessing, since the days +of the apostle, than in the present instance.</p> +<p>Her determination was accordingly made. She resolved to +undertake the education of youth, trusting that her Lord would make +her an humble instrument of training some for his service on earth, +and his praises in heaven. Here was exhibited an instance of simple +yet powerful faith in a believer surrounded by temporal +perplexities, and of condescension and mercy on the part of a +compassionate God. Light unseen by mortal eyes descended on her +path.</p> +<p>How weak, perhaps enthusiastic, would this have appeared to the +busy crowd, blind to the special providence exercised by the God of +heaven towards all his creatures. She felt the pressure of her +affliction; but, like the Psalmist, <i>gave herself unto +prayer</i>:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Prayer ardent opens heaven, lets down a +stream<br /></span> <span>Of glory on the consecrated +hour<br /></span> <span>Of man in audience with the +Deity."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>Though her faith was strong, yet her mind was under such +agitation, from her total want of funds to carry her plan into +effect, and from other conflicting exercises, as to throw her into +a nervous fever, which <!--Page 061--><a name="P061" id= +"P061"></a> kept her confined to her bed for some weeks. On her +recovery, she felt it her duty to <i>go forward,</i> trusting that +He, who had directed her path, would provide the means that were +necessary to enable her to walk in it: she sold her heavy +furniture, packed up all her remaining effects, and prepared to set +out from Paisley for Edinburgh on a Monday, in the year 1779.</p> +<p>On the Saturday previous she sat by her fire musing and +wondering in what manner the Lord would appear for her at this +time, when a letter was brought to her from Mr. Peter Reid, +enclosing a sum of money which he had recovered from the +underwriters, on account of Mrs. Graham's muslins captured on their +passage to the West Indies. Mrs. Graham had considered them as +totally lost, but her friend had taken the precaution to have them +insured.</p> +<p>With this supply she was enabled to accomplish her object, and +arrived in Edinburgh with her family. Her friend Mrs. Brown met her +there, and stayed with her a few days, to comfort and patronize her +in her new undertaking. Mrs. Brown was her warm and constant friend +until her death, which occurred at Paisley in 1782, when she was +attending the communion. She bequeathed her daughter Mary to Mrs. +Graham's care. But in 1785 the daughter followed the mother, being +cut off by a fever in the twelfth year of her age.</p> +<p>It may be proper here to introduce the name of Mr. George +Anderson, a merchant in Glasgow, who had been an early and +particular friend of Dr. Graham. He kindly offered his friendly +services, and the use of his purse, to promote the welfare of the +bereaved family of his friend. Mrs. Graham occasionally +<!--Page 062--><a name="P062" id="P062"></a> drew upon both. The +money she borrowed she had the satisfaction of repaying with +interest. A correspondence was carried on between them after Mrs. +Graham's removal to America, until the death of Mr. Anderson, in +1802.</p> +<p>During her residence in Edinburgh she was honored with the +friendship and counsel of many persons of distinction and piety. +The Viscountess Glenorchy, Lady Boss Baillie, Lady Jane Belches, +Mrs. Walter Scott, mother of the poet, Mrs. Dr. Davidson, and Mrs. +Baillie Walker, were among her warm personal friends. The Rev. Dr. +Erskine, and Dr. Davidson, formerly the Rev. Mr. Randall of +Glasgow, and many respectable clergymen, were also her friends. She +and her family attended on the ministry of Dr. Davidson, an able, +evangelical, useful pastor.</p> +<p>Her school soon became respectable in numbers and character. Her +early and superior education now proved of essential service to +her. She was indefatigable in her attention to the instruction of +her pupils. While she was faithful in giving them those +accomplishments which were to qualify them for acting a +distinguished part in this world, she was also zealous in directing +their attention to that gospel by which they were instructed to +obtain an inheritance in that to come. She felt a high +responsibility, and took a deep interest in their temporal and +spiritual welfare. As "a mother in Israel," she wished to train +them up in the ways of the Lord.</p> +<p>She prayed with them morning and evening; and on the Sabbath, +which she was careful to devote to its proper use, she took great +pains to imbue their minds with the truths of religion. Nor did she +labor in <!--Page 063--><a name="P063" id="P063"></a> vain. +Although she was often heard to lament of how little use she had +been compared with her opportunities of doing good, yet when her +children, Mr. and Mrs. B. visited Scotland in 1801, they heard of +many individuals, then pious and exemplary, who dated their first +religious impressions from those seasons of early instruction which +they enjoyed under Mrs. Graham while in Edinburgh.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham's manner in the management of youth was peculiarly +happy. While she kept them diligent in their studies, and strictly +obedient to the laws she had established, she was endeared to them +by her tenderness; and the young ladies instructed in her school +retained for her in after-life a degree of filial affection which +was expressed on many affecting occasions. This was afterwards +remarkably the case with her pupils in America. Her little republic +was completely governed by a system of equitable laws. On every +alleged offence, a court-martial, as they termed it, was held, and +the accused tried by her peers. There were no arbitrary +punishments, no sallies of capricious passion. The laws were +promulgated, and obedience was indispensable; the sentences of the +courts-martial were always approved, and had a salutary effect. In +short, there was a combination of authority, decision, and +tenderness in Mrs. Graham's government, that rendered its subjects +industrious, intelligent, circumspect, and happy. She enjoyed their +happiness; and in cases of sickness, she watched over them with +unremitting solicitude and care, sparing no expense to promote +their restoration to health.</p> +<p>A strong trait in her character was distinctly +<!--Page 064--><a name="P064" id="P064"></a> marked by her +educating the daughters of pious ministers at half price. This was +setting an example worthy of imitation. It was a conduct +conformable to scriptural precept. Said Paul, "If we have sown unto +you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your +carnal things? Do ye not know that they which minister about holy +things live of the things of the temple? Even so hath the Lord +ordained that they which preach the gospel should live by the +gospel."</p> +<p>Always conscientious in obeying the commandments of her God, she +observed them in this matter, giving, in her proportion, at least +the widow's mite.</p> +<p>By another plan, for she was ingenious in contrivances to do +good, she greatly assisted those in slender circumstances, +especially such as were of the household of faith. Believing that +the use of sums of ten, fifteen, or twenty pounds in hand would be +serviceable by way of capital to persons in a moderate business, +she was in the habit of making such advances, and taking back the +value in articles they had for sale. She charged no interest, being +amply repaid in the luxury of her own feelings, when she beheld the +benefit it produced to her humble friends. The board of her pupils +being paid in advance, she was enabled to adopt this plan with more +facility. Were her spirit more prevalent in the world, what good +might be done. The heart would be expanded, reciprocal confidence +and affection cherished; and instead of beholding worms of the dust +fighting for particles of yellow sand, we should behold a company +of affectionate brethren leaning upon and assisting each other +through the wilderness of this world. "Look not +<!--Page 065--><a name="P065" id="P065"></a> every man on his +own things," said Paul, "but every man also on the things of +others. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of +Christ."</p> +<p>On the subject of promoting the external accomplishments of her +scholars, it became a question how far Mrs. Graham was to +countenance them in their attendance on public balls — to +what length it was proper for her to go so as to meet the received +opinions of the world in these concerns. She consulted with her +pious friends, and wrote to Lady Glenorchy on the subject. Her +ladyship's letter in reply is so excellent that the serious reader +will be gratified with its insertion.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"B<font size="-1">ARNTON</font>, December 27, +1781.</p> +<p>"D<font size="-1">EAR</font> M<font size="-1">ADAM</font> +— I received your letter last week, and also one some time +ago from Mrs. Walker, in which she desired me to send you my +sentiments upon the alteration you had made, and still thought of +making, upon your plan.</p> +<p>"I have since endeavored to consider, with all the attention of +which I am <i>at present</i> capable, the arguments that may be +brought on both sides of the question; and with regard to the first +point, the <i>practisings</i>, I will frankly own, that could you +send your young ladies to one where <i>girls only</i> are admitted, +I should more readily yield my opinion of the matter to those +Christians who have advised you to it. But as I learn that it is a +promiscuous dance of boys and girls, I must in conscience say that +I look upon such a meeting to be as pernicious in its effects upon +the minds of young people, as balls and public assemblies on +persons of riper years. When you mentioned the subject to me first, +I thought it had been a practising <!--Page 066--><a name="P066" +id="P066"></a> of girls <i>only</i>, else I should then have +given you my sentiments fully upon that head.</p> +<p>"As to the <i>reading of plays</i>, or any part of them, to your +young people, I must own, it does not appear to me to be expedient; +it may be productive of bad consequences, and the <i>good</i> +arising from it is, at most, uncertain. It is, no doubt, very +desirable to enlarge young people's minds and improve their taste +as well as their persons; but such is the state of things in this +world, that to attain this to the degree wished for by every person +of refined taste, some things must be sacrificed of much greater +value: for example, a girl cannot acquire the smart, polished air +of a person of fashion, without imbibing too much of the spirit of +the world. <i>Vanity</i> and <i>emulation</i> must be awakened and +cultivated in the heart, before she will apply herself with +diligence to outward accomplishments; nor can her mind and taste be +much improved in <i>polite</i> literature, without losing its +relish for simple truth. I grant you, there are a few Christians in +the world who have acquired the outward accomplishments of it, and +have, by grace, been enabled to turn these to good account — +who, like the Israelites, having spoiled the Egyptians, have made +use of <i>their</i> jewels in adorning the tabernacle; but this can +never serve as an argument on your side of the question. If the +Lord sees fit to manifest his power and grace by plucking a brand +from the burning, this is no reason why children should be +initiated into the ways of sin and folly, in hopes that some time +or other he will bring them out. We are never to do evil that good +may come; and this brings the question to a short issue.</p> +<!--Page 067--><a name="P067" id="P067"></a> +<p>"Do you think it lawful for Christians to attend public places, +or to spend their time in reading plays? Do you think these things +tend, either immediately or remotely, to promote the glory of God? +If you do not, I cannot see how you, <i>as a Christian</i>, can +have any hand in introducing young ladies to the one or in giving +them a taste for the other.</p> +<p>"This, dear madam, is <i>my</i> view of the matter; but I do not +wish <i>you</i> to walk by <i>my</i> light. I believe all the +children of God are <i>taught by him</i>, and ought to follow the +dictates of their own consciences: I therefore pretend not <i>to +advise</i> you, but shall endeavor to <i>pray</i> that the great +<i>unerring</i> Counsellor may give you divine wisdom to be your +teacher, to lead you into all truth, and to keep you from every +thing inconsistent with his holy will.</p> +<p>"I have met with so many interruptions since I began this +letter, that I fear that it is hardly intelligible. I shall be +sorry if I have said any thing that gives you uneasiness; your +spirits seem low, and your business does not succeed so well as +could be wished: perhaps I ought to have employed my pen in the way +of consolation and encouragement, than by throwing in fresh matter +of perplexity. Sure I am, I do not <i>mean</i> to add affliction to +the afflicted; but rather have been impelled, from a regard to +truth, to write my real sentiments, as you desired.</p> +<p class="center">"Your friend and humble servant,</p> +<p class="right">"W. G<font size="-1">LENORCHY</font>."</p> +<p>In after-life, Mrs. Graham was of opinion that she and her +scholars had gone too far in conformity with the opinions and +manners of the world. A reference to this deviation from what she +considered a close <!--Page 068--><a name="P068" id="P068"></a> +Christian walk in life, will be frequently found in her subsequent +exercises.</p> +<p>Lady Glenorchy being in a delicate state of health, made +frequent use of Mrs. Graham as her almoner to the poor. On one of +these visits, Mrs. Graham called on a poor woman with a present of +a new gown. "I am obliged to you and her ladyship for your +kindness," said the poor woman rich in faith, "but I maun gang to +the right airth first; ye wad na hae come, gin ye had na been sent; +the Lord hath left me lately wi' but ae goon for week-day and +Sabbath, but now he has sent you wi' a Sabbath-day's goon." +Meaning, in plain English, that her thankfulness was first due to +the God of providence, who had put it into the hearts of his +children to supply the wants of this poor disciple.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham used to repeat with pleasure an anecdote of her +friends Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Mr. Douglas was a tallow-chandler, +and furnished candles for Lady Glenorchy's chapel. The excise-tax +was very high on making those articles, and many persons of the +trade were accustomed to defraud the revenue by one stratagem or +another. Religious principle would not permit Mr. Douglas to do so. +Mrs. Graham one evening was remarking how handsomely the chapel was +lighted. "Aye, Mrs. Graham," said Mrs. Douglas, "and it is all pure +— the light is all pure, it burns bright." It would be well +if Christians of every trade and profession were to act in like +manner; that the merchant should have no hand in unlawfully +secreting property, or encouraging perjury to accumulate gains; +that the man of great wealth should have neither usury nor the +shedding of blood by privateering to corrode +<!--Page 069--><a name="P069" id="P069"></a> his treasures; that +all should observe a just weight and a just measure in their +dealings, as in the presence of God. Let every Christian seek after +the consolation of Mrs. Douglas, that the light which refreshes him +may be pure.</p> +<p>It being stated as matter of regret, that poor people when sick +suffered greatly, although while in health their daily labor +supported them, Mrs. Graham suggested the idea of every poor person +in the neighborhood laying aside <i>one penny a week</i> to form a +fund for relieving the contributors when in sickness. Mr. Douglas +undertook the formation of such an institution. It went for a long +time under the name of "The Penny Society." It afterwards received +a more liberal patronage, has now a handsome capital, and is +called, "The Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick."</p> +<p>In July, 1786, Mrs. Graham attended the dying bed of her friend +and patroness Lady Glenorchy: this lady had shown her friendship in +a variety of ways during her valuable life; she had one of Mrs. +Graham's daughters for some time in her family, condescended +herself to instruct her, and sent her for a year to a French +boarding-school in Rotterdam. She defrayed all her expenses while +there, and furnished her with a liberal supply of pocket-money, +that she might not see distress without the power of relieving it. +So much does a person's conduct in maturer years depend upon the +habits of early life, that it is wise to accustom young people to +feel for and to contribute in their degree to the relief of the +afflicted and the needy.</p> +<p>Lady Glenorchy was a character in whom was eminently displayed +the power of religion. Descended <!--Page 070--><a name="P070" id= +"P070"></a> from an ancient family, married to the eldest son of +the Earl of Broadalbaine, beautiful and accomplished, she was +received into the first circles of society. With her husband she +made the tour of Europe, visiting the several courts on that +continent. Yet all these things she "counted but loss for the +excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus her Lord." She became a +widow while yet in the bloom of youth. She devoted herself to the +service of the Lord, and was made singularly useful. She kept a +regular account of her income, and of the different objects to +which it was applied. She built and supported several chapels in +England, and erected one in Edinburgh, in which pious ministers of +different denominations should be admitted to preach.</p> +<p>She also built a manufactory for the employment of the poor, +where the education of children was strictly attended to: even the +porters' lodges on each side of her gate were occupied as schools +for the neighboring poor. Her pleasure-grounds were thrown open for +the accommodation of the numbers who usually come from a distance +to attend a communion-season in Scotland. In a year of scarcity the +same grounds were planted with potatoes for the supply of the poor. +She distributed with great judgment various sums of money in aid of +families who were poor, yet deserving. She never encouraged +idleness or pride, and often remarked that it was better to assist +people to do well in the sphere which Providence had assigned them, +than to attempt to raise them beyond it. There was so much wisdom +in the active application of her charities, as to render them both +efficient and extensive. She seldom was seen in these works of +beneficence; her object <!--Page 071--><a name="P071" id= +"P071"></a> was to do good: the gratitude of those on whom she +bestowed benefits was no part of her motive, or even of her +calculation. What she did she did unto God, and in obedience to his +commands; her faith and hope were in God.</p> +<p>She contributed largely to the public institutions established +at Edinburgh in her day. Of one or two of the most useful she was +the first to suggest the idea, always accompanying her +recommendation with a handsome donation to encourage the work.</p> +<p>The venerable Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge +and Piety shared largely her patronage; and at her death she +bequeathed them five thousand pounds.</p> +<p>She indulged the hope of seeing a union of exertion, among all +Christian denominations, for sending the gospel to the heathen. How +delighted would she have been with the missionary societies of +London and elsewhere, had her life been spared to behold their +extensive operations.</p> +<p>She sold her estate of Barnton that she might apply the money to +a more disinterested object than her personal accommodation, and +that her fortune might be expended with her life, "I recollect +here," said Saurin in one of his sermons, "an epitaph said to be +engraven on the tomb of Atolus of Rheims: <i>He exported his +fortune before him into heaven by his charities — he Has gone +thither to enjoy it</i>."</p> +<p>This might be truly said of Lady Glenorchy. In her manner she +discovered great dignity of character tempered with the meekness +and benevolence of the gospel. Her family was arranged with much +economy, and a strict regard to moral and religious habits. She +<!--Page 072--><a name="P072" id="P072"></a> usually supported +some promising and pious young minister as her chaplain, which +served him as an introduction to respectability in the church. With +very few exceptions, all those who entered her family as servants +were in process of time brought under religious impressions. So far +it pleased the Lord to honor her pious endeavors to render her +family one of the dwellings of the God of Jacob.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham had the honor of attending the death-bed, and of +closing the eyes of this distinguished child of God. It had been +Lady Glenorchy's express desire that Mrs. Graham should be sent +for, if within twenty miles of her, when such attendance should be +necessary.</p> +<p>The following letter to a daughter, two months later, gives us +another illustration of the self-denial and anxiety for the +salvation of the soul, with which Mrs. Graham personally ministered +to the needy and the suffering, and how skilfully she improved +these scenes for the benefit of others.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"E<font size="-1">DINBURGH</font>, September, +1786.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> D<font size="-1">AUGHTER</font> +— Such a scene as I have been witness to! — poor M. +B—— is gone to her last abode; her state is fixed for ever. I +attended her sick-bed for eight successive days and nights, except +perhaps for an hour that I lay down in the same room. I held by +life to the very last, because I feared she was not in a fit state +to die.</p> +<p>"She took every medicine that was prescribed for her, which I +administered with my own hand; but the time appointed to end her +mortal state had arrived, and go she must. She lived four days +after the physicians had lost all hope, and I think I never +witnessed <!--Page 073--><a name="P073" id="P073"></a> greater +distress. I watched every word with anxious care to find if any +breath of prayer was to be heard; but alas, I had no such +satisfaction. As she was insensible after the first few days, it +was not to be expected she could either think or pray.</p> +<p>"O, why will sinners resist the grace of God, and spend the +precious time given to seek and find it in thoughtless folly? What +can they do, on such a bed of distress, who have no God? Time +misspent and gone — opportunities unimproved and gone — +calls resisted never to be repeated — death hunting the soul +through every avenue of life — a dreadful, unknown, unthought +of eternity at hand — an awful Judge, and no Advocate secured +to plead. A time was when a kind Saviour was expostulating with +them: 'Why will you die?' 'Hear, and your soul shall live;' 'Ask, +and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it +shall be opened unto you;' 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye +ends of the earth;' 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the +unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and +he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly +pardon;' 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters' +— blessings purchased by Christ: pardon of sin, +reconciliation with God, a new heart and spirit, all that is +necessary for time and eternity — 'He that hath no money,' no +merit, no good about him, no claim upon any account whatever, +'come, buy and eat, without money and without price;' 'Why spend ye +your money,' time, talents, affections, desires, 'for that which is +not bread,' and cannot satisfy? 'incline your ear, and come unto +me; hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting +covenant <!--Page 074--><a name="P074" id="P074"></a> with you. +Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. To-day if ye +will hear his voice, harden not your heart.'</p> +<p>"Such is the language of the dear Redeemer to sinners every day, +in his written word, from the pulpit, and in the dispensations of +his providence; but O, the madness of sinners, who will not think, +who will not attend, will not apply to this Saviour, whose sole +errand into this world was to seek and to save sinners, yea, the +very chief; but they will not put their souls into his hands, nor +give him any service. A time will come, and we are forewarned of +it, when this same inviting Saviour will say, 'Because I have +called and ye refused, stretched out my hand and no man regarded, I +also will laugh at your calamity, and will mock when your fear +cometh.'</p> +<p>"Improve this dispensation, my dear child; beg of the Lord to +search you and try you, and see that your hopes be well +grounded.</p> +<p class="center">"Your affectionate mother,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>The following to her beloved friend Mrs. Walker, shows the +impressions made on the mind of Mrs. Graham by visiting <i>the +place of her nativity and the scene of her struggles with this +world's adversity</i>, when the hand of God was heavy upon her.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"E<font size="-1">DINBURGH</font>, September, +1787.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> M<font size="-1">ADAM</font> +— I have been on a jaunt for nearly three weeks; my school +mostly dismissed, the remainder I left with Miss S——. Goodness +and mercy have followed me, and the Lord has taken care of my house +also in my absence. Yours was put into <!--Page 075--><a name= +"P075" id="P075"></a> my hand on my return, and brought fresh +cause of thankfulness; your observation, that we were mutually +feeding on the same allowance, continues to hold. I too have been +considering the works and doings of the Lord, and many of them have +been renewed in my memory by the scenes I have passed through.</p> +<p>"I visited the seat of my juvenile years with my dear and only +brother. There I recollected the days of my vanity, and the Lord's +patience and long-suffering; my repenting, my returning, his +pardoning, his blessing; my backslidings, his stripes and +chastisements, his restoring and recovering, yea, many and many +times. There, too, I found my old acquaintances no more; most of +them had finished their course under the sun; some I could still +clasp in the arms of faith, as united to the glorious Head, and now +singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. From the idea of others, I +was obliged to turn away and say, 'The Judge of all the earth shall +do right.'</p> +<p>"I recollected a lowly cottage, where lived a pious father, +mother, two daughters, and a son; where the voice of prayer seldom +ceased, the voice of complaint was seldom heard: not one stone +remained upon another; only the bushes which surrounded it, and the +ruins of a little garden, the seat of secret communion of each with +their God in turn; for one little earth-floored place was all their +house-convenience, and in the winter's storm their little +cow-house, built under the same humble roof, was their secret +temple. I found three had gone to glory: of the other two I could +learn no tidings; but I shall see them one day in very different +mansions. I saw others spreading like a green bay-tree, adding +field to field, <!--Page 076--><a name="P076" id="P076"></a> and +dwelling alone, servants and dependents excepted.</p> +<p>"I saw my father's cottage, in the day when the Lord pressed him +down, and the place where my dear glorified-mother poured out many +prayers for me and mine; my own retirement too, after the vanity I +had seen of human life, and when tired and sick of it, I sought to +end my days in solitude, saying, 'It is enough; here let thy +servant depart in peace, and let my children be reared in +obscurity.' Then I returned to the town where my husband had +practised as a physician, where I had been respected and tasted +largely of life's comfort. I saw the house we had lived in, and +many tender scenes passed; to this same town I had returned a +widow, helpless and poor, neglected and forgotten. I saw the house +where I had taught my little school, and earned my porridge, +potatoes, and salt; when I found myself totally neglected by some +who once thought themselves honored by my acquaintance; while +others, once shining in affluence, were now reduced to humble +dwellings.</p> +<p>"The Lord has been saying, 'Know and consider all the way by +which I have led thee, to prove thee, and try thee, to show thee +what was in thy heart, that he might do thee good in thy latter +end.' He is now saying, 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it +with thy might;' 'Occupy till I come.' Oh, for a thankful heart, a +loving, a zealous heart, a meek and humble heart. Oh, for diligence +and steadiness in the path of duty, a due sense of our own weakness +and inability, of the Lord's power and all-sufficiency, and firm +faith in the same. Give my love to ——, she is +<!--Page 077--><a name="P077" id="P077"></a> the Lord's: her +heavenly Father mingles her cup; not one unnecessary bitter drop +shall be put into it; bid her trust in the Lord; the time, the set +time for deliverance shall come. I can witness, with many thousands +on earth, and an innumerable company in heaven, that he is the best +of masters. I have suffered much, yet not one word of all that he +has said has failed. I expect to suffer more; but whatever bitter +draughts may yet await me, I would not give one drop of my heavenly +Father's mixing for oceans of what the world styles felicity.</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>Under another date she adds:</p> +<p>"When we trace the tenderness of our Daysman's conduct through +the whole of his tabernacling here below, and add to this the many +gracious words which he spoke, and to these again what were spoken +by the disciples by his authority, can we refuse to cast all our +burdens on him, and to trust him with ourselves and them? You know +how sweet it is, in the time of tumultuous distress, when the +spirit is overwhelmed, when God's mercy seems clean gone for ever, +and his promise to fail, how sweet to get even a lean upon the +Saviour; but when he, as he does at times, takes the soul out of +itself, and away from forebodings, reasonings, and suppositions, to +his own divine attributes, and gives it a believing view of its +interest in them all, in his wisdom as unerring, his power as +almighty, his goodness as boundless, his faithfulness unchanging; +when we add to these his humanity, and consider that our +High-priest was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin, +and that he has a feeling for our infirmities; when we find him +listening to every <!--Page 078--><a name="P078" id="P078"></a> +petition — a widowed mother for her son — the centurion +for his servant — weeping with two sisters over a brother's +grave — embracing and blessing the little children whom +mothers, like you and me, pressed through the crowd, in spite of +the reprehensions of disciples, to present to him — accepting +the effusions of Magdalene's penitent heart with tender +consolation, O how near does this bring the Divinity to us, and how +sweetly may we confide in such tenderness. Oh my friend, He rests +in his love. Let us rest in our confidence. All shall be well."</p> +<p>When Dr. Witherspoon visited Scotland in the year 1785, he had +frequent conversations with Mrs. Graham on the subject of her +removal to America. She gave him at this time some reason to +calculate on her going thither as soon as her children should have +completed the course of education she had proposed for them. She +had entertained a strong partiality for America ever since her +former residence there, and had indulged a secret expectation of +returning. It was her opinion, and that of many pious people, that +America was the country where the church of Christ would +preeminently flourish. She was therefore desirous to leave her +offspring there.</p> +<p>After some correspondence with Dr. Witherspoon, and consultation +with pious friends, her plan received the approbation of the +latter; and having had an invitation from many respectable +characters in the city of New York, with assurances of patronage +and support, she arranged her affairs for quitting Edinburgh. The +Algerines being then at war with the United States, her friends +insisted on her chartering a small <!--Page 079--><a name="P079" +id="P079"></a> British vessel to carry herself and family to the +port of New York. This increased her expenses; but Providence, in +faithfulness and mercy, sent her at this time a remittance from Dr. +Henderson, the young friend of Dr. Graham, who succeeded him as +surgeon of the regiment; and a legacy of two hundred pounds +bequeathed her by Lady Glenorchy, as a mark of her regard, was now +of great use to her.</p> +<p>Thus in the month of July, 1789, Mrs. Graham once more prepared +<i>to go into a land which the Lord seemed to tell her of</i>.</p> +<p>The two following extracts from her private journal, indicate +the state of her mind and heart previous to leaving Edinburgh.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"E<font size="-1">DINBURGH</font>, March, +1789.</p> +<p>"Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and +let thy widows trust in me,' Jer. 49:11; the Lord's promise, which +he made to me in the days of my widowhood, and which I have made +the subject of my prayers from day to day, taking the words in a +spiritual sense. The Lord has done wonders for me and mine since +the day I was left a widow with three orphans, and the fourth not +born, in a strange land, without money, at a distance from friends; +or rather, without friends. Hitherto he has supplied all my wants, +and laid to hand every necessary and many comforts; supporting +character and credit, making a way for me through the wilderness, +pointing out my path, and settling the bounds of my habitation.</p> +<p>"For all these blessings I desire to be grateful to the God of +providence, whose is the earth and the fulness thereof; but these I +cannot take as the substance of the promise; neither have they been +the chief <!--Page 080--><a name="P080" id="P080"></a> matter of +my prayers. The salvation and the life I have wrestled for, is that +which Christ died to purchase, and lives to bestow — even +spiritual life, and salvation from sin. My God knows I have held +fast this view of the words, seeking first the kingdom of God for +my children, leaving temporals to be given or withheld, as may best +suit with the conversion and sanctification of their souls. I have +not asked for them health, beauty, riches, honor, or temporal life: +God knows what share of these consists with their better interests; +let him give or withhold accordingly. One thing I have asked of the +Lord, one thing only, and will persist in asking, trust in him for, +and for which I think I have his promise — even the life of +their and my soul. 1 Thess. 5:23, is my petition for me and mine; +verse 24, my anchor of hope, preceded by Jeremiah 49:11."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"E<font size="-1">DINBURGH</font>, March 17, +1789.</p> +<p>"This day from the head of his own table did the Lord, by his +servant Mr. R——, proclaim his name the I AM, and called on me to +write under what I would, for time and eternity. My soul rejoices +that God is, and that he is what he is; nothing less than himself +can content me, nothing more do I desire.</p> +<p>"This great I AM is my portion — what can I ask beside? He +hath opened my eyes to see his excellency; he hath determined my +will, to choose him for my portion. He hath arranged and set in +order a rich testament sealed by the blood of his own Son, +containing every blessing for time and for eternity. All my heart's +desire is there promised, and faith given to believe there shall be +a full performance. What have I to say then, but, Amen, do as thou +hast said? Father, glorify thy name. Thou hast said, 'Then will I +sprinkle <!--Page 081--><a name="P081" id="P081"></a> clean +water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and +from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I +give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take +away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart +of flesh; and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to +walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. +And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers: and ye +shall be my people, and I will be your God.' Amen; Lord, do as thou +hast said. Behold, I take hold of thy covenant for myself and for +my children. It is well ordered in all things, and it is sure. My +heart accords to every part of it. Wilt thou guide us by thy +counsel while we live, and afterwards receive us to thy glory? Amen +and amen — do as thou hast said.</p> +<p>"If we forsake thy laws, and go astray; if we depart from thee +and break thy commandments, wilt thou visit our faults with rods, +and our sins with chastisements. Blessed promise; amen, Lord, do as +thou hast said: seeing thy loving-kindness is secured to us, and +thou wilt not cast us off from being thy people, nor alter that +which thou hast spoken; wilt thou keep us as the apple of thine +eye? wilt thou cover us with the shadow of thy wing? Art thou my +Husband? art thou the Father of my fatherless children? wilt thou +be the stay of these orphans, and their and my shield in a strange +land? wilt thou perfect what concerns us? wilt thou care for us? +wilt thou <i>never leave us, never forsake us</i>? in the valley of +the shadow of death shall thy rod and staff support us? What can +thy servant say but, Amen, do as thou hast said."</p> +<!--Page 082--><a name="P082" id="P082"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> +<h4>SCHOOL IN NEW YORK — DEATH OF HER PASTOR DR. JOHN +MASON — LAST NEWS OF HER SON.</h4> +<p>M<font size="-1">RS.</font> G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>, after +a pleasant though tedious voyage, landed in New York on the 8th day +of September, 1789, where she and her family were received with the +greatest cordiality and confidence. The late Rev. Dr. Rodgers and +Rev. Dr. John Mason were especially kind to her. She came eminently +prepared to instruct her pupils in all the higher branches of +female education; and the favorable change effected by her +exertions was soon visible in the minds, manners, and +accomplishments of the young ladies committed to her care. She +opened her school on the 5th of October, 1789, with five scholars, +and before the end of the same month the number increased to fifty. +She not only imparted knowledge to her pupils, but also, by her +conversation and example, prepared their minds to receive it in +such a manner as to apply it to practical advantage. While she +taught them to regard external accomplishments as ornaments to the +female character, she was careful to recommend the practice of +virtue as the highest accomplishment of all, and to inculcate the +principles of religion as the only solid foundation for morality +and virtue. The annual examinations of her scholars were always +well attended, and gave great satisfaction. General Washington +while at New York honored her with his patronage. The venerable and +amiable Bishop of the Episcopal church in the state of New York, +then the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Moore, <!--Page 083--><a name="P083" id= +"P083"></a> was never once absent from those examinations. She +was sensible of his friendship, and always spoke of him in terms of +great esteem and respect.</p> +<p>She united in communion with the church under the pastoral care +of the Kev. Dr. Mason. This excellent man was her faithful friend +and wise counsellor. Under his ministry her two daughters, Joanna +and Isabella, joined the church in the year 1791. Her eldest +daughter Jessie, who had made a profession of religion in Scotland, +was married in July, 1790, to Mr. Hay Stevenson, merchant of New +York, and she became a member of the church under the care of Dr. +Rodgers, where her husband attended.</p> +<p>In the year 1791 her son, who had been left in Scotland to +complete his education, paid his mother a visit. Mrs. Graham, +considering herself as inadequate to the proper management of a +son, had at an early period of his life sent him to the care of a +friend, who had promised to pay due attention to his morals and +education. The boy had a warm affectionate heart, but possessed, at +the same time, a bold and fearless spirit. Such a disposition, +under proper management, might have been formed into a noble +character; but he was neglected, and left in a great measure to +himself by his first preceptor.</p> +<p>For two years of his life he was under the care of Mr. Murray, +teacher of an academy at Abercorn. He was a man truly qualified for +his station. He instructed his pupils with zeal; led even their +amusements; and to an exemplary piety added the faithful counsel of +a friend. He loved, and was therefore beloved. Under his +superintendence John Graham improved rapidly, and gained the +affections of his teacher and <!--Page 084--><a name="P084" id= +"P084"></a> companions. Happy for him had he continued in such a +suitable situation. He was removed to Edinburgh to receive a more +classical education. Being left there by his mother and sisters, +the impetuosity of his temper and a propensity for a sea-faring +life induced his friends to place him as an apprentice in the +merchant-service. He was shipwrecked on the coast of Holland, and +Mr. Gibson of Rotterdam, a friend of Mrs. Graham, took him to his +house, and enabled him to come to the United States. He remained at +New York for some months. His mother deemed it his duty to return +to Scotland to complete his time of service. He evidently inclined +to the profession of a sailor; she therefore fitted him out +handsomely, and he embarked for Greenock in the same ship with Mr. +John M. Mason, the only son of Dr. John Mason, who went to attend +the theological lectures at the Divinity Hall in Edinburgh.</p> +<p>The following extract shows the anguish of Mrs. Graham's mind in +parting with her son, and how she cast him upon the covenant mercy +of her God, placing a blank, as to temporal things, in her Lord's +hand, but holding on with a fervent faith and hope to the promise +of spiritual life.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, May 20, 1791.</p> +<p>"This day my only son left me in bitter wringings of heart: he +is again launched on the ocean, God's ocean. The Lord saved him +from shipwreck, brought him to my home, and allowed me once more to +indulge the yearning of my heart over him. Short has been the time +he has been with me, and ill have I improved it: he is gone from my +sight, and my heart bursts with tumultuous grief. Lord, have mercy +on the <!--Page 085--><a name="P085" id="P085"></a> widow's son +— 'the only son of his mother, and she a widow,'</p> +<p>"I ask nothing in all this world for him: I repeat my petition +— save his soul alive; give him salvation from sin. It is not +the danger of the seas that distresses me; it is not the hardships +he must undergo; it is not the dread of never seeing him more in +this world: it is because I cannot discern the fulfilment of the +promise in him. I discern not the new birth nor its fruits, but +every symptom of captivity to Satan, the world, and self-will. +This, O this is what distresses me: and in connection with this, +his being shut out from ordinances, at a distance from Christians; +and shut up with those who forget God, profane his name, and break +his Sabbaths.</p> +<p>"O Lord, many wonders hast thou shown me; thy ways of dealing +with me and mine have not been common; add this wonder to the rest: +call, convert, regenerate, and establish a sailor in the faith. +Lord, all things are possible with thee: glorify thy Son, and +extend his kingdom by sea and land; take the prey from the strong. +I roll him over upon thee. Many friends try to comfort me; +miserable comforters are they all. Thou art the God of consolation; +only confirm to me thy gracious word, on which thou causedst me to +hope in the day when thou saidst to me, 'Leave thy fatherless +children, I will preserve them alive.' Only let this life be a +spiritual life, and I put a blank in thy hand as to all temporal +things. 'I wait for thy salvation.' Amen."</p> +<p>Three months afterwards she learned that a press-gang had +boarded the ship in which her son was, and <!--Page 086--><a name= +"P086" id="P086"></a> although he was saved from their grasp by +a stratagem of the passengers, yet all his effects were taken away +from him. In the following reflections on this event, the anxious +mother shows that she would not withdraw the blank she had put into +her Redeemer's hands.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, August 18, 1791.</p> +<p>"Thus far the Lord hath tried me, and kept me to my choice. This +night I have tidings, through a letter to Dr. Mason, that my son +has been seized by the press-gang. Through God's help, he escaped; +but all his assortment of necessaries that his sisters and I made +up with so much care, labor, and expense, they have carried off, +and he is once more left naked. Satan and a corrupt heart unite in +tempting me to complain. Dare I utter a word or harbor a murmuring +thought? Would I withdraw the blank I have put into the Redeemer's +hand? Has he not hitherto done all things well? Have not my own +afflictions been my greatest blessings? Have not I asked for my +children their mother's portion? Has not God chiefly made use of +afflictions as means of hedging me in, and shutting me up to my +choice of this portion, as well as showing me that He is a +sufficient portion without any other? When matters have been at the +worst with me as to this world, my triumphs in God have been +highest, and prospects for eternity brightest.</p> +<p>"Has the Lord given me in some measure victory over the world? +Do its honors, riches, and gaudy splendor appear to me empty and +vain, and not worth an anxious thought? Does provision of food and +raiment by the way through this wilderness seem all that +<!--Page 087--><a name="P087" id="P087"></a> is necessary? and +is it my wish, as well as form of prayer, that the Lord may give +that in kind and degree which he sees fittest for me? And shall I +covet that for my child which I despise for myself? Alas, Lord, it +is because he feeds not on better things, and sometimes I fear he +has no better portion. Still, still foolish. Was it when I was +full, or when in want, that I returned to my heavenly Father? Do I +desire, have I asked and persisted in asking for my children, +salvation from sin and self? Do I anxiously wish them to reach and +to surpass my present measure of submission and resignation to thy +will — to enjoy God in all things, and nothing without him? +And shall I, dare I complain when I see the Lord making use of the +same means which first brought me to myself, and recovered me also +from numberless backslidings since I first tasted the blessedness +of his chosen?</p> +<p>"Lord, I renew my blank. I afresh roll them all over upon thee. +I will try to look on, in the faith that all things shall work +together for good to their souls, and that I shall yet see the day, +or if I see it not, that it will come, when they shall bow at thy +footstool, sink into the open arms of thy mercy in Christ, melted +down in holy, humble, acquiescing, cordial submission to thy +severest dealings with them; when thou shalt put a new song into +their mouths, and they shall sing as I do now, It hath been very +good for me that I have been afflicted. I wait for thy +salvation. Amen."</p> +<p>Again we mark her trust in God in the more common events of +life, and her gratitude in the reception of blessings from his +hand.</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 088--><a name="P088" id="P088"></a> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, September, 1791.</p> +<p>"Many have been my burdens of late; strangers laid upon me to +provide for, even when I thought I had not sufficient to give to +all their due and provide for my own family. But what is that to +me? the Lord increases business, lays more largely to hand, bears +me and my burdens, provides for me and strangers. Lord, it is all +well: give when thou wilt, and call for it again when and for what +purpose thou wilt; it is thine own. I am thine, and all that thou +givest me is thine; the world calls it mine, but I call it thine. +If it be thy will, lead me in a plain path, or if thou lead me by a +way which I know not, hold up my goings, so shall I be in peace and +safety still. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, October 10, 1791.</p> +<p>"This day did the Lord's sent servant, in a solemn manner, take +us all to witness, and call in the witness of angels, that we had +once more avouched ourselves to be the Lord's, and that once more +Christ and his salvation had been offered to all within the walls. +This same day, for the second time, have my two daughters sat down +at the Redeemer's table among his professing people, and, I have +reason to think, given their hearty assent to his covenant.</p> +<p>"Glory, glory, glory, to the hearer of prayer. I have cast my +fatherless children on the Lord, and he has begun to make good my +confidence. <i>One thing</i>, one only thing have I asked for them, +leaving every thing else to be bestowed or withheld as consisting +with that: I seek for my four children and myself, first of all, +<i>the kingdom of God</i>.</p> +<p>"My God from day to day adds many other comforts, and +strengthens my hopes by promising appearances, +<!--Page 089--><a name="P089" id="P089"></a> that <i>the grain +of mustard seed</i> is sown in the hearts of my three daughters. +They have joined themselves to the people of God, and I have reason +to think the Lord has ratified their surrender of themselves to +him; he has made them willing for the time, and he will hedge them +in to the choice they have made.</p> +<p>"Saturday, September, 1791, the Lord made me a grandmother, +assisted my poor weakly girl, and gave a son to her and my arms. +'There was joy that a man-child was born into the world,' and +according to that word 'she remembered no more the anguish.'</p> +<p>"Thanks be to God for this salvation; but, Lord, this is but a +small thing with thee. Look, O look on this twig from a guilty +stock; poor, helpless, feeble creature, it can do nothing for its +body, and still less for its soul. O God of <i>the spirits of all +flesh</i>, give it a plunge in <i>the blood of Jesus</i> — +cleanse, O cleanse him from original sin, and now, even now, in thy +own sovereign and mysterious way, sow <i>the grain of mustard +seed</i> in his soul."</p> +<p>In the spring of 1792, Mrs. Graham and her family were called to +a severe trial by the translation of their beloved pastor, Dr. +Mason, to a better world. A few months before his decease, while +preaching to his people, his recollection failed, his sermon was +gone from his mind, and he sat down in his pulpit unable to +proceed. After a short pause, he arose and addressed his people in +a pious and affectionate strain; he considered this event as a call +from his heavenly Master to expect a speedy dismission from the +earth, and solemnly admonished them also to be prepared +<!--Page 090--><a name="P090" id="P090"></a> for the will of +God. His people, who loved him, were affected to tears. An illness +soon followed, which terminated in the death of the body. He +departed on the night when Mrs. Graham took her turn of watching +with him, and she closed his eyes, which she always accounted a +privilege and honor bestowed upon her by her divine Master. But +this tender and affecting scene is best described in a letter which +she wrote to her sympathizing friend Mrs. Walker, of Edinburgh.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, April, 1792, Sabbath noon.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> M<font size="-1">ADAM</font> +— It is not my custom to take my pen on this day even to +write to a Christian friend, having occasion for the whole time +with my family or in secret with my God; but I cannot go to dinner, +I cannot eat, I cannot talk to my girls; my heart must bleed afresh +on the same altar upon which it has often been pierced. O, madam, +my dear Dr. Mason goes, and leaves me here alone: in all +probability his course is nearly finished, and his crown awaits +him. Five physicians now attend him closely. I have seen him often, +and he says, 'All is well, all will be well,' Of the physicians he +said, 'Yes, yes, it is very well; they are useful men in God's +hand; they may be instrumental in patching up the tabernacle a +little. If it be raised to usefulness, I am content; if not to +usefulness, I do not desire it. I feel no concern about the issue +of this; the will of the Lord be done.'</p> +<p>"I say, Amen; but Oh, I feel alone. I should need large +communications from his Master to fill up this blank. I cannot +write for weeping; now my face is so swelled I cannot go to church. +I called at his house this morning, found the doctors in the +parlor, <!--Page 091--><a name="P091" id="P091"></a> and learned +from them the worst. The bell was ringing for church. I stifled as +much as possible my grief; would fain have come home to give it +vent, but durst not be absent from the house of God. I heard a +stranger in Dr. Rodgers' church; our doors are closed; his text +was, 'Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends;' he ran the +parallel between human friendship and that subsisting between +Christ and his disciples. I ought to be comforted, nay, I am +comforted.</p> +<p>"The Bible lies open before me; it is full of consolation; but +all is in prospect. I look at God, what he is in himself, what he +is to his people <i>now</i> and what he will be to <i>eternity</i>: +the consolations of hope are mine; but for the present, I feel like +the sparrow on the house-top, or like a pelican in the wilderness; +and when I think on my years and the robustness of my constitution, +and that I may have a long journey before me, I am not able to look +at it. At the same time, when I consider my children, who, having +lost their pastor, who bore them on his heart to the throne of +grace, have double need of a mother, I dare not indulge a wish, far +less put up a petition for release. O, that I could get under the +influence of that spirit which I have witnessed in my dear pastor +— that entire confidence in God — that perfect +resignation to his will — that complacency in all he has +done, is doing, or will do — that rest in God, of which he +seems to be put in possession even now, while his breast is +laboring and heaving like a broken bellows, and he cannot fetch one +full breath. O, what cannot God effect.</p> +<p>"S<font size="-1">UNDAY</font> E<font size="-1">VENING</font>. I +have again seen my dear pastor, and discern the clay dissolving +fast. The words of dying saints are precious, and his are few. He +thus <!--Page 092--><a name="P092" id="P092"></a> accosted me: +'I am just waiting the will of God; for the present I seem a +useless blank in his hand; I can say very little; be not too +anxious for my life, but transfer your care to the church; my life +or death is but a trifle; if the Lord have any use for me, it is +easy for him to raise me up still; and if he do, it will be +agreeable to observe his hand distinct from men; if he should not, +you will all be cared for; leave all to him and seek his glory.' He +could say no more, nor will I to-night, but address myself to our +Lord on his behalf, yours, my own, and our dear concerns.</p> +<p>"Several days have elapsed since I last wrote; our dear doctor +still lives, often recruits, and again is reduced; but man can do +no more; my last page, before the vessel sails, shall be of +him.</p> +<p>"As to myself and family, we are as the Lord would have it with +us, and I make no doubt as we need. Business very full; a house +full of boarders, and about sixty scholars. I begin to feel the +effects of fatigue or age, I know not which. The almond-tree +flourishes; those that look out at the windows begin to be +darkened; but the keepers of the house stand firm, and all the +wheels and springs discharge their office, though more heavily; +there is no judging of my days by present appearances. Well, let me +once more return to my rest — <i>God</i>; commit my way to +him, who shall bring to pass what is best, and in the end shall +complete my happiness.</p> +<p>"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font> 23, M<font size="-1">ONDAY</font>. +It is finished. My dear minister's bitter draught is over. On +Thursday, the 19th of this month, a quarter before ten o'clock, +<font size="-1">A.M.</font>, the Lord received his spirit and laid +his weary flesh to rest. He had a sore conflict with the king of +terrors, <!--Page 093--><a name="P093" id="P093"></a> who seemed +allowed to revel through every part of his mortal frame: his legs +were mortified to his knees; he had not been able to lie down for +four weeks, and died in his chair. Like his Master, he groaned, but +never complained: he had a draught of his Master's cup, but the +bitter ingredient <i>desertion</i> made no part of it. I had the +honor to close his dear eyes, and to shut those dear lips from +whence so many precious truths have proceeded, and to mix with the +ministering spirits who attended to hail the released. This honor I +had desired, but did not reckon myself worthy, and hardly hoped for +it; but the Lord saw the wish, though never formed into a petition, +and indulged me. I bless him for it. And now, farewell human +friendships; let me gird up the loins of my mind, and run with +patience the little further, looking unto Jesus, and following also +him my pastor, 'who, through faith and patience, now inherits the +promises.'</p> +<p>"This is a great work finished. Dr. Mason was 'a city set on a +hill.' He was with the army during all the war after the evacuation +of New York; had great influence over the soldiers; preached the +gospel of peace uniformly, but never meddled with politics, though +he was fully capable. In every situation the Lord supported him in +uniformity and consistency of character, and carried him through +without a single spot or stain. Glory to God in the highest for +this repeated proof of his faithfulness. 'Mark the perfect man, and +behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.'</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>Great was the grief of Dr. Mason's congregation on his removal. +In him, to great learning were united <!--Page 094--><a name="P094" +id="P094"></a> meekness, prudence, diligence, and knowledge of +the world, and an affectionate superintendence of the interests, +spiritual and temporal, of his flock. He so arranged his avocations +and studies in regard to time, that he had always a few hours in +the afternoon to devote to visiting the families of his +congregation. So regular was the order he observed, that Mrs. +Graham and her family knew when to calculate on seeing him, and +always expected him with the anticipation of profit and pleasure. +Once every week they were sure of seeing him, if in health. His +visits were short, his conversation serious, awakening, +instructive, and affectionate. He inquired about their temporal +affairs, and in cases of difficulty gave them his best advice. His +counsels were salutary; his knowledge of the world and his +discrimination of character rendered him well qualified to advise. +In one of his visits to Mrs. Graham she mentioned to him the want +of good servants as one of her trials. "Mrs. Graham," said he, +"have you ever prayed to the Lord to provide good servants for you? +Nothing which interests our comfort is too minute for the care of +our heavenly Father."</p> +<p>To one of her daughters, who felt a strong inclination to +profess her faith in Christ by joining the communion of his church, +but yet was afraid that her heart was not sufficiently engaged for +the service of God, Dr. Mason proposed the following question: +"If," said he, "the world, with all its wealth, pleasures, and +power, were placed in one scale, and Christ alone in the other, +which would your heart freely choose as a portion?" On her replying +there would be no hesitation as to her choice of Christ, he gave +her encouragement <!--Page 095--><a name="P095" id="P095"></a> +to profess her faith, although it might not at present amount to +the full assurance of hope.</p> +<p>He was indeed a faithful shepherd of his flock, and his people +mourned for him as for an affectionate father. It is much to be +desired that his example were more followed by Christian pastors. +To preach with eloquence and acceptance is a talent of great value +in a minister of the gospel; this makes him respected, and his +congregation admire him, because, for one reason, they are proud of +him; but to gain their affections, to make a congregation the +children of an aged pastor, or the friends and brethren of a +younger one, let the minister visit the families of his people; +this will seal on their hearts the regard which their +understandings had already dictated.</p> +<p>Very few ministers have been more remarkable for a strict +attention to this duty, than the late Dr. John Mason and his +venerable and attached friend Dr. Rodgers. When the former died, +the latter exclaimed, "I feel as if I had lost a right arm."</p> +<p>The congregation, bereaved of their pastor, wrote immediately to +his son, the late Rev. Dr. John Mitchell Mason, to hasten his +return from Edinburgh to New York; and after preaching to them with +great acceptance for several months, he was ordained and installed +pastor of the church in April, 1793. Mrs. Graham entertained for +him the most affectionate attachment, and this attachment was +reciprocal.</p> +<p>At this date we find some of Mrs. Graham's delightful devotional +exercises.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, 1793.</p> +<p>"Blessed Lord, thou hast, to the praise of thy grace, given me +the heritage of them that fear thy name; <!--Page 096--><a name= +"P096" id="P096"></a> thou hast prepared my heart to pray, and +inclined thine ear to hear; thou hast drawn me into thy fold, and +hast fed me in thy green pastures. I rejoice in Israel's Shepherd; +not one of his flock shall be lost. Often have I wandered from his +presence and sought pasture among the swine, but my Shepherd has +ever drawn or driven me back. He has a rod and I have felt it; but +I bless the hand and kiss the rod.</p> +<p>"O, how wonderful to look back and see 'all the way by which he +has led me, to prove me, to try me, to show me what was in my +heart, that he might do me good at my latter end.' Amen, my God, I +leave myself in thy hands. I should lose myself; but thou wilt keep +me from foes without and foes within. What then have I to care for? +My Shepherd careth for all; he slumbers not nor sleeps, and he will +perfect what concerns me; of this I am as sure as that I now write +it.</p> +<p>"The law of thy mouth is better unto me than gold and silver. O +how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day. Thou, through +thy commandments — or the whole of thy truth — hast +made me wiser than my teachers. The law of God makes the simple +wise. How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than +honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding, +therefore I hate every false way. 'Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, +and a light unto my path.' How safe, how happy are they who are +taught by the word of God. 'Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for +flesh and blood hath not taught thee this, but my Father who is in +heaven.'</p> +<p>"O my children, enrich your minds with a full acquaintance with +the word of God; lay it up in your <!--Page 097--><a name="P097" +id="P097"></a> memories, when you can do nothing more; be +assured, if ever you are made wise unto salvation, it must be by +this word; if ever you are taught of God, he will teach you by the +words contained in the Bible. 'Search the Scriptures, for they are +they which testify of me;' search the Scriptures, for in them are +contained the words of eternal life. 'Be followers of them who, +through faith and patience, now inherit the promises.'</p> +<p>"Holy David went forward, heavenward, improving in the knowledge +of God, of himself, and of God's plan of salvation for ruined +sinners, by studying the word, the works, and the providences of +God, but chiefly the word of God; praying for, watching for the +influences of God's Spirit on his judgment and thinking powers: it +was by this that he became wiser than his teachers. He was a king, +and had the cares of the nation to occupy his mind; he was a man of +war, and had that art to study. But O, the privilege of the +Christian! he goes through every part, even of his earthly way, +leaning upon God. David could say, even of war, 'The Lord teaches +my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.' 'The Lord subdued the +people under me.' In temporals and in spirituals, he is my shield, +my strength, my buckler, my strong tower.' I shall not fear what +man can do unto me.' 'In Judah's land God is well known; there he +brake the spear, the bow, and the battle.' He ascribes all to God. +We hear nothing of his own wisdom, his disciplined armies, his +order of battle and warlike powers, though attention to all these +was his duty, and not neglected by him. He devoted all his natural +talents to God; he exercised them diligently, but still he knew and +acted under the influence of that knowledge, that +<!--Page 098--><a name="P098" id="P098"></a> unless the Lord +build the house, the builders lose their pains; unless the Lord +keep the city, the watchmen watch in vain. He, as well as worldly +men, chose the means best adapted to the end proposed. Let natural +men assert, and let it be admitted, that David knew better how to +use a sling and a stone, than mail, helmet, and sword; therefore he +chose them. But follow David until he meets the hostile foe. Do we +hear a word of his art as a slinger, as a marksman? though we may +suppose he was expert at both. 'Thou comest to me with a sword, a +spear, and a shield; but I come in the name of the Lord of hosts, +the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied; and this +assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear' +— these are not essential — 'for the battle is the +Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.'</p> +<p>"How comfortably might Christians go through life did they walk +with God in their daily business and occupations, carefully +observing the leadings of Providence, cautiously avoiding either +running before or lagging behind; but in all things making their +requests known to God; at all times committing their way to him, +being careful about nothing, but to use with diligence the means of +grace, and also the means of acquiring the good things of life, +leaving the issues of both to God, in the full assurance that what +is good the Lord will give. 'Trust in the Lord, and do good; so +shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.' In +spirituals and in temporals, 'the hand of the diligent maketh +rich.' Be 'not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the +Lord.'</p> +<p>"Lord, teach me thy law graciously, in all its perfection, +<!--Page 099--><a name="P099" id="P099"></a> its extent, order, +beauty, and harmony, and grant me all the assistance provided to +enable a lost, depraved, corrupted child of Adam, to set out in thy +good ways, to go forward, and to finish in the same course; and all +the consolation, joy, and peace which thou hast provided to be +enjoyed in a measure even here, and to be perfected in the world to +come. Amen.</p> +<p>"'O Israel, return unto the Lord, for thou hast fallen by thine +iniquity.' Hos. 14. Yes, fallen, O how fallen from God the only +good, the fountain of happiness. Lost his image, which was the +glory of man in paradise. Lost that sweet complacency and delight +in his perfections and attributes which innocence enjoyed. Lost +rectitude of reason and judgment. No longer can we judge of +excellence, no longer love what God loves. Our wills no longer +straight with his will, but crooked, opposing God, and choosing +evil instead of good. 'O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but +in me is thy help.' Amen, says my soul, in thee is my help."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, October 3, 1793.</p> +<p>"'One shall say, I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself +by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand +unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.' Isaiah +44:5.</p> +<p>"I, as one, subscribe to the truth of all that God has said: I, +as one, subscribe my assent to all he has done. I set my amen to +his well-ordered covenant, well-ordered in all things, and sure. +And this is the covenant, even Christ, the sum and substance, for +he hath given him to be a covenant of the people. The whole and +every part of it is God's covenant. To me <!--Page 100--><a name= +"P100" id="P100"></a> it must be a testament, the new testament +in Christ's blood. To me it must be a covenant of gifts and +promises. I can be no party, having nothing to give; nothing with +which to covenant. He hath said, 'Thou hast destroyed thyself, but +in me is thy help.' Amen. Be my help, my deliverer.</p> +<p>"'Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved; for I am +God, and there is none else.' I do look unto thee alone for +salvation. Thou art God; there is none else: besides thee there is +no Saviour.</p> +<p>"'I will pour water on the thirsty, and floods on the parched +ground. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon +thy offspring.' Amen. I yield my soul into thy hand, dry and +parched, to receive thy showers of reviving, quickening, +fructifying grace."</p> +<p>Writing about this date to her beloved friend Mrs. O—— of +Edinburgh, Mrs. Graham, for the encouragement of her friend, gives +her, in confidence, the following record of her own Christian +experience:</p> +<p>"It is now. I think, thirty-five years since I simply, but +solemnly, accepted of the Lord's Christ, as God's gift to a lost +world. I rolled my condemned, perishing, corrupted soul upon this +Jesus, exhibited in the gospel as a Saviour from sin. My views then +were dark compared with what they now are: but this I remember, +that at the time I felt heart-satisfying trust in the mercy of God, +as the purchase of Christ; and for a time rejoiced with joy scarce +supportable, singing almost continually the 103d Psalm.</p> +<p>"I took a view of the promises of God, and wrote out many of +them, and called them mine; and among <!--Page 101--><a name="P101" +id="P101"></a> the foremost was that in Psalm 89:30-33; and well +has the Lord kept me to it, and made it good: for, my dear friend, +never was there a more unsteady, unwatchful Christian; never did +the children of Israel's conduct in the wilderness depict any +Christian's heart and conduct in the gospel times better than mine; +and just so has the Lord dealt with me. When he slew me, then I +trusted in him; when he gave me carnal ease and comfort, I forgot +my Rock and rebelled. Often did I stumble too from legality, +instead of looking at my own weakness and impotence, and trusting +wholly in my Redeemer's strength. I was wroth with myself, wondered +at myself, and thought it impossible I could be as I had been. I +made strong resolutions, yea, vows, and became a slave in means to +hedge in this wandering, worldly, vain, flighty heart; but, alas, a +few months found me where I was, with scarce a thought of God from +morning to night; prayer huddled over in words that had no effect +on my heart; and the fear of hell the chief restraint from sin or +spur to duty. Then, in general, the Lord had some affliction for +me, which laid me afresh at his feet, and made me take a fresh +grasp of Christ, and a fresh view of his covenant: then again I +felt safety, joy, peace, and happiness.</p> +<p>"Thus, by line upon line, by precept upon precept, aye, and by +stripe upon stripe, he taught me that I could not walk a moment +alone. This is now my fixed faith; and in proportion as I keep it +in sight, I walk safely; but I still forget, and still stumble and +still fall; but I am lifted up and taught lesson after lesson; and +I shall stumble and shall fall while sin is in me; but the last +stumble shall come, and the last stripe <!--Page 102--><a name= +"P102" id="P102"></a> shall be laid on, and the last lesson +taught, and that which concerns me shall be perfected. O, then +shall I look back, and see 'all the way by which he has led me, to +prove me and try me, and show me what was in my heart, that he +might do me good in my latter end.'</p> +<p>"I am often, even in this valley of darkness and ignorance, +allowed this retrospective view; and am led to say not one word of +all that he promised has failed. 'Hitherto the Lord hath helped, he +hath been the guide of my youth, and even unto hoar hairs will he +lead me;' and when he calls me to pass through the valley of the +shadow of death, I shall even then fear no evil, for his rod and +staff shall support me; and I shall enter into the presence of my +Redeemer, white and clean, dressed in his most perfect +righteousness; angels and saints shall know me in this glorious +robe; my Redeemer will acknowledge me as his ransomed, and I shall +be for ever with the Lord."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mr. A.D., Edinburgh.</p> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, 1793.</p> +<p>"I have just been reading over my dear friend's precious +letters, and am refreshed anew by the same truths and uniform +experience of every Christian; which all amounts to this, that the +Lord is the portion of his people, and that whom he loves, he loves +to the end. My soul melts with tenderness when I recollect my +fellow-travellers in the wilderness; those dear associates with +whom I have so often taken sweet counsel; who so often comforted me +with the same comforts with which they themselves were comforted. I +am also led to recollect some who have finished their warfare; some +whose trials were sharp and long, but who, through the same grace +in which we trust, were steadfast <!--Page 103--><a name="P103" id= +"P103"></a> to the end; and now inherit a crown of life — +the reward of grace, not of debt.</p> +<p>"I rejoice to hear that your children are promising; I think it +is the greatest comfort a parent can enjoy in this world. I have a +large share of it in my three daughters; but my prodigal is not +come to himself; he still feeds on husks, nor thinks of the plenty +in his Father's house. I had great hopes last winter; I heard he +had been very ill in consequence of very severe treatment from his +captain. The Lord has been emptying him from vessel to vessel, and +I have been waiting the issue; but mine eyes almost fail. I have +great hopes that God's time of mercy will come. I am also satisfied +that it will be the best time; but still I cry, O how long? My dear +friends, I think I would recommend it to you to <i>keep your +children about you</i>. No other had ever the influence over him +that I had; and I regret that I did not bring him with me.</p> +<p>"Our young Timothy, J.M., is a perfect champion for the gospel +of Jesus; the Lord has well girded him and largely endowed him; he +walks closely with God, and speaks and preaches like a Christian of +long experience: he was ordained about two months ago in his +father's church, and a few weeks after married a lady of eminent +piety, and preached all the day, both the Sabbath before and after: +no levity, no novelty appeared in word or gesture, which is not +always the case with the best at such times. There is probably no +church in New York whose discipline is as strict, nor one which has +so many communicants. He is reckoned a man of great talents and an +orator; and many of even the idle and careless go to hear him.</p> +<p>"A few Sabbaths ago he preached from these +<!--Page 104--><a name="P104" id="P104"></a> words, 'I +determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him +crucified.' After proving that all the Scriptures, from the +beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, pointed to Christ +and his great work of redemption, and asserting that that sermon +could not be called the gospel of which He was not the subject, he +spoke home to his audience, and told them that this, through the +aid of divine grace, was his firm purpose — to dwell on +redeeming love. He was sure no subject would be welcome to any +Christian, where Christ was not to be found; nor would any such +subject ever convert a sinner; and therefore, if any were about to +take their place there, expecting to hear any new or strange thing, +let them not disappoint themselves. O, for a thankful heart; the +Lord has indeed done wonders for me and mine; and blessed be his +name for his mercy also, that in a remarkable manner, by a strange +concurrence of circumstances, he hedged me in to become a member of +this congregation, where I am led and fed with the same truths +which nourished my soul in Zion's gates at Edinburgh; and I am +helped to sing the Lord's song in a foreign land. Often have I been +tempted to hang my harp upon the willow, 'when Zion I thought on;' +but this was, and sometimes still is my sin and ingratitude, for I +ought to build houses, and plant vineyards, and seek the good of +the land; for he has a small vineyard here, which he waters and +cultivates, and I ought to labor therein, and do whatsoever my hand +findeth to do with diligence, and say, 'The earth is the Lord's, +and the fulness thereof; heaven is his throne, the earth his +footstool,' and he fills all things and all places.</p> +<!--Page 105--><a name="P105" id="P105"></a> +<p>"'What aileth thee, Hagar?' O what a God of mercy is our God! +Often has he hailed me in some such language: 'What aileth thee?' +why is thy countenance sad? am I not better to thee than ten +friends? Then has he turned my heart to him, made me feel myself +close to him; he has suffered me to lean on his bosom, hang on his +arm, and lisp out, Abba. At such blest moments I have thought the +whole earth but one point, and from that to heaven but one step, +and the time between but as one moment; and my company here +sufficient to satisfy me by the way. At such blest moments I felt +perfect, full, entire satisfaction with all that God is, all that +he does; and could trust him fully with all my concerns, spiritual, +temporal, and eternal. But, alas, by and by, like a peevish child, +I began to fret, wish this, wish that; grieve for this, grieve for +that; fear this, fear that; stagger, stumble, fall. O what a God of +patience and long-suffering. And O how rich that well-ordered +covenant, that provides suitable grace for all these unsteady +seasons. It is my greatest consolation that the Lord knows it all. +There are times when I cannot see him, but every moment he sees me. +I should fall off and leave him, but he holds me fast and never +leaves me. O blessed plan, where God secures us in safety, even +from ourselves. We have not only destroyed ourselves, and he has +been our help; but we are ever destroying ourselves, and still he +renews this help.</p> +<p>"Well, what shall we say? Father, glorify thy name, and let us +lie in thy hand as clay in the potter's, till thou finish thy +workmanship, and fit us vessels of mercy, to be filled with +happiness, when thou shalt have done thy good pleasure in us, and +by us, in <!--Page 106--><a name="P106" id="P106"></a> this +world, through the grace that is in Christ Jesus, who loved us, and +gave himself for us; to whom be glory, honor, and praise in the +church below, and in the general assembly above, now and +ever. Amen.</p> +<p>"My love, my heart's love, to my dear Mrs. D——. I am ever your +affectionate friend, in the bonds of the gospel,</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>Early in 1793 Mrs. Graham heard, from a worthy clergyman at +Greenock, who, at her request, paid attention to her son, that he +had been very ill of a fever, and subsequently subject to epileptic +fits. In one of these he had fallen from the mast-head, and was +rendered unfit for service for many months. The gentleman to whom +he was apprenticed, permitted him to leave. In these circumstances +Mrs. Graham addressed to him the following letter:</p> +<br /> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y LONG-LOST BUT STILL DEAR</font> S<font size= +"-1">ON</font> — If this ever reach you, hearken to the voice +of your mother, your only parent, and to the voice of God by her. +O, my son, you have had a long race in the service of Satan; he has +kept you in bondage and made you his drudge. You are far advanced +in the broad way that leads to destruction — to that place of +endless torment prepared for the devil and his angels, to which +Satan is dragging you. He has even been seeking the destruction of +your body, that he might have you secure.</p> +<p>"O, my son, think. Has he proved a good master? What have you +found in his service? and has he not disappointed all your gayest +hopes, and fed you with husks? Have you, my son, been happy? Are +you not obliged to drive away your own reflections? I know you are. +Dare you, my son, sit down and <!--Page 107--><a name="P107" id= +"P107"></a> think over all the past, all the present, and look +forward to the future with any degree of comfort? My son, you +cannot. Hear then the word of the Lord; that Lord, that merciful +Lord, who has seen you in all your rebellion, heard every profane +oath you may have uttered, seen you rioting among the sons of +Belial; yet what is his voice to you? O, my son, it is not, 'Bind +him hand and foot, and cast him into the lake that burns with fire +and brimstone; where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of +teeth, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.' No, +my son, the door of mercy is still open to you; the Lord calls, 'O +sinner, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help.' Only +repent, so iniquity shall not prove your ruin.' 'Hearken unto me, +ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my +righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not +tarry.' 'Hear, and your soul shall live.' 'Believe in the Lord +Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved' — saved from hell; +saved from Satan and his snare; saved from the force of corruption +in your heart.</p> +<p>"I do not call upon you, my poor corrupt boy, to turn from sin +and work righteousness in your own strength; this you can no more +do than the Ethiopian can change his skin; but I do call upon you +to receive the whole of God's salvation, and power to resist sin is +a principal part of it. In God's word it is said, that the Lord +gave Christ to be a covenant to the people: we have to covenant +with him on our part; we are all poor, lost, miserable creatures, I +as well as you, by nature; but the Lord Christ is God's gift to +sinners. All the other promises are made to those +<!--Page 108--><a name="P108" id="P108"></a> who have received +and accepted of this gift; but Christ himself is God's gift to +sinners — to the chief of sinners — <i>to you, John +Graham, by name</i>; and the Bible says, to as many as receive him, +to them gives he power to become the sons of God. God gave Christ +to become the price in our hand; we take this gift, and offer back, +as the price of our redemption, his atoning sacrifice, his +all-perfect righteousness; and on this ground we are entitled, by +his own plan, which he prepared from first to last, to plead for +the full accomplishment of all the promises in the Bible: for the +pardon of sin; yea, for an entire new nature.</p> +<p>"O, my son, open your Bible, go to your knees, look out words +there fit for your case; present them humbly before God, turn all +the promises you find there, all the offers, all the calls, all the +commands, all the threatenings into prayer — for you of +yourself can do nothing — and ask that God, for Christ's +sake, may pour out on you the spirit of prayer. I know not how to +have done; yet I well know, unless the Lord soften your poor +obdurate heart, it will still remain hard. O, my son, be willing to +put it in his hand, to receive his salvation, and give yourself up +to his guiding. I beg you will read with care the 15th chapter of +the gospel of Luke. The Lord spoke these parables to show how very +willing he is to receive returning sinners. Your mother and all +your sisters are willing to follow his example; return to us, my +son. We will watch over you we will pray over you, and we will try, +by every endearing method, to restore you not only to health, but +to comfort. Your sisters wish you to come; all your friends are +willing to receive you; we will not upbraid you.</p> +<!--Page 109--><a name="P109" id="P109"></a> +<p>"Do, my dear, leave Greenock; come out to us by any way you can +find, I will pay your passage here; or if you can get to any port +in America, you can write me from that, and I will get you +forwarded here; and, after you are here, if you still wish to +follow the sea, we can get you a berth in some trading vessel from +this. All your friends here send best wishes. And now, my son, I +commend you to the Lord. O, that he may bless this to you,</p> +<p class="center">"Your affectionate mother,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>The last intelligence that Mrs. Graham received of her +unfortunate son was in a letter from himself, dated Demarara, 1794, +in which he states that he had sailed from Amsterdam in a Dutch +vessel; was taken by the French, and retaken by the English; had +arrived at Demarara in the ship Hope; and should he not soon hear +from his mother, would return to Europe with a fleet which was +shortly to sail under convoy. Mrs. Graham notices this event as +follows:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, February 20, 1794.</p> +<p>"This day I have a letter from my poor wanderer. It is more than +a year since I heard of him. Accept of my thanks, good and gracious +Lord. I feared his cup had been full, and he called out of the +world with all his sins on his own head; for I have no tidings of +his turning from his sinful courses, or fleeing from the wrath to +come, by taking hold of the hope set before him.</p> +<p>"I bless thee, Oh, I bless thee, for thy sparing mercy, thy +long-suffering, thy patience, thy forbearance. Yea, even to him, +thou hast been more than all this. Thou hast been his preserver, +his provider; thou hast <!--Page 110--><a name="P110" id= +"P110"></a> watched over him in many imminent dangers, in the +great deeps, in burning and in frozen climes.</p> +<p>"Thou hast followed him with thy preserving mercy and temporal +bounty. He is still in the land of the living, and among those who +are called to look unto thee and live. Still thou feedest my hopes +of better things for him. Thou sufferest my prayers to lie on the +table of thy covenant. I will trust, I will hope, I will believe, +that in an accepted time thou wilt hear me, and in a day of thy +power thou wilt bow his stubborn will, and lay him an humble +suppliant at thy feet. Oh, I trust thou wilt bring this poor +prodigal to himself, and turn his steps towards his Father's house. +See how he feeds with the swine upon husks, and even these not his +own. O turn his thoughts to his 'Father's house, where there is +bread enough, and to spare.'</p> +<p>"'Lord, remember thy gracious word, on which thou hast caused me +to hope,' and which has ever been my comfort in the time of my +affliction, and in my straits my only relief.</p> +<p>"He is again launched into thy great ocean. Lord, he is far from +every friend and from every means of grace, and for any thing I +know, far from thee by wicked works; under thy curse and hateful in +thy sight; but thou, God, seest him. Means are not necessary, if +thou willest to work without. Thou canst find an avenue to his +heart at once. Dead as he is, vile as he is, guilty as he is, far +from help of man, and in the most unlikely situation to receive the +help of God, yet I know all these hinderances, all these mountains +shall melt as wax at thy presence.</p> +<p>"Lord, I believe, thou knowest I believe, that if +<!--Page 111--><a name="P111" id="P111"></a> thou but speak the +word, this dead soul shall live; this vile, this guilty soul shall +be cleansed, shall be renewed, and my son be changed to an humble, +thankful, genuine child of God, through the cleansing blood of +atonement, through the imputation of the Redeemer's righteousness +and the implantation of thy Spirit. I can do nothing for him, but +thou canst do all this. I wait for it, Lord, I wait for thy +salvation. Lord, let there be 'joy in heaven over this one sinner +repenting.' I roll him on thee. I trust in thy sovereign, free, +unmerited mercy in Christ. Amen."</p> +<p>All inquiries instituted by kind friends respecting this son +proved fruitless; and as a vessel named the Hope was some months +after reported as having been taken by the French, it is perhaps +probable that he died in a French prison.</p> +<p>Thus again had his afflicted mother to exercise faith and +submission, not without hope towards God that the great Redeemer +had taken care of, and would finally save this prodigal son. She +had known a case in her father's family, which excited their +solicitude and encouraged her hope. Her younger brother, Archibald +Marshall, a lad of high temper, though possessed of an affectionate +heart, had gone to sea, and was not heard of at all for several +years. A pious woman, who kept a boarding-house in Paisley, found +one of her boarders one day reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress +of Religion in the Soul, with Archibald Marshall's name written on +the blank leaf. On inquiry, the stranger told her that he got that +book from a young man on his death-bed as a token of regard. That +young man was Archibald Marshall; he <!--Page 112--><a name="P112" +id="P112"></a> was an exemplary Christian, "and I have reason," +added he, "to bless God that he ever was my mess-mate." The woman +who heard this account, transmitted it to Mr. Marshall's family, +who were known to her. Mrs. Graham had no such consolatory account +afforded to her; but under much yearning of heart she left this +concern, as well as every other, to the disposal of that God "who +doeth all things well."</p> +<p>Again she sings of mercy in a sweet meditation.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, October 1, 1794</p> +<p>"'Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt +bountifully with thee.'</p> +<p>"Blessed be the Lord, for he hath showed me his marvellous +loving-kindness in a strong city — Christ, the city of +refuge.</p> +<p>"Thou hast given me my heart's desire, and hast not withholden +the request of my lips. 'One thing have I desired of the Lord,' and +through life sought after for myself and the children whom thou +hast given me; 'that all the days of our lives we might dwell in +the house of the Lord,' behold his beauty, and inquire in his holy +temple; that in the time of trouble he would hide us in his +pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle, and set our feet upon a +rock.</p> +<p>"O thou incarnate God; thou blessed temple not made with hands; +thou blessed pavilion, in which thy people hide in the time of +trouble, and are safe; thou Rock of ages, on which we build our +hopes for time and eternity, and defy the assaults of sin, Satan, +and the world: thou, Jehovah Jesus, art all these to thy people. +Thou broughtest them 'from a fearful pit and from the miry clay; +thou settest their feet upon this <!--Page 113--><a name="P113" id= +"P113"></a> spiritual rock, and establishest their goings; thou +puttest a new song in their mouths, even praise unto their God.' +Many have seen it and sung it; many now see and sing it; many shall +see and sing it, and trust in the Lord. They find in thee all that +is expressive of life; all that is expressive of safety; all that +is expressive of comfort; all that is expressive of happiness.</p> +<p>"'O how many are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and +thy thoughts which are to us-ward; they cannot be reckoned up in +order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are +more than can be numbered.' Thou, thy blessed self, art the sum and +substance of every good to man. All this I know; all this have I at +different times experienced; and yet my heart is heavy, my spirits +depressed. There is no cause, Oh no. Thy very afflictive +providences have met my wishes, and been so many answers to my +prayers.</p> +<p>"Thou Husband of the widow, thou Father of the fatherless, O how +fully, how manifestly hast thou fulfilled these relations to thy +worthless servant. Thou, in my early widowhood, didst call me to +leave my fatherless children on thee, annexing the promise that +thou wouldst preserve them alive.</p> +<p>"Thou didst put it into my heart to plead the promise in a +spiritual sense; to ask, to hope, to wait for the new birth, the +life which Christ died to purchase, and lives to bestow.</p> +<p>"In three of these fatherless I have seen thy work. Long did the +grain of mustard-seed lie buried among the weeds of +worldly-mindedness; long were my hopes and fears alternate; but now +the blessed discipline of <!--Page 114--><a name="P114" id= +"P114"></a> the covenant has been exercised; I have witnessed +it, I have felt it — suffered the rod with them and for them, +but waited for the fruits in hope; and glory to thee, dear Husband +and Father, I have not waited in vain. Thou hast written +<i>vanity,</i> and opened our eyes to read vanity written on every +earthly enjoyment, except so far as thou art enjoyed in them. Thou +hast enabled not only thine aged servant, but her children, to put +a blank into thy hand, and to say, 'Choose thou for us.' We take +hold of thy covenant, and choose it for our portion. Is not this, O +Lord, the full amount of my desires? Thou wilt finish the work in +thy own time, and by means of thy appointing. Amen. Lord, do as +thou hast said."</p> +<!--Page 115--><a name="P115" id="P115"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> +<h4>DEATH OF HER DAUGHTER — FIRST MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN NEW +YORK.</h4> +<p>I<font size="-1">N</font> July, 1795, Mrs. Graham's second +daughter, Joanna, was married to Mr. Divie Bethune, merchant in New +York. In the following month her eldest daughter, Mrs. Stevenson, +was seized with a fatal illness. Possessing a most amiable +disposition and genuine piety, she viewed the approach of death +with the composure of a Christian and the intrepidity of faith.</p> +<p>She had been in delicate health for some years, and now a +complication of disorders denied all hope of recovery. She sung a +hymn of triumph until the struggles of death interrupted her. Mrs. +Graham displayed great firmness of mind during the last trying +scene, and when the spirit of her daughter fled, the mother raised +her hands, and looking towards heaven, exclaimed, 'I wish you joy, +my darling.' She then washed her face, took some refreshment, and +retired to rest.</p> +<p>Such was her joy of faith at the full salvation of her child; +but when <i>the loss of her company</i> was felt, the tenderness of +a mother's heart afterwards gave vent to feelings of affectionate +sorrow: nature will feel, even when faith triumphs. In her devout +meditations before God, Mrs. Graham improves this event as +follows:</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 116--><a name="P116" id="P116"></a> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">CTOBER</font> 4, 1795.</p> +<p>"Why, O why is my spirit still depressed? Why these sobs? +Father, forgive. 'Jesus wept.' I weep, but acquiesce. This day two +months the Lord delivered my Jessie, <i>his Jessie,</i> from a body +of sin and death, finished the good work he had begun, perfected +what concerned her, trimmed her lamp, and carried her triumphing +through 'the valley of the shadow of death.' She overcame through +the blood of the Lamb.</p> +<p>"I rejoiced in the Lord's work, and was thankful that the one, +the only thing I had asked for her, was now completed. I saw her +delivered from much corruption within, from strong and peculiar +temptation without. I had seen her often staggering, sometimes +falling under the rod; I had heard her earnestly wish for +deliverance from sin, and when death approached she was more than +satisfied: said she had been a great sinner, but she had a great +Saviour; praised him and thanked him for all his dealings with her +— for hedging her in, for chastising her; and even prayed +that sin and corruption might be destroyed, if the body should be +dissolved to effect it. The Lord fulfilled her desire, and, I may +add, mine. He lifted upon her the light of his countenance; revived +her languid graces; increased her faith and hope; loosed her from +earthly concerns, and made her rejoice in the stability of his +covenant, and to sing, 'All is well, all is well; good is the will +of the Lord.' I did rejoice, I do rejoice; but O Lord, thou knowest +my frame; she was my pleasant companion, my affectionate child; my +soul feels a want. O fill it up with more of thy presence; give yet +more communications of thyself.</p> +<!--Page 117--><a name="P117" id="P117"></a> +<p>"We are yet one in Christ our head — united in him; and +though she shall not return unto me, I shall go to her, and then +our communion will be more full, more delightful, as it will be +perfectly free from sin. Christ shall be our bond of union, and we +shall be fully under the influence of it.</p> +<p>"Let me then gird up the loins of my mind, and set forward to +serve my day and generation, to finish my course. The Lord will +perfect what concerns me; and when it shall please him, he will +unclothe me, break down these prison-walls, and admit me into the +happy society of his redeemed and glorified members: then 'shall he +wipe away all tears from my eyes,' and I shall taste the joys which +are at his right hand, and be satisfied for evermore."</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham made it a rule to appropriate <i>a tenth</i> part of +her earnings to be expended for pious and charitable purposes. She +had taken a lease of two lots of ground on Greenwich-street from +the corporation of Trinity church, with a view of building a house +on them for her own accommodation; the building, however, she never +commenced. By a sale of the lease, which her son Mr. Bethune made +for her in 1795, she got an advance of one thousand pounds. So +large a profit was new to her. "Quick, quick," said she, "let me +appropriate the tenth before my heart grows hard." What fidelity in +duty; what distrust of herself. Fifty pounds of this money she sent +to Mr. Mason in aid of the funds he was collecting for the +establishment of a Theological Seminary. Her own version of this +matter we have in a letter to her familiar friend Mrs. Walker, of +Edinburgh:</p> +<!--Page 118--><a name="P118" id="P118"></a> +<p class="right">"1795.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> M<font size="-1">RS</font>. +W<font size="-1">ALKER</font> — My last informed you that we +had been made to taste of the Lord's visitation — the +yellow-fever — but in great mercy had been spared in the +midst of much apparent danger. I have now in my house a girl who +lost both father and mother, and many whole families were cut off; +my house was emptied; my school broken up; we confined to town, and +heavy duty laid upon us at the same time. I trembled again for fear +of debt; but 'the Lord brought meat out of the eater.'</p> +<p>"Three years ago, when tried by having one house taken over my +head, another bought, and obliged to move three times in as many +years, some speculating genius brought me under the influence of +the madness of the times, and persuaded me I might build without +money. It is quite common here to build by contract. I could not +purchase ground, but I leased two lots of church land, got a plan +made out, and worried myself for six months, trying to hatch +chickens without eggs. I had asked the Lord to build me a house, to +give success to the means, still keeping in view covenant +provision, 'what is good the Lord will give.' After many +disappointments I said, Well; I have asked — I am refused +— it is not good — the Lord will not give it: he will +provide, but in his own way, not mine.</p> +<p>"Of course I had to pay ground-rent, which in three years +amounted to two hundred and twenty dollars. I think I hear you say, +I never could have believed that Mrs. Graham could be guilty of +such folly — nor I; but seeing and hearing of many such +things, I fancied myself very clever. Last year a basin was formed, +and wharves around it, opposite to the said lots; +<!--Page 119--><a name="P119" id="P119"></a> the epidemic raging +on the other side of the city brought all the vessels that came in +round to them, and great expectations were formed for this new +basin; houses and stores sprung up like mushrooms, and Mr. Bethune +sold my lease for one thousand pounds. Lo, and behold, part of it +is already spent. All my provision through this wilderness has been +so strongly marked by peculiar providences, my mind seems +habituated to a sense of certainty. I feel my portion of earthly +good safer and better in my Lord's hand than in my own."</p> +<p>In the ensuing year we find the following outbreathings of her +rich Christian experience:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">ANUARY</font> 3, 1796.</p> +<p>"'Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice. Let your +moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.' Philippians +4:4-7.</p> +<p>"'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and +supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known +unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, +shall keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus.'</p> +<p>"Christ Jesus! what does not this name comprehend? He is mine, +and all is mine. I do rejoice in the Lord, yea, more or less, I +rejoice always. This heart of mine is sensible to every human +affliction; my tears flow often and fast: I weep for myself, and +still more for others; but in these very moments of heart-wringing +bitterness, there is a secret joy that Jesus is near; that he sees, +knows, and pities. He is Jehovah as well as Jesus, and could have +prevented the affliction under which I groan; but for my good, +<!--Page 120--><a name="P120" id="P120"></a> and the good of +those near and dear to me, he suffered it, or prepared it. The good +of his people is connected with his glory; they cannot be +separated: therefore, Father, glorify thy name; I rejoice, and will +rejoice. The Lord can remove, and will remove the affliction the +moment it has answered the gracious purpose for which it was sent. +I would not wish it one moment sooner. While it lies heavy, he is +my almighty friend, my rest, my staff of support.</p> +<p>"'In the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion; in +the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up +upon a rock." Psalm 27:5.</p> +<p>"'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in +him, and I am helped, therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; with my +song I will praise him,' and in his strength and by his grace, let +my 'moderation be known unto all men.' My Lord is at hand — +at hand to support, at hand to overrule, at hand to deliver. +Therefore I rejoice always.</p> +<p>"Blessed be God for the heart-easing, heart-soothing privilege +of casting all my cares upon him, and for the blessed assurance +that he careth for me and mine: that he allows, invites, yea, +commands me to be careful for nothing, but in all things, by prayer +and supplication, with thanksgiving, to let my requests be made +known unto him, who is man, and touched with the feeling of our +infirmities — Jesus wept — and God, the almighty God, +to support, overrule, deliver. Therefore my heart rejoiceth +always."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 16, 1796.</p> +<p>"'If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, +if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I +visit their transgression <!--Page 121--><a name="P121" id= +"P121"></a> with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes: +nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, +nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, +nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.' Psalm 89: 30. +Amen; blessed promise. Oh, it is a well-ordered covenant, and it is +sure. Of all the provisions of the covenant, this has been to my +soul among the most comfortable. Thanks be to God for the +discipline of the covenant; often has it been administered: thou +knowest, and I know in part, how necessarily, although I shall not +know nor understand all, until that blessed rod shall have +perfected its correction, and shall never more be lifted up.</p> +<p>"Many ups and downs has thy servant experienced in this vale of +tears; many tears have watered these now aged cheeks; in a variety +of ways hast thou stricken, and at times stripe has followed +stripe, but mercy and love accompanied every one of them. I bless +thee, Oh, I praise thee, that I have seldom received a stripe but I +had with it a token of love. Sin was imbittered, a Saviour +endeared, and grace given to kiss the rod, and cleave to him that +had appointed it. And now I can read in legible characters where, +in many instances, thy check met my wandering steps, stopt me short +of huge precipices, and preserved me from destroying even my +worldly comfort. In some instances — I thank thee they have +not been many — thou hast been pleased to let me alone, to +let me pursue my own way, ways so wise in my own eyes that I have +either not sought counsel at all, or sought it as Balaam did, with +my heart set on my own will.</p> +<p>"In some cases thou hast let me eat of the fruit of +<!--Page 122--><a name="P122" id="P122"></a> my own doings, and +let me weary myself in my own way, until I found it not only vanity +and vexation of spirit, but sometimes a labyrinth from which I +could find no escape: then did I cry unto the Lord; then did I +remember my backslidings; then did I seek unto the cleansing +fountain and to the appointed Mediator, the maker up of the breach: +then did I experience afresh the Lord's power to save.</p> +<p>"In how many instances has he given a sudden turn to +providences, which have been made means of my deliverance; not only +so, but brought good out of my evil, so that I have been made to +wonder, and to say,' Surely this is the finger of God.'</p> +<p>"I destroy myself, but in thee is my help found. O let these +wanderings end; fix it deep on my mind, that in the Lord only have +I wisdom as well as strength: that 'it is not in man that walketh, +to direct his steps.' When shall I learn to live simply on Christ, +by the light of his pure unerring word, and the Spirit coinciding; +and have done with these carnal reasonings, the wisdom of men. +'Search me, O Lord, and know my heart; try me, and know my +thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in +the way everlasting.' Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 28, 1796.</p> +<p>"This is the anniversary of my dear Jessie's birth, no more to +call us together here; but I yet remember it as a day in which our +God Was merciful to me, and made me the mother of an heir of +salvation. I bless, I praise my covenant God, who enabled me to +dedicate her to him before she was born, and to ask only one thing +for her as for myself, even an interest in his great salvation, +leaving it to him to order the means, <!--Page 123--><a name="P123" +id="P123"></a> time, and manner, as of her natural birth and +ripening age, so of her spiritual birth and ripening for glory; he +accepted the charge, and he has finished the work, to his own +glory, to her eternal happiness, and my joy and comfort. I have +witnessed remaining corruption fighting hard against her, and +bringing her again and again into captivity to the law of sin and +death warring against her. I have seen the rod of God lie heavy +upon her, according to the tenor of the covenant, when she forsook +his laws and went astray: when she walked not in his judgments, but +wandered from his way, he visited her faults with rods and her sins +with chastisements, but his loving-kindness he never took from her, +though he often hid it, nor altered the word which he had spoken, +that he would never leave her, never forsake her; that in due time +he would deliver her from all her enemies. I perceived her desires +to be delivered from the world and the body, and taken home to the +bosom of her God, since that appeared at times the only way she +could be delivered from sin. I heard her lament her unfruitfulness, +her unsteadiness: I heard her exclaim, 'Oh, what a sinner, what a +great sinner;' and, 'Oh, what a Saviour; O the goodness of God in +hedging me in, and saving me from myself; his covenant stands fast, +it is established, it is sure.' I witnessed a God pardoning sin, +yet taking vengeance on inventions. I witnessed the sinner, after +being sixteen years in the school of Christ, taught by his +ministers, and most effectually by his rod, taking shelter in 'the +city of refuge,' in the atonement of God's providing, and in 'a +surety righteousness,' and finishing her struggles with, 'All is +well.' My heart echoed, and <!--Page 124--><a name="P124" id= +"P124"></a> does echo, and will to all eternity, 'All is well.' +Glory to God; sing, not unto her, not unto me, not unto any +creature, but 'to God be the glory,' that she is now delivered from +'a body of sin and death, and made meet to be a partaker with the +saints in light.' H<font size="-1">ALLELUJAH</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">UNE</font>, 1796.</p> +<p>"'I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of +the Lord.' Psalm 122.</p> +<p>"'The house of the Lord, whither the tribes go up, the tribes of +the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the +name of the Lord,' to seek his face, to learn his will, to taste +his love, to behold his' glory, to enjoy God as their own God and +reconciled Father.</p> +<p>"Lord, let my heart be warmed more towards thy house; I have +sought and found thee in thy sanctuary, read thy providences, and +been taught thy will; I have tasted thy love and beheld thy glory; +I have enjoyed thy presence as my own reconciled Father in Christ +Jesus; I have been satisfied with thy goodness, as with marrow and +fatness; and yet how cold and languid at times, how little desire +to return, how small my expectations, how wandering my imagination. +How do I sit before thee as thy people, and my heart with the +fool's eyes at the ends of the earth. Lord, I should blush and be +ashamed were a fellow-mortal to see my heart at times. I may hide +my eyes from viewing vanity, but the evil lies within. O Lord, thou +knowest the cause. After all I have heard, seen, tasted, and +handled of the word of life, I am still of myself an empty vessel, +unable to speak a good word, or think a good thought. Great are thy +tender mercies, <!--Page 125--><a name="P125" id="P125"></a> O +Lord. 'Quicken me according to thy word; turn thou away my eyes +from beholding vanity, and quicken me in thy way: then shall I run +in the way of thy commandments when thou hast enlarged my +heart.'</p> +<p>"The house of God; the owner, the builder, and maker is God, and +it is his peculiar treasure. Christ is the foundation and chief +corner-stone, and his house are we, built upon him, cemented +together, a spiritual building; the foundation cannot fail, the +corner-stone can never give way; neither can we fall to pieces, or +be separated from him.</p> +<p>"The house of God; 'Jerusalem, Zion, the rest of God, where he +delights to dwell,' where he will for ever stay; the house of God, +the church, yea, the body of Christ: Christ the head, his people +the church, his members whose life is in him, and derived from him; +and because he lives we shall live also. Lord, enlarge my +understanding to comprehend more and more of the height and depth, +length and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth all +understanding. Open my eyes to behold wondrous things in thy law +and gospel. I am as yet but a babe; glory to God that I am what I +am, a babe in Christ. I shall be nourished with life and strength +from my divine Head; educated and nurtured by the blessings of the +new covenant. I shall arrive at the perfection of stature +appointed, and stand in my lot at the latter day. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">UGUST</font> 4, 1796.</p> +<p>"A day to be remembered. Rose at four, not to mourn — no, +but to repeat my grateful thanks to my covenant God for the work he +finished this day last <!--Page 126--><a name="P126" id= +"P126"></a> year, in delivering my weak, feeble, tossed, and +tried Jessie from a body of sin and death, and giving her 'the +victory through Jesus Christ, who loved her and gave himself for +her.' To thee she was dedicated ere she saw the light; to thee a +thousand times I repeated the dedication, begging that thou +mightest bring her within the bond of thy covenant; this was the +sum and substance of all my askings for her. I witnessed the time +of her second birth, saw the tears of conviction and remorse. I +witnessed thy loosing her bonds, and tuning her heart and tongue to +praise redeeming love. I witnessed the teaching of thy Spirit, and +the enlightening of her eyes, and the taste thou gavest her of thy +salvation; I thought her mountain stood strong, and she would not +be easily moved; but who can tell the deceitfulness of the human +heart? Too soon did we all turn aside like a deceitful bow, forsook +the fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken cisterns that +could hold no water. Glory to God for the discipline of the +covenant, that he did not cast us off, but chastened and corrected. +He repeated the discipline stripe upon stripe: I stood by and saw +it, and though my heart melted at times, I said, 'She is in her +Father's hand, let him do his pleasure.'</p> +<p>"I too was unfaithful to her, thou knowest, and often entered +into the same vanity of mind, which stifled the love of God in our +hearts, instead of guarding her and warning her; still, still the +Shepherd of Israel followed after both, and with the precious rod +restored both, time after time, till it pleased thee to finish her +warfare, and deliver her from both body and sin. Lord, I thank thee +for all the circumstances, <!--Page 127--><a name="P127" id= +"P127"></a> for the privilege of attending her in her warfare, +for the cheerfulness of her spirits, for the rich support we all +experienced, for the view we all had of thy faithfulness and +fatherly dealing, and for her last words, 'All is well.' O yes, +every thing thou doest is well, and this was peculiarly well. I +resigned her to thee with joy and thankfulness, and I still +acquiesce. Her thou hast taken, me thou hast left, to be yet +exercised with further discipline. It is well; thy will be done. O +help me to profit by every pang. Let sin be mortified and my soul +be purified; enlarge my heart to run the ways of thy commandments. +Now may I lay aside every weight, and that vanity of mind which +doth so easily beset me, and hath been the secret spring of much +backsliding both to myself and to my children. Lord, destroy it.. O +let me now live to God, closely and consistently; down with my +will, with self in every form. O purify my motives, and let my +whole heart, soul, body, substance, and influence in the world be +devoted to thee. Empty me of every thing that is my own, and let +'Christ live in me the hope of glory,' and let the glory of thy +workmanship in my soul redound to thee, and thee +alone. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">UGUST</font> 13, 1796.</p> +<p>"'As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, +rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye +have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.' Colossians +2:6.</p> +<p>"O Lord, this is what I pant after. I would fain have done with +wandering, Lord, thou knowest, for the work is thine. I have +received the Lord Jesus as thy gift to a lost world, as thy gift to +me an individual <!--Page 128--><a name="P128" id="P128"></a> of +that world, as having made peace by the blood of the cross. I +account it a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that +'Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,' I +have received thee as the Lord my righteousness, crediting thy own +word, that 'Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,' and +that 'there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' I +have received thee as 'the covenant given of the people.' In all +the relations by which thou art held out to me in this Bible, so +far as I know or understand, I have received thee. I have no hope +in myself, no trust in myself, nor any views of communication from +God of any kind, but through the one 'mediator between God and man, +the man Christ Jesus.'</p> +<p>"O my God, what is my life, what is my happiness but a continual +receiving? Thou art 'the bread of life' that must keep alive the +living principle in my soul. In thee 'dwelleth all the fulness of +the Godhead bodily.' Thy people are complete in thee; thou art +their head, they are thy body, and by joints and bands have +nourishment ministered to them, and are knit together, and increase +with the increase of God.</p> +<p>"This, O this is what my soul pants after, closer and more +intimate union and communion. I would be transformed into thine +image; I would be thy temple; I would have thee live in me, walk in +me, make me one with thee; I would be delivered from self-will, +self-wisdom, self-seeking; I would be delivered from that +philosophy and vain deceit which spoils souls and leads them off +from their head: then, and not till then, shall I cease to wander, +shall 'run and not be weary, <!--Page 129--><a name="P129" id= +"P129"></a> walk and not faint.' Then shall 'I run in the way of +thy commandments,' and no longer turn aside to crooked ways. Then +shall I eat and drink, work and recreate, all to thy glory. Lord, +send thy Spirit into my heart, that he may continually take of the +things of Christ and show them unto me; that I may grow and be no +longer a babe, but arrive at the fulness of stature in Christ +Jesus, and more steadily, and more purely, and more zealously, and +O, more humbly live to God, and glorify him in the +world. Amen."</p> +<p>The following extracts of letters to her friend Mrs. Walker, +show how ardently the true missionary spirit burned in the heart of +Mrs. Graham, and how efficiently it was exemplified, not only in +her pecuniary donations, but her active and self-denying efforts to +diffuse information and enlist others in so worthy a cause. The +efforts alluded to in the first extract evidently gave rise to the +event recorded in the second, <i>the formation of the first +Missionary Society in New York.</i> It is delightful also to notice +her attachment to Christians of other denominations, and the +gratitude with which she remembered kindness received by herself +when Providence had cast her lot on what was truly missionary +ground.</p> +<p>"Do you remember how much I used to say about our dear Methodist +Society in Antigua? and the three holy, harmless, zealous Moravian +brethren? and how the preachers gave each other the right hand of +fellowship, forgetting their differences, in that land of open +hostilities, on the kingdom of their common Lord? Thither the Lord +brought me from a land of entire barrenness, where, as far as I +know, a gospel sermon <!--Page 130--><a name="P130" id= +"P130"></a> was never preached. Here I was brought into great +affliction, and to pass through the severest trial that I ever +experienced before or since.</p> +<p>"'The Lord brought me into this fold, a poor straggling lamb, +who had for five years herded among the goats; and little +difference was there between them and me, except that my soul +longed after green pastures and rejoiced to hear the shepherd's +voice, and when I heard it I knew it, though from one who did not +belong to my original fold; these good people nourished me with +tenderness, bore with patience my carnality. When my dear husband +was taken ill, they wrestled for him in prayer; Mr. Gilbert was +every day with him; the Lord heard and gave a joyful parting; yes, +joyful, never did I experience such joy; then they sympathized with +and soothed the widowed heart, fed her with promises, and in a +measure established her: thus they wrought with God in calling in +one, and restoring another; never, never shall I forget the labors +of love of that dear little society.</p> +<p>"How many such stragglers as I may be wandering in both East and +West Indies, and may be restored by these precious missionaries. I +owe them, of my labors, more than others. I send you a bill for +<i>fifty pounds.</i> I have received eighteen copies of the +Missionary Magazine, as far as No. 9. I have got subscribers for +them all, who will continue; pay these, and send me what more +numbers have been published by the return of the Edinburgh packet, +also eighteen complete sets from the beginning. I hope to be +successful in disposing of them also. I suppose the sermons go to +the same fund; send me a hundred sermons, I will see to get them +disposed of; send them single, <!--Page 131--><a name="P131" id= +"P131"></a> not bound, and of the best; perhaps they may pave +the way for more to follow; every little helps; drops make up the +ocean. We cannot yet produce anything; we are gathering +intelligence, and endeavoring to collect money; but I grudge that +what we can spare should be idle in the meantime; the cause is one; +pay the magazines at once, and the sermons if you have enough of my +money. I hope to remit again in September. I have a great wish to +have a finger in your pie in some way; if I must not subscribe past +our own society, I may sell books for yours.</p> +<p class="center">"Ever, my dear friend, yours,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"1796-7.</p> +<p>"I thank my friend for her letter. I rejoice with you, and bless +the widow's God. He has indeed been so to us, to the full amount of +the promise. I have now much to sing of, little to complain of; my +dear girls and Mr. B—— go forward steadily, having laid aside the +weights of amusements and gayety, and seem determined to follow the +Lord fully through good and through evil report. Bless the Lord, O +my soul, and forget not all his benefits. We have a full school, +and a very comfortable set of girls. The Lord has delivered from +all heavy burthens.</p> +<p>"Last week a considerable number of ministers and lay Christians +met for the third time, and established a society for sending +missionaries among the Indians, and also among the poor scattered +settlers on the frontiers. A sermon was preached in the evening in +one of the Dutch churches, 'The liberal deviseth liberal things,' +etc., after which an address was read by the +<!--Page 132--><a name="P132" id="P132"></a> Secretary — +our dear Mr. Mason — which, when printed, I will send +you.</p> +<p>"The society is to keep up a correspondence with your and the +other societies. If they can effect anything themselves, apart here +in America, well; if not, they will throw their subscriptions into +the common funds and get help from you. This view is very pleasant +to us. There is great need of itinerant preachers in our back +settlements; they are scattered, and no churches of any kind; even +in some thick settled counties they will not pay a minister. These +are 'the highways and hedges;' O that the Lord may compel them to +come in.</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>We next find Mrs. Graham administering consolation and imparting +instruction to a lady residing near Boston, Mrs. C——. With this +lady Mrs. Graham formed an acquaintance in New York, shortly after +her arrival in America. She was then a gay young widow; but having +a strong and cultivated mind, was delighted with Mrs. Graham and +family; and a friendship was formed between them, which ceased only +with their lives.</p> +<p>As a proof of her friendship, Mrs. C—— wished to introduce her +young female friends into gay fashionable society. This Mrs. Graham +opposed; and while she stated her reasons she endeavored to +persuade her young friend to come out from the world and cast in +her lot with the people of God.</p> +<p>"A word spoken in due season, how good it is." This was verified +in the case of Mrs. C——, who, like her friend, was destined to +enter the heavenly kingdom "through much tribulation." She +afterwards entered <!--Page 133--><a name="P133" id="P133"></a> +the marriage state, and became a second time a widow while her +children were still young; and though not destitute, her income was +considerably reduced; which circumstances may throw light on parts +of Mrs. Graham's letters. Unhappily there was no evangelical +minister near her place of residence, which, with the want of early +religious training, may account for so much darkness as to her +spiritual state. Mrs. Graham often visited her, and it pleased God +in due time to scatter the darkness. Mrs. C—— for many years +fully enjoyed the consolations of religion. She trained up her +children according to the maxims of her friend, and had the +happiness of seeing them following in her steps. One, Mrs. J.W., +she saw depart in peace; and her own dying-bed was soothed by the +prayers and attentions of her son, an esteemed and highly useful +clergyman in one of our populous cities. As Mrs. C—— adopted the +signature of <i>Pilgrim,</i> the letters to her inserted in the +former editions of this memoir, are noticed as addressed to +P——.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mrs. C——, a Lady near Boston.</p> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font> 10, 1797.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y EVER DEAR</font> F<font size= +"-1">RIEND</font> — The desire of waiting you a long letter +has occasioned too much delay on my part. One thing I can assure +you of, you have been much on my mind, and the subject of all our +prayers.</p> +<p>"Tears of joy ran down my cheeks when J—— told me the state of +your mind, and I thank our good and gracious God for opening your +eyes to see the vanity of this world, the corruption of your own +heart, your need of atoning blood, and of a better righteousness +than your own. Hail, my sister in Jesus; flesh +<!--Page 134--><a name="P134" id="P134"></a> and blood hath not +taught you this, but your Father who is in heaven: the work is his, +evidently his; and being begun, he will carry it on, and finish it +too. Commit your soul then into his hand; he 'came not to call the +righteous, but <i>sinners</i> to repentance;' his errand to our +world was to seek and to save the <i>lost</i>. Trusting in his +mercy, through Christ, your soul is as safe as his word is true; +for none perish that trust in him.</p> +<p>"'Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not to thine +own understanding;' be not discouraged because of deadness, +darkness, wandering, want of love, want of spirituality, want of +any kind. Who told you of these evils and wants? the Sun of +righteousness shining into your soul has shown you many of the +evils there, but the half you know not yet. The more you learn of +the holiness and purity of the divine nature and the spirituality +of his law, the more you will be dissatisfied with every thing +yours. Even a holy apostle said, 'In me, that is, in my flesh,' or +natural mind, dwelleth no good thing. The flesh lusteth against the +Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; so that the things that I +would, I do not; and the things that I would not, those I do. Yet +it is not I,' not my new nature, 'but sin that dwelleth in me; for +to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I +find not.'</p> +<p>"If this was the case with the apostle, who sealed his testimony +with his life, is it strange that you and I should have hearts full +of all abominable things? These realities are cause of deep +humility before God, but none of despair or doubt. All are alike +guilty and vile, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart +<!--Page 135--><a name="P135" id="P135"></a> unsound; therefore +we need a whole Christ to atone for our sin, to cover our naked +souls with his imputed righteousness, and to be surety for us; to +sanctify us by his Spirit, and prepare us for the purchased +inheritance. O try to rest in him: believe it, you are complete in +him; give up, my dear friend, poring over and diving into your own +heart and frames, and try to trust in an almighty Saviour to save +you from foes without and foes within. Read Romaine's Walk and Life +of Faith: he himself attained to a high degree of holiness by +getting out of himself, and trusting, resting, believing from day +to day, for grace, for every duty, as it occurred. The promise +runs, 'As thy days so shall thy strength be.'</p> +<p>"I cannot at this distance, and knowing nothing of characters, +offer you any advice with respect to outward means; but if you know +any truly pious, spiritual minister, I should think it your duty to +lay open your mind to him. You may find in books matter as good as +any man living can speak; but it is the Lord's appointed way, and +he often honors his servants, his ministers, by making them +messengers of peace and comfort to his children. 'Are any sick, let +them call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over +them.' See how the Christians of old associated with one another. I +am now doubly yours, etc.,</p> +<p class="right">"I.G."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font> 14, 1797.</p> +<p>"Eternity seems very near. I have often thought so without any +visible cause. Well, it will come; a few more rolling years, +months, weeks, or days will assuredly land me on Canaan's happy +shore. Then shall I know and enjoy what ear hath not heard, eye +<!--Page 136--><a name="P136" id="P136"></a> seen, nor heart +conceived, even the blessedness that is at God's right hand. I have +desired, though I know not that I have asked, to glorify God on my +death-bed, and to leave my testimony at the threshold of eternity, +that not one word of all that my God has promised has failed. He +has been — O what has he not been? — in all my trials, +all my afflictions, all my temptations, all my wanderings, all my +backslidings, he has been all that the well-ordered covenant has +said. Let this Bible tell what God in Christ, by his Spirit and his +providence, has been to me; and let the same Bible say what he will +be to me 'when flesh and heart fails;' yea, when 'the place that +now knows me shall know me no more.' Perhaps when the messenger +does come I shall not know him, but depart in silence. Well, as the +Lord wills; he knows best how to glorify himself. Jesus shall trim +my lamp and perfect his image on my soul, sensible or insensible. I +shall enter into his presence, washed in his blood, clothed in his +righteousness, and my sanctification perfected. I shall 'see him as +he is,' and be like him.</p> +<p>"Mourn not, my children, but rejoice; gird up the loins of your +mind,' and set forward on your heavenly journey through this +wilderness. So far as I have followed Christ, so far follow my +example; still living on Christ, depending on him for all that is +promised in the well-ordered covenant. O stumble not into the world +except when duty calls; at best it is a deadly weight, a great +hinderance to spiritual-mindedness, and in as far as it gets a +footing in your heart, it will not only mar your progress, but your +comfort. Lord, feed my children constantly with 'thy flesh and thy +blood,' that they may never hunger nor thirst for this world, +<!--Page 137--><a name="P137" id="P137"></a> but grow in the +divine life, and in the joy and comfort of the Holy +Ghost. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">CTOBER</font> 20, 1797.</p> +<p>"How condescending is our covenant God. All we have or enjoy is +from his hand; he gave us our being; our lives, although forfeited +a thousand times, have been preserved. 'Our bread has been given +us, and our water sure;' and not only these necessaries, but many +comforts and good temporal things have fallen to our lot; 'thou +hast furnished our table,' hast provided medicines and cordials +when sick. Lord, I thank thee for all these mercies, but above all, +that we can call thee our reconciled Father; that we have them not +as the world have them, who are far from thee, and have no portion +among thy children, nor interest in thy well-ordered covenant; but +that we have them as thy redeemed, as part of covenant provision, +and with a covenant blessing, and among the <i>all things</i> that +work together for our good. Lord, enable us to be rich in good +works. How condescending, that thou acceptest a part of thine own +as freewill-offerings, and hast annexed promised blessings to those +who consider the poor; hast said, 'He who giveth to the poor, +lendeth to the Lord.'</p> +<p>"I thank thee that thou hast laid to hand a sufficiency to +enable me and mine to eat our own bread; even that which, according +to the regulations of society, men call our own. Thou only hast a +right to call it not so, for we are thine, and all that thou hast +given us; but of thy free bounty and kind providence, 'thou hast +enabled us to provide things honest and of good report in the sight +of all men,' and to give a portion to them who need.</p> +<!--Page 138--><a name="P138" id="P138"></a> +<p>"I trust thy Spirit has directed my judgment in the +determination I have taken to set apart, from time to time, this +portion, according as thou prosperest us in business, and +preservest us in health and ability to pursue it. I bless thee for +indulgent, encouraging appearances, that since I began the practice +thou hast added to my stock, and that which I have given has never +straitened, but thou hast prospered me more and more. My poor's +purse has never been empty when called for, neither has my family +purse. Of thine own I give thee, and bless thy name for the +privilege.</p> +<p>"Grant direction with respect to whom, and how much to +give."</p> +<p>The following meditations will afford refreshment to every +Christian heart:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1797.</p> +<p>"'As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, +rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye +have been taught, abounding there in with thanksgiving.'</p> +<p>"Yes, just so, and no other way shall any poor corrupted +creature attain holiness, in the very same manner that he received +the Lord Jesus at first. He is' the Alpha; and Omega, the first and +the last, the beginning and the end.'</p> +<p>"O Lord, my Saviour, my complete Saviour, and in whom I am +complete, I received thee as my expiatory sacrifice, by whom +atonement was made for my sins; by whom reconciliation was made; I +reconciled to God, and God to me. I was then delivered from the +power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's +<!--Page 139--><a name="P139" id="P139"></a> dear Son, and have +redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. This +same blood must cleanse my daily spots, must cleanse my very best +services; this same blood must cleanse my conscience daily, and +give me confidence in God, as my reconciled Father. By this same +peace-speaking blood I daily present myself in his presence, and +know that he sees no iniquity in me so as to condemn me.</p> +<p>"O Lord, I receive thee as my justifying righteousness, +disclaiming all confidence in my own works, throwing them aside as +filthy rags. I place my sole dependence upon an imputed +righteousness, <i>that</i> righteousness wrought out by thee as my +surety, in thy holy, meritorious life and death; believing thy +testimony, that 'the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is +eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Just so must I go on, +trusting in, resting upon, rejoicing in the Lord my righteousness. +By one man's offence many were made sinners, so by the obedience of +one shall many, and I among others, be made righteous. 'Christ is +the end of the law for righteousness,' therefore I walk at liberty, +free from all dread of condemnation. Not as a slave, not as a +servant, not as a hireling, not as a probationer; but as a child +and heir of God, to whom the inheritance is made sure. I have +received the seal of the testament, ratified and made sure by the +death of the testator. All the blessings contained in this Bible, +the records of the well-ordered covenant, are mine; and, Oh +glorious truth, the testator died to ratify and insure this +testament; but he lives again, the glorious executor.</p> +<p>"O Lord, I received thee as my king: depending upon promised +strength, I swore allegiance to thee, <!--Page 140--><a name="P140" +id="P140"></a> and to thy government. Just so, my dear sovereign +Master, must I go on: rejoicing in its privileges, subjecting +myself cheerfully to its restrictions; studying with care its +positive commands, and setting myself to obey; submitting with +meekness to its discipline; claiming thy kingly power to subdue the +corruptions of my heart, to defend from foes within and foes +without; and when thou callest me to fight, to arm me for battle, +and lead me on to victory.</p> +<p>"I received thee as my divine Saviour, as the covenant of the +people: the covenant arranged, ratified, and fulfilled; to me a +covenant of free gift. Receiving thee, I received all the promises +in their fullest extent, as legally made over and confirmed to me +by the irrevocable gift of Deity: and in thee, as my Saviour, +dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; yes, dwelleth in +him for his people, his ransomed; dwelleth in him as our head; we +are united to him, one with him, as he and the Father are one, and +being one with him, we are complete in him. He is the head, we the +members; he is the vine, we the branches; he is the foundation and +chief corner-stone, we the building. Thus let us walk in him; +rooted and built up in him; filled with the knowledge of his will, +in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; walking worthy of the +Lord, unto all pleasing — being fruitful in every good work, +and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all +might, according to his glorious power; unto all patience and +long-suffering, with joyfulness; for it is he who worketh in us +both to will and to do of his good pleasure; and although of +ourselves we can do nothing, yet we can do all things through +Christ strengthening us; <!--Page 141--><a name="P141" id= +"P141"></a> and he has promised, that 'as our days so shall our +strength be.'</p> +<p>"It is well, Lord, it is well. Thou art mine, and I am thine: +thou art mine with all thy fulness, what can I want besides? +Nothing, Lord. Thou hast given me 'the heritage of those that fear +thy name;' I am satisfied with my portion. Amen. Be my God and the +God of my seed, and glorify thy name in us."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">CTOBER</font>, 1797.</p> +<p>"'Remove far from me vanity and lies,' Psa. 119. Every deviation +from rectitude and truth is sin. Who that knows any thing of the +corruption of the human heart, and its strange tendency to stray, +to err, yea, even to pervert the plainest, simplest, and most +obvious truths, but must see the propriety of his joining the +psalmist, and crying out, Lord, remove far from me the way of +lies.</p> +<p>"The way of lies as it respects our judgment and sentiments, as +it respects our motives of action, and as it respects our +conduct.</p> +<p>"As it respects our judgment: how does every species of error +abound; even the serious and earnest seekers of truth differ in +many things, which, although they may not prevent their final +salvation, mar their progress in knowledge, in holiness, and in +comfort. Lord, remove far from us the way of lies. Lead us to the +pure, unmixed, unerring word of truth, as it respects our +sentiments, and as it respects our conduct. O how many deceive +themselves by resting on a speculative knowledge of the truth, or +what they esteem such, while their hearts remain unaffected, their +tempers unsanctified, and their lives unfruitful. Passionate, +stubborn, relentless, unmerciful, implacable +<!--Page 142--><a name="P142" id="P142"></a> tempers indulged +and unmortified, must be a way of lies. 'Learn of me,' says the +Saviour, 'for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest +to your souls.' 'The meek will he guide in judgment,' the meek will +he teach his way.</p> +<p>"'Remove far from me the way of lies, and teach me thy law +graciously.'</p> +<p>"'Teach me thy law graciously,' not the ceremonial and the moral +law alone, but the whole of God's revealed will. The psalmist knew +the law ceremonial and moral, but he wants more and more of the +teaching of the Spirit of God. 'He,' the Spirit of truth, 'shall +take of mine, and show it unto you.' The word of God is ever the +same; it contains the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; every +thing necessary to safety, to holiness, and happiness: but O, the +difference between him who reads with a mind enlightened by the +Spirit of God, and him who reads with no other assistance than his +own poor blinded, darkened reason. Teach me then thy law +graciously. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I +shall have learned thy judgments. 'Open thou mine eyes, that I may +behold wondrous things out of thy law.' The psalmist thirsted after +more and more extensive views of the word of God, and still as his +views were enlarged he desired more. 'The earth is full of thy +mercy,' verse 64; this was one lesson, but still he cries, 'Teach +me thy statutes. Thou hast dealt bountifully with me, O Lord, +according to thy word.' Still he cries, 'Teach me good judgment and +knowledge. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I +might learn thy statutes.'"</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 143--><a name="P143" id="P143"></a> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">CTOBER</font>, 1797.</p> +<p>"I love to feel the kindlings of repentance, self-loathing under +a sense of ingratitude, heart-melting with the view of pardoning +grace. I love to feel the sprinkling of my Redeemer's blood on my +conscience, drawing forth the tears of joy and gratitude in the +view of a free pardon. I love to dwell on the seal of +reconciliation, while my heart, glowing with gratitude, sinks into +the arms of my redeeming Lord, in full confidence of his love and +my safety for ever. I love to feel longings after closer communion, +after more conformity to his image, more usefulness to my +fellow-members of the body of Christ, and to all his creatures. I +love to feel deeply interested in the success of the gospel, in the +declarative glory of Jehovah, as manifested in his works of +creation and providence, but chiefly in the superexcellent work of +redemption: for 'thou hast magnified thy word above all thy +name.'"</p> +<!--Page 144--><a name="P144" id="P144"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> +<h4>FORMATION OF THE WIDOWS' SOCIETY — CLOSE OF HER +SCHOOL.</h4> +<p>I<font size="-1">N</font> November, 1797, the "Society for the +Relief of Poor Widows with small Children" was instituted at New +York; a society which has risen into great respectability, and has +been productive of very beneficent effects. The Lord, in his +merciful providence, prepared this institution, to grant relief to +the many bereaved families who were left widows and orphans by the +ravages of the yellow-fever in the years 1798 and 1799.</p> +<p>It took its rise from an apparently adventitious circumstance. +Mr. B——, in the year 1796, was one of the distributing managers +of the St. Andrew's Society. The distribution of this charity was +of course limited to a certain description of applicants. Mrs. +B——, interested for widows not entitled to share in the bounty of +the St. Andrew's Society, frequently collected small sums for their +relief. She consulted with a few friends on the propriety of +establishing a female society for the relief of poor widows with +small children, without limitation. Invitations in the form of +circular letters were sent to the ladies of New York, and a very +respectable number assembled at the house of Mrs. Graham. The +proposed plan was approved, and a society organized. Mrs. Graham +was elected first directress, which office she held for ten +years.</p> +<p>At the semiannual meeting in March, 1798, Mrs. +<!--Page 145--><a name="P145" id="P145"></a> Graham made a very +pleasing report of the proceedings of the Managers, and of the +amount of relief afforded to the poor. The ladies of New York truly +honored themselves and religion by their zeal in this benevolent +undertaking, in reference to which Mrs. Graham says, in a letter to +her friend Mrs. Walker:</p> +<p>"I mentioned in my last that we had planned a society for the +relief of poor widows with small children: the success has been +beyond our most sanguine expectations. We have now a hundred and +ninety subscribers, at three dollars a year, and nearly a thousand +dollars in donations. We have spent three hundred dollars this +winter, and nearly all upon worthy objects. The poor increase fast: +emigrants from all quarters flock to us, and when they come they +must not be allowed to die for want. There are eight hundred in the +almshouse, and our society has helped along many, with their own +industry, that must otherwise have been there. The French, poor +things, are also starving among us; it would need a stout heart to +lay up in these times."</p> +<p>In the same letter she informs her of the first monthly +missionary prayer-meeting known to have been held in the city of +New York.</p> +<p>"The second Wednesday in February we commenced our first monthly +meeting for prayer for the Lord's blessing on ours, and all the +missionary societies. It was far from full; but we must be thankful +for the day of small things, and pray, and wait, and hope. The +Dutch churches, the Baptist and Presbyterian have united so far as +to officiate in each other's <!--Page 146--><a name="P146" id= +"P146"></a> churches; they have collected about seventeen +hundred dollars, and are looking out for two missionaries to send +among the Indians, or to the frontiers."</p> +<p>A few months later we find the following letter to a young man +on his joining the church:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">EPTEMBER</font>, 1798.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR YOUNG</font> F<font size= +"-1">RIEND</font> — You have now ratified in a public manner +that transaction which, no doubt, passed previously in private +between you and your God. You have declared your belief of the +gospel, and have taken hold of God's covenant of promise. You have +fallen in with his own plan, which he has appointed for the +salvation of guilty sinners; and rested your soul upon his word of +promise that you shall be saved. You have, at the same time, +dedicated and devoted your soul, your body, your time, your +talents, your substance, your influence, all that you are and have, +to be disposed of at his pleasure, and for his glory, in the world. +You are no longer your own. You are bought with a price, adopted +into the family of God, numbered with and entitled to all the +privileges of his children. Your motives of action, your views, +your interests, are all different from those of the worldling. +Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, your aim must be, and +will be, to do all to his glory. This must go with you, and be your +ruling principle in all the walks of life. By your integrity, +uprightness, diligence, and disinterested attention to the interest +of your employers, you will glorify God and have his presence with +you in business. By a due and marked observance of the Sabbath, and +attendance on the ordinances, you will <!--Page 147--><a name= +"P147" id="P147"></a> glorify him. By regularity, order, and +temperance, crowned with an open acknowledgment of God before all +who may surround your board, you will glorify him in an especial +manner in these days of degeneracy, and, crowned with family +worship, you will glorify him, and his presence will be with you, +and great will be your comfort. God's interest in the world must +also be yours. The good of his church in general, and that of your +own family in particular; and O, my son, if you would be rich in +comfort, follow the Lord fully, and follow him openly; and if you +would do it so as to suffer the least from the sneer of the world, +do it at once.</p> +<p>"Already you have received congratulations on your joining the +church, by those belonging to it; soon will it be known to those +who will scoff at it. But Christians and worldlings will look for +consistency; and if it be wanting, the last will be the first to +mark it. A decided character will soon deliver you from all +solicitations to what may be even unseemly, and dignified +consistent conduct will command respect. Not but the Lord may let +loose upon you the persecuting sneer and banter of the wise of this +world, whose esteem you wish to preserve; but, if he do, the trial +will be particular, and he will support you under it, and bring his +glory and your good out of it.</p> +<p>"And now, my son, suffer the word of exhortation. You have +entered the school of Christ, and have much to learn, far beyond +what men or books can of themselves teach, and you have much to +receive on divine credit, beyond what human reason can +comprehend.</p> +<!--Page 148--><a name="P148" id="P148"></a> +<p>"I would recommend to you to read carefully, and pause as you +read, and pray as you read for the teaching of the Spirit, the +epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. Read it first without any +commentary, and read it as addressed to you, S—— A——. You will +there find what may in part stagger your reason; you will find what +far surpasses your comprehension; but yet read on, with conscious +weakness, and ignorance, and absolute dependence on divine +teaching. When you have read it through, then take Brown's or +Henry's exposition of it.</p> +<p>"A degree of mystery, my son, runs through the whole of God's +revealed word; but it is <i>his</i>, and to be received with +reverence, and believed with confidence, because it is <i>his</i>. +It is to be searched with diligence, and compared; and, by God's +teaching and the assistance of his sent servants, the child of God +becomes mighty in the Scriptures. Let not mystery stagger you: we +are surrounded with mysteries; we ourselves are mysteries +inexplicable: nor let the doctrine of election stagger you; how +small a part of God's ways do we know, or can comprehend! rejoice +that he has given you the heritage of his people — leave the +rest to him: 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?'</p> +<p>"Jesus took once a little child and set him in the midst of the +people, and said, 'Except ye be converted, and become as little +children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,' intimating with +what simplicity and docility men ought to receive the gospel; and +the following text also alludes to this: 'Suffer little children to +come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of +heaven.' There are many <!--Page 149--><a name="P149" id= +"P149"></a> promises made to the diligent searchers after truth: +'Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.' 'The secret +of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his +covenant.' Yet the highly enlightened Paul calls the gospel a +mystery, and godliness a mystery; 'for now we see through a glass +darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then,' in +heaven, 'shall I know even as also I am known.' Therefore, while +you use all diligence, accompanied with prayer and the expositions +of God's faithful ministers, to understand every part of divine +revelation, be neither surprised nor disheartened at the want of +comprehension, far less attempt to reduce it to human reason, as +many have done to their ruin. The Scripture says, 'Vain man would +be wise, though born like the wild ass's colt.' 'The wisdom of this +world is foolishness with God.'</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>Again we have the following merited strictures by one taught +from above, on a passage in Pope's Essay on Man.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1798.</p> +<p class="center"><font size="-1">"'Glows in the stars and blossoms +in the trees.'</font></p> +<p>"There the poet must stop: thus far the natural mind, richly +endowed with human powers, can go and trace a God of power, wisdom, +and beneficence: O that thou hadst had eyes to see, and discern +what flesh and blood could never reach; that all these glories +dwindle into tapers, when compared with Jehovah manifested in the +face of Jesus Christ. Every star, every tree, all vegetating, +bursting, blooming life, answer the end of their creation, +manifesting his glory as thou sayest; but can they tell thee how +this <!--Page 150--><a name="P150" id="P150"></a> God can be +just, and yet justify those who have rebelled against all his +attributes; torturing even his fair and beautiful creation, and +bringing it into subjection to their lusts, as thou hast well sung; +murmuring at, and rebelling against his dispensations in +providence; hardening themselves against his government; perverting +every good to their own misery, and imbibing wretchedness from +means of blessedness? Can all that thou hast sung bring into +congeniality perfection of wickedness and perfection of holiness, +perfection of wretchedness and perfection of happiness, perfect +opposition in nature and principle? Here thy song stops short. Thou +seest the evils and the misery; thou hast a glimpse of an opposite +good, but all means proposed by thee ever have proved, and ever +will prove inadequate to the attainment of it: the very attributes +of a just and holy God oppose it: heaven and earth must stand +amazed at the declaration that God would justify the ungodly."</p> +<p>In the month of September, 1798, Mrs. Graham's daughter Isabella +was married to Mr. Andrew Smith, merchant, then of New York. Her +family being thus settled to her satisfaction, and her health not +good, she was prevailed upon to retire from her school, and to live +with her children.</p> +<p>During the prevalence of the yellow-fever in 1798, it was with +much difficulty Mrs. Graham was dissuaded from going into the city +to attend on the sick: the fear of involving her children in the +same calamity, in the event of her being attacked by the fever, was +the chief reason of her acquiescing in their wish to prevent so +hazardous an undertaking. During <!--Page 151--><a name="P151" id= +"P151"></a> the subsequent winter she was indefatigable in her +attentions to the poor, she exerted herself to procure work for her +widows, and occupied much of her time in cutting it out and +preparing it for them. The managers of the Widows' Society had each +a separate district; and Mrs. Graham, as first Directress, had a +general superintendence of the whole. She was so happy in the +execution of her trust, as to acquire the respect and confidence of +the ladies who acted with her, as well as the affections of the +poor.</p> +<p>Her whole time was now at her command, and she devoted it very +faithfully to promote the benevolent object of the institution over +which she presided. The extent of her exertions, however, became +known, not from the information given by herself, but from the +observations of her fellow-laborers, and especially from the +testimony of the poor themselves. When she had been absent for some +weeks, on a visit to her friends in Boston, in the summer of 1800, +her daughter, Mrs. B——, was surprised at the frequent inquiries +made after her by persons with whom she was unacquainted: at length +she asked some of those inquirers what they knew about Mrs. Graham. +They replied, "We live in the suburbs of the city, where she used +to visit, relieve, and comfort the poor. We had missed her so long, +that we were afraid she had been sick; when she walked in our +streets, it was customary with us to come to the door and receive +her blessing as she passed."</p> +<p>We next find letters to her female friend near Boston, who was +still in much spiritual darkness and despondency.</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 152--><a name="P152" id="P152"></a> +<p class="center">To Mrs. C——, near Boston.</p> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">ARCH</font>, 1799.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y EVER DEAR</font> F<font size= +"-1">RIEND</font> — I have just read your letter, painful to +you to write, but to me as the mother's anguish which precedes her +joy. The day will soon break, and the shadows flee away; and the +dear Saviour whom you seek, will again comfort his returning +prodigal.</p> +<p>"I will do what you desire me, and though I have the highest +opinion of our young Timothy, J.M., I will pass by him in this +case, and lay it before one of the aged Christians, Dr. R——rs or +Dr. L——n; at the same time, my friend, I am as sure of their +answer as if I were already in possession of it. Who told my friend +that she was blind, and miserable, and wretched, and naked? Flesh +and blood never yet taught proud man or woman this lesson.</p> +<p>"My dear friend, there is nothing new nor strange in all you +have told me: there is scarce a heaven-taught soul, who has made +any advances in the spiritual warfare, but could sympathize with +you from experience. What have you experienced more than the +Scriptures tell us: that 'the heart is deceitful above all things, +and desperately wicked?' Only the Lord can search it, only he can +cleanse it. He takes the prerogative to himself, and he calls it +his covenant that he will make with sinners in gospel times. You +may strive and fight, and resolve and vow — all will not do: +you lie at his mercy for holiness as well as pardon. He is exalted +as a Prince to give repentance, and he is the author and finisher +of faith. He works all our works in us, and without him we are not +equal to one good thought. We are his workmanship, 'created +<!--Page 153--><a name="P153" id="P153"></a> anew in Christ +Jesus,' My dear friend, put the work into his hand, and try to wait +on him in hope — hope in every situation; do more, trust.</p> +<p>"You entirely mistake the situation of others; none of us have +our heaven here: no, sin dwelleth in us; the very best have their +ups and downs. Do you think your friend is always on the mount? +very far from it. I am at times so cold, so dead, so stupid, that I +can neither pray, read, nor hear. I have begun the same chapter +over and over, still trying to fix my thoughts, and as often they +wander on every trifle; but my peace lies where you will soon learn +to place yours, in the merits of my almighty Saviour. My safety +depends not on my frames, but his promise and when tossed and +tempted, dead and lifeless, emptied of every good, perhaps buffeted +like you with abominable thoughts, the fiery darts of Satan, +casting all on Him, I am safe as when basking in the sunshine of +his love, and tasting what you have tasted: for you have tasted, +and you shall yet taste the joys of his salvation. I too have +proved false to his covenant, have gone off with the world, and +been intoxicated with its vanities and empty delights, and have +laid up for myself seasons of deep remorse; my sins have often +separated between my God and me, especially in my younger days; the +Lord calls to watchfulness and diligence in the use of means, and +he generally honors these means, of his own appointing, with his +blessing. When we either trust to these means, and fancy merit in +them, or neglect to use them as his appointment, he generally makes +us feel our error, but he does not cast us out of his family; he +chastens us, and restores us.</p> +<!--Page 154--><a name="P154" id="P154"></a> +<p>"I write hastily, just to say that you have my sympathy and my +love; for well I know, the almighty Lord alone can loose your +bonds, and give you 'joy and peace in believing.' All my advice may +be summed up in this — trust in the Lord with all your heart; +at least aim at this; I say, aim at it, for this too must be given +you. Roll yourself, your doubts, your fears, your sins, your +duties, all on him: say, 'Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.' +He is an almighty Saviour to deliver sinners from sin as well as +from punishment. I leave you on the Father of mercies, and will, +when the Lord enables, pray for you.</p> +<p class="right">"Yours, etc."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p>"At last, my dear friend, the Lord appears; appears the Bible +God — 'the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, +abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, +forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.'</p> +<p>"When was it that the Lord proclaimed this, and took unto +himself this name? After Israel, his chosen, had been guilty of +that awful sin in the wilderness, of making the golden calf, and +proclaiming, 'These be thy gods, O Israel:' David takes it up in +the 103d Psalm, 'The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, +and plenteous in mercy.' Read on, my dear, then turn to the 130th. +This God is your God, and has long been your God; his work was upon +your heart, though you could not discern it. In bondage you have +long been, but not a willing captive; unbelief kept you in bondage, +long, long after your eyes were opened to see your bondage; and +even to discern, in some feeble measure, your remedy.</p> +<!--Page 155--><a name="P155" id="P155"></a> +<p>"The Lord has wise reasons for all you have suffered: if not +now, you shall in some after-time 'know and consider all the way by +which he has led you, to prove you, to try you, and show you what +was in your heart, that he might do you good in your latter end.' +You did not wait patiently for the Lord your God; you did not in +general say, 'Though he slay me, I will trust in him:' no, my +friend has been a great unbeliever, yet hath the Lord, the +sovereign Lord, 'whose ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts +as our thoughts,' brought you out of 'a fearful pit, and out of the +miry clay; set your feet upon a rock, and established your goings; +put a new song into your mouth, even praise unto our God.' Now you +sing the 34th Psalm. I do rejoice with my friend; I bless the Lord +with her; let us exalt his name together. It is establishing to my +own soul. I have long prayed, and long looked for this: I lived in +the faith of it, assured that He who had begun the good work, would +perfect it in his own time.</p> +<p>"I cannot but regret your want of pastoral food; yet ought I to +regret any thing? The Lord himself is your Shepherd. My Bible lies +on my lap, and I had turned to the 34th Psalm, to know if it +contained what I would point out to you: on finishing the last +verse, I unconsciously turned my eye on the Bible; the words that +met it were, 'I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way that +thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.' Psa. 32:8. And so +it shall be. Amen, my God, Amen. Do as thou hast said.</p> +<p>"Perhaps, my friend, by this time your notes are lowered. It has +pleased the Lord to give you a strange sight: Mary Magdalene, a +great sinner at the feet of <!--Page 156--><a name="P156" id= +"P156"></a> Jesus, pardoned, comforted, and highly honored in +after-life.</p> +<p>"This history, accompanied by the Spirit of God, has consoled, +strengthened, and raised up many bowed down since that day, many +now around the throne, who sing of pardoning love.</p> +<p>"I now wish to say, hold fast the beginning of your confidence. +Your experience is that of God's people. To rejoice in the Lord at +all times is your privilege, but will not be always your +attainment. The Lord has done great things for you, whereof I am +glad; but, my dear friend, the warfare is not over: you must endure +trials as others; engage with 'principalities and powers, and +spiritual wickedness in high places,' and, worst of all, a +treacherous heart within; which, for all that it has seen and +tasted, is yet corrupt and deceitful. The new life which Christ +gives to the soul, evidences itself in the desires of the heart and +affections. As certainly as the new-born babe desires the breast, +as certainly and as evidently does the new-born soul desire union +to God, communion with him, and conformity to him in heart, life, +and conversation. This principle is in its own nature perfectly +pure, but the old nature, the law in the spiritual members, is as +perfectly corrupt: 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.'</p> +<p>"In the order of God's covenant it has not pleased him to +deliver even believers, all at once, from sinful inclinations and +passions; he has provided for their final complete deliverance, and +sin shall not have dominion over them even here; but it is still in +them while in the body, and a dying body; and the remains of sin in +the soul make the believer's life a warfare, and this +<!--Page 157--><a name="P157" id="P157"></a> world a wilderness; +soul and body are diseased; both are redeemed, and provision made +for the entire deliverance of both — for the soul at death, +for the body at the resurrection; but while in the body, 'if any +man say he has no sin, he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not +in him.' 1 John, 1:8. Look at Paul's experience — what +does he say of the believer's state? He calls it a warfare, a +fight, a captivity for a time: see 1 Tim. 6:12; 1 Cor. +9:26.</p> +<p>"I write not thus to dishearten you, but as a friend I warn you, +lest you fall again into unbelief. Look not within for comfort, for +consolation, for confidence. Christ is the end of the law for +righteousness, his blood the atonement, and you are complete in +him, his grace is sufficient for you, his strength shall be +perfected in your weakness, and you shall go on. Grieve for sin you +will, grieve you ought; but keep ever in your remembrance +1 John, 2:1, and 5:11.</p> +<p class="right">"Yours, etc."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">ANUARY</font> 14, 1800.</p> +<p>"My dear friend says, 'O that I could have the society of some +aged pious clergyman or Christian, who had gone through his +warfare.' O that you could, in the Lord's hand. I hope it might do +you good: yet, after all, the Lord himself must loose your bonds; +aye, and he will, and also appoint the means.</p> +<p>"There are two kinds of rest awaiting you, the one in this life, +the other will not be attained till the mortal shall put on +immortality. When was it that Paul, the great apostle, could say he +had fought the good fight? Not till he could also say he had +finished his course, and was ready to be offered up; till then, he +like others <!--Page 158--><a name="P158" id="P158"></a> had to +continue the warfare between grace and corruption; like others, +found a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, so +that the thing that he would, he did not, and that which he would +not, that he did. Notwithstanding this, there is a blessed rest +attainable here, rest from the fear of wrath and hell — a +rest in Christ as our atonement, our surety, our complete +righteousness, our title to eternal life, and all the grace +necessary to fit us for it. This is the work of faith, or rather, +this is faith itself. The soul established in this can rest in all +possible circumstances; it depends not on its frames: in darkness, +when it is tossed, tempted, wandering, conscious of unhallowed +tempers, perhaps of the actual commission of sin, though at such +times the warfare between grace and corruption is so strong as to +make the Christian exclaim, 'O wretched man that I am! who shall +deliver me from this body of sin and death?' he can still say, 'The +Lord lives, blessed be my Rock;' see the 42d and 43d Psalms. The +Christian can still say, my Lord and my God; he is sure the +conflict will end, and that his God will bring good out of it; he +enjoys hope; he feels his state as safe as in the most enlarged +frame of mind, when he can pray, praise, love, rejoice. This is a +riddle which only Christians can understand, and even they require +many lessons to comprehend it, many more to practise.</p> +<p>"Have you Newton's letters? See his second letter in +Cardiphonia. O try to fix your anchor of hope on that sure +foundation which God has laid in Zion, Christ himself. Trust him to +save you from every evil without you and within you. When your own +weakness sinks you, try to be strong in his strength; +<!--Page 159--><a name="P159" id="P159"></a> when guilt +disturbs, wash in the open Fountain. But hold fast the beginning of +your confidence unto the end.</p> +<p>"Be comforted, fight on, aim at trusting, and you shall, in the +Lord's time, also, cease from your own works, and rest, with more +advanced Christians, on the faithfulness of your own God in Christ. +See Hebrews 4:9, also chap. 12 throughout. I finish with chap. +13:20, 21, my earnest prayer and sure hope for you, my precious +friend.</p> +<p class="right">Yours, etc."</p> +<p>Writing to her brother Dr. Marshall, she alludes to the +prevalent neglect of the voice of God in his judgments, and notices +the death of Washington.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, March 3, 1800.</p> +<p>"Here comes a letter of woe from my dear brother, on a subject +almost already forgotten in New York, the yellow-fever. Strange as +it may seem, the disease, and all that it carried off, seem +entirely out of mind. No mention made of the past, no apprehensions +for the future. Country retreats are multiplying around, and people +appear as if they had made a covenant with death. Potter's Field is +filled with our principal citizens; the prison and prison limits +with many of the survivors. The rest are <i>feasting</i>, +<i>dancing,</i> and <i>revelling</i>, or weeping over feigned woe +in the theatre — a few excepted, who have fled for refuge to +the hope set before them, whose eyes have been opened to discern +the danger and accept the offered Saviour: among which number, I +dare, through grace, reckon your sister and her children. 'Bless +the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.'</p> +<p>"The city, indeed the United States, have been +<!--Page 160--><a name="P160" id="P160"></a> swallowed up in the +loss of Washington. The utmost stretch of human eloquence has been +called forth in panegyric. His eulogium has been sounded in every +possible mode — not excepting our pulpits. The 22d of +February, his birthday, was set apart to his memory. Two of our +ministers were appointed to pronounce an eulogium on his character: +one of whom was Dr. Mason, the other Dr. Linn. The last I admired; +it had its due influence over me; but of my own minister I could +form no judgment: the church, the pulpit, the man, the words, +seemed so connected with the 'Lord Jesus Christ,' his favorite +theme, I could not realize the <i>mere</i> orator.</p> +<p>"Great things were said of Washington, and they were due.</p> +<p>"The Lord himself called him by name, girded him, subdued great +armies before him, with handfuls, like Gideon. He gave him wisdom +in counsel, and prudence in executing justice. A nation blessed him +while he lived, and with all the power of language lamented his +death. Ah, human depravity, how striking. Bursting with gratitude +to a creature — with enmity to a Saviour God; to God, who 'so +loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever +believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life; and +to as many as receive him gives power to become the sons of God,' +by putting his Spirit within them, and causing them to love and +walk in his statutes. But alas, the carnal unrenewed mind is enmity +against God and his Christ. O that men were wise, and could see +their disease, and the remedy.</p> +<p>"What misery is in the world at this day. It is only equalled by +the wickedness. How does potsherd <!--Page 161--><a name="P161" id= +"P161"></a> dash against potsherd, mutually destroying each +other. How consoling to the Christian 'that the Lord reigns. The +Lord sits King among the nations,' even our own Jesus, 'Head over +all principalities and powers, and dominions, and every name that +is named in heaven and in earth;' all these shakings, turnings, and +overturnings, shall prove subservient to the real prosperity of his +church."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1800.</p> +<p>"I have entered into my closet; I have shut my door; I would +pray to my Father who is in secret; I would be shut up with my +indwelling God; but see the crowds that follow; see my treacherous +heart that gives them admission; see my unsanctified imagination +going off with them, leaving nothing before thee but a lifeless +lump of clay. Help, Lord. Hast thou not redeemed me from vain +imaginations? Lord, fill all thy temple; cast out the buyers and +sellers; thyself prepare room for close, undisturbed, holy +conference. Grant that, according to the riches of thy glory, I may +be strengthened with might by thy Spirit in the inner man: dwell in +my heart by faith, that 'rooted and grounded in love, I may be able +to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and +height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth +knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God.' Give unto +thy redeemed servant the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Reveal +thyself more and more in my soul; enlighten the eyes of my +understanding. Lord, improve, enlarge the powers of the new man. +Spirit of the Father and of the Son, do thine office; take of the +things of Christ and show them unto me; that I may know what is the +hope of his calling, and what <!--Page 162--><a name="P162" id= +"P162"></a> the 'riches of the glory of his inheritance in the +saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward +who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he +wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at +the Father's right hand, in the heavenly places, far above all +principalities, and powers, and might, and dominion, and every name +that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to +come; and hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be +the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the +fulness of him that filleth all in all.' Filled with all the +fulness of God; 'the fulness of him who filleth all in all!' O what +things are these. My soul stretches to comprehend; but, weak and +feeble, cannot climb those glorious heights, nor dig into these, to +me, unsearchable depths. I can only spell after the language of the +Holy Ghost, lisp out his own words. I dare not trust my powers of +comprehension to vary even the mode of expression.</p> +<p>"Well, it may be best for me; the valley of humility may be +safest for me. 'Father, glorify thy name.' Thou hast quickened me; +I am not what I was. Thou hast wrought in me a measure of faith and +love; thou hast sealed me with the Holy Spirit of promise; thou +hast given me the earnest of my inheritance; the full possession +shall come in thy appointed time. Wherefore I will sing unto Him +that is able, and will do exceeding abundantly above all I can ask, +think, or comprehend, according to that same mighty power that +worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, +throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.</p> +<!--Page 163--><a name="P163" id="P163"></a> +<p>"My covenant God, and the God of my house. Thy Spirit saith, 'If +any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.' Thou knowest the +difficulty and danger of the present case. We are ignorant of +hidden motions and principles, of Satan's suggestions, of +corresponding or discordant circumstances, of future providences +and events. Lord, give counsel.</p> +<p>"If information and advice be duty on the part of thy servant, +determine on the side of duty, be the danger what it may; and Oh, +search, try, and deliver from every selfish or hidden impure +motive. Give prudence in the choice of words, in the time and +manner as well as purity in the matter. Save from injuring any of +the individuals concerned. And Oh, prepare the heart of thy other +servant to receive this office of friendship with a proper degree +of confidence. Save from unjust suspicions, that it may be taken as +meant in love, in Christian love and friendship.</p> +<p>"O thou who knowest all hearts, all motives, all circumstances +past, present, and future, overrule for the manifestation of truth, +for the safety and good of thy servant, and for the closer union of +all concerned in the bands of Christian love, confidence, and +affection; and as our covenant God, in whom we trust for guidance +in every path of duty, glorify thy name.</p> +<p>"I record this prayer in faith, and wait an answer of peace from +thy inward teaching and manifestation in the course of thy +providence. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1800.</p> +<p>"'His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as +long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall +call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who +alone <!--Page 164--><a name="P164" id="P164"></a> doeth +wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let +the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.' Psalm +72:17.</p> +<p>"Again have I and my children been fed with Christ's flesh and +his blood at his own table. Glorious things are said of thee, thou +city of our God; and rich the provision of the house of our God; +wonderful the scheme that hath made sinful, guilty, rebel sinners +the citizens of this holy city, inhabitants of this holy house. +Mysterious truth. The city itself the house of God; the temple of +the Lord, in which he delighteth to dwell. Closer yet, more +mysterious, yet equally true, 'his body, his flesh, and his bones;' +closer still, one Spirit with him. As Mediator Emmanuel, he is the +bond of union, whereby the guilty sons and daughters of Adam are +made one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>"Wonderfully and fearfully are we made as creatures: as a +rational creature, who can understand and comprehend himself; how +these members were fashioned; how this spark of vital flame was +breathed into the lifeless lump or atom? Wonder-working Lord, thou +only knowest. Wonderful are all the works of creation; but Oh, what +are they to thy work of redemption? To bring worlds out of nothing, +to bring light out of darkness, was thy easy work; but to bring +good out of evil, this, this was the wonder. Thousands and ten +thousands of worlds were, and may yet be created without cost. God +says, Let it <i>be</i>, and it is; but redemption! O, who can tell +the cost? Blessed Jesus, God manifested in the flesh; Christ, babe +of Bethlehem — man of sorrows — victim on the cross; +thou only canst tell. 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, +<!--Page 165--><a name="P165" id="P165"></a> who alone doeth +wondrous things, and blessed be his glorious name for ever!' +Whatever the cost, <i>it is finished</i>. He bowed his head and +said, 'It is finished!' This finished work is the new testament +which he bequeathed to his disciples 'the same night in which he +was betrayed,' when he took bread, blessed it, brake it, gave it to +his disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body broken for you; +and took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, +Drink ye all of it; for this is the new testament in my blood, +which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.</p> +<p>"The new testament! O, who can tell the blessings and benefits +contained in this testament, this dying legacy of our dear +Emmanuel, purchased and sealed with his blood! What is the amount +of it? What the sum of blessings contained in it? Behold, God is +become our salvation. This is the amount. God himself, God in +Christ reconciling us unto himself: by his mighty power subduing +the enmity that is in us; melting our flinty hearts; drawing us +with the cords of love; creating us anew after his own image, which +we had totally lost; uniting us to himself, even <i>us</i>, who +were enmity itself, but now are become one with God, who is love. +This is the work we have this day been celebrating: a given, a +born, a living, a suffering, dying, risen, ascended, glorified, +reigning Saviour. The Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the +Almighty God dwelling with men, dwelling in men, and feeding them +with his own body and blood. 'Behold, God is become our salvation; +we will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is our +strength and our song; he also is become our salvation, therefore +with joy <!--Page 166--><a name="P166" id="P166"></a> will we +draw water out of the wells of salvation.' His attributes are the +never-failing source; his ordinances the wells of salvation. God +himself is ours, all that he is is ours, to bless and to make us +happy. Ten thousand springs issue from this blessed source, +specified and particularized in his Bible, experienced and +celebrated by his saints. Let us drink and be refreshed, rejoice +and praise: for Oh, who can tell the amount of our riches, in +having God for our portion? All things are ours, we are Christ's, +and Christ is God's."</p> +<p>The Widows' Society met monthly, when the money in the treasury +was divided among the managers, for the relief of the widows under +their care. Mrs. Graham, as directress, thus acknowledges God and +asks his counsel:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1800.</p> +<p>"O my God, I account it an honorable office thou hast given me. +I have received it from thee. Enable me to execute it to thee.</p> +<p>"Father of the fatherless, husband of the widow, make me a fit +instrument in thy hand of distributing thy bounty. Give discernment +and judgment, tenderness, gentleness, humility, and love; let love +to thee be the principle of my every action; lead me in the +straight path of duty; on the matter, the manner, the time, let +'holiness to the Lord' be written. I thank thee for this sum +towards the relief of thy creatures; be with us this evening, and +direct our determination as to the division of it. Amen."</p> +<!--Page 167--><a name="P167" id="P167"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> +<h4>BENEVOLENT LABORS — MRS. HOFFMAN — +CORRESPONDENCE.</h4> +<br /> +<p>T<font size="-1">HE</font> "Society for the relief of Poor +Widows with small Children," having received a charter of +incorporation, and some pecuniary aid from the Legislature of the +state, the ladies who constituted the board of direction were +engaged in plans for extending their usefulness: Mrs. Graham took +an active part in executing these plans. The Society purchased a +small house, where they received work of various kinds for the +employment of their widows. They opened a school for the +instruction of their orphans, and many of Mrs. Graham's former +pupils volunteered their services, taking upon themselves, by +rotation, the part of instructors. Besides establishing this +school, Mrs. Graham selected some of the widows best qualified for +the task, and engaged them, for a small compensation, to open day +schools for the instruction of the children of widows in distant +parts of the city: she also established two Sabbath-schools, one of +which she superintended herself, and the other she placed under the +care of her daughter. Wherever she met with Christians sick and in +poverty, she visited and comforted them; and in some instances, +opened small subscription lists to provide for their support.</p> +<p>She attended occasionally for some years at the almshouse, for +the instruction of the children there in religious knowledge: in +this work she was much assisted by an humble and pious female +friend, who <!--Page 168--><a name="P168" id="P168"></a> was +seldom absent from it on the Lord's day. In short, her whole time +was occupied in searching out the distresses of the poor, and +devising measures to comfort and establish them to the extent of +her influence and means. At the same time, far from arrogating any +merit to herself, she seemed always to feel how much she was +deficient in following fully the precepts and the footsteps of her +beloved Lord and Saviour, who "went about doing good."</p> +<p>It was often her custom to leave home after breakfast, taking +with her a few rolls of bread, and return in the evening about +eight o'clock. Her only dinner on such days was her bread, and +perhaps some soup at the soup-house, established by the Humane +Society for the poor, over which one of her widows had been, at her +recommendation, appointed. She and her venerable companion, Mrs. +Sarah Hoffman, second directress of the Widows' Society, travelled +many a day and many a step together in the walks of charity. Mrs. +Graham was a Presbyterian, Mrs. Hoffman an Episcopalian. Those +barriers, of which such an unhappy use has been made by sectarians +to separate the children of God, fell down between these two +friends at the cry of affliction, and were consumed on the altar of +Christian love. Arm in arm, and heart to heart, they visited the +abodes of distress, dispensing temporal aid from the purse of +charity, and spiritual comfort from the word of life.</p> +<p>At each annual meeting, Mrs. Graham usually gave an address to +the Society, with a report of the proceedings of the managers +through the preceding year.</p> +<p>In April, 1800, she stated that "again the pestilence had +emptied the city; again every source of industry +<!--Page 169--><a name="P169" id="P169"></a> was dried up; even +the streams of benevolence from the country failed. Those +storehouses, from which relief was issued to thousands in former +calamities, now disappointed their hopes; and those spared by the +pestilence were ready to perish by the famine. Such widows as had +no friends in the country, under whose roof they might for a time +seek shelter, were shut up to the only relief within their power, +even to that society which had formerly saved them in many a +strait. They came, were received with tenderness, assisted with, +food, advice, and medicine.</p> +<p>"Four of the society's board, at the risk of their lives, +remained in the city, steady in the exercise of their office. One +hundred and forty-two widows, with four hundred and six children, +under twelve years of age, by far the greater part under six, have, +from time to time, during the winter, been visited and relieved. +Widow is a word of sorrow in the best of circumstances; but a widow +left poor, destitute, friendless, surrounded with a number of small +children, shivering with cold, pale with want, looking in her face +with eyes pleading for bread which she has not to give, nor any +probable prospect of procuring — her situation is neither to +be described nor conceived. Many such scenes were witnessed during +the last winter; and though none could restore the father and the +husband, the hearts of the mourners were soothed by the managers, +while they dispensed the relief provided for them by their Father +and their Husband, God."</p> +<p>In the summer of 1800, Mrs. Graham again visited her friends in +Boston, whence she wrote her daughter Mrs. B—— as follows:</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 170--><a name="P170" id="P170"></a> +<p class="right">"B<font size="-1">OSTON</font>, August, 1800.</p> +<p>"I yesterday received my dear J——'s letter, which gives fresh +cause for thankfulness. The more my absence is lengthened, the less +I am able to support the want of intelligence. Let us all bless God +together for all his mercies: among those which are temporal, +health is the chief; and I believe to most mothers it is more +valued in their children than in their own persons. I rejoice with +you over our restored J——y. O that our covenant God may give the +more important blessing of divine life. You had need to be +importunate for this, after the importunity exercised for natural +life. I thank God also for the alleviation of your own distress, +for our dear D——'s restoration from complaints less alarming so +far as they existed, but which might have been the seeds of serious +affliction.</p> +<p>"I could go on enumerating, for causes of thankfulness crowd +into my mind; but all are swallowed up in the grand mercy, the +distinguishing mercy of redeeming love to our souls. Salvation, not +only to me, but to my house. Oh, all words fail here. Read over +with me, sing with me, in your heart, the 103d Psalm. O my God, +dare I even sigh in thy presence, under any temporal pain, or hurt +of body or mind, with such a Father, such a Christ, such a +Comforter, such a richly-furnished well-ordered covenant, such a +constitution of grace and providence — O, such an all in all, +even 'all the fulness of God.' My God and the God of my seed, the +God of my house; yea, and the God of my prodigal, who shall in +heaven, if never on earth, join the song, 'To him that loved us and +washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory, +<!--Page 171--><a name="P171" id="P171"></a> honor, dominion, +power, and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.' O shall a murmur ever +pass these lips, shall this unthankful heart indulge even a sigh +over any object but sin; shall I shrink from any cross with such a +crown? Father, glorify thy name.</p> +<p>"I have been to church; the subject, 'be not weary in +well-doing.' Many arguments were adduced for exertion; but the +gospel was wanting. O that my friends could hear our shepherd; he +would sound his Master's voice more in unison with their own +hearts' experience, and views of new covenant provision and gospel +motives: except in the Baptist congregations, the gospel is much +mutilated here, and kept out of sight even by the few who are +supposed to build upon it.</p> +<p>"Sabbath next brings round your — I will add, my gospel +feast. I will endeavor to meet you to-morrow evening, and to have +you all on my heart, then and on the Sabbath, in that one Lord, one +faith, one Spirit, one God and Father of all, who is above all, +through all, and in all redeemed to himself by Jesus Christ, and +sanctified by that one Spirit uniting all. What subjects! I cannot +attain to the comprehension, but I experience the truth and enjoy +the comfort of them."</p> +<p>The two following letters, addressed to a young lady whose +acquaintance Mrs. Graham made while at Boston, show how tenderly +she sympathized with the feelings of the young, and how earnestly +she sought their good.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Miss M——, Boston.</p> +<p>"There was, my dear Miss M——, something in your countenance +and manner, at our last interview, <!--Page 172--><a name="P172" +id="P172"></a> which has dwelt on my mind ever since. Your +former attentions, which I also marked, I attributed to the natural +benevolence of your heart; but your following a stranger, an old +woman, of whom you know so little, and whom you were likely never +to see again, to solicit her friendship and an interest in her +prayers, spoke a language beyond nature. Either my sweet friend has +already chosen God in Christ to be her portion, and his love in her +heart powerfully draws her to every one in whom she thinks she +discerns his image, or she conceives that this world cannot give +her happiness even in this life; and impressed with the importance +of that which is to come, she wishes to cast in her lot among God's +people, that she may know the good of his chosen and rejoice in +their joy, and become a partaker of that peace which the Saviour +bequeathed to his disciples when about to leave them: 'Peace I +leave with you. My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, +give I unto you; let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be +afraid.'</p> +<p>"Let me congratulate my friend, which ever of these be the case. +If the first, you have, or will soon have, a peace which the world +can neither give nor take away; if the last, the Saviour stands at +the door of your heart and knocks, soliciting that heart which has +too long been hunting shadows and vanity. If your soul is +dissatisfied with the things of the world, and tired with +disappointment, cast a longing eye to the fountain of happiness. +This is the claim of that God whose name is love: 'My son, give me +thy heart.' 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, +and I will give you rest.' 'In the world ye shall have +<!--Page 173--><a name="P173" id="P173"></a> tribulation, but in +me ye shall have peace.' Be assured, my dear friend, if you could +obtain all of this world that your heart could wish for, you would +find vanity written on the possession. Nothing short of God himself +can give happiness to the soul; and exactly in proportion as man +becomes weaned from the world, and his affections centre in God, is +he in possession of happiness.</p> +<p>"But how is this to be attained? By God's own plan, and no +other. As many weary themselves in vain, hunting the shadows of +time; so, many great philosophers, sensible of this great truth, +that God alone can satisfy the rational soul, also weary themselves +in vain, because they will not seek the blessing in God's own way. +'When the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased him by the +foolishness of preaching' — what was esteemed so — 'to +save them that believe.' 'I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast +hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them +unto babes.'</p> +<p>"The Saviour said, 'Ye will not come to me, that ye might have +life. No man can come to the Father but by me. I am the way, the +truth, and the life.' 'Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think +ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' The +Scripture testifies what our own hearts must assent to, that human +nature is depraved and corrupt; broken off from God; at a distance +from him by sin; enmity against him in his true character; opposed +to his holy law, in its extent and spirituality: we are also +helpless, dead in trespasses and sins. 'O Israel, thou hast +destroyed thyself' — blessed be God for what follows — +'but in me is thy help.'</p> +<!--Page 174--><a name="P174" id="P174"></a> +<p>"The same Scripture which testifies the misery of man, reveals +also his remedy — a remedy of God's own providing, by which +man may be restored to the image and favor of God, and to that +communion with him which is life and bliss. 'God so loved the +world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth +on him might not perish, but have everlasting life: for God sent +not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world +through him might be saved. And this is life eternal, that ye +believe on him whom he hath sent.' When man becomes convinced that +he is lost, helpless, wretched, lying at mercy, and submits to the +method of God's own providing; casts himself on the mercy of God in +Christ, and coming to him, rests on his free promise, 'Him that +cometh to me, I will in no wise cast-out;' disclaiming all +confidence in himself, or in his own works, he accepts of God's +offered grace, in God's own way, a <i>free</i> and <i>finished</i> +salvation. This is the record of God, that he giveth unto us +eternal life, and this life is in his Son; who, of God, is made +unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and complete +redemption. Believing this, according to his faith it shall be. +Christ shall be in him, 'a well of water springing up to +everlasting life.' He will shed abroad his love in his heart, and +according to his promise, give him power to become a child of God. +The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, shall be given unto him, to teach +him the knowledge of the Scriptures, and to become a principle of +holiness in his heart. Then shall he find that wisdom's ways are +ways of pleasantness, and all her paths peace; then shall he +experience the blessedness of that man whose God is the Lord; then +is the way open for communion <!--Page 175--><a name="P175" id= +"P175"></a> and converse with God the Father, Son, and Holy +Ghost.</p> +<p>"If, my dear Miss M——, I have made myself understood, you have +my view of God's method of making his creatures happy; and I +believe he will make us to know that he is a sovereign God, and +that there is no other name, or method, by which men can be saved, +but the name of Christ Jesus. But, take nothing on my word, nor the +word of any creature; search the Scriptures; read the first eight +chapters of the Romans, the whole of the Ephesians: stumble not at +mysteries — pass them over, and take the milk for babes; pray +for the teaching of the Spirit; and let me recommend to you the +advice of Mr. Newton, in his Omicron's Letters, a book well worth +your reading. 'Lay not too much stress on detached texts, but seek +for the sense which is most agreeable to the general strain of +Scripture.'</p> +<p>"My dear Miss M——, I am now old, and I hope have done with the +world; but I have been young and drunk deeply of youth's choicest +pleasures. I was blest with the best and most indulgent of parents; +I was the wife of a man of sense, sentiment, and sensibility, who +was my very first love and lover; and that love ripened and +improved with years. My children were good and healthy; love, +health, peace, and competency blessed our dwelling. I had also, in +early life, taken hold of God's covenant, and tasted his covenant +love; and devoted myself to his service, which was in my mind a +principle of moderation, compared with mere worldlings; but very +far was I from that non-conformity to the world which the precept +of the gospel requires. Had I kept close to my covenant +<!--Page 176--><a name="P176" id="P176"></a> God, enjoyed his +bounty with thankfulness, occupied my talents, devoted my time to +usefulness and communion with him; had I prayed against corruption +within and temptation without, the Lord would have directed my +steps and held up my goings, and I should have continued to inherit +the earth, and should not have been diminished. But this was very +far from being my conduct; the bent of the natural, unrenewed +heart, is still opposed to God; and the best are sanctified only in +part, while in this life; the law in the members still wars against +the law of the Spirit of life in the mind. The goodness of God, +which ought to have been a powerful motive to gratitude, love, and +diligence, was misimproved; I enjoyed the gifts, and forgot the +giver; 'hugged my comforts to death.' Many, many light +chastisements, my dear, my kind, my indulgent heavenly Father +exercised me with; I had many repenting seasons under his strokes, +many manifestations of pardon I received, and many fresh and solemn +dedications of my heart, life, and substance did I make; but no +sooner was ease and comfort restored, than my heart turned aside +like a deceitful bow: my whole life, from fifteen till the +thirtieth year of my age, was one continued succession of departure +and backsliding on my part — of chastening, forgiving, +restoring, and comforting on the part of my God.</p> +<p>"He did not cast me off, but dealt with me according to the +constitution of his well-ordered covenant: 'If his children,' +Christ's, 'forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they +break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit +their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. +<!--Page 177--><a name="P177" id="P177"></a> Nevertheless, my +loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my +faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the +thing that is gone out of my lips.' Psalm 89:30. This is the +covenant — made with Christ as the head of all who believe +— of which I took hold in early life; my God kept me to my +choice, and manifested his own faithfulness and the stability of +his covenant. When lighter afflictions proved ineffectual, he at +last, at one blow, took from me all that made life dear, the very +kernel of all my earthly joys, my idol, my beloved husband. Then I +no longer halted between two opinions; my God became my all. I +leave it as my testimony, that he has been a father to the +fatherless, a husband to the widow, the stranger's shield and +orphan's stay. Even to hoar hairs and to old age he has carried me, +and not one good word has failed of all that he has promised. 'He +has done all things well,' and at this day I am richer and happier +than ever I was in my life. Not that I am yet made free from sin, +that is still my burden — want of love and gratitude, +indolence in commanded duty, self-will, and nestling in the +creature. But my heart's wish and earnest desire is conformity to +the divine will. The bent of my will is for God; and if my heart +deceive me not, my God is the centre of my best affections. It is +by grace that I am what I am, and the same grace engages to perfect +the work begun.</p> +<p>"This God is my God; he will guide me even unto death, through +death, and be my portion to eternity. This God I recommend to my +friend; and this well-ordered covenant, this all-sufficient +Saviour, for your acceptance: the Bible for your guide, pray to God +<!--Page 178--><a name="P178" id="P178"></a> for his Holy Spirit +to lead you to the knowledge of the very truth as it is in Jesus. +Accept this as a testimony of friendship, and believe me</p> +<p class="center">"Yours, in love,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">OVEMBER</font> 2, 1800.</p> +<p>"You have, I find, been the child of affliction: she is a stern, +rugged nurse; but blessed often are the lessons she teaches. I +have, says God, chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. It is +God's ordinary way of drawing sinners to himself, either to dry up +or imbitter the streams of worldly comfort, that he may shut them +up to seek that comfort that depends not on any transitory +source.</p> +<p>"I have no doubt but you shall yet sing with the royal Psalmist, +'It is good for me that I have been afflicted; for before I was +afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept thy word. Blessed is +the man thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.' +Many are the texts to the same purport; take them for your +consolation as a part of God's well-ordered covenant.</p> +<p>"You have met with a late bereavement, which has entered deep +into your soul. We are not called to stoicism, but to tenderness of +heart and spirit. Jesus wept with the two sisters over a brother's +grave. But still, the Christian's spirit must be resigned, and say, +and try to say with cheerfulness, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' +And Oh, my friend, great will be the wisdom and happy the +acquisition, if every new bereavement enlarge the room for divine +love in the heart, and be filled up with that most noble, most +<!--Page 179--><a name="P179" id="P179"></a> blessed of +principles. Seek not, my friend, to replace friendship with any +mere worldling; beg of God to fill up the vacuum, then will you be +a great gainer.</p> +<p>"Why hesitate to join the church? Let not a sense of +unworthiness keep you back — a deep sense of unworthiness is +one grand part of due preparation; and no worthiness of yours can +give you any title to that new testament in Christ's blood, which +was shed for the remission of sins. Worthless, vile, empty, +helpless is every son and daughter of Adam's race: but it was for +the ungodly that Christ died; it was while we were without +strength; his name was called Jesus, because he should save his +people from their sins. In that day, that great day of the feast, +Jesus stood among a mixed multitude, and cried, 'If any man thirst, +let him come to me and drink — whosoever will, let him take +the water of life freely.'</p> +<p>"If conscious at the time it is the supreme desire of your soul +to be washed in his blood, clothed with his righteousness, +sanctified by his Spirit, go and take this water of life freely; go +as a <i>sinner</i> to a <i>Saviour</i>; go at his command, put +honor on his appointment, and repeat the dedication of all that you +<i>are</i>, <i>have</i>, or <i>can</i> have, over the symbols of +his body broken for you, his blood shed for you; go, trusting in +his mercy, and leave all to his management, believing that <i>he +will</i> shed abroad his love in your heart, order your footsteps +in his ways, and in due time perfect his image in your soul. Keep +close to him in the use of means, but look beyond the means for +life and power. I commit you to our God and Saviour, and pray that +<!--Page 180--><a name="P180" id="P180"></a> he may be to you +'wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,' and complete +'redemption.'</p> +<p>"I am, my dear Miss M——,</p> +<p class="center">"Your ever affectionate,</p> +<p class="right">"I.G."</p> +<p>In March, 1801, the health of her daughter Mrs. B——, requiring +a sea-voyage and absence from care, Mr. and Mrs. B—— sailed for +Britain, and the following letters were addressed to them during +their absence:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">ARCH</font> 23, 1801.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> C<font size="-1">HILDREN</font> +— This is mortifying to us all that you should be anchored +half a mile from us, and there lie for hours; but even this, +trifling as it may appear, has its end to answer in <i>His</i> +scheme, without whom 'not a sparrow falls.' I have retired with my +Bible, to commit you, and all my cares and concerns, afresh to that +God whose goodness and mercy have followed us through life; who is +my God, your God, and the God of our children; who answered my +prayers in opposition to my inconsistent conduct; took you out of +my idolatrous management into his own more merciful guidance. He +has done all things well, and he will perfect his own work.</p> +<p>"Now, may the Angel that redeemed you, be with you, keep you in +the hollow of his hand, and as the apple of his eye; be with you on +his own ocean, and command the billows not to touch you; carry you +to the bosom of your dear native country, where a large proportion +of his body live in him and by him; bless you, and make you a +blessing wherever his providence shall carry you, and restore you +with blessings to us, in his own time. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 181--><a name="P181" id="P181"></a> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, after morning +service, March 29.</p> +<p>"This, my dear children, is a day of storm, wind, and rain. O +that the prayer of our dear pastor, and I hope of many present, may +be with you, and be answered to and for you: Lord, be with that +family, who now, on the mighty ocean, desire an interest in our +prayers. May he whom winds and waves obey, preserve them in this +tempestuous season; may they see and improve his wonders in the +great deep; may the blessings of the everlasting gospel preserve +their souls in peace, conduct them in safety to their destined +port, and restore them to us, enriched with the blessings of thy +well-ordered covenant.</p> +<p>"I sent two notes for the Dutch churches, enclosed to Mr. B——; +one for Wall-street, to Mr. A——, and one for the Brick church, to +Mr. M——. I watered all with my tears.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">IVE O'CLOCK</font>."</p> +<p>"O, how it blows and rains. O my children, how my poor heart +aches for you; if not in danger, yet sick, and in much discomfort. +I gave a note in the old church in the afternoon, supposing the +congregation on this dreadful day to be different. Mr. M—— +prayed: "The Angel of thy presence be with them; give them much of +the consolations of thy Spirit. Conduct them in safety to the place +of their destination, and restore them, enriched with thy blessing, +to worship with us again in this thy house of prayer.' I write on +this day merely to record, for your perusal, the prayers of your +church. I think you ought, if the Lord conduct you safe, to propose +public thanks to that God who heard and answered, if agreeable to +Mr. M——. Write me how it was with you on this day. Now I will go +<!--Page 182--><a name="P182" id="P182"></a> to a throne of +grace for you and all of us. O keep close to the Lord; may he save +you from a dissipated, trifling, carnal spirit; may he sanctify all +your comforts, and give you a just estimation of all you see and +hear: may the Christian's portion rise more and more; and the world +and its vanities sink in your view."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font> 10.</p> +<p>"What the Lord is going to do with his and my children I know +not; but the Samuel Elam has returned to port with a leak, after +being out nineteen days. On the day of storm, she had seven feet of +water in her hold. I hope the Lord, in mercy to you, to his church, +and to me his unworthy servant, has guided you in safety, and that +the prayers of his church were answered in your behalf. O, my +children, what would be the situation of my heart had I not +confidence of your being within the ark. I desire to rejoice over +all my fears, for this unspeakable consolation, that nothing can +hurt you. I experience for you what I did in my own case, when +darkness and tempest added to the horrors of many, while our vessel +kept dashing on the rock: I, too, expected her to go to pieces +every moment; but the idea was ever with me, 'in the bosom of God's +ocean, I shall find the bosom of my Saviour.' On the night of the +29th of March I dreamt my dear J——y fell overboard, and I saw her +floating on the billows, supporting herself by her little chair: +this is the state of my mind; yet I am thankful, and enjoy much +peace. The Lord has given me what I have asked — the +salvation of your souls. In a little time we shall all be gathered +around his throne. Well may I leave to him all intervening +<!--Page 183--><a name="P183" id="P183"></a> circumstances, as +well as who goes first, and how. O how he blesses my latter end, +how he soothes and comforts my old age; far other things have I +merited, that my soul knows; but he has not only pardoned, but +comforts, and draws a veil over my transgressions, covering them +from the world's observation. What can I say? He is God, a God of +mercy."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font> 17.</p> +<p>"I have brought the reality near me, that mine eyes may never +behold you again on earth. I can say, even of that, it is well; but +the idea of the horrors of tempest, a leaky vessel racked by the +storm, and sinking by inches; sickness, nervous timidity, and the +sufferings to be undergone before the entrance to the haven of rest +be attained, is my chief disquietude, I will not even say distress, +because when these horrors — horrors they are to mere nature +— dart across my mind, filling my soul with momentary +anguish, Satan too seeking to distract my mind, the Spirit of the +Lord lifts up a standard against him, and comforts me with his own +word, the everlasting promises suited to every possible +circumstance in the believer's lot. Thousands of times have I +grasped that promise, 'Leave thy fatherless children, I will +preserve them alive.' I pleaded it for the life of their souls; He +answered my prayers; he has given them life, and they live to him. +Yes, I see the fruit, and though iniquities still prevail against +them, he still purges away their transgressions; kindles their +repentance; humbles their souls; lays them prostrate in penitential +confession; washes them afresh in the open fountain; restores to +them the joys of his salvation; seals their pardon by +<!--Page 184--><a name="P184" id="P184"></a> shedding abroad his +love in their hearts, and making them walk in the path of +righteousness for his own name's sake.</p> +<p>"Thus he carries them on from strength to strength by various +means of his own appointing, and some terrible things in +righteousness, in the course of his providence; in all which he is +sovereign, but ever consistent with his new covenant name, as +proclaimed to Moses on the mount, as manifested in the character of +God dwelling with us in our own nature, in whom mercy shone +prominent; by which mercy they shall appear in Zion, before God, in +due time.</p> +<p>"Is it so? Is this God my God, and the God of my seed? Is he +himself become our salvation? Are we heirs of God and joint-heirs +with Christ? Is our life hid with Christ in God? When he appears, +shall we, I and the children which he hath given me, in very deed +appear with him in glory? Is all this so, and shall I tremble at +the approach of any of his providences? Shall I not say when it has +taken place, 'The will of the Lord be done,' especially when +clothed with love? I trust that as my day, so shall my strength be, +and in the interim I have the same confidence for you; for 'he +giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he +increaseth strength.'"</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font> 25.</p> +<p>"The wind roars and howls in my windows, though not facing the +storm, and the white waves in the river picture in my mind the +foaming billows of the ocean. The name of our God is my +consolation: 'though the waters roar and be troubled, though the +mountains shake with the swelling thereof, there is a river the +<!--Page 185--><a name="P185" id="P185"></a> streams whereof +shall make glad the city of God. God shall help her, and that right +early.' When I walk about Zion, and go round about her, when I tell +the towers thereof, mark her bulwarks, and consider her palaces, my +heart rejoices that 'this God is our God; he will be our guide even +unto death; and O the joy that my children are the citizens of this +Zion, and the heirs of all the promises by virtue of the new +testament in Christ's blood. A covenant of works it was to our +Surety, and his heart's blood finished the requisites of it. It is +now a testament to you, sealed by the same blood. Wherever in his +word I meet the character, the providence, the work of God, I read +my own and my children's interest. I hope your experience shall be +in Psalm 107:28. If not wholly, it shall terminate in Psalm 23:4. +Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you +shall fear no evil, for this God, who is your guide even unto +death, shall be with you, his rod and staff shall comfort you; and +our darling Jessy he shall carry as a lamb in his arms, and hide +her from the horrors, in his bosom. I dwell much on these subjects, +and I feel comforted, whatever be the event.</p> +<p>"If the Lord has carried you safe through, and you live to read +this in the body, know that our God continues to bless us +abundantly in health, peace, and plenty, as to temporals; we also +experience the peace of his covenant, and have tastes of the bread +and of the water of life. Thanks, all thanks to our new covenant +Head for the stability of the covenant; we change, but he changeth +not. He himself is the covenant given to the people, and because he +lives, his people shall live also, in spite of Satan and his +<!--Page 186--><a name="P186" id="P186"></a> colleague sin in +our hearts: sin may, and does bring his people into captivity, but +it shall not keep them in bondage for ever. The time of deliverance +shall come, when they shall revive as the corn. Oh, is it not a +well-ordered covenant, and sure?"</p> +<p>Her next letter gives an illustration of fidelity in a +difficult, and, it is to be feared, much-neglected duty.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 10, 1801.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> C<font size="-1">HILDREN</font> +— Last evening was preparation sermon. Mr. Y—— preached a +very excellent sermon from the Song of Solomon, 'Who is this that +cometh up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?' First the +wilderness of this world, next the church coming up, then the +attitude leaning, and on whom; I thought the simile well supported, +and practical, as he went on. His application was rich on the +Christian's support, where he brought into view many of the names +of Christ.</p> +<p>"After sermon we witnessed a most affecting scene; two female +members rebuked and restored to the communion of the church. Never, +never did our dear Mr. M—— shine so bright in my eyes; many tears +were shed. I knew nothing of it, and wondered to what he was +leading, when he addressed the congregation, after sermon, upon +Christian walk, watchfulness, and temptation, and the distress +occasioned in Christian society when any of the members were left +to fall into open and aggravated sin. Such was the case in our own +congregation: two, naming the offenders, had been so far left; but +while deeply wounded by the sin and scandal, he was consoled by +their <!--Page 187--><a name="P187" id="P187"></a> penitence: he +assured the congregation that they had given great evidence of deep +contrition; and were now come forward to acknowledge their crime +before their offended and grieved brethren, and to give all the +satisfaction in their power, by submitting to the censure of the +church in this public manner, which, although painful to him, he +must pronounce according to God's appointment. 'Them who sin before +all, rebuke before all.' He then asked them to rise; scarce an +individual turned to look; many were weeping while he laid before +them their guilt in strong, yet tender terms; and finished by +expressing his approbation of their thus submitting to the rod, and +exhorting them to humility and redoubled watchfulness. Then again +he addressed the members, requesting them to receive into their +Christian love and affection their repenting, returning sisters; +that they would treat them with tenderness, and restore them in the +spirit of meekness, considering themselves as also in the body and +subject to temptation. 'Let no one put them in remembrance of the +sin which the Father of mercies has blotted out, nor open those +wounds which he has closed,' 'He doth not chide continually, nor +retain his anger for ever.'</p> +<p>"May the Lord bless the discipline of his church; may he meet us +to-morrow with multiplied pardons: may he melt our hearts to +contrition, heal our backslidings, and manifest himself as married +unto us; may he bring us into his banqueting house and his banner +over us be love; may his grace be magnified and his name glorified; +and may he send a portion to my dear children — yea, a +Benjamin's portion; may he open wide the leaves of that new +testament, and let <!--Page 188--><a name="P188" id="P188"></a> +them read their rich inheritance and rejoice in their portion.</p> +<p>"Farewell, my dear children. The Lord bless you, keep you, guide +you, and cause his face to shine on you, prays your affectionate +mother."</p> +<p>The following to the same, was written while on a visit to a +worldly friend:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 21, 1801.</p> +<p>"I would fain begin to hope that my children are now on, or near +the green fields of Albion. Many a severe gale has agitated them, +and tried their faith and confidence before this day. But as He who +sitteth on the clouds, commanding and governing the elements, is +their own God in covenant, who loves them, careth for them, and +perfects what concerns them, I hope they have had much of his +presence: I hope they have found, even on the boisterous ocean, +amidst the horrors of the swelling deep, agitated with winds and +tempests, all things necessary to life and godliness in these great +and precious promises, accompanied by divine power, by which they +are made partakers of divine life, and escape the pollution that is +in the world through lust. I hope they are enriched in experience, +and advanced in the divine life, by all they have suffered, and all +they have tasted of divine support in their sufferings; that Christ +is still more precious, his word more tried, and their confidence +in him more established: if so, great is their gain. And our +darling J——, being a sharer in the suffering, shall, at her God's +hand, be also a gainer, though it be not evident to our perception. +O how rich is the Christian, how inexhaustible his portion! +<!--Page 189--><a name="P189" id="P189"></a> his table is ever +furnished, his cup ever full; all is blessing, no curse mingled +— that our Surety took to himself; prosperity and adversity, +sickness and health, light and darkness, all, all shall bless us, +work for our good, turn to our profit, and end in the glory of God +and our unspeakable, inconceivable happiness.</p> +<p>"I have been here a week yesterday; all vegetable nature glows +and shines in the perfection of beauty; flowers, shrubs, trees, +grain, grass, falling waters turning the busy mill, the brook +murmuring on its way to the ocean, fit emblem of eternity, all +glorify their Creator; and although no such birds as in Britain +charm the listening ear, we have some sweet chirpers of his praise; +and what is wanting to the ear, is made up to the eye, for in +beauty they excel.</p> +<p>"These I may enjoy; with these hold communion; for Oh, spiritual +death holds all within these walls in dismal bondage; not one +symptom of life appears, but death, as the dry bones in the valley +of vision. Why do I not wrestle more for the Spirit to breathe on +them? I do pray: but Oh, formal, formal."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">UNE</font> 17, 1801.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> C<font size="-1">HILDREN</font> +— Difficult it is for me to exercise patience: the 23d, of +this month will make three months since you waved the handkerchief +on board the Mars, off the Battery. I had made up my mind not to +give way to expectation short of three months; they are nearly +past: how many events take place in that space of time; how many +duties ought to be performed; how many sins are really committed; +how guilty to wish to annihilate the time that a +<!--Page 190--><a name="P190" id="P190"></a> certain event may +come round. For every moment of time we must account, and not one +moment of it can we recall. Much you have seen; much you have +suffered; much, perhaps, also enjoyed: for the Lord can give songs +in the night, and in a dungeon. 'Surely his salvation is nigh them +that fear him;' to them there is no want. The Lord is their +shepherd, he feedeth them in green pastures beside the gently +flowing waters; if they wander, he restoreth them, perhaps with the +rod, but it is the rod of love; they need not be afraid to enter +even the valley of the shadow of death; their Shepherd is with +them, and his rod, rod of support, and staff shall comfort +them.</p> +<p>"I hope this has been a profitable time to you both; that you +have seen more of the evil of sin, and of your own hearts, their +deceitful double turnings and windings to cover and conceal the +enemy of God and your own souls; more of the extent and +spirituality of the divine law, fulfilled indeed in every jot and +tittle by your Surety; but still doubly binding on you as a rule of +life in the hand of your Redeemer, who hath bought you to himself, +and taken you into his own hands, that you might be a holy people +to himself, delivered not merely from the penalty and curse, but +from the power and indwelling of sin. I hope you have seen more of +the unsearchable riches of Christ in all he has done and is now +doing for your and his church's happiness, and of those exceeding +great and precious promises by which you are made partakers of +the-divine life, and privileged to escape the pollution that is in +the world through lust; more of the faithfulness of God, as a God +in Christ, pardoning sin and reconciling you to himself; +<!--Page 191--><a name="P191" id="P191"></a> and day by day, +teaching you by his word, Spirit, and providences.</p> +<p>"I am but just beginning to see that I am blind; my own +character opening upon me as a sinner, in heart and tongue and +conduct, against my God, my neighbor, and my own soul: how comes it +then that I am at ease in God's world; in health, in peace, in +comfort, all in an extraordinary degree as to temporals; and as to +spirituals, though grieved with self, my joy in Christ also +abounds. Can I believe it? What can I say; what can I render to the +Lord for all his gifts to me? Nothing can I do, but just take the +cup of salvation, calling upon the name of the Lord, and remain an +eternal debtor to his grace for spirituals and temporals."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">UNE</font> 26.</p> +<p>"By this time you are already in port, on earth or in heaven. +Blessed alternative. Ought I to be sad, who can say, 'or in +heaven?' O no, I trust grace will be given to acquiesce in his most +blessed will; a most gracious will it has been to me and mine.</p> +<p>"I wrote you in my last, that our dear Mr. M—— leaves us next +month for Britain; his errand is to state the situation of this +country, as greatly in want of ministers and the means of educating +ministers. Many of his people are dissatisfied, as he has two +congregations to supply, and a large family of his own. Why should +he be the man? For my own part, I think he is the very man; and I +am thankful to feel a degree of disinterestedness. Though I love my +minister, value his ministry and his person, I hope the general +interest of Christ's body is more dear to me, and of infinitely +more importance than my private comfort, which, after +<!--Page 192--><a name="P192" id="P192"></a> all, I do not +believe can suffer by parting cheerfully with its apparent food to +Christ, who himself is the sum and substance of all that any +minister can be instrumental in conveying. All means are alike to +him, or no means. I therefore rejoice in his will, and pray that +the Lord may prosper him, give him a double portion of his Spirit, +and favor in the eyes of all whose influence is necessary to +advance the Redeemer's kingdom in America.</p> +<p>"Our friend Mrs. K—— is gone; she died suddenly: both Mr. and +Mrs. T—— died at their country-seat; he first. She fancied she +was getting better. The physician advised her not to ride, as she +could not stand the fatigue; she had more faith in air and +exercise: the last day she went out she fainted getting into the +carriage, and again coming out; and died in the afternoon. She +lived near us, yet I never saw her, nor offered one kind office +towards the salvation of her soul, which, if lost, leaves me not +innocent of her blood, and if saved, as I hope it may be, my sinful +neglect is not the less. What a picture in them of the vanity of +all under the sun; and in me of the evil of procrastination, for I +meant to visit her. O my Saviour, is this the return I make for the +millions of pardons which thou hast passed on my account; sparing +even the rod, and blessing me with health, restored limbs, and +mercy on mercy, comfort on comfort? I want words to paint my +abominable ingratitude, indolence, and cruelty; and yet, Oh yet I +am spared, and my mercies are spared, as far as I know — but +trial may be at hand. Perhaps I write what my children may never +read. Well, even then, mercy, mercy shall be my song; for I sing +the song on earth which they sing in heaven. I am just +<!--Page 193--><a name="P193" id="P193"></a> going to town to +attend preparation sermon. Our feast is on Sabbath."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">ULY</font> 17, 1801.</p> +<p>"What shall I render to the Lord for all his mercies — +mercies temporal, mercies spiritual, mercies eternal, multiplied +mercies? The one thing that I asked of the Lord has been answered +in full, and Oh, how much added. God himself become my salvation, +and the salvation of my house; how unspeakable the blessing. +Although chastisement and affliction were the means of correction +and sanctification, or even the vengeance taken on my inventions, +yet, as a God, he at the same time pardoneth. For Oh, my character +is ever the same with backsliding Judah and treacherous Israel. +Glory to that name which is ever the same, and changeth not. 'The +Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant +in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.' +This was his name among a stiff-necked people, an idolatrous, +ungrateful people; this is his name to me alike in character. O how +he has magnified this name to me, a backslider in heart and life; +multiplying pardons while I have multiplied transgressions: still +he has been last with me, healing my backsliding; restoring my +soul; leading me to the open fountain; giving faith to wash, and +joy and peace in believing; not only so, but in this land of +drought, this waste howling wilderness, this vale of tears, where +'man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards,' my cup with +temporal comfort is full and running over; all his creatures +minister to my comfort; and as days and nights roll on, his daily +providence adds, and diminishes not.</p> +<p>"I had hardly hoped to see the faces of my children +<!--Page 194--><a name="P194" id="P194"></a> again; for he +commanded, and raised the stormy winds and lifted up the waves of +the sea; they mounted to heaven and sunk again to the deep; death +with all its <i>natural</i> horrors surrounded them; the deep +yawned to devour them; but God, their own God, was at hand, their +anchor of hope, their ark of safety, their hiding-place till the +calamity was past: they cried to him, and he saved them out of +their distresses; he made the storm a calm, and the waves thereof +still, and brought them to the desired haven. This trouble was not +unto death, but for the glory of God and the exercising of your +faith, for the manifestation of his power and goodness, and the +enriching of your experience.</p> +<p>"O then let us praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his +wonderful works to the children of men. Let us exalt him in the +congregation of his people, and praise him in the assembly of the +elders."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">CTOBER</font> 23, 1801.</p> +<p>"Surely, surely my heart feels grateful for the time, though +this, like every other good motion, will, like the morning dew, +soon pass away.</p> +<p>"My children not only preserved through the tempestuous storms +that threatened death with circumstances shocking to nature, but my +poor sick child preserved during a long and fatiguing journey; that +journey made comfortable, yea, delightful, by the warm reception of +many kind friends, dear to nature, and many doubly endeared by +grace: among the last, the mother and sisters of the kindest and +best of husbands; they receiving her as their own flesh and blood, +as well as their fellow-member in Christ; blest with a measure of +health to enjoy all, and a measure of grace <!--Page 195--><a name= +"P195" id="P195"></a> to profit by all; eyeing by faith the dear +invisible hand of a covenant God, preserving, leading, guiding +through every step — his love the marrow of the whole, and +their charter for safety, even amidst the dangers of +prosperity.</p> +<p>"Is not godliness gain? profitable for this life as well as that +which is to come? What is the portion of the worldling? even in +this life 'shadowy joy or solid woe,' without a balance to the +first, or consolation in the last; no sure footing in the one, nor +support in the other; distanced from the fountain of happiness by +nature, prosperity incrusts their hearts and increases their +carnality; nestling in their worldly comforts, they forget they are +the creatures of a day, that an endless eternity lies before them, +and only the feeble uncertain thread of life between them and that +curse under which they were born. Not so the child of God; all +things work together for his good — <i>all things;</i> his +standing is not in himself; his footsteps are directed by infinite +wisdom: he is kept by the power of God, through faith, unto +salvation. Nothing can separate him from the love of God. His life +is hid with Christ in God: there is cause to rejoice always; his +privileges are boundless, infinite, for God himself is become his +salvation.</p> +<p>"Have we then any cause for fear? Yes, my children, yes; though +nothing can rob us of our charter, there is another side to be +beheld. In Christ we have all things richly to enjoy, but we have +not all in possession: what we have is by faith; all is secured by +our Surety for eternity. We shall overcome by the blood of the +Lamb; but by the constitution of the covenant we must enter into +that rest, that perfect <!--Page 196--><a name="P196" id= +"P196"></a> rest, through great tribulation. While our eternal +salvation is secured by our Surety, it hath pleased infinite Wisdom +to appoint another connection, which shall exist while we remain on +earth: even the connection between our steadfastness, consequently +our comfort, and the means of grace which he hath appointed, making +the first to depend in a great measure on our diligent use of the +last, insomuch that a great number of the promises are proposed +conditionally. Many exhortations are given in this view, and also +many threatenings. 'They that wait on the Lord shall renew their +strength,' etc. 'Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall +receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' 'Abide in me; as +the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, no more can ye, except ye +abide in me.'</p> +<p>"Close, intimate, near communion with God, is to be sought by +means of prayer, meditation, and reading. If the Christian be +careful to husband time, and set apart a portion for God, and set +about these duties, he will not always miss communion; and this +prepares him for other duties, and arms him against temptation; as +the promise is concerned to keep him in perfect peace whose mind is +stayed on Him. 'If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to +your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give his +Holy Spirit to them that ask him.' 'So shall ye know the Lord, if +ye follow on to-know him.' 'Delight thyself in God, he will give +thee the desire of thy heart.' 'Nevertheless, I will be inquired of +by the house of Israel,' etc. 'If his children forsake my laws, and +go astray, I will visit their faults,' etc. 'Watch and pray, that +ye enter not into temptation.' 'But thou, when +<!--Page 197--><a name="P197" id="P197"></a> thou prayest, enter +into thy closet,' etc. 'Thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall +reward thee openly.' All is laid before us in the Scriptures, in +the view of comfort during our pilgrimage, as well as the certainty +of our inheritance in the end; the ground whereon we stand, our +danger, and the means of safety. See Eph. 6:11.</p> +<p>"There is provision made in the covenant for great comfort, +consistent with human frailty and imperfection, but not with +carelessness and negligence. While, therefore, we rejoice in the +Lord, we have good reason to join trembling with our exultation; +while standing high in comfort, to take heed lest we fall, through +the deceitfulness of sin. We carry about with us 'a body of sin and +death;' 'the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom +he may devour.' We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with +principalities and powers,' etc. We live in a world lying in +wickedness; the captives of sin and Satan exerting every faculty to +banish all thoughts of God, death, and eternity; contriving, with +unwearied industry and amazing ingenuity, new gratifications for +body and mind in endless variety, suited to all constitutions, all +tempers and dispositions, and to those in all circumstances. Of +these, the most rational are the most subtle, and, in the hand of +the enemy, the most calculated to keep men ignorant of themselves, +their misery, and of the great salvation; and alas, by these he +often <i>spoils</i> unwary Christians, who, though heirs of heaven, +heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, are, during their +minority, subject to like passions with themselves, and ever in +danger of being spoiled of their comforts when off their guard.</p> +<!--Page 198--><a name="P198" id="P198"></a> +<p>"With the people of the world Christians have much to do: they +are fellow-members of society with them; they have many duties to +perform to them, with them, and by them; many of the things of the +world are necessary to them, many of its pleasures lawful; for 'the +earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof,' and he gives them of +it as his wisdom sees good for them. That which he gives them they +gather in the same manner as and in society with the world, by +industry and diligence in their lawful calling and business. +Keeping near the Captain of salvation, and armed in his whole +armor, they are safe. When off their guard, the vigilant enemy +gains some advantage, and they get into trouble. O how many +gracious names our dear Redeemer has assumed in his word, for our +comfort, our meditation, our spiritual exercise; how pleasant and +delightful in the light of his countenance to analyze them! Besides +the names peculiar to himself as God-man, how many has he +condescended to take from among men, and the natural comforts and +safeguards of men — our Shepherd, our Rock, our Ark, all the +relations in life — and ends with our All in all. But I must +have done, that I may tell you that goodness and mercy follow us in +this family also."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"July 28, 1801.</p> +<p>"My dear pastor, Mr. M——, sailed for Britain. I thank thee, +good and kind Shepherd of Israel, for all those providences, which +seemed small things at the time, that hedged me into that +congregation; for all the benefits and comforts I enjoyed under the +ministry of thy aged servant now before thy throne, and that thou +preparedst thy young servant to fill his place when the time of his +departure came.</p> +<!--Page 199--><a name="P199" id="P199"></a> +<p>"I thank thee for all the endowments of our young pastor, of +nature and grace. I thank thee, that thou hast kept him faithful to +Him who has called him, and for the precious treasure thou hast put +in that earthen vessel.</p> +<p>"Now, Lord, that thou hast called him to leave his family and +his flock, to travel to a foreign land in the service which thou +requirest, go with him, prosper him, overrule all his concerns for +thy glory, the good of his soul, of the church in general, and his +own little flock in particular. Amen. Glorify thy name"</p> +<!--Page 200--><a name="P200" id="P200"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> +<h4>JOURNAL AND LETTERS — LADIES' SCHOOL FOR POOR +CHILDREN.</h4> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">OVEMBER</font> 22, 1801.</p> +<p>"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> S<font size="-1">MITH</font>," +a grandchild, "is very ill; she appears to be in a stupor. Two +physicians are attending, but my eyes are to the Lord. She is his +own, given to him by faith, as a covenant God in Christ for her in +particular, for ourselves and our children. I desire not to draw +back, but, the Lord strengthening me, to give up at his call. If it +be his will to spare her, she is still his own, to be done by, +with, and for, as his infinite wisdom may see fit, for his own +glory and her eternal interest. If he is about to remove her out of +the world, she is his own; out of the mouth of this babe will he +perfect praise; with that company of whom is the kingdom of heaven, +she shall join in the song of Moses and the Lamb, 'to Him that +loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be +glory, honor, dominion, and power.'</p> +<p>"O Lord, one petition I prefer — if it be thy will to take +her out of the world, take her in thine arms and carry her through +the dark valley; grant to her a gentle and easy passage, and an +abundant entrance into thy kingdom; and tune our hearts to sing, +'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name +of the Lord.' Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">OVEMBER</font> 23.</p> +<p>"This day the dear Isabella joined the church triumphant, and +took her place among that company <!--Page 201--><a name="P201" id= +"P201"></a> which Christ has pronounced blessed. I yesterday +asked of the Lord that he would take her in his arms and carry her +through the dark valley, that he would give her a gentle and easy +passage, and an abundant entrance into his kingdom. He heard my +prayer; it was indeed soft and gentle; not a struggle, not a groan; +and the affliction which brought down the frame was moderate +throughout. I was enabled to resign the Lord's own into his own +hand, in the faith that he did receive, and would keep that which I +committed to him.</p> +<p>"My soul is satisfied — more than satisfied; I rejoice, +and congratulate the lovely babe on her early escape from a world +of sin and sorrow, to the arms of her dear Redeemer, and to perfect +blessedness with him."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">OVEMBER</font> 24.</p> +<p>"It is done — finished — the soul with God, the body +in the tomb. It is all well; yes, our covenant God, thou doest all +things well. I firmly believe thy mercy is over all thy works. +Goodness, mercy, yea, loving-kindness has marked thy every step. I +believe it now. I shall see it soon.</p> +<p>"Now, our God, follow this bereavement with thy purifying, +sanctifying grace. Enable us all to search and try our ways. Lead +our souls into a knowledge of the secret corruptions of our hearts, +that we may confess and mourn over them, wash in the blood of +Christ, be pardoned, restored, and get a great victory. Enable us +through life to abide in Christ; to keep close to thee, transacting +all our affairs with thee, before they come into the view of the +world. Let thy wisdom and thy Spirit, in connection with thy +providences, <!--Page 202--><a name="P202" id="P202"></a> be our +counsellors. O keep us in a dependent frame of mind, humble and +watchful. Strip us of all self-confidence. May we at the same time +be strong in the Lord and in the power of thy might; rejoicing in +thee, the God of our salvation, the strength of our heart, and our +portion for ever. Glory, glory, glory, to Father, Son, and blessed +Spirit. Amen, and Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"D<font size="-1">ECEMBER</font>, 1801.</p> +<p>"It is my earnest desire to 'grow in grace, and in the knowledge +of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,' It is my desire to love the +Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my +strength, and with all my mind; and to love my neighbor as myself, +so as to do to Mm whatever I could expect from Christian principles +in him, on an exchange of circumstances.</p> +<p>"It is my desire to give all diligence to add to my faith +virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance +patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, +to brotherly kindness charity, that these things being in me and +abounding, I may be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge +of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.</p> +<p>"I desire to grow in grace day by day, to profit by every +ordinance of God's appointing, and by every providence; and I pray, +Lord, I pray that thou wouldst grant me my desire, so as that I may +become more spiritual, more discerning in the Scriptures, more +fruitful in good works: that thou mayest increase also my humility. +Open to my view more of the extent and spirituality of thy divine +law; the majesty, purity, holiness, of thy nature; the exceeding +sinfulness of sin; the hidden corruptions of my own heart, and my +<!--Page 203--><a name="P203" id="P203"></a> inability to search +them out, and to crucify them: give me also more just views of my +past life, that I may ever be convinced that I am, what I really +am, the very chief of sinners, and the least of all saints; and +that it is entirely of grace that I am what I am. O make out this +promise to me; I will record it in thine own words: 'I will +establish my covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the +Lord,' Ezekiel 16:62. I confess myself the character described in +the two foregoing chapters; and though thou hast chastened me ten +thousand times less than my iniquities deserve, even by the +constitution of the new covenant, thou hast chastened me. Now, O +Lord, most merciful and gracious, who 'pardonest iniquity, +transgression, and sin,' for thy name's sake, do to and for me as +thou hast said: 'I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou +shalt know that I am the Lord. That thou mayest remember, and be +confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, +when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith +the Lord God.' Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mr. and Mrs. B——, in Britain.</p> +<p class="right">"D<font size="-1">ECEMBER</font> 7, 1801.</p> +<p>"I have received my dear J——'s three letters from Dingwall: +fresh matter of praise to our covenant God. You have had your +season of affliction; and now you have a season of refreshing, a +resting-time. The cup of the Christian is always more or less +mixed. Your afflictions have ever been mixed with much mercy, and +now your season of rest is also mixed. I well know that no temporal +comfort can compensate the absence of your justly beloved D——. +He, however, who is the God of both, who goes with +<!--Page 204--><a name="P204" id="P204"></a> him, and stays with +you, can not only support, but comfort. The omniscient, the +omnipresent, the omnipotent God is our God, and the God of our +house; all that he is is ours, to bless us. Behold, God is become +our salvation. Every endearing name known among men he takes to +himself, to inspire us with pleasing, confiding love — every +name that connects the idea of protection, to keep our minds in +quiet peace, in the assurance of safety: Father, Husband, Brother, +Friend, Prophet, Priest, King, Physician, Help, Health, Light, +Life, Counsellor, Guide, Sanctuary, Anchor — but I should +fill my sheet. I said it all at first: God is ours, and ours with +the knowledge of all our backslidings, which he heals; our +wanderings, from which he restores us; and our sins, which he +forgives: one of his names is the God of pardons. He delights in +mercy. Are we not his witnesses? What has our whole life been, but +sin, backslidings, and wanderings? What have his dealings with us +been, but pardons, healings, restorations? Therefore we remain, as +at this day, with our desires towards him, and our faces +Zion-wards. What he hath begun he will perfect, and in a little +while our eyes shall behold him, our hearts shall enjoy him, we +shall be like him, and see him as he is."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"D<font size="-1">ECEMBER</font> 26, 1801.</p> +<p>"I rejoice over my dear children, and bless our gracious God +that he has led them a sweet and most delightful sojourning among +his churches, animating their spirits by their mutual communion; +blessing them, and, I hope, making them blessings. I pray the Lord +may make our dear D—— an instrument <!--Page 205--><a name="P205" +id="P205"></a> among others of spreading his gospel, building up +his church, and pulling down the strong-holds of Satan; and that +you may be in your place a help-meet for him, in this as in every +thing else. May the Lord choose his path and direct his steps, and +yours with him. Women were helpers of the apostles and others in +Paul's days: at the same time care must ever be taken not to +obtrude in any respect. I pray that you may be kept spiritual and +humble: eminence in God's service is truly desirable, if the heart +be kept humble. If the Lord open the eyes to behold more of the +extent and spirituality of his law, the holiness and purity of his +nature, the evil of sin, and its contrariety to all that is in God; +and if he turn the eyes inward to the hidden corruptions of the +heart, when it is evident to the soul that all is of grace, then +may eminent services be safe.</p> +<p>"'I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,' was the +exercise of Job; and justly so. Job, who was eyes to the blind and +feet to the lame, a father to the poor, and the cause which he knew +not he searched it out: when the ear heard him, it blessed him; +when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him; who withheld not the +poor from his desire, nor caused the eye of the widow to fail; the +stranger did not lodge in the street, but he opened his door unto +the traveller: all this was true as far as the external act, and as +he then thought, with a proper temper of heart, Job could justify +himself before his fellow-sinners, Blind like himself; but when God +comes to deal with him, how different his views. Then it was, +'Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand on +my mouth:' even with the very best there <!--Page 206--><a name= +"P206" id="P206"></a> is cause for this exercise, could we see +in the same light.</p> +<p>"How deceitful is the human heart; how unfaithful the +conscience; how little do we know of the sins of our daily walk. We +are called to watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation; to +walk with God in close, intimate communion: whether we eat or +drink, to do all to his glory: to consult him in all the affairs of +life, narrowly observing his providence in connection with our +circumstances; weighing all in his presence, requesting him to +determine our wills and direct our steps. We ought not to say, 'We +will go into such a city,' and do this or that; but, 'If the Lord +will.' How inconsistent our conduct with these rules. How often do +rashness, precipitation, and self-will accompany our determinations +and movements. And how often do His goodness and wisdom over rule +our folly, save us from our own pits, and prevent the evil that +might be expected. At no time does he deal with us as we sin, +though sometimes he stands by and allows us a taste of our folly: +then we are in trouble, we dig our pits and fall into them, but we +cannot deliver ourselves. O what a God! who, even at such a time, +says to us, 'Call on me in the time of trouble; I will deliver +thee, and thou shalt glorify my name; thou hast destroyed thyself, +but in me is Blessed help; mercy to pardon, goodness to wisdom to +guide, faithfulness to carry through and perfect what concerns us, +overruling our very follies, and causing them to teach us to +profit. This is God's way, according to many declarations of +himself in his word, and the experience of all his redeemed.</p> +<p>"Blessed then is the man that trusteth in the +<!--Page 207--><a name="P207" id="P207"></a> Lord; they truly +are a blessed people whose God Jehovah is."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font>, 1802.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR, MY BELOVED</font> C<font size= +"-1">HILDREN</font> — I trust the Lord is your support; I +know you are in trouble; it cannot be that opportunities have been +wanting all this time, nor can it be that my children have been +negligent: no, no, I cannot suppose it. My children are in trouble; +they could not write that they were otherwise, and therefore remain +silent until they can write the issue. It is proper, and sure the +Lord feeds me with comfort. O the comfort of knowing that the +Almighty God is their own reconciled Father by an everlasting +covenant; Christ, the Mediator and Surety, their Advocate, Brother, +and Friend; the Holy Ghost their Teacher, Guide, and Comforter. It +cannot be ill with my dear children, who are also God's dear +children. My Father, I know it, thou chastenest for their profit. I +know not where they are, nor how they fare. I know not what to ask +for them; but thou art everywhere present, thine eye is upon them, +thou knowest all their wants, all their burdens, all their +bereavements, or whatever tries them. O let thy sensible presence +be with them; open wide the leaves of that new testament in +Christ's blood, and let them read their rich legacy, their +unsearchable riches in Christ; give them confidence in thy wisdom +and goodness, and sweet acquiescence in all thy dealings with them. +Thou hast spared in mercy, perhaps now thou hast taken in mercy: +yes, thy tender mercies are over all thy works, and a large +ingredient in every cup thou puttest into the hand of thy children. +It is well, it is well.</p> +<!--Page 208--><a name="P208" id="P208"></a> +<p>"Since writing the above, I have received my dear D——'s +letter, second copy, by the way of London. The Lord is your God. +and the God of your seed. John the Baptist leaped in the womb when +the salutation of Mary sounded in his mother's ears; he was then a +living soul, and an heir of salvation at that moment. If your babe +was conceived in sin by the first covenant, he is an heir of grace +by the second. Think it not hard; no, you do not think it hard that +you have conceived him in sickness, carried him in sickness, and +suffered the pangs of birth without the succeeding joy to make you +forget your anguish. All this shall be for the glory of God, and +that is what you seek; believe it now, you shall see it soon. I do +sympathize; my fond heart had embraced a sweet babe added to the +family for one taken. The Lord has taken this also; it is his due: +I shall soon leave the mortal and join the immortal; five have +joined the head, six remain; and one I know nothing of, more than +that I cast him on the Lord, and look for mercy. I thank my God +that he gave you the grace of resignation, and supported you in the +solitary confinement. Alas, my child, did you listen for the voice +of your babe? O, what a suspense; but let me stop — he had +reached maturity ere that time; without the fight, obtained the +victory; he is of the travail of the Redeemer's soul; children are +God's heritage, the fruit of the womb his reward. Rest then in the +Lord; this is to his glory, both without and within your soul."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 20, 1802.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> C<font size="-1">HILDREN</font> +— Here am I in my little room, surrounded with every comfort, +and as the provision of my God, I value all; but there lies the +chief, <!--Page 209--><a name="P209" id="P209"></a> <i>my +Bible</i>, the testament of my dying, risen, ascended, reigning +Saviour, bequeathing to me eternal life, executed in full, and made +as sure as the promise and oath of God. The influences of the Holy +Ghost on my mind, taking of the things of Christ, and showing them +unto me; opening wide the leaves of that new testament, in which I +read unsearchable riches, and my title to them sure: yes, sure, +even to me, a base idolatrous gentile, a rebel against the eternal +King, my Creator, Preserver, Provider; a backslider in heart and in +life. What has such a one to do with a holy God? He hath said only +return; and he himself hath turned to me, chastened, convinced, +restored, comforted. His ways are not as our ways, nor his +thoughts as our thoughts; but as the heavens are above the earth, +so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts high above our +thoughts, and his plans above our conception. For although it is +for ever true, that he is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and +cannot look on iniquity; that his law has denounced a curse upon +the transgressor who keepeth it not in every jot and tittle; it is +for ever true, that this God is unchangeable in his nature and +purposes. What he hath said, that will he do. It is for ever true, +that I am all I have said, and worse, a sinner in heart, tongue, +and practice; yet am I a beloved child, a justified one, an heir of +God.</p> +<p>"Here is the testament, here is my charter with the seal of God +upon it — J<font size="-1">ESUS</font>, thou art the Secret +of the Lord; thou art the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and +offspring of David. Thou hast prevailed to open this book of +secrets, to loose the seven seals, and lay open its mysteries. Thou +Lamb of God, the appointed and anointed to the great work; in our +<!--Page 210--><a name="P210" id="P210"></a> room, and in our +nature, thou hast sustained the curse. Thou hast obeyed the law; +thou hast drunk the last drop of the last vial of that wrath which +would have sunk my soul in the endless depths of misery; and I +never could have expended one drop, but sunk deeper and deeper +under it. O not unto me, not unto ministers, not unto any creature +be the praise. As for me, I am, in a word, all that is vile in +myself; ministers, providences, afflictions are just what God makes +them; without his blessing they will not only pass without +profiting, but Satan and corruption will make them ministers to +themselves. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, for he has redeemed +me with his blood. Worthy is the Lamb to receive power, and riches, +and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing +— to him, to him alone, be the praise; who, of an heir of +hell, hath made an heir of heaven, by a substitutional +righteousness wrought out in his own person: mine by free gift, in +which I am completely justified. To this work let nothing be added, +with this work let nothing be mixed.</p> +<p>"There is another work going on by the same Spirit of truth; +also his purchase and gift — sanctification. In this I am +called to occupy, watch, strive, fight. Life is given; means of +support and growth provided; weapons of warfare — all things +necessary to life and godliness: these are promised to the diligent +use of means; and poverty, stagnation, discomfort threatened to the +indolent. O how sovereign and gracious has my God been in his +dealings with me in this respect also. For a sluggard have I been +in the days of youth and the prime of life; yet to me hath he given +the comforts promised only to the diligent. Here I sit on +<!--Page 211--><a name="P211" id="P211"></a> the verge of +threescore; my heart in some good measure loosened from the world, +although in full possession of it. Health, ease, plenty, elegance, +friendship, respectability; old age welcome, death unstung become a +familiar friend, the messenger of my Father to fetch me home to +those mansions which my Redeemer has taken possession of in my +name. My hope is strong for my offspring. Stately have been his +steps of mercy towards them already, and he saved them from their +mother's snares; he heard and answered my prayers, for his name's +sake, and overruled my practices; he is my God, and the God of my +children; the God of my children's children to the latest +generation; my cup is full of comfort, temporal and spiritual. O +praise him, praise him, for he is your God, and the God of your +offspring also."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">UNE</font> 4, 1802.</p> +<p>"Making allowances for the difference of time, and supposing my +dear children in health, all about them is in a racket. This is his +majesty's birthday; and you are at this moment, perhaps, set in +some social company, by invitation, to honor the anniversary, to +repeat the wish of long life, health, and comfort to the lawful +sovereign of Britain.</p> +<p>"Here sit I in my dear little room, with a lovely landscape in +view; B. M——'s park in velvet verdure; the full-grown trees +scattered thin to display the carpet, and in full foliage; the +clump of willows weeping to the very ground, with a gentle wave +agitated by the zephyr; while the other trees keep their firm, +majestic posture; the Hudson river covered with vessels crowded +with sail to catch the scanty breeze; some sweet little chirpers +regaling the ear with their share <!--Page 212--><a name="P212" id= +"P212"></a> of pleasure. I think I never heard any little +warbler in this land sing so sweet as those which now salute my +ear.</p> +<p class="center"><font size="-1">"These are thy glorious works, +Parent of good.'</font></p> +<p>"Can all the philosophic ingenuity of London, this evening, +produce such a scene? The gardens no doubt will be glorious, but +the groundwork is also God's; but why say I that in particular? All +is his; the very notes that warble through so many guilty throats +are his creation; all the art of man cannot add to their number. +Sweet bird, thy notes are innocent, O how sweet. Lovely trees +— ye who stand erect, and ye who weep and wave; I wish no +brighter scene. The shadows lengthen fast, so do yours and mine, my +sovereign;* a few, a very few anniversaries, and we must change the +scene — change to where no courtiers flatter, no false +meteors blaze — where shadows flee away, realities appear, +and nothing but realities will stand in any stead.</p> +<p class="note">*Mrs. Graham received a pension as a British +officer's widow until her death.</p> +<p>"O may we meet; for me, I nothing have, I nothing am. But One +there is, who was and is all that the mind of saint or angel can +conceive of glory and of happiness; and he is mine, and I am most +blessed. Lengthen on, ye shadows, until all is shadow on these orbs +of flesh. Then, O then,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span class="i4">"'My captive soul set +free<br /></span> <span>From cloggish earth which oft has made me +sigh,<br /></span> <span>Ascends the eternal hills, as seen to +see,<br /></span> <span>As known to know, and grasp the +Deity.'"<br /></span></div> +</div> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1802.</p> +<p>"Our friend B—— has now proved how far it is safe to leave the +fate of eternity unsettled. He is <!--Page 213--><a name="P213" id= +"P213"></a> gone to the state of the dead: with whom his soul is +gathered, He only knows whose mercy none ought to limit; he is gone +to his own place; if without a Surety-righteousness, which he +sought not after in health, we know where that place is; but after +reading of a thief on the cross, nothing with God is impossible. My +mind is much impressed; that sentence rings in my ears, so often +repeated, 'I am determined to do all the good I can, and leave the +rest to God. I have no time to search.' Oh, oh, one thing is +needful.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"'Life's a folly, age a +dream<br /></span> <span>Borne along the common +stream,<br /></span> <span>Earth's a bubble light as +air,<br /></span> <span>If my rest be centered there.<br /></span> +<span>How can that be solid joy<br /></span> <span>Which a moment +may destroy?'<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>"Mr. B—— was seized with the fever in its most malignant form; +for him every genius was exerted, and the medical store ransacked +for the healing balsam, but in vain. The Judge calls for the soul, +and the body must, at his command, dislodge its tenant; how awful, +if no surety was at hand, if he must stand naked — we know +the rest: did I say we know? O no. What can we know of that wrath +which in the garden of Gethsemane, when no murderous hand was near, +no high-priest, no council, or cross, wrung the blood through every +pore of the pure, the innocent Lamb of God, supported by Godhead. +If such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in +the dry?"</p> +<p>Another of her grandchildren was shortly after removed by death; +his illness is noticed in the following meditation:</p> +<!--Page 214--><a name="P214" id="P214"></a><br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">UGUST</font>, 1802.</p> +<p>"'And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that +ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the +countries, to serve wood and stone.' 'And I will bring you into the +wilderness, and there will I plead with you face to face: like as I +pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, +so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God; and I will cause you +to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the +covenant.' 'And ye shall remember your ways, and all your doings, +wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in +your own sight, for all your evils that ye have committed: and ye +shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my +name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to +your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.' +Ezek. 20:32, 35, 36, 43, 44.</p> +<p>"It is good, yes, Lord, it is all good; too often have we said, +'we will be as the heathen, to serve wood and stone.' Often hast +thou chastened, often have we confessed, often resolved that we +would walk more softly, more tenderly, more circumspectly before +thee. But, alas, when thy hand is removed, when thou healest us, +and restorest to us health, comfort, and our pleasant things, we +wax fat and kick, nestle in our comfort, abuse thy gifts, and lose +sight of the giver. Alas, Lord, thus it must ever be with us, when +we keep not near to thee; we cannot walk one step alone without +stumbling. Thou knowest these naturally wicked hearts, that they +are deceitful above all things; they betray us before we are aware. +Blessed, ever blessed be our God for his well-ordered +<!--Page 215--><a name="P215" id="P215"></a> covenant. Blessed +for the discipline of it. O Lord, we are again in the wilderness, +and under thy chastising rod: for weeks past, we have 'eaten no +pleasant bread;' thy rod is still suspended over our pleasant, our +dear child; the streams of life ebb, he sickens, he dies, if thou +interfere not. But the issues of death are in thy hand, and our +eyes are towards thee. In vain are all means, all medicines, if +thou impart not the healing virtue. Thy weeping servants seek the +healing virtue from thy waters, thy seas, thy pure air. All nature +is in thy hand and ministers thy pleasure; to some conveying +health, to some disease. An herb to be boiled in simple milk, as +the figs for Hezekiah's boils, has been proposed, O let this prove +the appointed means, or direct and point out that which thou wilt +bless, and let our hearts and tongues give the glory to thee.</p> +<p>"We deserve this bereavement; but, Lord, what do we not deserve? +Even according to the constitution of the covenant of grace, and +consistent with thy pardoning, saving mercy, and all thy +long-suffering, wert thou to take vengeance on our inventions, by +exercising all thy threatened chastisements, should we ever be out +of the furnace? But even in this view, thou never hast dealt with +us as our iniquities deserved. 'He will not always chide, neither +will he keep his anger for ever.' Thou hast, in thousands of +instances, 'cast our sins behind thy back, into the midst of the +sea; blotted them out, to remember them no more for ever. Thy ways +are not as our ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts,' We may +plead, 'Deal not with us as we sin; but according to the multitude +of thy mercies blot out our transgressions. Pardon +<!--Page 216--><a name="P216" id="P216"></a> our iniquity, for +it is great.' Affliction is appointed, but it is 'in measure, when +it shooteth forth.' O debate with it, and according to thy promise, +'stay thy rough wind in the day of thine east wind.' Lord, say it +is enough, give the blessing, and by this measure shall iniquity be +purged, and the fruit be to take away sin. All means are alike in +thy hand, and any measure. In holy sovereignty and consummate +wisdom thou afflictest, and in thy hand afflictions yield the +peaceable fruits of righteousness: the hearts of thy people are +melted, and they sing of mercy and of judgment, and glorify thy +name. But, O Lord, a look, such as thou gavest to Peter, will melt +our hearts and restore our backsliding souls. The announcing of our +pardon by the same power, will make them overflow with love. If +thou but call us by name, as thou didst her who sought thee at thy +sepulchre, with the same power we shall recognize our Saviour and +worship him.</p> +<p>"O Lord our God, ever faithful to thy promises, thou hast said, +'Whatsoever ye ask in my name, believing that ye receive, I will do +it.' O Lord, I ask not the life of this child on this ground. I +have through life asked one thing of thee, and that will I seek to +obtain while life and breath remain, and reason and grace; I will +seek it, seek it with importunity, holding fast by thy promise to +do it, and believing that it shall be according to my petition. +Make good to me this thy promise, in a spiritual and eternal sense. +Be my God, and the God of my children, and of my children's +children, to the latest generation. Let my children according to +the flesh, be thine by regeneration of the Holy Ghost: it is a +great boon; <!--Page 217--><a name="P217" id="P217"></a> but +hast thou not said, 'Open thy mouth wide, I will fill it?' Father, +do as thou hast said: this is my one petition, and I cannot be said +nay. I ask for myself, my children, and my children's children, to +the latest generation, the life which Christ died to purchase, and +lives to bestow, that we may be made one with him, and our life hid +with him in God. Amen, and Amen.</p> +<p>"But, O my Father, thou hast said, 'Be careful for nothing; but +in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let +your requests be made known unto God.' I ask, with submission to +thy holy will, if consistent with thy glory, his good, and the good +of the parents, the life of this child; that thou mayest spare him +for our comfort, but first for thine own glory; that thou mayest +give the different branches of this family a joyful meeting, a full +feast of grateful thanks to thee for all thy mercies; and our +hearts may rejoice before thee for the abundance of comfort. +Shouldst thou, in thy adorable wisdom, otherwise determine, thy +blessed and thy holy will be done. Wash the soul of this child in +the blood of Jesus, clothe him with thy righteousness, sanctify him +by thy Spirit, and fit him in every respect for thy kingdom. And O, +my divine Redeemer, I renew my petition which thou didst so +evidently grant in the case of our dear Isabella: take him in thine +arms of mercy; soften and shorten the parting pangs, and carry him +gently through the dark valley, and give him an abundant entrance +into thy heavenly kingdom, to join the hosannas of thy little +children, of whom thy kingdom is partly made up: and O, sanctify +the affliction to all concerned; direct our discipline +<!--Page 218--><a name="P218" id="P218"></a> according as thine +all-seeing, heart-searching eye sees we need; that it may bring +forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and 'the fruit of +affliction be to take away sin,' and the glory of all redound to +thee, Father, Son, and blessed Spirit. Amen, and Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">EPTEMBER</font>, 1802.</p> +<p>"'What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation?'</p> +<p>"'O give thanks unto God, for he is good; his mercy endureth for +ever.'</p> +<p>"'How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God; how great +is the sum of them.'</p> +<p>"'If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. +When I awake I am still with thee.'</p> +<p>"'The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, +and of great mercy.'</p> +<p>"'The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all +his works.'</p> +<p>"'All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall +bless thee.'</p> +<p>"'He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us +according to our iniquities.'</p> +<p>"'Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and +passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. He +retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in +mercy.'</p> +<p>"'He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will +subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all our sins into the +depths of the sea.'</p> +<p>"'Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, +and with him is plenteous redemption.'</p> +<!--Page 219--><a name="P219" id="P219"></a> +<p>"'And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.'</p> +<p>"'The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' +The Lord hath turned our captivity, filled our mouth with laughter +and our tongue with singing.</p> +<p>"Thomas," her grandchild, "is restored to perfect health. Thou +hast heard our petitions, and continuest to us all our pleasant +things.</p> +<p>"It is a time of prosperity; thou givest us the 'upper and the +nether springs;' thou blessest my children 'in their basket and in +their store;' and while the riches of many are making to themselves +wings and flying away — while many are sinking from affluence +to poverty, falling on the right hand and on the left, by thy most +manifest providence thou hast preserved them from the wreck. O +teach them to acknowledge thy hand in all this, and to say and +feel, 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the +glory.' It is God that giveth power to get riches. O, enable them +to honor thee with their substance, and with the first-fruits of +all their increase.</p> +<p>"In the day of prosperity let them rejoice, but let this joy be +in the Lord. O let thy gifts ever, ever lead them to the giver, and +fill their hearts with gratitude, their mouths with praise; and let +their very actions be worship, while they acknowledge thee in all +their ways, and thou directest their steps. May they be as 'a city +set on a hill, which cannot be hid,' and their light so shine +before men, that they seeing their good works, may glorify their +Father in heaven.</p> +<p>"And now, O Lord, we wait for thy blessing in the restoration of +our dear D—— and I. B—— and <!--Page 220--><a name="P220" id= +"P220"></a> J——. 'Thou hast shown them great and sore +adversities,' and thou hast manifested thy power to save. When they +passed through the waters thou wast with them, and through the +rivers they did not overflow them. When they walked through the +fire they were not burnt, neither did the flames kindle upon them. +For thou art the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, their +Saviour.</p> +<p>"Thou didst stay thy rough wind in the day of thine east wind, +and in the multitude of their thoughts within them did thy comforts +delight their soul. Thou humbledst them under thy mighty hand, and +thou hast in the multitude of thy mercy exalted them in due +time.</p> +<p>"In all their sojourning thou hast been with them; and in +fellowship with thy church greatly hast thou comforted them. Thou +hast given them favor in the hearts of thy people, and made 'the +stones of the field to be at peace with them.' And now, O Lord, +restore them to their friends and Christian society, and to their +place which thou hast in thy goodness given and preserved to them. +Here may they be thy witnesses, that 'thou art the Lord, and +besides thee there is no Saviour.'"</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">EPTEMBER</font>, 1802.</p> +<p>"This day has the Lord our God answered our prayers, and +enriched us beyond the ordinary lot of humanity. D—— and I. B—— +and J—— are restored to their preserved places, and to the bosom +of their family. We are as men who dream; our mouths are filled +with laughter, our tongues with singing; the Lord hath done great +things for us, whereof we are glad. Thou hast turned our +<!--Page 221--><a name="P221" id="P221"></a> captivity as the +streams in the south. We sowed in tears, we have reaped in joy. +Bless the Lord, O our souls; ever true and faithful is his word: +'He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall +doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with +him.'</p> +<p>"'O Lord, from thee is our fruit found;' may our sheaves be many +and weighty, thou working all our works in us, to thine own glory +and our blessedness. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"1802.</p> +<p>"Dear brother Pero,* happy brother Pero, thy Jesus, in whom thou +trustedst, has loosed thy bonds, has brought thee to that rest +which remains for the people of God; thou drinkest of the pure +river that maketh glad the city of our God; of that blessed +fountain from which issue all the streams which refresh and revive +us weary pilgrims. But a little while ago, and thou wast weary, +dark, and solitary; thy flesh fettering and clogging thy spirit; +thy God trying thy faith, hope, and patience, which he had +previously implanted, watered, and made vigorous, to stand that +trial more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried by +fire, and was made manifest to the glory of that Saviour who leaves +not his people <!--Page 222--><a name="P222" id="P222"></a> in +any case. If need be, they are in heaviness, through manifold +temptations; but he knows how to deliver them, having himself been +tempted.</p> +<p class="note">*Pero was an elderly man of color whom Mr. Andrew +Smith had purchased, and made free.<br /> + Pero had previously been a freed man of Christ. He had been +for some time in ill health; Mrs. Graham kindly attended on him, +and read the Scriptures to him: he died by the bursting of a +bloodvessel, at an hour when none of the family were with him. Mrs. +Graham, in humility of spirit, reproaches herself in this exercise, +for having been absent from him, without inquiring into his +situation for one hour.</p> +<p>"Thou hadst a taste of his cup: like him thou didst endure the +contradiction of sinners; like him thou didst experience the +desertion of friends, even thine old mistress, whom thou lately +didst esteem as a sister in Christ, and to whom thou didst look for +fresh communications from and through that written word, which she +could read and thou couldst not. Oh, how did she prove as a broken +reed unto thee; how did she neglect thy necessity, and her own +opportunity of bringing forth fruit in its season. Thou hast been +no loser. The Lord passed by the slothful servant, the unfaithful +steward, who neglected to give thee thy meat in due season, and +himself took her place; took thee from that household which was not +worthy of thee, and led thee to those mansions of bliss which +himself purchased and prepared; set thee at that table which shall +never be drawn, where thou shalt feast on all the fulness of God, +and drink of those pleasures which are at his right hand for +evermore. No need of old mistress now; no need of any earthly +vessel now, nor of that written word which thou didst so highly +prize. The Word made flesh has removed the veil that shaded the +glory of the God-man from thine eyes; flesh and blood could not +behold it; of this he has unclothed thee — left it with us to +look upon and mourn our sin. Thee he has introduced into the full +vision of eternal day, where thou knowest as thou art known, and +seest as thou art seen. O that full communion enjoyed between a +holy soul and the perfection of holiness! O that light of +<!--Page 223--><a name="P223" id="P223"></a> life, that ocean of +love, that inconceivable blessedness. How hast thou outrun us, +brother Pero; how distanced us in a moment. Oh, could I not watch +with thee one hour? Oh that I had received thy last blessing, +instead of which, conscious offence, deserved rebuke, painful +compunction wring my heart; and perhaps the rod of correction may +be suspended, and now ready to fall on my guilty head.</p> +<p>"Father, O my Father, am I not still thy child — still thy +adopted? Have not I an Advocate with thee, Jesus Christ the +righteous, whom thou hearest always? does not the blood of Christ +cleanse from all sin? yes, O yes. This is my universal remedy; +thousands and ten thousands of times have I experienced its +efficacy. Father, I again apply; blessed Spirit, do thine office. +Wash me, and I shall be clean; purge me, and I shall be whiter than +snow. I confess my sin, I acknowledge mine iniquity. Thou didst +bring to me an old disciple, near and dear to his and my Saviour; +thou didst require me to minister unto him all that he needed; the +honor was great, the opportunity valuable. Thou didst empty thy +servant for a time, thou didst hide his comfort, that I might, +through thy written word, draw living waters for him, and give him +to drink. O the honor; O the negligence. Thou didst send the call +for thy disciple to come up to thee; in thy providence thou didst +make it first known to me, that I might be instrumental in +conveying to him, through the same channel, oil and trimming for +his lamp. Great was the honor; dignified the service; but lost to +me for ever. I passed by on the other side. Blessed, blessed Jesus; +thou good Samaritan, who pouredst the oil and wine into his wounds, +and tookest him, not to an inn, <!--Page 224--><a name="P224" id= +"P224"></a> but to those mansions in the skies which thou, with +thine own blood, purchasedst for him; sanctify, O sanctify to me +this thy providence; pardon my neglect. Saviour, wash me in thy +blood, and sanctify and bring good out of even my transgression. By +thy grace, let it be a means of stirring me up to more +watchfulness, that I may meet the opportunities afforded me in thy +providence, to occupy till thou come."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"D<font size="-1">ECEMBER</font>, 1802.</p> +<p>"The lovely plant which the Lord had blasted, which brought down +our hearts with grief, which he had restored and clothed with +smiling health and comfort, again sickened, declined, wasted; every +means proved ineffectual; the Lord refused the healing virtue. He +was brought to town to be near the physicians, but the Physician of +Israel aided them not. Disease increased; with pain, sickness, +convulsion, much he suffered, and long; he had a taste of the +bitterness of sin, but no part of the curse: <i>that</i> the +Redeemer drank and expended; and having by his atoning blood purged +this little one from his sins, and perfected all his redeeming work +in his soul, he received him into his own heavenly abodes. It is +well, all well. Amen."</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham lived alternately with her children Mrs. Bethune and +Mrs. Smith until 1803, when Mrs. Smith removed from New York. After +that time she made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Bethune until her +departure to her heavenly home. They loved her not only from +natural affection, but for her superior worth. They believed that +her prayers brought a blessing on the family, as the ark of God did +to the house of Obed-Edom.</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 225--><a name="P225" id="P225"></a> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">ARCH</font>, 1803.</p> +<p>"I read this day the 36th chapter of Ezekiel, and pleaded God's +promises from the 22d verse to the end, for myself, for my +children, and for my children's children; for the church of God +throughout the world, in particular for this country, for Britain +and Ireland, France and Germany, where his name was once known, and +his gospel flourished. That the Lord would 'build the waste places +and repair the breaches;' that he would 'purify the sons of Levi,' +fill all pulpits with able, faithful ministers of the new +testament, who shall 'declare the whole counsel of God;' and that +wherever his name is recorded, the Holy Ghost might fill the place, +and convince the hearts of preachers and hearers, of sin, of +righteousness, and of judgment; might take of the things of Christ +and show unto them; and that the great Head of the church might +regulate and overrule all these breaches, differences, and shakings +in his churches.</p> +<p>"O Lord, I am ignorant; I know not the mind of the Spirit of +promise as thou knowest it. The promise of the fruit of the tree, +and the increase of the earth, of the corn, the wine, and the oil +is thine, as are all others. I am ignorant how far this refers to +spiritual prosperity, how far to temporal. I ask, O Lord, covenant +provision, the fruit of the seed sown in the hearts of men by thine +own Spirit; and that thou mayest build the ruined cities of thy +churches, and fill them 'with men like a flock, as the flock of +Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled +with flocks of men, and they shall know that thou art the Lord.' +Thy fair, thy rich, thy beautiful creation is also the fruit of +grace. The wicked possess it, but <!--Page 226--><a name="P226" id= +"P226"></a> they enjoy it not. Thy people are the heirs, but +thou, as a wise and merciful Father, givest them to possess +according as thy wisdom sees safe and good for them. When with the +things of this world they imbibe the spirit of the men of the +world; when they nestle in thy gifts and forget the Giver; when +they enjoy with a carnal spirit, and not with thankfulness and a +due sense of their dependence on thee as the God of providence as +well as of grace; thou, in mercy as in sovereignty, blastest their +pleasant things, mixest their cup of prosperity with wormwood and +gall, or sweepest all away with a turn of thy hand, that thou +mayest teach them that man doth not live by bread alone, but by +every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; that thou +mayest withdraw them from sinful purposes, and hide pride from +them; that thou mayest open their ears to instruction, and seal it +on their hearts: thou dashest to pieces their broken cisterns, that +thou mayest lead them back to the fountain of living waters.</p> +<p>"It is good, O Lord, all good; I lay hold upon it: be thou the +provider of me and mine; feed us with food convenient for us. Thine +own word testifies that 'every creature of God is good, and nothing +is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is +sanctified by the word of God and prayer.' I and the children for +whom I pray, possess many, yea, and abundance of temporal good +things. O Lord, give suitable grace, grace for grace. Spirit of +grace, keep us thankful, humble, dependent, spiritual; enable us to +receive all through a covenant channel, as the provision of our +Father by the way, through this wilderness. O may all be sanctified +by thy word and <!--Page 227--><a name="P227" id="P227"></a> +prayer, and we be enabled 'to eat and drink to thy +glory.' Amen.</p> +<p>"Read the 138th Psalm: 'Though the Lord be high, yet hath he +respect unto the lowly; though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou +wilt revive me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; thy +mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever; forsake not the works of thine +own hands.'</p> +<p>"Redeeming work is thy work; regenerating work is thy work; +sanctifying work is also thine.</p> +<p>"The first is finished, the second begun, to be perfected in the +third. O Lord, I hang on thy promises, which with Christ are all +mine, though I have not at all times the savor of them; this is +mine infirmity, and often my sin. O keep me looking unto +Jesus."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">ARCH</font> 25, 1803.</p> +<p>"Communion Sabbath, Dr. M—— preached from Romans 6:17: 'But +God be thanked that ye were' — were in the past time, not now +— 'the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed from the heart +that form of doctrine which was delivered you.'</p> +<p>"O Lord, I believe the doctrines of thy gospel; I know that I am +delivered from sin as a master; it hath not dominion over my will, +nor entire dominion over my affections; I would be thine, thy +servant, thy child, thine in all obedience. I feel this new +principle in the desires of my soul. I would do all things to thee, +in act and in principle. But O, Lord, the old man is still here, +harassing and hindering my new will, which I have received from +thee, from acting with freedom and energy. Unhallowed motives steal +in, by-ends present themselves; and when outward duty is attained +to, there is more of sin than of righteousness. +<!--Page 228--><a name="P228" id="P228"></a> Though entered upon +with some measure of purity, yet before it is finished I am at a +loss to discern the true principle by which I am actuated. Lord, +help me; hast thou not promised to work in me both 'to will and to +do of thy good pleasure?' Is it not the grand end of thy death, +that thou mightest purify to thyself a glorious church, 'not having +spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing;' and shall not I be a +partaker? Art thou not made of God unto thy people, wisdom, +righteousness, sanctification, and redemption?</p> +<p>"O Lord, my heart pants for redemption from indwelling sin. This +depravity of my nature, this opposition, this evil that is ever +present with me when I would do good, this indolence, this +listlessness, this want of zeal, or else self-will, keenness of +temper, impatience, haste: O Lord, there is a host of enemies; gird +me, arm me, shield me, lead me forth under thy banner; be my +victorious King. 'I will go in thy name, trusting in thy promised +strength and grace to help in every time of need.' Glory be to God, +Father, Son, and blessed Spirit, for the grace in which I stand. +But for grace I had been a willing slave to sin to this hour. By +that same grace I shall one day attain to victory. I cast my burden +on the Lord, he will sustain until he deliver; I will go up through +the wilderness, trusting in the promises, and continue fighting in +his strength. 'My soul waits for thy salvation.' Lord, enable me to +keep 'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.' O give +faith in every part of his mediatorial character. May I feed upon +him and be strong for this sore fight. Give courage, O Lord; press +me forward: may I resolve, and keep <!--Page 229--><a name="P229" +id="P229"></a> the resolution, to resist unto blood, striving +against sin.</p> +<p>"I have been a slothful servant in thy family, an idle laborer +in thy vineyard, 'an unfruitful branch,' a poor dwarfish member in +thy body. Grant, O grant a little fruit on the topmost bough. O, at +the 'eleventh hour' may I begin to work, to bear some fruit, to the +glory of that grace by which my soul is saved from the wages of +sin, death, and hell, and made heir, by free gift, of the wages of +righteousness, eternal life, and glory. I wait for thy +salvation."</p> +<p>There being no public, free, or Sabbath-schools in the city, +Mrs. Graham used her endeavors to promote such as would at least +furnish education to the children of the widows under her care; and +several young ladies offered their services, which she thus +notices:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font>, 1804.</p> +<p>"A new thing is on the wheel in the city of New York. A society +of ladies, organized for the purpose of relieving widows with small +children, was new in this country. It is now, by the blessing of +God, apparently established. It was entered upon with prayer; it +has been conducted thus far with prayer. The blessing of God has +rested upon it, and much good has been done by it. Some of us have +looked long, and requested of God to open a way by which the +children of these widows might be instructed and taught to read his +word, and by his blessing on it, come to the knowledge of the way +of salvation. One means has been attempted of an ordinary kind: +twelve children were last week placed at school with Mrs. L——, to +be <!--Page 230--><a name="P230" id="P230"></a> taught to read, +and some more are to be placed with another of our widows, for the +same purpose. But this indeed is new. A society of young ladies, +the first in rank in the city, in the very bloom of life, and full +of its prospects, engaged in those pleasures and amusements which +tend to engross the mind and shut out every idea unconnected with +them, coming forward and offering — not to contribute towards +a school, but their own personal attendance to instruct the +ignorant, O Lord, prosper their work. If this be of thee, it shall +prosper, and be productive of much good; but if thou bless not, it +will come to nothing but shame. No good can be done but by thee, +for there is none good but One;' and what are all thy creatures, +but instruments in thy hand, by which thou bringest to pass the +purposes of thy will? <i>Christians</i>, redeemed, enlightened, +sanctified, are no more; thou workest all their works in them; they +themselves are thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good +works, which thou hast prepared, that they should walk in them. +Worldlings also are thy instruments: by them thou workest and +bringest to pass the counsels of thy will; thou puttest into their +heart the good thing which thou workest, and girdest them for the +purpose: though not the children of thy covenant, they are the +instruments of thy providence.</p> +<p>"O Lord, take up this matter; gird these young women to this +very purpose, and prosper them in the art of teaching these orphans +of thy providence. And Oh, Lord, hear my more important petition. I +am not worthy to be heard. O Lord, I am not worthy to be named in +connection with any good done by thee. I am the chief of sinners, +the chief of backsliders; every <!--Page 231--><a name="P231" id= +"P231"></a> thing in me, of me, or by me, is vile as far as it +is mine. All that is otherwise, all good implanted in me, or done +by me, is thine own; it is grace, free grace, the purchase of thine +own Anointed, my dear Redeemer, my dying, risen, ascended Saviour, +and the fruit of the Holy Ghost, the sent of the Father and of the +Son, to set up a kingdom of righteousness in the hearts of the +redeemed. Let me, as a sinner saved by grace, to whom thou hast +been pleased to give the exceeding great and precious promises +— let me, under the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant, +and in entire dependence on my surety-righteousness — let me +draw near and present my petition, in the name and for the sake of +Him whom thou hearest always. O Lord God Almighty, by this very +thing, build up thy Zion. Lay hold of these young creatures, and +while they are in the way of thy providence, bring them to the +house of our master's brethren. O thou great Teacher, teach thou +teacher and taught. Be found of them who seek thee not, and say +with power, 'Behold me, behold me,' to a people not yet called by +thy name, and out of this small thing in thy providence, bring +revenues of praise to thy name as the God of grace. Amen.</p> +<p>"And now, O Lord, for myself, I pray for deep humility; I ask, +for His sake who was meek and lowly, to be kept where my place +really is, at the feet of all thy servants; and if it be thy +pleasure to make me a useful instrument, in proportion make me a +humble soul. Let me ever remember my ways and be ashamed, and never +open my mouth any more because of my shame, when thou art pacified +towards me for all that I have done. O keep me in this contrite +frame of <!--Page 232--><a name="P232" id="P232"></a> mind. In +all that to which thou callest me, give me a willing heart, and +furnish me with every necessary for thy glory. And now prepare me +to speak to these young women good and acceptable words. Save me +from sacrificing truth, or departing, in any respect, from +Christian duty; give me such wisdom as maybe suited to the +occasion: in all things mine eyes are to the Lord; from thee let my +fruit be found."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font> 17, 1804.</p> +<p>"Saturday, the 11th, twenty-nine young ladies met with Mrs. +Hoffman and myself, at Mr. O. Hoffman's, Wall-street, on purpose to +receive instructions respecting the school; and having paired +themselves according to their mind, I delivered what I had prepared +for them: they all seemed hearty in their engagement; and on +Monday, the 13th inst., Miss L——t and Miss L——n attended at the +school-room and commenced teaching thirteen children; four have +been added since.</p> +<p>"Again, O Lord, let me request thy blessing on this institution; +put thy seal upon it, and mark it for thine own. Gird the teachers +for their work, and open the minds of the scholars to instruction. +And O, Lord, in thine own time, and by means of thine own devising, +provide spiritual instruction for teachers and taught. Is it thy +pleasure, Lord, that I attend the children on a day appointed for +the purpose? Wilt thou accept of me as an instrument by which thou +wilt do good to the souls of these children; and wilt thou keep me +humble and contrite in my own soul? Bless also Mrs. L——'s school; +there too let thy work appear; deal with her soul as 'thou dealest +with thy chosen;' teach her the way of salvation, and make her a +teacher by <!--Page 233--><a name="P233" id="P233"></a> thine +own Spirit. If it be my dear Master's pleasure to use me, I would +also attend that school as his instrument. 'Search me, O Lord, and +know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be +any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.'"</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham's address to the young ladies, above alluded to, is +given as a specimen of the appropriateness of her addresses on +similar occasions, and as an incentive to kindred exertions in +every condition of life.</p> +<br /> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR YOUNG</font> L<font size= +"-1">ADIES</font> — Every thing new becomes matter of +speculation and variety of opinion.</p> +<p>"An association of ladies for the relief of destitute widows and +orphans, was a new thing in this country. It was feeble in its +origin, the jest of most, the ridicule of many, and it met the +opposition of not a few. The men could not allow our sex the +steadiness and perseverance necessary to establish such an +undertaking. But God put <i>his</i> seal upon it; and under his +fostering care it has prospered beyond the most sanguine +expectations of its propagators. Its fame is spread over the United +States, and celebrated in foreign countries. It has been a +precedent to many cities, who have followed the laudable example. +This fame is not more brilliant than just. The hungry are fed, the +naked are clothed, shelter is provided for the outcasts, medicine +and cordials for the sick, and the soothing voice of sympathy +cheers the disconsolate. Who are the authors of all these +blessings? Your mothers, ladies, the benevolent members of this so +justly famed Society. But who are these children that +<!--Page 234--><a name="P234" id="P234"></a> idly ramble through +the streets, a prey to growing depravity and vicious example? hark, +they <i>quarrel</i>, they <i>swear</i>, and such no doubt will +<i>lie</i> and <i>steal</i>. And that group of dear little +creatures, running about in the most imminent danger, apparently +without protection, are they under the care of this so justly famed +society? They are; they are fed, they are clothed, their mother's +fireside is made warm for them; but no culture is provided for +their minds, nor protection from baneful example. These will in +time follow that of the older ones, and grow up the slaves of +idleness and vice, the certain road to ruin.</p> +<p>"Alas, alas, and is there no help — no preventive? Yes, +there is. Behold the angelic band; hail, ye virtuous daughters; +worthy of your virtuous mothers, come forward and tread in their +steps. Snatch these little ones from the whirling vortex; bring +them to a place of safety; teach them to know their Father, God: +tell them of their Saviour's love; lead them through the history of +his life; mark to them the example he set, the precepts he recorded +for their observance, and the promises for their comfort. And by +teaching them to read, enable them to retrace all your instructions +when their eyes see you no more.</p> +<p>"My dear young ladies, the sacrifice you have made shall most +assuredly meet its reward: but like your mothers, you will +experience much painful banter, you will be styled school-madams. +Let it pass; suffer it quietly; when your scheme begins to ripen +and the fruits appear, who shall be able to withhold their praise? +Only be steadfast, draw not back and justify the prophecies of +many.</p> +<!--Page 235--><a name="P235" id="P235"></a> +<p>"A great general, in ancient times, in search of glory, landed +his troops on the hostile coast, and then burnt all his ships: they +must conquer, or die. You have, ladies, already embarked in this +design; there is no remaining neuter now; your name and undertaking +are in every mouth; you must press forward and justify your cause: +and justified it shall be, if you persevere; it cannot be +otherwise. The benevolence you contemplate is as superior to that +already in operation, as the interest of the soul is to that of the +body; and it is your own — the very scheme originated in a +young mind in this company. The society were contemplating +mercenary agents, schools for pay, and one is already +established.</p> +<p>"But this labor of love; who could have hoped for it? A society +of <i>young ladies,</i> in rank the first in the city, in the very +bloom of life, and full of its prospects, engaged in those +pleasures and amusements which generally engross the mind, and shut +out every idea unconnected with self, coming forward and offering +— what? not their purses, that were <i>trash;</i> but their +own personal services to instruct the ignorant, and become the +saviors of many of their sex. It is indeed a new thing, and more +strange in this age of dissipation than that institution from which +it sprung. May this too become the darling of Providence. May God +put his seal upon this also. May he bless and prosper you in this +undertaking, bless you, and make you a blessing."</p> +<p>We next have her wrestling supplications for the revival of +God's work in the church with which she was connected.</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 236--><a name="P236" id="P236"></a> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font> 21, 1804.</p> +<p>"O Thou, who art Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, who +holdest the seven stars in thy right hand, and walkest in the midst +of the seven golden candle-sticks, who livest and was dead, and art +alive for evermore. Amen. And hast the keys of hell and of death. +Out of thy mouth goeth a sharp twoedged sword, by which thou +reachest the hearts of the most hardened. O write with power, speak +with power, in the heart of the angel of this church. Hast thou not +in former days had thy dwelling among them? in days of trouble +didst thou not work in them the fruits of labor and patience, so +that for thy name's sake they labored and fainted not? Thou +blessedst them and gave them peace, and they rejoiced in the light +of thy countenance; thou multipliedst them also, so that from a +handful they became <i>two bands</i>. Alas, Lord, we have, +Jeshurun-like, 'waxed fat and kicked;' we have left our first love; +we have not watched and prayed, as thou gavest commandment, and +thou hast left us to enter into temptation; we have forsaken the +counsel of our old men, and given heed to flatterers; we have +forgotten our dependence on thee, and said, 'Ashur shall save us, +we will ride upon horses.' We have set up our idols in our hearts, +and put the stumbling-block of our iniquity before our eyes; we +have taken counsel, but not of thee, and covered ourselves with a +covering, but not of thy Spirit; we have gloried in our own wisdom, +and strengthened ourselves in our own strength.</p> +<p>"We are poor, and blind, and miserable, and naked; rich in our +fancied wisdom, seeing by our own light, and compassing ourselves +about with our own <!--Page 237--><a name="P237" id="P237"></a> +sparks; we feed on ashes: a deceived heart has turned us aside.</p> +<p>"'O Lord, the hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof.' It is of +the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. To us belong shame and +confusion of face — O cover us with it — but to thee +belongs mercy. Humble us, O Lord, and we shall be humbled; 'turn +us, and we shall be turned.'</p> +<p>"It is in our nature to backslide for ever; thou, and thou only, +knowest the deceitfulness of the heart; thou, and thou only, canst +search it. O search us, and try us, and show us what wicked ways +there are in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Deal not with +us according to our sins, but according to the multitude of thine +own mercies. We have no other plea; our sins call for judgment, and +until thou, thine own blessed self, turn us, we are in no situation +to receive mercy. Work with us for thy name's sake, establish with +us thine own covenant of free, unmerited, undeserved mercy. Then +shall we know that thou art the Lord.</p> +<p>"Make us thine by thine own covenant, established in Christ, +thine own anointed; the blessed surety, by thine own appointment; +our substitute, on whom it hath pleased thee to lay the iniquities +of us all; in whose sacred person thou tookest vengeance for all +our sins; by whom thy law is fulfilled, magnified, and made +honorable; whose doing and suffering in our stead is accepted by +Jehovah. 'The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake.' No +covenant short of one fulfilled in every jot and tittle could +benefit us.</p> +<p>"Thy covenant is well-ordered in all things, and it is sure.</p> +<!--Page 238--><a name="P238" id="P238"></a> +<p>"Here, O Lord, I take my stand; here I lay my foundation, and on +this thy covenant I build; or rather, here thou thyself hast laid +my foundation, and on this rock hast thou set my soul and built my +hopes, thou subduing my enmity. I acquiesce. I will now 'remember +the years of thy hand,' look back to thy dealings with thine own +nation, whom thou didst choose and set apart from all other +nations, though of the same blood with all those that dwell on the +face of the whole earth.</p> +<p>"They, like us, destroyed themselves, but in thee was their +help. They also sinned, committed iniquity, and did wickedly; they +remembered not thy mercy, but provoked thee at the Red sea, after +the great deliverance thou hadst wrought for them, and the wonders +thou madest to pass before them in the land of Egypt. Nevertheless +thou savedst them for thy name's sake, that thou mightest make thy +mighty power known; thou didst repeat thy wonders, and didst dry up +the sea before them. He fed them with corn from heaven; they did +eat angel's food. He clave the rock in the wilderness, and caused +waters to run down like a river. After all, they forsook the God of +their mercies; they believed not his promises, nor trusted in his +salvation; they lusted, and they murmured, and desired to turn back +to Egypt. Thou didst chasten them sore for their sin, and didst +bring down their heart with grief.</p> +<p>"When thou didst slay them, they sought thee, and remembered +that God was their rock, and the most high God their Redeemer. +Nevertheless they did flatter with their mouth and lied unto thee +with their tongue, for their heart was not right with thee, +<!--Page 239--><a name="P239" id="P239"></a> neither were they +steadfast in thy covenant. But thou being full of compassion, +forgavest their iniquity and destroyedst them not; yea, many a time +turnedst thou away thine anger, and didst not stir up all thy +wrath.</p> +<p>"O how many times did they turn back, tempted God, and limited +the Holy One of Israel. Yet did he fulfil all his promises, and by +wonders in the sea, wonders in the desert, wonders in Zoan's field, +and in the camps of their enemies, he led them safely to the border +of his sanctuary, to the mountain which his right hand had +purchased. He cast out the heathen before them, and gave them rest +in the land of promise. Even there they provoked the Most High, +provoked him to jealousy with their graven images.</p> +<p>"Again thou didst chasten them sore, let loose the corruptions +of men upon them, and suffer them to fall before their enemies. +Thou deliveredst thy strength into captivity, and thy glory into +the hands of their enemies.</p> +<p>"Yet, O Lord, again didst thou deliver them, and sentest +provision for them by thine own covenant. Thou didst choose David +thy servant, and take him from the sheep-folds. Thou broughtest him +to feed Jacob thy people, and Israel thine inheritance. So he fed +them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by +the skilfulness of his hands.</p> +<p>"Such are the people with whom thou hast still to do. Such, O +God of infinite mercy, such the God with whom we sinners have to +do, even 'the Lord God, merciful and gracious, keeping mercy for +thou sands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and that +will by no means clear the guilty.' O what <!--Page 240--><a name= +"P240" id="P240"></a> could man or angel have done with this +last character of thy name? Thy covenant makes provision. In Christ +Jesus, our blessed substitute, all is reconciled. Thy name is one; +the just God, and the justifier of the ungodly who believe in +Jesus; This God is our God; we will make mention of his +righteousness, and his only. By his own covenant, in his own time, +and by means of his own providing, he will revive +us. Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font>, 1804</p> +<p>"All my desire is before thee, and it is all contained in thy +well-ordered covenant. Many years of vanity, of idolatry, of +backsliding, wandering, and folly have passed over my head since I +first took hold of thy covenant. How fickle, false, and deceitful +have I proved; yet thou knowest, thine own Spirit through all my +wanderings testified in my heart, that out of the channel of this +covenant there could be neither safety nor comfort; and never, so +far as I can remember, have I deliberately chosen to be dealt with +by any other. Its corrections and chastisements have reached the +deepest sensibilities of my heart. Thine arrows stuck fast in me, +thy hand pressed me sore; there was no soundness in my flesh, +neither rest in my bones, because of my sin; mine iniquities went +over my head, were a burden too heavy to bear. I was feeble and +sore broken, and roared by reason of the disquiet of my heart. My +lovers and friends stood aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stood +afar off. I was ready to halt, and my sorrow was continually before +me; yet even in my darkest, deepest afflictions, when deep called +to deep, and thy waves and billows were passing over me; when my +soul seemed <!--Page 241--><a name="P241" id="P241"></a> sinking +in the mire where there was no standing, I groped in the dark; my +heart panted, my strength failed, and the light of mine eyes seemed +gone out. I was weak with my groaning; in the night I made my bed +to swim with my tears; yet even then, by that same covenant by +which I was suffering, light sprang out of darkness, glimmering +hope in the midst of despair. I remembered the years of thy right +hand; in the multitude of my thoughts within me — the +provision made in this covenant — thy comforts delighted my +soul.</p> +<p>"I was furnished with a plea which would condemn, by every +covenant but thine: Pardon my iniquities, for they are great. Thou, +even thou, art he who blottest out transgressions as a cloud, and +iniquity as a thick cloud. Verily thou art a God that pardoneth, +though thou takest vengeance on the inventions of thy rebellious +children. 'Vengeance!' not the vengeance of the curse; no, that, O +thou blessed Covenant, thou blessed Surety, that fell on thy +devoted head. Thou by this covenant wast 'made a curse for us.' +Thou didst tread the wine-press alone, and of the people there was +none to help thee. Thou didst expend the last drop of that cup of +vengeance. Every cup put into our hand, though a cup of trembling, +is a cup of blessing. I this day take a fresh hold of thy covenant, +for myself, for my children, and for my children's children, to the +latest generation. For my brother and sister, for their children, +and children's children; for the near concerns of our dear D. B——; +and for all whom I carry on my mind to thy throne of grace. This is +the sum and substance of my prayers. Bring them into the bond of +this covenant, and deal with them according to the order +<!--Page 242--><a name="P242" id="P242"></a> of it, and the +provision made for them in it, in all possible +circumstances. Amen.</p> +<p>"O God, in the multitude of thy mercies hear me, in the truth of +thy salvation. Truth of thy salvation! thou only knowest the truth +of thy salvation. How little do we know of thy work. Many of those +providences which appear to us dark and dismal, are wheels turning +round 'the truth of thy salvation;' opening our blinded eyes to the +issues of sin, and also delivering from the snares of the devil. +Deal not, O Lord, with me, and mine, as our iniquities deserve; +this has never been thy way with us; but according to thy former +loving-kindness, and to all the long-suffering, patience, and +pardoning mercy which thy aged servant has experienced through her +sinful guilty pilgrimage. Thou hast forgiven me all the way from +Egypt. Leave me not now, when I am old and grey-headed; but when +strength and heart fail, be thou the strength of my heart and +portion for ever. Amen."</p> +<p>The winter of 1804-5 was unusually severe: the river Hudson was +shut by frost as early as November; fuel was consequently scarce +and dear, and the poor suffered greatly. Mrs. Graham visited those +parts of the city where the poorer class of sufferers dwelt;* in +upwards of two hundred families she either found a +<!--Page 243--><a name="P243" id="P243"></a> Bible their +property, or gave them one; praying with them in their affliction. +She requested a friend to write, first one religious tract and then +another, suited <!--Page 244--><a name="P244" id="P244"></a> to +the peculiar situation of those afflicted people. One was called, +"A Donation to Poor Widows with Small Children;" the other, "A +Second Visit to Poor Widows with Small Children." And lest it might +be said it was cheap to give advice, she usually gave a small sum +of money along with the tracts she distributed. There was at this +time neither a Bible nor Tract Society in New York. Mrs. Hoffman +accompanied her in many of her excursions. In the course of their +visits, they discovered a French family from St. Domingo in such +extremity of distress as made them judge it necessary to report +their case to the Honorable Dewitt Clinton, then mayor of the city. +The situation of this family being made public, three hundred +dollars were voluntarily contributed for their relief. Roused by +this incident, a public meeting was called at the Tontine +Coffee-house, and committees from the different wards were +appointed to aid the corporation in ascertaining and supplying the +immediate wants of the suffering poor. The zeal of Mrs. Graham and +Mrs. Hoffman paved the way for this public-spirited exertion, which +probably was the means of saving the lives of some of the destitute +and friendless.</p> +<p class="note">*The following notice of these scenes appeared in +one of the periodical publications of the day:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span class="i2">"When sorrow shrunk before the +piercing wind,<br /></span> <span>And famine, shelterless, in +suffering pined;<br /></span> <span>When sickness drooped in +solitary pain,<br /></span> <span>Mid varying misery's relentless +reign;<br /></span> <span>Oh, then tumultuous rose the plaints of +grief,<br /></span> <span>And loud and strong the clamors for +relief!<br /></span> <span>Then active charity, with boundless +care,<br /></span> <span>From gloomy faces chased the fiend +Despair,<br /></span> <span>Dispelled the horrors of the wintry +day,<br /></span> <span>And none that asked went unrelieved +away.<br /></span> <span class="i2">"Yet there are some who +sorrow's vigils keep,<br /></span> <span>Unknown that languish, +undistinguished weep;<br /></span> <span>Behold yon ruined +building's shattered walls,<br /></span> <span>Where drifting snow +through many a crevice falls;<br /></span> <span>Whose smokeless +vent no blazing fuel knows,<br /></span> <span>But drear and cold +the widow's mansion shows;<br /></span> <span>Her fragile form, by +sickness deeply riven,<br /></span> <span>Too weak to face the +driving blasts of heaven,<br /></span> <span>Her voice too faint to +reach some pitying ear,<br /></span> <span>Her shivering babes +command her anguished tear:<br /></span> <span>Their feeble cries +in vain assistance crave,<br /></span> <span>And expectation +'points but to the grave.'<br /></span> <span class="i2">"But lo, +with hasty step a female form<br /></span> <span>Glides through the +wind and braves the chilling storm,<br /></span> <span>With eager +hand now shakes the tottering door,<br /></span> <span>Now rushes +breathless o'er the snow-clad floor.<br /></span> <span>Her tongue +soft comfort to the mourner speaks,<br /></span> <span>Her silver +voice with soft emotion breaks;<br /></span> <span>Round the drear +hovel roves her moistened eye,<br /></span> <span>Her graceful +bosom heaves the lengthened sigh.<br /></span> <span class="i2">"I +know thee now — I know that angel frame —<br /></span> +<span>O that the muse might dare to breathe thy name:<br /></span> +<span>Nor thine alone, but all that sister-band<br /></span> +<span>Who scatter gladness o'er a weeping land;<br /></span> +<span>Who comfort to the infant sufferer bring,<br /></span> +<span>And 'teach with joy the widow's heart to sing.'<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"For this, no noisy honors fame shall +give,<br /></span> <span>In your own breasts your gentle virtues +live;<br /></span> <span>No sounding numbers shall your names +reveal,<br /></span> <span>But your own hearts the rich reward +shall feel.<br /></span> +<span>           +      "ALBERT."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 244A--><a name="P244A" id="P244A"></a> +<p>In the month of August, 1805, Mrs. Graham paid another visit to +her friends in Boston, of whom she spoke with much affection and +esteem. She used to mention, with peculiar approbation, a society +of pious ladies there, who met once in every week for prayer and +mutual edification.</p> +<p>On returning to New York, she again wrote to her friend Mrs. +C——, renewing her endeavors for <!--Page 245--><a name="P245" id= +"P245"></a> her consolation and establishment in the faith of +Christ; and soon after informed her of the dangerous illness of two +of her grandchildren, one of whom, in the righteous dispensations +of an unerring Providence, was taken, and the other left.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mrs. C——, Boston.</p> +<p class="right">"G<font size="-1">REENWICH</font>, N.Y., Sept. 26, +1805.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> F<font size="-1">RIEND</font> +— I arrived here on Monday. I found my children in health, +but much affected with the death of the amiable youth M——, and +the melancholy situation of his bereaved parents.</p> +<p>"The epidemic spreads over the city in every direction among the +few remaining in it. All the public offices are here; crowds of the +citizens, and houses and stores spring up in a day; all is bustle +and confusion, and all seem mad on business.</p> +<p>"Parting with my dear friend was most painful, so painful that +nothing could alleviate it but the presence of my own children, +who, could there have been room from deeper sorrows, would have +shared it with me. O that I could put my God in my place in your +heart. What are earthly friends? How few are steady against all +change of circumstances; of these, fewer still have it in their +power to supply every link of friendship's chain; a thousand +unforeseen incidents disappoint their wishes and frustrate their +hopes, rendering abortive their greatest exertions. But there is a +Friend, everywhere present, thoroughly acquainted with every +circumstance of the heart and of the life; all-powerful to relieve; +whose love is invariable, and ever the most tender when every other +friend stands aloof; a friend in adversity, 'a friend who sticketh +closer than a brother,' whose love surpasseth the +<!--Page 246--><a name="P246" id="P246"></a> love of women. This +Friend receiveth sinners — casts out none who come to him. He +was never known to disappoint the hopes of any poor sinner. He +receives them into his heart; he takes all their burdens and cares +on himself, pays all their debts, answers all demands against them, +and is every way surety for them; they become his own, no one has +any thing to say to them but himself. He knows them — how apt +to err, to wander, yea, to forget him, and prove ungrateful; all +this he knows, but he has made provision for all. He has a rod, and +he will subdue their iniquities. He will heal their backslidings, +he will bring back and restore his wanderers. He will in due time +perfect what concerns them, and present them to his Father +purified, without spot or wrinkle.</p> +<p>"In the meantime he requires them to confide in him; to go up +through this wilderness leaning upon him; to tell him all their +complaints and griefs, and to comfort themselves: and he will +impress the comfort by means of his great and precious promises, +scattered like so many pearls through his sacred Bible, tabled +there on purpose for us to ground our prayers upon, and delight +ourselves in. This is your friend's Friend, and of ten thousand +besides. This was the wicked Magdalene's Friend; this, the +persecuting Paul's Friend, wicked Manasseh's Friend; the +adulterous, murdering David's Friend. And he is your Friend, though +your eyes are holden that you see him not. He is leading you by a +way that you know not. This is one of his characters, 'I will bring +the blind by a way that they know not.'</p> +<p>"I was happy to find your niece was to return with Mr. C——; +but, my dear, a painful dread has assaulted <!--Page 247--><a name= +"P247" id="P247"></a> my peace, lest Satan get the advantage by +means of a stranger in the family, and undo what has been begun. +The world may have peace without God; but you shall not. You have, +however feebly, taken hold of his covenant, and he will keep you to +your choice. 'If his children forsake his laws and go astray,' etc. +Psalm 79:30."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">OVEMBER</font>, 1805.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> F<font size="-1">RIEND</font> +— This is not our rest; through much tribulation all Christ's +disciples must follow him. There is a rest prepared for the people +of God: as far as tasted in this world — and in this world it +is tasted — it consists in a mind resigned to the will of God +in proportion as it can say, 'Thy will be done on earth, as it is +done in heaven.' Christ himself was made perfect through suffering, +and all his followers shall be so in their appointed measure. What +is our cup to his? O my dear friend, we are ransomed, we are +redeemed, and we are fitting and preparing for the purchased +inheritance, that perfect rest prepared for the people of God when +their warfare is finished. Let him do all his pleasure with us +here; let him subdue our iniquities in his own way; let him glorify +his name by our sufferings — his glory is ever connected with +his people's best interests. We shall one day acknowledge that he +has done all things well, and that not one word of all that he has +promised has failed.</p> +<p>"It has pleased the Lord to take from us our dear sweet Rebecca; +young as she was, through much tribulation she entered in: I have +scarcely seen severer suffering, nor a harder dismission. It is +well; the Lord will answer his own ends by it for the good of all +concerned, as well as for his own glory. Our dear G—— +<!--Page 248--><a name="P248" id="P248"></a> was ill at the same +time, and all hope was lost as to him also; for a whole week we +looked upon him as dying, A bold measure was taken with him, which +succeeded; the Lord had commanded life; it was not thought of for +her. God had appointed to her entrance into life eternal. It is all +well. Blessed, blessed be his name; for her he has taken and him he +has restored, both equally. I.G. S—— was confined at the same +time with a broken arm; N. B—— with the fever and pleurisy. Deep +have been the wounds in this aged heart, not yet weaned from earth, +but tremblingly alive to every thing that concerns my children. Yet +I do give up. I have asked but one thing with importunity, and by +that I abide. I did not ask for temporal life, but the life which +Christ died to purchase, and lives to bestow; let him answer my +petition by means of his own appointing: by health or by sickness, +by riches or by poverty, by long life or early deaths — only +let all mine by the ties of nature, be his by regeneration of his +Spirit."</p> +<p>Having felt the trials and the responsibilities of widowhood, +she wrote to her brother's widow, Mrs. Marshall, in 1805:</p> +<p>"You are now, my dear sister, the only head of your family. Will +you take Joshua's determination? 'As for me and my house, we will +serve the Lord.' Take hold of God's covenant for your orphan +children as for yourself, and consider them as his, to be brought +up for him. Be a priestess in your own house, and keep up the +worship of God daily in your family, and confess your Lord and +Master before angels, men, and devils. Those who thus honor God, he +will honor.</p> +<!--Page 249--><a name="P249" id="P249"></a> +<p>"You are indeed, my dear, arrived at an important stage of your +journey through this great wilderness. You are now the head of the +family, and are to God immediately answerable. No earthly +consideration must make you give up the government of it, nor the +prerogative which he hath given you, to counsel, and even beseech +your household to serve the Lord. You cannot give grace; you cannot +give life; and where there is no life there can be no spiritual +exercise: but you may use means, although there is much prudence to +be observed to avoid disgust.</p> +<p>"Be faithful, then, my dear sister, to your important trust. See +that your household remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy; your +children, of course, will accompany you to the house of God, but +let not your servants absent themselves from his ordinances, and +endeavor, on your return home, to explain and bring home the word +that may have been spoken to their consciences. Above all, let it +be your constant aim to set before them a godly, consistent +example, and be much engaged in prayer for them — I mean for +your servants as well as for your children, and God will, in all +probability, make you a mother in Israel, the mother of many +spiritual children, and turn your captivity into rejoicing, and +fill your mouth with songs of praise; or should you not have this +comfort, should the night of adversity last to the very valley of +the shadow of death, the morning of eternal rest shall then beam +forth upon your own soul, and your prayers may be answered for +others, when the eyes that wept and the breast that heaved are at +rest in the dust. O, then, my sister, possess your soul in +patience, and seek to make daily advances in holiness."</p> +<!--Page 250--><a name="P250" id="P250"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> +<h4>ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY — FOREIGN MISSIONARIES — +LETTERS.</h4> +<br /> +<p>O<font size="-1">N</font> the 15th of March, 1806, the female +subscribers to proposals for providing an asylum for orphan +children met at the City Hotel; Mrs. Graham was called to the +chair, a society organized, and a board of direction chosen, Mrs. +Hoffman was elected the first directress of the Orphan Asylum +Society. Mrs. Graham continued in the office of first directress of +the Widows' Society, but took a deep interest in the success of the +Orphan Asylum also; she, or one of her family, taught the orphans +daily, until the funds of the institution were sufficient to +provide a teacher and superintendent. She was a trustee at the time +of her decease. The wish to establish this new society was +occasioned by the pain which it gave the ladies of the Widows' +Society to behold a family of orphans driven, on the decease of a +widow, to seek refuge in the almshouse; no melting heart to feel, +no redeeming hand to rescue them from a situation so unpromising +for mental and moral improvement.</p> +<p>"Among the afflicted of our suffering race," thus speaks the +constitution of the society, "none makes a stronger or more +impressive appeal to humanity than the <i>destitute orphan</i>. +Crime has not been the cause of its misery, and future usefulness +may yet be the result of its protection; the reverse is often the +case of more aged objects. God himself has marked the fatherless as +the peculiar subjects of his divine compassion. 'A +<!--Page 251--><a name="P251" id="P251"></a> Father of the +fatherless is God in his holy habitation,' 'When my father and my +mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.' To be the +blessed instrument of, divine Providence in making good the promise +of God, is a privilege equally desirable and honorable to the +benevolent heart.'"</p> +<p>And truly God has made good his promise towards this benevolent +institution. He has crowned the undertaking with his remarkable +blessing. It was begun by his disciples in faith, and he has +acknowledged them in it. Having for fourteen months occupied a +hired house for an asylum, the ladies entertained the bold idea of +building an asylum on account of the society. They had then about +three hundred and fifty dollars as the commencement of a fund for +the building; they purchased four lots of ground in the village of +Greenwich, on a healthful, elevated site, possessing a fine +prospect. The corner-stone was laid on the 7th of July, 1807. They +erected a building fifty feet square; from time to time they +proceeded to finish the interior of the building, and to purchase +additional ground as their funds would permit; and such was the +liberality of the legislature and of the public, that the society +soon possessed a handsome building and nearly an acre of ground, +all of which must have cost them little short of twenty-five +thousand dollars. In that house Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Hoffman spent +much of their time; there they trained for eternity the children of +those whose widowed dying mothers they had cheered with the hope +that when they should be taken away, God would fulfil his gracious +promise and preserve their fatherless children alive.</p> +<!--Page 252--><a name="P252" id="P252"></a> +<p>Mrs. Hoffman survived Mrs. Graham seven years. Her end, like +that of her friend, was peace. But though God removed those mothers +in Israel, their prayers are still before him, and the institution +continues to prosper. In 1836, the city having extended to where +the asylum was situated, and the property at the same time +increased in value, the society became desirous to remove where the +children would enjoy purer air, and have greater convenience for a +garden and pasture for cows. With the advice of their patrons, they +sold the property for about thirty-nine thousand dollars; purchased +nearly ten acres of ground at Bloomingdale, and on the 9th of June +the same year laid the foundation-stone of their present beautiful +building.</p> +<p>In the Thirty-fourth Annual Report of the society for 1840, we +find the following record of God's goodness:</p> +<p>"On no former occasion has the board of direction been +privileged to make to the friends and patrons of this institution a +more favorable report than the present. The orphan's home is +completed, and the beautiful building on the banks of the Hudson is +alike an ornament to the city and a memorial of the liberality of +its inhabitants. Within it are found, not only ample accommodations +for a numerous family, but a place for the Lord, a habitation for +the orphans' God. On the 19th of November last the chapel was +opened for religious worship; the services were performed by +reverend clergy of different denominations; and a highly +respectable and apparently gratified audience attended. All the +children, one hundred and sixty-five in number, were present, from +the infant in arms <!--Page 253--><a name="P253" id="P253"></a> +to the youth who will this day pronounce the valedictory.</p> +<p>"To those who have witnessed the progress of this institution +from the <i>small frame-house</i> of 1806 to the noble edifice of +1840, accompanied by the recollection that the door has never been +closed against the destitute orphan, how deep must be the +conviction of an overruling Providence — the truth of the +declaration, that God is the father of the fatherless in his holy +habitation, and the fulfilment of his gracious promise, 'Leave thy +fatherless children, I will preserve them alive.' Nor is the orphan +family merely furnished with sufficient accommodation for dwelling +and moral and religious education: the grounds afford ample room +for exercise and recreation; the garden supplies them with fruit +and vegetables; and there being pasture for several cows, wholesome +milk is added to their simple breakfast, while the abounding river +invigorates the frame by a saline bath, and by casting a net into +it, furnishes an occasional dinner of fresh fish."</p> +<p>The society, ever grateful to the founders, have erected a +tablet on the wall of the beautiful chapel, which bears the +following inscription:</p> +<!--Page 254--><a name="P254" id="P254"></a><br /> +<p class="center"><b>Sacred to the Memory</b><br /> +<font size="-2">OF</font><br /> +ISABELLA GRAHAM,<br /> +<font size="-1">WHO DIED 27TH JULY, 1814;</font><br /> +<font size="-2">AND OF</font><br /> +MRS. SARAH HOFFMAN,<br /> +<font size="-1">WHO DIED 29TH JULY, 1821.</font><br /> +<font size="-2">THEY WERE BOTH FOUNDERS OF THIS +INSTITUTION.</font><br /> +<font size="-2">TO THEIR PRAYER OF FAITH,</font><br /> +<font size="-2">AND WISDOM IN DIRECTING ITS COUNSELS,</font><br /> +<font size="-2">THE SOCIETY IS INDEBTED FOR MUCH OF THE SUCCESS +THAT HAS ATTENDED IT.</font><br /> +<font size="-1">THEY WERE LOVELY IN THEIR LIVES,</font><br /> +<font size="-2">AND DURING MANY YEARS THEY TRAVELLED TOGETHER THE +WALKS</font><br /> +<font size="-1">OF CHARITY.</font><br /> +<font size="-2">WHEN THE EAR HEARD THEM IT BLESSED THEM, AND THEY +CAUSED THE</font><br /> +<font size="-2">WIDOW'S HEART TO SING FOR JOY.</font><br /> +<font size="-1">THEY NOW REST FROM THEIR LABORS,</font><br /> +<font size="-2">PARTAKERS OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE</font><br /> +<font size="-2">WHO DIE IN THE LORD:</font><br /> +<font size="-1">THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM.</font><br /> +<br /></p> +<p>The success which has attended the Orphan Asylum Society, +furnishes strong encouragement to attempt great and good objects +even with slender means. God in his providence will command a +blessing on exertions of this character. It is too common a +mistake, and one fatal to the progress of improvement, that great +means should be in actual possession before great objects should be +attempted. Ah, were our dependence simply on apparent instruments, +how small must be our hopes of success. There is a mystery, +<!--Page 255--><a name="P255" id="P255"></a> yet a certainty, in +the manner by which God is pleased in his providence to conduct +feeble means to a happy conclusion. Has he not preserved, +cherished, and blessed his church through many ages, amidst +overwhelming persecutions, and that often by means apparently +inadequate to this end? We must work for, as well as pray for the +blessing which God has promised to bestow on our sinful race. We +must put our shoulder to the wheel, while we look up to heaven for +assistance, and God will bless those who are found in the path of +duty.</p> +<p>In this asylum, the ladies have set no limits to the number to +be received; and it has pleased God also not to set limits to the +means necessary for their support. The institution is a great +favorite with the public, and is frequently visited by strangers, +who are delighted with the cleanliness, health, and cheerful +countenances of the orphans.</p> +<p>The Society have received a charter of incorporation from the +legislature; they have a handsome seal, with this inscription: +"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye +have done it unto me."</p> +<p>For several years it was customary with Mrs. Graham to visit the +New York hospital; and before the admirable provision since made +for the separate care of those mentally deranged, she paid a +particular attention to patients of this description.</p> +<p>To the apartments appropriated to sick female convicts in the +state prison, she also made many visits; she met with some +affecting circumstances among this class.</p> +<p>In the winter of 1807-8, when the suspension of commerce by the +embargo rendered the situation of the <!--Page 256--><a name="P256" +id="P256"></a> poor more destitute than ever, Mrs. Graham +adopted a plan best calculated in her view to detect the idle +applicant for charity, and at the same time to furnish employment +for the more worthy among the female poor. She purchased flax, and +lent wheels where applicants had none. Such as were industrious, +took the work with thankfulness and were paid for it; those who +were beggars by profession never kept their word by returning for +the flax or the wheel. The flax thus spun was afterwards wove, +bleached, and made into table-cloths and towels for family use.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham used to remark, that until some institution should +be formed to furnish employment for industrious poor women, the +work of charity would be incomplete. It was about this time that, +deeming the duties too laborious for her health, she resigned the +office of first directress of the Widows' Society, and took the +place of a manager. She afterwards declined this also, and became a +trustee of the Orphan Asylum Society, as more suited to her +advanced period of life.</p> +<p>The lady to whom the following letter was addressed was Miss +F<font size="-1">ARQUHARSON</font>, a person of genuine piety and +worth, whom Mrs. Graham had educated and prepared to become her +assistant in teaching. When Mrs. Graham retired from her school, +Miss Farquharson declined to succeed her, preferring to accompany +and enjoy the society of her patroness and friend. Until 1804 she +proved as efficient an assistant to Mrs. Graham in her charitable +labors in the Widows' Society and Sabbath-school, as she had been +in her boarding-school.</p> +<p>During the prevalence of the yellow-fever in 1804, +<!--Page 257--><a name="P257" id="P257"></a> she was called to +attend her own dying mother, and underwent so much fatigue, that on +her return to Mrs. Graham she broke a bloodvessel, and for four +months was confined to her room, during all which time Mrs. Graham +attended her night and day. Her medical attendants prescribed a +long voyage and residence in a hot climate as the only means of +saving her life. About that time Mr. Andrew Smith was preparing to +sail for the East Indies with his family, by the way of England. +With them she embarked. She sojourned several weeks in Birmingham, +and there the circumstances commenced which eventually led Miss +Farquharson to become a missionary's wife, and the first American +missionary to foreign lands. Her history has been published by Rev. +Mr. Knill, in a tract entitled, "The Missionary's Wife."</p> +<p>The London Missionary Society were preparing to establish a +mission in the idolatrous city of Surat, but the East India Company +would not allow Christian missionaries to sail in their ships. The +Society thankfully availed themselves of the privilege of sending +Mr. Loveless and Dr. Taylor in the American ship Alleghany. They +arrived in Madras, June, 1805.</p> +<p>During the voyage an attachment was formed between Mr. Loveless +and Miss Farquharson which death only could sever, and introduced +her to scenes of usefulness for more than thirty years, for which +she was eminently qualified by early training. As soon as Mrs. +Graham heard how her friend was going to be employed, she wrote to +her as follows:</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> S<font size="-1">ALLY</font> +— Many tears have I shed over your letter. What a changing +lot has been that of my family! The Lord's providences to me and +mine have <!--Page 258--><a name="P258" id="P258"></a> not been +of the ordinary kind, and you, as one in it, seem to be a partaker +with us. Surely, of all others, we have most reason to say, We are +strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Oh that we may drink into the +true spirit of that phrase, and enjoy the genuine, firm faith of an +everlasting habitation, of living at home with God.</p> +<p>"My dear Sally, take the comfort of this, that it is the Lord +who hath led you all the way by which you have gone. Of all persons +whom I know, you were, from your temper and disposition, the least +likely to travel, still less to continue a traveller. No ordinary +means would have led you to leave your friends and religious +privileges. And many a pang it has cost me, on reflection, to think +how positive I was that you should take the voyage. But it was of +the Lord. The physicians urged it as the only chance you had for +life, and they had reason; for of all those who were attacked in +the same manner, there is not one alive, within my knowledge, at +this day.</p> +<p>"The Lord, by wonderful means, called you from your native land, +and led you to the very spot where you met Mr. Loveless. The same +God, being also his God, led him, by means perhaps equally +unforeseen and uncommon, to the same spot, united your hearts to +each other, and made you one in his hand, and I trust to his glory. +You ask my blessing: I have carried both of you to my God and +Saviour, and have prayed, and continue to pray, that the Lord will +bless you individually and unitedly, give you much sweet communion +with himself, and much social enjoyment with him and with one +another. May he bless Mr. Loveless as a missionary, and give him +the spirit of <!--Page 259--><a name="P259" id="P259"></a> his +office, and much fruit among the heathen, as seals to his ministry; +and may you be a helper with him, and both be blessed and made a +blessing.</p> +<p>"I feel my loss. You were a comfort and a help to us all, +especially to me: but I do not mourn; I heartily acquiesce. This is +not only agreeable to me, as it is one of God's wise arrangements +to you and us all, but I think it will be more to your comfort. +Religion and conjugal love will sweeten almost any lot. It is the +Lord's appointment and his richest earthly blessing.</p> +<p>"My dear Sally, I have ever considered you as my child. You are +very dear to my heart. Tell Mr. Loveless he must ever consider me +as his mother.</p> +<p class="center">"Your affectionate mother,</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p>In the month of January, 1807, the London Missionary Society, of +which Mr. Bethune was a foreign director, sent to this country the +Rev. Messrs. Gordon, Lee, and Morrison; the two first to sail in an +American ship for the East Indies, and Mr. Morrison for China. +These devoted missionaries shared largely in the hospitalities of +Christians in New York, and spent much of their time with Mr. +Bethune's family. Mrs. Graham took great delight in conversing and +advising with them, and though none of her letters addressed to +them have come to hand, it is believed she corresponded with them. +The following extract of a letter from Dr. Morrison, indicates the +respect and Christian affection with which he regarded her.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"O<font size="-1">N BOARD THE</font> T<font size= +"-1">RIDENT</font>, May 24, 1807.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y EVER DEAR</font> M<font size= +"-1">OTHER</font> G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font> — I think you +were led by the special interference of our gracious +<!--Page 260--><a name="P260" id="P260"></a> Lord, to put into +my hands the work which you did, accompanied by the edifying and +comforting letter which you wrote me.</p> +<p>"I thank you for telling me what God did for your soul, and join +with you in ascribing to the Lord salvation and honor. I had, my +mother, from the time of leaving my dear relations and friends, +passed through waters deep as the fathomless ocean which I crossed; +but with the Lord there is mercy; with him is 'plenteous +redemption.' He is ready to forgive. He has restored to me, in some +measure, 'the joy of his salvation,' and will not, I trust, take +his Holy Spirit from me. This is my prayer. To-day he enabled me, +on board of this vessel, to open my lips to teach transgressors his +way. O, that sinners may be converted unto him."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mr. and Mrs. B——, at Ballston Springs.</p> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, August, 1807.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y BELOVED</font> C<font size= +"-1">HILDREN</font> — A husband, wife, and child, make a +family, and God ought to be acknowledged by them as such. I am +anxious that you should meet in your room for that purpose some +time every morning.</p> +<p>"If it cannot be accomplished at an early hour, redeem that time +in a later, and also before going to rest in the evening. The Lord +has honored your family worship with genuine fruits, follow it up +in all places. Like Abraham of old, wherever you pitch your tent, +for a longer or shorter period, there raise an altar to the Lord, +to that God who has fed you all your life, carried you as on +eagle's wings, and will carry you to old age and gray hairs."</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 261--><a name="P261" id="P261"></a> +<p class="center">To Mrs. Juliet S——, New York, one of her former +pupils.</p> +<p class="right">"B<font size="-1">ELLEVILLE</font>, September 16, +1808.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> J<font size="-1">ULIET</font> +— Since the hour I received your letter, you have been little +out of my mind. You call upon me as mother, friend, counsellor. +Shall conscious unworthiness, or weakness, or ignorance, prevent my +answering? No; for God often chooses weak instruments to bring to +pass great ends, I have been once and again to a throne of grace, +for wisdom to direct me, and grace to be faithful. If your desire +after spiritual knowledge be sincere, and from the Spirit of God +operating on your heart, you will bear searching.</p> +<p>"You are a communicant, my Juliet; this presupposes that a very +great and important change has taken place in your mind — +that you have been made deeply sensible of what the word of God +testifies of every son and daughter of Adam's race. 'As it is +written, There is none righteous, no, not one.' Rom. 3:10. Man is +born as the wild ass's colt, going astray from the womb. Job. The +heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; I the +Lord search it. Having the understanding darkened, alienated from +the life of God, through the ignorance that is in us, because of +the blindness of our hearts. Dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. +4:18; 2:1.</p> +<p>"Your profession presupposes that this chapter may be addressed +to you, Juliet, by name: 'You hath he quickened, who were dead in +trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to +the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of +the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of +disobedience: among whom also we all <!--Page 262--><a name="P262" +id="P262"></a> had our conversation in times past, in the lusts +of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; +and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, +who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, +even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with +Christ; by grace are ye saved, through faith, not of works, lest +any man should boast.' Works there are, my Juliet, most assuredly; +every quickened soul will live, and bring forth fruits of +righteousness; but these works are not attainable but in God's way +and order. It follows, 'For we are his workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that +we should walk in them.'</p> +<p>"My Juliet says, 'To you then I look up to teach me.' Let me +then bring you to the great Teacher and Prophet of the church, +without whose teaching all human instruction will be ineffectual. +We read of two amiable characters coming to Christ professedly for +instruction. The first you will find in Matthew 19:16. The young +man asks him, 'What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit +eternal life?' Jesus answers him by referring him to the moral law: +the young man, not made acquainted by the Spirit of God, either +with the extent or spirituality of that law, or of the depravity of +his own nature, answers, as many in like circumstances still do,' +All these things have I kept from my youth up.' I do not suppose +any one could contradict him. It is added that Jesus loved him, and +he was a person of attractive character; but Jesus knew that the +true principle was not there — supreme love to God, 'with all +the heart, with all the soul, with all the strength, and with all +the mind:' <!--Page 263--><a name="P263" id="P263"></a> +therefore he gave him a test which proved that the world was +uppermost in his heart. He went away sorrowful, and we hear no more +of him.</p> +<p>"Of the other person we read in that remarkable chapter, the +third of John's gospel — Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, and +also a teacher. Well knew he the law, as to the letter of it, both +moral and ceremonial; he must also have been acquainted with all +the Old Testament scripture types and prophecies, it being his +office to expound; and no doubt, among others, was looking for the +promised Messiah. Jesus does not send him to either the law or the +prophets. This ruler comes with a conviction and an acknowledgment +that Jesus himself was a teacher immediately from God; and Jesus +immediately takes upon himself his great office, and begins with +urging that which is a sinner's first business — 'to know +himself,' what he is by nature, and the necessity of the new birth. +Nicodemus, with all his learning, was a stranger to this doctrine: +'How can a man be born when he is old?' Jesus repeats his doctrine, +'He must be born of water and the Spirit;' baptized with water and +the Holy Ghost. 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that +which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto +you, Ye must be born again.' Humble that proud reason that will +believe nothing but what it can understand. 'The wind bloweth where +it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell +whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born +of the Spirit.' A mystery it is; nevertheless it is true.</p> +<p>"Follow out the chapter, my dear: Jesus preaches his own gospel, +and brings in that beautiful type, the <!--Page 264--><a name= +"P264" id="P264"></a> serpent, which he had commanded to be +raised on a pole, that those who had been bitten with fiery +serpents, whose bite was death, should look upon it and be healed. +Read it, my dear, in the 21st of Numbers; and in reference to this, +he himself says, 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of +the earth.' Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom +of God. Quickened, renewed in the spirit, of his mind, old things +pass away and all things become new — new principles, new +desires, new pleasures, new ends. The work is God's. The whole plan +of redemption is his from first to last. It is clearly revealed in +Scripture, and there is no dispute among Christians concerning it. +The fall of man, his corruption and depravity; his state under the +curse of a broken covenant, and his exposure to eternal misery; his +helplessness and total inability to gain acceptance with God; his +ignorance of himself — 'dead in trespasses and sins,' +'without God and without hope in the world:' this is his situation +by nature. But there is good news proclaimed: 'God so loved the +world that he gave his only begotten Son,' to become the surety of +lost sinners. He took our nature upon him, our sins upon him, our +duties upon him: he was placed in our stead; sustained the penalty +of the broken law; fulfilled its utmost demands; redeemed us; gave +us a new covenant, of which himself is the surety: and there is 'no +condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.'</p> +<p>"The merits of Christ, exclusive of any thing of ours, are the +sole foundation of our hope. Christ is set forth, in Scripture, as +the atonement, the propitiation for sins, the one sacrifice for +sin; Christ is the <!--Page 265--><a name="P265" id="P265"></a> +end of the law for righteousness; all is made ours by free gift. +1 John, 5:11. All is ready, justice satisfied, God reconciled, +peace proclaimed. But what is all this to a thoughtless world, +insensible of their situation, danger, and need? It is an awful +saying, but it is of the Holy Ghost, If our gospel be hid, it is +hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath +blinded their minds, and darkened their understandings, and +hardened their hearts, etc. Therefore the application of this grace +is also of God; it is all within his plan; he has appointed means, +and commanded our diligence in the use of them. We have his Bible +in our hands, his ministers in our churches, who are also pastors +and teachers if we apply for their aid in private; we have a throne +of grace to go to, and many great and precious promises held up in +God's word for us to embrace and plead for Christ's sake: we have +many prayers in the Scriptures which we may adopt.</p> +<p>"I acknowledge we are all still dependent for the effect; that +must be from God himself. But he does honor his own ordinances. He +puts forth his power, and convinces of sin; this is his first work. +The soul is awakened, aroused, convinced of sin and misery; sins of +the heart, sins of the tongue, sins of the life, press upon the +conscience which never disturbed us before; misspent time, wasted +talents, lost opportunities, neglect of God's word and ordinances, +so that the soul cannot rest. O, my Juliet, this is a hopeful case. +I hope you have experienced something of this. It is one of the +surest marks of the operation of the Spirit of God, and a prelude +to the new birth. It never takes place without it, for the whole +need not <!--Page 266--><a name="P266" id="P266"></a> a +physician, but they that are sick. Only the weary and heavy laden +will prize rest, and Christ is the rest they need; only a convinced +sinner will or can prize the Saviour, and now the Lord opens his +mind to understand the Scriptures. He sees the provision which God +has made for ruined sinners, by providing a substitute to stand in +his room; he perceives how God can be just and justify the sinner +who takes shelter in Jesus; he falls in with God's gracious plan: +receives the Lord Jesus as God's gift to sinners; trusts entirely +in his merits for pardon, peace, reconciliation, and eternal life; +resigns his soul into the hands of his Saviour, in the faith that +he will save it, and devotes himself unreservedly to his service, +in the faith that he will give him grace to live to him in all holy +obedience. Now, and not till now, according to God's promise, he +receives power to become his child; this is God's order, John 1:12. +Now he receives life and begins to live; but there is yet a great +work before him. It hath pleased God in his plan to finish at once +a justifying righteousness; it is his own work, and was finished in +that awful hour when he announced it in his last words on the +cross. John 19:30. To this nothing of ours is to be added, with +this nothing of ours mixed; it is for ever perfect, it is God's +gift made ours in the hour when we first believe, receive it, rest +our souls upon it.</p> +<p>"But it hath not pleased God in this plan to deliver the +believer at once from indwelling sin. This is the subject of the +Christian warfare, the race, the good fight. Now the believer +receives life, and is called to work. 'Work out your own salvation +with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you +<!--Page 267--><a name="P267" id="P267"></a> both to will and to +do.' All the promises in this blessed Bible are his, they are yea +and amen in Christ; Christ himself is his; his Spirit dwells in +him. The believer is united to Jesus by as real a union as the +branch to the vine, the members to the head, the building with the +foundation. Yet sin dwelleth in him, and is to be expunged by +constant applications to Christ in prayer; by means of watching, +striving, fighting — fighting under his banner. In his +blessed word we are informed where our strength lies, what our +weapons, what our armor. But what can I say on those subjects? the +whole word of God is on the subject of redemption; to this refer +the whole labors of Christ's ministers, and the whole dispensation +of God's providence.</p> +<p>"Are these things so? My Juliet, this is not the doctrine of any +one church. About these subjects there is no dispute. +Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Independents, all agree in +these great things. And are these things so indeed? O, my Juliet, +where is the time to be spared for plays, assemblies, and such +numerous idle parties of various descriptions? I must stop; the +subject is great, and we have many excellent treatises on the +various parts of it, by able, pious men. It would be improper to +crowd it thus into a letter, unless to instigate to further +investigation.</p> +<p>"Farewell; I ever am, my dear Juliet,</p> +<p class="center">"Yours affectionately,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p>The delicate state of health to which one of her granddaughters +was reduced in 1808, made it necessary for her to spend the summer +season for five successive <!--Page 268--><a name="P268" id= +"P268"></a> years at Rockaway, Long Island, for the advantage of +sea-bathing. Mrs. Graham went with her, it being beneficial to her +own health also. In this place she met with many strangers; the +company residing there treated her with much affection and respect. +She always attended to the worship of God morning and evening in +her room, and was usually accompanied by some of the ladies who +boarded in the house. Her fund of information, vivacity of manner, +and the interest which she felt in the happiness of all around her, +made her society highly valued and pleasing. Few of those ladies +who stayed with her at Rockaway for any length of time, failed to +express, at parting, their esteem for her, and they generally added +a pressing invitation for a visit from her, if ever she should +travel near where they dwelt.</p> +<p>The following is one of her sweet meditations while at +Rockaway:</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, August, +1809.</p> +<p>"Sweet health again returns, which, considering the agitation of +my mind, surprises me; but it is the Lord's pleasure. I did not +wish to recover. I was in hopes the Lord was about to deliver me +from 'this body of sin and death.' Lord, reconcile me to thy most +holy will. Health is certainly a great blessing. I feel its +sweetness. O make me thankful. Great and numerous are my mercies. +Every thing pleasant and every thing necessary to life, to +godliness, is mine: food and raiment to the utmost desires of +nature; the beauties of thy fair creation surround my ordinary +dwelling; my dear little room, my Bible, and books of every +virtuous kind — by grace, thy chief mercy, I desire no other +— and by the kindness of my children, <!--Page 269--><a name= +"P269" id="P269"></a> I possess all as if they were my own +personal property. By thy wonderful loving-kindness, thou hast +given me, instead of the contempt which I have merited, the love +and esteem of thy people, and thou hast made the very stones of the +field to be at peace with me, so that wherever I go I meet with +kindness."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mrs. Marshall.</p> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, October, 1809.</p> +<p>"I find your letter dated 'Elderslie' — the very name +gives a thrill to my old heart; in a moment the various scenes of +my youthful days rise before me — the old mansion itself, and +all its beloved inmates, every one of whom have now crossed the +Jordan of death, leaving me a solitary wanderer in this weary +wilderness. Ah, I can at this moment think of spots, by the +burnside and the braeside, endeared to my heart by a thousand +tender associations. There have I wandered with my beloved, +idolized husband, and there has he delighted my heart with +professions of love. These were indeed moments of ecstasy; but +hush, there are you a widow with very, very different sensations, +and here am I a widow with sensations equally different. The Lord +has showed us many and sore adversities, but he will bring us up +from the deeps below; we are much nearer our Father's house, and I +hope proportionably riper for those joys which are at his right +hand; and although your letter has brought some pleasing +recollections to my mind — days of love and courtship, days, +some of solitude, some of disappointment, some of ecstasy — +yet I find they were all days of idolatry, therefore to be mourned +over, not retasted, reënjoyed with delight. No, no; Father, +forgive me."</p> +<!--Page 270--><a name="P270" id="P270"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> +<h4>NEW YORK BIBLE SOCIETY — ASSOCIATIONS FOR PRAYER — +HAPPY OLD AGE — LETTERS.</h4> +<p>"I<font size="-1">N</font> December, 1809, a Bible Society was +organized in New York, and about the same time twenty respectable +persons united in a society, to wait on the Lord, to know what +their hands could find to do to promote his glory, to advance his +kingdom, to spread the savor of the Redeemer's name, or in any way +to benefit the souls of their fellow-sinners.</p> +<p>"On Monday a meeting for prayer was instituted in Hetty-street, +and another in Mulberry-street, with which the Presbyterian +ministers have agreed to meet in rotation. It is the Lord. We have +heard of revivals all around, but feared lest the aggravated sins +of New York might provoke the Lord to pass by, leaving our fleece +dry, while the dew wet all around. Great have been our privileges; +the gospel trumpet has sounded in every corner of our city. The +Lord's servants have set before us life and death, assuring us, +from God's word, that 'though hand join in hand, the wicked shall +not go unpunished;' beseeching us to flee from the wrath to come, +and lay hold on the hope set before us. God in his providence has +visited us with mercies and with judgments: stricken us, and healed +us; scattered us, and gathered us: but alas, alas, we were 'eating +and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.' Many, very many, +wasting their time, health, and substance, in all manner of +immorality, <!--Page 271--><a name="P271" id="P271"></a> and our +rulers caring for none of these things; yea, many of them +practising the same things; and Oh, God's own saved people sitting +still, restraining testimony before men and prayer before God. What +were we to expect but that God should say, Why should they be +stricken any more? they will revolt more and more: they are joined +to idols; let them alone. Such, O Lord, would be the case didst +thou not deliver us out of our own self-destroying snares. If thou +turn us not, we shall never turn; it is in our nature to backslide +for ever.</p> +<p>"But is not the time come to pass when before thy people call +thou answerest, and while they are yet speaking, thou hearest? Art +thou not calling with power, 'Return, ye backsliding children, and +I will heal your backslidings?' and hast thou not prepared their +hearts to answer, Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord +our God? truly, in vain is salvation looked for from the hills, and +from the multitude of mountains; truly, from the Lord our God is +the salvation of Israel. Hast thou not, O God, prepared the hearts +of thy people to pray, and thine ear to hear? Is not this Bible +Society, and are not these associations for prayer, tokens from +thee for good? More and more, Lord, may thy people give thee no +rest, until thou make Zion a praise in the earth. O the Hope of +Israel, and the Saviour thereof, be not as a wayfaring man, that +turneth aside for a night. May thy people constrain thee to abide +with us for ever, to form us a people for thyself, to show forth +thy praise.</p> +<p>"I have just conveyed dear Mrs. A——le to the confines of the +eternal world. I trust the dear Redeemer <!--Page 272--><a name= +"P272" id="P272"></a> received her spirit. I have a good hope +that she is now in possession of the mansion purchased and prepared +for her by that dear Saviour whose name she professed, and I think, +in an humble, steady, quiet way, faithfully followed. She loved the +word of God, the house of God, the people of God. She spoke little, +but said she had a good hope: asked me to read the Bible different +times, and also to pray; said the invitations of the gospel were +sweet to her: observed that the Lord had been very merciful to her +in her affliction.</p> +<p>"A few hours before her death she desired me to read that +hymn,</p> +<p class="center"><font size="-1">"'To him that loved the souls of +men,' etc,</font></p> +<p>Also,</p> +<p class="center"><font size="-1">"'Come, let us join our cheerful +songs,' etc.</font></p> +<p>She asked if I thought she would continue long. I said, No, my +dear, you will very soon be with Jesus; and encouraged her as the +Lord enabled me. She repeated the question some time after, and I +gave her the same answer. She then said, 'This night?' I answered, +Yes, my love, this night. She bowed her head with a sweet smile, +laid it in a reclining posture, and set herself to wait with +patience the Lord's time. She was very much oppressed, and breathed +with much difficulty. Some time after she asked me to pray, which I +did, and begged that the Lord would increase her faith and +patience, and, if according to his will, give her a gentle passage +and an abundant entrance. In a short time her breathing became +short and low; she shut her eyes and gently breathed weaker and +weaker, till her God delivered her without motion or groan. I was +on my knees praying. I then thanked God for his goodness in this +sweet dismission; prayed <!--Page 273--><a name="P273" id= +"P273"></a> for the husband, the children, the two young men +present, and us all, gave glory to God, and rose to watch to future +duty.</p> +<p>"O my God, is not my own death at hand? It is a hard battle. My +Jesus, thou knowest the struggle. I too must drink of this cup; mix +it for me, my Redeemer. O let a full sense of free pardon, the +recollection of the great and precious promises, a bright view of +the joys at God's right hand, as the fruit of thy death, be applied +to my soul in that awful hour. Holy Spirit, pour in the oil and +wine of thy consolations in that trying hour. O let me not be +straitened. Open wide to my soul the leaves of that well-ordered +covenant, of which Christ himself is the sum and substance. +Redeeming God, may I experience proof in that solemn hour, that +'thy flesh is meat indeed, and thy blood is drink indeed.' O feed +me with this living food; may I feel life spring up in my soul, and +be assured that I shall 'never die.' O my God, grant one more +request. Open my lips, and let them, as well as my heart, be filled +with the high praises of my redeeming God.</p> +<p>"I know I am unworthy; the vilest of the vile; but magnify thy +grace. I have much forgiven; O let my heart burn with love and +gratitude in that hour, and my lips utter its effusions in songs of +praise. Amen.</p> +<p>"When the short thick breathing comes, and the slow fetches, +sealing up speech and expelling the spirit from its abode, O let me +hear or understand thee saying unto me, 'It is I, be not +afraid.'"</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">ANUARY</font>, 1810.</p> +<p>"'Come and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he +will heal us; he hath smitten, and <!--Page 274--><a name="P274" +id="P274"></a> he will bind us up. After two days will he revive +us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his +sight.'</p> +<p>"O Lord, turn us and we shall be turned, draw us and we will run +after thee. Revive us, and we shall live in thy sight. Thou must +ever be first. It is in our nature to backslide for ever: and +whenever we see a backslider restored, or a rebel lay down the +weapons of rebellion, <i>there</i> we may trace thy footsteps, O +God of grace.</p> +<p>"No external providence will touch our hard, our deceitful +hearts. All that goes under the name of misfortune will but drive +us <i>from</i> thee, never <i>to</i> thee, till thou teach us to +profit, and lead us by the way that we should go. Thou callest, +'Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your +backslidings;' but we have been foolish, sottish children, without +understanding, wise to do evil, but to do good having no +knowledge.</p> +<p>"Let the days come when the children of America — the +earth is the Lord's — shall 'come with weeping, and seek the +Lord their God;' when 'they shall ask the way to Zion, with their +faces thitherward;' when they shall come, saying, 'Let us join +ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, never to be +forgotten.' O the Hope of Israel and Saviour thereof, is not that +day and that time come? Hast thou not been working on the right +hand and on the left? Thou hast given us pastors according to thine +own heart, who feed us with knowledge and understanding: and thou +art here and there proving thy gospel thy power and thy wisdom, to +the salvation of sinners; casting down the imaginations of pride, +and bringing all into subjection to thy Son Jesus.</p> +<!--Page 275--><a name="P275" id="P275"></a> +<p>"O pour out the spirit of grace and supplication, upon thy +living members, that they may wrestle with thee, and not let thee +go until thou bless us, until thou make this 'cloud like a man's +hand' cover our heavens with blackness, and issue in a plentiful +rain. O pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods on the dry +ground; thy Spirit upon our seed, and thy blessing upon our +offspring. O Lord, hast thou not said that thou wilt do it, and +that they shall spring up as among the grass, and as willows by the +water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's, another shall call +himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his +hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. +Amen, O our God, Amen.</p> +<p>"Last week the Lord's young servant, Mr. R——, received to the +communion of the church seven adults, Mrs. B—— and her two +daughters, Dr. H—— and sister, Mr. C——, and a black woman, +servant to Mr. H——. It was a glorious sight, and revived the +hearts of God's people who witnessed it. O God of grace, grant that +the fruits of righteousness may prove that they are broken off from +the wild olive-tree, and grafted into thee, thou living and +life-giving olive-tree; from thee must their fruit be found. O +cause them to bring forth much fruit. Herein is the Father +glorified, that they bear much fruit; so shall they be Christ's +disciples, and attain to the assurance of that happy state. Father, +glorify thy name. Amen."</p> +<p>In the year 1810, while bathing at Rockaway, she was carried by +the surf beyond her depth, and for some time there was scarcely a +hope of her regaining <!--Page 276--><a name="P276" id= +"P276"></a> the shore. Her grandchildren were weeping on the +beach, and the company assembled there were afflicted but hopeless +spectators of her danger. At that moment of peril she prayed to the +Lord for deliverance, but acquiesced in his will, if he should see +fit to take her to himself in this manner. Able to swim a little, +she kept herself afloat for some time: she became at length very +faint; and when her friends on the beach apprehended her lost, they +perceived that the waves had impelled her somewhat nearer to them. +A gentleman present, and her female attendant, stepped into the +surf and extending their arms for mutual support, one of them was +enabled to lay hold on Mrs. Graham's bathing-gown and to pull her +towards them. When they brought her ashore she was much exhausted, +and had swallowed a considerable quantity of water. It was some +hours before she revived, when she addressed the company in a very +serious and impressive manner that affected them to tears. Her +health during the following winter was much impaired by the shock +it had received.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, June 15, +1810.</p> +<p>"Came here the first of the month, with the children in the +whooping-cough. No 'church-going bell' here, but the Lord is +everywhere; and I have found him here, warming my heart with +gratitude and contrition, and drawing it out in prayer for his +people met to worship in his sanctuary.</p> +<p>"When at a distance from my own people, it has been my practice +to join with whatever class of professing Christians might be near +me. Here it has been with the Methodists, who, I believe, enjoy +communion with God. Yesterday I went to a meeting +<!--Page 277--><a name="P277" id="P277"></a> of ——, who lay +great stress on good morals; but, O my God, what could I do, shut +up with them? Without the finished work of my Saviour, I could have +no hope; without his law-fulfilling righteousness, I must stand a +law-condemned sinner.</p> +<p>"The preacher yesterday took no text; in the course of his +sermon he said the Scriptures were only secondary guides. He began +with the importance of thinking of death, and said it could not be +possible for a rational being to live carelessly, with thoughts of +death and eternity in view. Is it so? No; we see sinners die, under +the full conviction that they are dying, as thoughtless as they +have lived.</p> +<p>"He said, that by constantly attending to the motions of the +Spirit and complying with them, Christians arrived at a state of +perfection even here; and brought in that text, 'He that is born of +God cannot sin,' etc. Spoke highly of watchfulness, and avoiding +connection with the world; said a real Christian could not hold any +office of power among men. Paul held one, but he gave it up when he +became an apostle. Christ's kingdom was not of this world. Laws and +officers were necessary among the men of the world, but not among +Christians. Spoke of the cross of Christ as consisting in suffering +and self-denial. His blood was the Spirit which cleansed from all +sin, by delivering all who obeyed him from its power. He named not +my blessed Saviour, except when he had occasion to mention some of +his moral sayings. He said, indeed, that he was the Light that +lightened every man that came into the world, and the condemnation +was that men would not receive it; but one word of his blessed +priesthood he spoke not, but said <!--Page 278--><a name="P278" id= +"P278"></a> we were in a state of probation, and every one would +be judged according to his works, taking into view the advantages +he had enjoyed; recommended the reading of the Scriptures, +especially the inspired books, the New Testament and the prophets; +for it needed no inspiration to write the national history of the +Jews more than that of any other nation. Said the Scriptures were +good secondary guides, and contained excellent lessons and +truths.</p> +<p>"When I was coming away he offered me his hand, saying that I +was not a resident there. I answered no, I was separated from my +own people, but wished to unite with any class of Christians who +met professedly to worship God; but confessed I could not live upon +what he had this day delivered. He asked what was wrong. I +answered, he had given some good exhortations; I agreed with him in +many things respecting conduct; but I missed the foundation. He +repeated the scriptures, 'Other foundation can no man lay,' etc. I +said, Exactly: off this foundation there is no salvation; on this +foundation there may be loss, but no condemnation. We have a great +and merciful High-priest, who can have compassion on the ignorant, +and them who are out of the way; and there may be straw, hay, +stubble, which will be burnt up, but the soul itself, being on the +foundation, is safe. He said with firmness, That will be burnt up +in this world; without holiness no man shall see the Lord. I said, +True; but why avoid the tenor of Scripture? read all the epistles; +the Lord Jesus Christ, the gift of God, the propitiatory sacrifice, +the meritorious law-fulfilling righteousness, is set forth, in +every one of them, as that which saves from wrath and entitles +<!--Page 279--><a name="P279" id="P279"></a> to eternal life. He +said they were all emblems of our being made holy in heart and +life; Christians were baptized unto the death of Christ, and rise +with him to newness of life, buried with him, etc. I granted that +as one reading of these words. He said every other view was shadow. +I said, No — the blood of bulls and goats is shadow; Christ +himself, his person, his offices, his life, his sufferings, his +death, his burial, resurrection, ascension, and intercession within +the veil, are all substance — the sole foundation of my hope, +and my only plea at a throne of grace.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Dear Name, the rock on which I +build,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My shield and +hiding-place,<br /></span> <span>My never-failing treasury, +filled<br /></span> <span class="i2">With boundless stores of +grace.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Jesus, my +Husband, Shepherd, Friend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My +Prophet, Priest, and King,<br /></span> <span>My Lord, my life, my +way, my end,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Accept the praise I +bring."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<br /> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, August, 1810</p> +<p>"Hebrews is my ordinary, when no other passage of Scripture +attracts my particular attention. This is the third morning I have +opened the New Testament on the 14th chapter of John, and have fed +delightfully on the first three verses. There is at all times a +thorn in my heart, keeping me in continual remembrance of my vile, +ungrateful backslidings, so that I eat my sweetest morsels with +bitter herbs. It was particularly painful to me this morning; +nevertheless; the Lord God, merciful and gracious, repeated on my +heart, 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' +I was arrested at the fourth verse, 'Whither I go ye know, and the +way ye know.' I have <!--Page 280--><a name="P280" id= +"P280"></a> had many comfortable exercises on the eighth verse, +the Redeemer's answer to Philip's inquiry. But this morning my mind +was led to a different view of that saying, and which I think was +literally included. The Redeemer was going to his Father, and his +way lay through death, the death of the cross. The hour was at hand +when he was to make his holy and righteous soul an offering for +sin, that he might become the author of salvation to all who obey +him. All the sins confessed and pardoned by the sacrifices under +the law were laid on this blessed Surety — they were only the +shadows, he was the substance — the real Lamb of God which +taketh away the sin of the world, was now to be offered up. This +was he who said, 'Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a +body hast thou prepared me; in burnt-offerings and offerings for +sin thou hast had no pleasure; then said I, Lo, I come to do thy +will, O God:' by which will we are sanctified through the offering +of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.</p> +<p>"He was going to the garden — Oh that garden! Peter had +said he was able to drink of that cup and to be baptized with that +baptism. Ah no, Peter; that exceeding sorrow in the garden, when no +visible hand was upon him, was a cup the least drop of which would +have overwhelmed the strongest angel. No strength short of +omnipotent could have sustained that hour and power of darkness. It +was not the scourge, the thorns, the nails, nor the last pangs of +dissolution; through all these he was as a lamb led to the +slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers, dumb. It was a +mysterious horror, of which no created being can have any +conception. It was this that <!--Page 281--><a name="P281" id= +"P281"></a> wrung the great drops of blood through every pore of +his sacred body — this that extorted the agonizing prayer, +'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;' and again, +in his last moments on the cross, 'My God, my God, why hast thou +forsaken me?' Blessed, for ever blessed be our Jehovah Jesus, who +said, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' The will of God was done, +and he said, 'It is finished,' and gave up the ghost.</p> +<p>"All his people must follow him by the way of death; nearly all +his disciples followed by the death of the cross, and many others +after them, supported by his almighty grace, rejoiced that they +were counted worthy to suffer for his sake; but they drank not of +that cup.</p> +<p>"Some of his people, for holy and wise purposes, have had a +taste in the hiding of God's face, but no curse; that he himself +drank to the last drop: He trod the wine-press alone, and of the +people there was none with him. By his own death he destroyed him +that had the power of death, and secured victory to all his +followers: he changed its aspect from that of the king of terrors +to that of a welcome messenger from their redeeming God, to conduct +them to those blessed mansions which he has purchased and prepared +for them; neither will he leave them alone with that messenger: +'And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that +where I am, there ye may be also. I will not leave you comfortless, +I will come to you. The world seeth me no more, but ye see me; +because I live, ye shall live also. Let not your heart be troubled, +neither let it be afraid.' Amen. 'Come, Lord Jesus.'</p> +<!--Page 282--><a name="P282" id="P282"></a> +<p>"'Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast +thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not +required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is +written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is +in my heart.' Psalm 40:6. 'Above when he said, Sacrifice and +offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou wouldst not, +neither hadst pleasure therein — which are offered by the law +— then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh +away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will +we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ +once for all. This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins +for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. For by one offering he +hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy +Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, +'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,' +in consequence of Christ's doing the will of God, fulfilling all +righteousness: 'I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their +minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I +remember no more. Now, where remission of these is, there is no +more offering for sin. Having, therefore, boldness to enter into +the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which +he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his +flesh; and having a High-priest over the house of God; let us draw +near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our +hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed +with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith +without wavering; for he is <!--Page 283--><a name="P283" id= +"P283"></a> faithful that promised.' Hebrews 10:8-23; 8:10. +Again, 'The Lord sware, and will not repent; thou art a priest for +ever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a +surety of a better testament; because he continueth ever, and hath +an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able to save them to +the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to +make intercession for them,' Heb. 7:21-25. 'Christ glorified not +himself to be made a high-priest, but He that said unto him, Thou +art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee; as he saith also in +another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of +Melchizedek.' Heb. 5:5, 6. 'For the law maketh men high-priests +which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the +law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.' Heb. 7:28. +'The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching +peace by Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all. How God anointed Jesus of +Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing +good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was +with him. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his +name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.'" +Acts 10:36-38, 43.</p> +<p>How well she was qualified to give instruction to young +disciples, will appear in the following letters to two, who died +shortly after of consumption.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Miss Van Wyck, New York.</p> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, 1810.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR, MY BELOVED</font> E<font size= +"-1">LIZA</font> — Mr. and Mrs. B—— are here on a visit for +one night. I did not <!--Page 284--><a name="P284" id= +"P284"></a> expect to see them so soon, or I would have had a +letter ready. I expect another opportunity in the course of a few +days, when I will send you a long letter, from my heart, and, I +hope, dictated by your and my Teacher.</p> +<p>"I learn by my children that you continue much in the same way +in which I left you. It is your own God who mixes your cup, and it +is to you a cup of blessing; there is no curse in it. Your Jesus +drank that cup to the very dregs, that bitter as well as sweet +might be to you a cup of blessing. O then, my darling, hold fast by +your Redeemer: he is the Lord your righteousness, and the Lord your +strength; he connects your profit with his own glory. You shall in +this protracted affliction manifest it, and hold out the word of +life to those around you.* You shall witness for him that he is the +Lord, and besides him there is no Saviour — that he gathers +the lambs in his arms, and carries them in his bosom — that +he is to them a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the +tempest — as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the +shadow of a great rock in a weary land. That it is he that teacheth +them to profit, and leadeth them by the way that they should go, +and that in due time he will perfect all that concerns +them. Farewell.</p> +<p class="center">"Yours with affection,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p class="note">*This prediction was remarkably fulfilled in the +experience of this dear young saint; an interesting account of +whose illness and death was published in the Christian's Magazine, +and afterwards as a Tract.</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 285--><a name="P285" id="P285"></a> +<p class="center">To the same.</p> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, Sabbath, +1810.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR, MY BELOVED</font> E<font size= +"-1">LIZA</font> — I wrote you a few lines yesterday by Mr. +B——. I now propose to fulfil my promise. I expect an opportunity +to-morrow or next day, for I saw a great many carriages pass this +way to the tavern, as I suppose, from New York. It is a common +thing with some to come here on Saturday and return on Monday, to +spend this blessed day in pastime. You would not, I know, exchange +situation's with them; you would rather be suffering than +sinning.</p> +<p>"It is your own observation that God does all in wisdom; in this +wisdom he is pleased to lengthen your day of affliction. Sin, my +darling, is the cause of all suffering; but is not always the +<i>immediate</i> cause. Besides particular chastisement for +particular sins, there are afflictions to be filled up in the body +of Christ — his church — a measure of which, in kind +and degree, is appointed by unerring wisdom to each individual +member. Col. 1:24. These sufferings bear no part in atoning for +sin, nor in redeeming our forfeited inheritance. Christ trod the +wine-press alone, and of the people there was none to help him. He +was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the +righteousness of God in him; who when he had by himself purged our +sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Heb. 1:3. +Again, 'And every priest,' in the Levitical law, 'standeth daily +ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can +never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered <i>one +sacrifice</i> for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. +For by <!--Page 286--><a name="P286" id="P286"></a> one offering +he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the +Holy Ghost is also a witness to us; for after he had said before' +— see from verse 5 — 'This is the covenant which I will +make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws +into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their +sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission +of these is, there is no more offering for sin.' Heb. 10:11-18. +Paul says the Holy Ghost is a witness, because he copies from the +ancient Scriptures the prophecies of Jer. 31:31, and Ezek. 36:25, +and from Psalm 60:7. Your mother will read to you also the eighth +chapter of Hebrews, containing the same things, the new covenant, +in consequence of Christ, as the surety of sinners, having made +full atonement, magnified the law, and made it honorable; therefore +there is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.</p> +<p>"It has pleased God, my darling, in the adorable plan of +reconciling sinners to himself by Jesus Christ, to perfect at once +a justifying righteousness for them, and to bestow it upon them as +a free gift. 'This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal +life; and this life is in his Son.' 1 John, 5:11. But it has not +pleased him to deliver us at once from depravity; provision is made +for final deliverance by the same covenant, and is effected by the +same power: but in this believers are called to work. It is evident +from Scripture, and the experience of Christians answers to it, +that in the hour of believing they pass from death to life, +considered as a state. This is the hour of the new birth: they then +receive life for the time, and it is their privilege, by the +constitution of the new covenant, to <!--Page 287--><a name="P287" +id="P287"></a> ask and receive, from day to day, grace to help +in every time of need. To them, and not to the unregenerate, the +exhortation is addressed, 'Work out your own salvation with fear +and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you, both to will and +to do, of his good pleasure,' The means are of God's appointing, in +the diligent use of which they go from strength to strength. The +grand means is faith in God's promises, of which there are very +many in the Scriptures. Believers are to put forth their own +exertions, as the children of Israel were called to go out against +their enemies, in the faith that God would give them victory and +lead them to their promised rest. The battle was the Lord's, and he +fought for them; but the means were their exertions. Believers are +God's workmanship; but this work he carries on by exercising their +natural powers, which he sanctifies to a different end from that to +which they were formerly by their own spirit directed. Still, the +Scripture testifies that if any man say he has no sin, he deceives +himself, and the truth is not in him; and while sin remains, its +consequence, suffering, must. The judgments of God, as the moral +Governor of the world, are denounced against, and executed upon the +workers of iniquity. The children of God experience personal +chastisements for personal sins, as a provision of the covenant. +Psalm 89:30. And, if I mistake not, there are afflictions +experienced by individuals, as members of Christ's body, in which +God does not bring into view the personal sins of the sufferer. In +this sense I read Paul's epistle to the Colossians, 1:24: 'Who now +rejoice in my sufferings, and fill up that which is behind of the +sufferings of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the +<!--Page 288--><a name="P288" id="P288"></a> church.' 'I sent +Timotheus to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your +faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions; for +yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.' 1 Thes. 3:3. +'Yea, if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, +I joy and rejoice with you all; for the same cause do ye joy and +rejoice with me.' Phil. 2:17. 'And whether we be afflicted, it is +for your consolation and salvation; or whether we be comforted, it +is for your salvation and consolation.' 2 Cor. 1:6. There is no +conscious personal sin expressed in these sufferings; on the +contrary, Paul says, 'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of +our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with +fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our +conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.' 2 Cor. +1:12.</p> +<p>"Most of the prophets and apostles suffered martyrdom. They +indeed sustained public characters, but the beggar Lazarus, who, in +addition to poverty, was full of sores, was carried by the angels +from the rich man's gate to Abraham's bosom. And thousands and tens +of thousands of redeemed highly sanctified ones have suffered +lengthened martyrdom, and perished with hunger, in holes and caves +of the earth, unknown in history, except in groups — unseen +at the time, except by the eye of the omniscient Jehovah, by whom +the hairs of their head are numbered; their tears are in his +bottle; nor shall one sigh nor one groan perish without its +result.</p> +<p>"O my Eliza, what delightful wonders shall open to our view when +delivered from these prison-holds of earth.</p> +<!--Page 289--><a name="P289" id="P289"></a> +<p>"I have finished one sheet, my dear Eliza; I fear it is too +much, and may prove too fatiguing, especially as there are many +references requiring a stretch of attention. I have been reading +the epistle to the Hebrews, and you have naturally got my thoughts +on part of it.</p> +<p>"I remember once of your complaining that you had made small +progress in knowledge, in comparison of a young person that had +just left you; but you checked yourself, and said, 'The Lord has +given me faith, let me be thankful.' I at that time considered your +departure as very near, and advised you to keep your eye fixed on +Christ, as your Redeemer and Saviour, who had performed all things +for you, and would perfect all that concerned you; and added, one +hour in heaven will make you wiser than the most enlightened saint +on earth. Since that it has pleased your Lord to add many days to +your life. He has mitigated your pain, and given you some intervals +of ease and composure, and our dear Eliza has grown in that time. +Should it please God to spare you for a yet longer season, and +continue your intervals of ease, no subject can be so profitable; +and I hope your Lord will make it pleasant as that of the contents +of the New Testament, which your Saviour bequeathed to you, sealed +and ratified in his blood. There is a vast variety of precious +promises contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, +which are all yours with Christ; for, as a member of his body, 'you +are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus +Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.' And now I commend you +to your own covenant God, who does and will support you, through +life and through <!--Page 290--><a name="P290" id="P290"></a> +death, to that happy land where we shall all meet; and Oh then, eye +hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart +of man the things he hath prepared for them that love him.</p> +<p class="center">"I am, with much love and affection, yours,</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mr. James Todd, New York.</p> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, Long Island.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> J<font size="-1">AMES</font> +— This will probably be handed you by our mutual friend Mrs. +C——. The thought of her being with you, makes me part with her +with less reluctance. You have not been forgotten by either; we +have talked much of you, and have united in prayer to your and our +God, that he may manifest himself unto you as your reconciled +Father in Christ Jesus; and give you 'joy and peace in believing' +— that he may give you patience in suffering, and entire +resignation to his most holy will.</p> +<p>"It has, my dear young friend, been my earnest inquiry, +especially of late years, standing on the brink of eternity, 'What +is there within us, or without us, on which a sinner can rest in a +dying hour?' If it be a holy life, there is no peace for me. Taking +the law of God for my rule, backslider is my name; yet peace I have +found, and on the best Security; this blessed Bible is my charter. +I have searched it with diligence and prayer, and my mind is +confirmed in the following truths: That the whole world is become +guilty before God, and is under his wrath and curse on that +account. This is our state: a miserable state it is, and as +hopeless as miserable, for any thing we can do merely of ourselves. +But I read in this Bible to the full amount of the following +conclusions — that in the counsel of <!--Page 291--><a name= +"P291" id="P291"></a> the mysterious Triune Jehovah, Jesus +Christ, the second person of the incomprehensible Trinity, was +sanctified, or set apart to become the Saviour of law-condemned +sinners, to take their nature upon him, comply with the +requisitions of the eternal immutable law of God, and become their +surety. Man is a rebel, it is put to his account: a penalty is +incurred — He, as their surety, is made liable. Are they +again to be made heirs of eternal life? Perfect obedience is the +condition — and of Him, as their surety, it is demanded. All +this being fulfilled, sinners are become his property: he has paid +their debt, and merited for them eternal life, all in their own +nature, as their Head and representative; so that believers are +complete in him. This is the righteousness of God, wrought out by +Jesus Christ, in his own person, God-man, as their surety. To this +nothing of the believer's is to be added — with this nothing +of his mixed; it is for ever perfect; entirely distinct from that +holiness of heart and life which is wrought in him in consequence +of this. God has declared himself well pleased with this +righteousness, and that being himself reconciled, he is in Christ +Jesus reconciling sinners to him.</p> +<p>"Hence all the invitations scattered thick in the Old and New +Testament, not only to the penitent, weary, and heavy laden, but to +the stout-hearted, the backslider, to them that are wearying +themselves in their own way. 'Ho, every one that thirsteth' — +'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,' Hence all +the promises annexed to believing, accepting, receiving, trusting, +resting: Christ the Saviour is the object — the gift of God +to sinners for all the above purposes. The Lord has convinced me +that I have <!--Page 292--><a name="P292" id="P292"></a> nothing +in myself on which I can rest; my conscience echoes to his word in +all that it asserts of my nature and my state; but this Saviour is +provided for sinners exactly of this description. I am invited to +put in my claim, I believe the record, I rest my salvation on his +word; God giveth to me eternal life, and this life is in his Son. +Jesus calls me to look unto him, and be saved; I do look unto him, +and I am saved. He assures me that those who come unto him shall +never be cast out. I do go to him and commit my sinful soul to his +keeping; I shall not be cast out. As many as receive the gift of +his Son, receive at the same time power to become the children of +God. I do receive his gift, and lay claim to his promise. He is my +reconciled Father, and I am his adopted child, and he hath sent his +Spirit into my heart, by which I can say, Abba, Father.</p> +<p>"I have, my dear James, taken this method of laying before you +the grounds of my own hope, because I think it the most simple +method, and containing at the same time my counsel to you to lay +hold on the same hope. The warrant is given us in God's own word, +as sinners, without respect to fruit or any works of ours. I can, +if necessary, give you chapter and verse, to the full amount; but +you have those about you who can give it to you by little and +little, as your weak state can bear it. This gift is held out to +the sinner's acceptance in many places of the word of God, and +becomes the sinner's in the moment of believing. Provision is made +by the same covenant for his sanctification; but that makes no part +of justifying righteousness. Christ is made of God unto him wisdom, +righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Try, my +<!--Page 293--><a name="P293" id="P293"></a> precious young +friend, to lay hold on this hope, and enter into the rest provided +for the believer here. Stretch forth 'the withered hand,' the Lord +himself will give you strength. Commit your precious soul into his +hands, and rest assured that he will perfect all that concerns you +— work all his work in you — carry you safely through +the Jordan of death, and put you in possession of the inheritance +he has purchased for you. That all this shall be, is the prayer +and firm hope of</p> +<p class="center">"Your affectionate friend,</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<p>The two following extracts, addressed to Mrs. C——, near +Boston, present a very gratifying view of Mrs. Graham in her +advanced years, and may well awaken the desire not only to die the +death, but to enjoy the "fruitful old age" of "the righteous."</p> +<p>"I have, as you know, enjoyed much in life, enjoyed its dearest, +sweetest comforts, love and friendship, with a heart tremblingly +alive to both. Lover and friends of youth are long since gone, +other friendships I have formed, and have been happy even in these; +now I am shut up with ails and aches. The world, properly so +called, is a dead blank to me; yet I do think I never enjoyed life +more. I would not exchange my present happiness for the most +transporting moments of my life — of which I have had a large +share — though thousands of years were added to enjoy them. I +do not mean barely that happiness which consists in the +anticipation of pleasure beyond the grave; that is indeed +delightful; but I enjoy life now. Books of taste are mine no more: +still less those of science and <!--Page 294--><a name="P294" id= +"P294"></a> history; but my dear Bible; precious subjects; my +dear Saviour. The height, the depth, the breadth, the length of the +glorious plan of redemption open to my delightful perception more +and more, and the Spirit witnesseth with my spirit, that I have my +part in it by the gift of <i>faith</i>. I believe the record, that +God giveth to us eternal life, and I put in my claim as a sinner. I +account it a 'faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that +Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the +chief,' I still enjoy the ordinances of the gospel: my memory, as +you know, is much impaired: I recollect very little of the sermons +I hear; but I think I never heard with so much attention. I am +delighted, instructed, and fed at the time, and the subjects open +to me without my being able to recollect the order or the words of +the speaker. O let me recommend this dear Lord to your heart and +confidence; commit all your concerns to him; mistrust no part of +his providential dealings with you; his wisdom shall manage for +you, and you shall one day say, 'He hath done all things +well.'"</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">ARCH</font>, 1811.</p> +<p>"I am daily on the lookout; one year and three months will +complete my threescore and ten. I do not know one individual alive +whom I know in my school-days; it has been the case for many years. +I do not long for my dismission, neither am I tired of life; but +nothing in this world, unless closely connected with another, +interests me; and Oh, I am tired of sin; still it cleaves to me; in +all things I come short, and many duties neglect altogether; for I +still have a considerable, share of health, and might do some good, +had I will equal to my opportunities; as to the +<!--Page 295--><a name="P295" id="P295"></a> power, it is not in +me, but I know I have it in my blessed Head, and for the asking. I +cannot but long to be delivered from sin, and sinful apathy in +particular; for really my heart must be wickedly fertile, to find +out opportunities of moral transgression. Food and raiment are mine +without care; my children, under God, care for me. I have my dear +little room, my Bible, and books founded on it. I have a dear +pastor and Christian friends, lively ordinances, and also much of +the Lord's presence at times; my cup runs over with blessings, but +my gratitude bears no proportion; my zeal for the glory of God and +the good of my fellow-sinners seems buried under self-indulgence +and apathy. O that the goodness of the Lord may lead me to +repentance.</p> +<p>"And now, my dear friend, let me know how it is with you and +your dear family. The severe winter is past; how have you got +along? with what temporal comfort, and how has the Lord dealt with +your soul? Has the barrel of meal or the cruse of oil failed? Does +the opening spring cheer your spirits, and furnish a song of +praise? Does it find you in a situation to dig your garden, sow +your seeds, and make provision for future comfort? Has the Lord +turned your captivity, and dried up the bitter waters that flowed +against you? How are your eyes, after all the briny tears that have +steeped them? How are your poor nerves, after all the shocks that +have agitated them? All these things have been on my mind; but from +my long silence, you cannot believe it. What are we all, but broken +reeds, which pierce the hand when laid hold of for support? There +is but one Friend to poor, fallen, miserable man, in the universe. +He is mercy; <!--Page 296--><a name="P296" id="P296"></a> he is +goodness; he is truth; he is wisdom; he is unchangeable, and never +will fail you: take him to your heart; give it all to him; he only +is worthy, no other is."</p> +<p>Her friend Mrs. C—— had now experienced new trials, by which +she was again plunged into the depth of despondency. In the +following we have a noble effort of Mrs. Graham's mind and heart to +raise her up to "sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">UNE</font> 27, 1811.</p> +<p>"I received my dear friend's letter this day week, and have been +answering it ever since. Never was I in such a strait. It contains +the effusions of disappointed hopes and anticipations of sore +evils; indicates a soul deeply wounded, and taking in Christian +principles under temptation. Where shall I begin? I have laid it +before our compassionate High-priest, I have requested direction. +Assist me, O thou blessed Comforter, whose office it is to convince +of sin, as well as to minister consolation. Do both, from the heart +and by the pen of thy handmaid.</p> +<p>"It appears to me salutary to call your attention first to the +sovereignty of God. The silver and the gold are his, and the cattle +on a thousand hills; he gives them to whomsoever he pleases; he +setteth up one and putteth down another, doing whatsoever pleaseth +him in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of this +earth; none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? He +attributes to himself all events; men and other creatures are but +instruments. Men's wicked hearts impel them to commit evil, but the +events are of the Lord, which he <!--Page 297--><a name="P297" id= +"P297"></a> overrules for his own glory, and for the good of his +people. 'Him being delivered by the determinate counsel' of God, ye +have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified him. Joseph said, +'Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it for good,' 'to save +much people alive.' The Lord does not often, at the time, give his +people reasons for afflicting them, though they can often read them +at an after-period.</p> +<p>"Job was a holy man; his afflictions from God's own hand were +very deep; the teasing unkindness and injustice of his friends made +great part of the temptation, and he spoke unadvisedly with his +lips. When God did appear, he did not answer his cavils, nor give +him one reason why he had dealt with him thus; but silenced him +with views of his majesty, power, and wisdom — of his own +meanness and vileness, though correct in his conduct beyond most +others. I believe he spoke truth when he said, 'I delivered the +poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help +him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and +I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the +blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and +the cause which I knew not, I searched out.' God allowed the weight +of the trial to be upon his spirit, with the conviction of his +presumption, till he brought him to his feet. 'Behold, I am vile, +what shall I answer thee?' 'I will lay my hand upon my mouth.' 'I +abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' These things were +written for our example and profit.</p> +<p>"This afflictive providence is now finished, at least so far. +What you now possess is the allotment of your God. Set all +instruments aside and listen to the <!--Page 298--><a name="P298" +id="P298"></a> Holy Ghost: 'Humble yourselves under the mighty +hand of God, and he shall exalt you in due time.' In order to this, +I would recommend to you to take a close, retrospective view of +your past life, with earnest prayer that God would search you and +try you, and show you what wicked ways have been or now are in you. +Go back to the days of your youth; take a close view of the use you +made of affluence and influence; not comparing yourself with +others, but judging yourself by the law of God, the only standard +of right and wrong, truth and error. Seek for humbling views of +yourself in yourself. If the Holy Ghost enlighten, you will find +sufficient grounds. Seek for consolation in the free promises of +God, through Jesus Christ, of which there are also abundance, even +to the chief of sinners. What I recommend to you has been my own +practice, especially in times of trial; and if health will admit of +it, add fasting, because I think it is the Lord's ordinance. 'The +days shall come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then +shall they fast in those days.'</p> +<p>"Read the third chapter of Jeremiah's lamentations; endeavor to +come under the feelings of contrition on account of your sins, and +derive consolation from faith in God's great mercy; ever keeping in +view the only channel through which mercy can flow to sinners of +Adam's race. Take also a view of God's dealings with his elect +nation, in the wilderness: they had nothing but manna, and were +punished for murmuring; while at that very time the nations in +Canaan, the Egyptians, and Assyrians, were living in all manner of +luxury. What was their whole history but backsliding, threatening +upon threatening? then chastisement, <!--Page 299--><a name="P299" +id="P299"></a> turning, repenting, pardon, reconciliation, and +the same round again, every chastisement severer than the last, +while worldlings in general have their day to the end; then 'are +they brought into desolation as in a moment.' I wish you to take a +particular view of God's dealings with them, before Nebuchadnezzar +sacked the city of Jerusalem. The decree was passed after many +warnings, and much long-suffering. How many pauses, as it were, did +the merciful Lord God make before he gave them finally up to their +enemies; and when the decree was irrevocable, and the chastisement +to take place, still he followed them with mercy. See Jeremiah +27:12; and chapter 29, the letter which God commanded Jeremiah to +write to those who had been carried away captive with Jehoiakim, +advising them to build houses and plant vineyards, and to make the +most of their situation. Those at Jerusalem were commanded to +submit to the king of Babylon, as in that case he would not destroy +the city; but no, they stood it out, and the threatened vengeance +overtook them.</p> +<p>"The poor were left to take care of the vineyards. Jeremiah +remained with them in preference to going with the king of Babylon +to be promoted to honor. God offered to take them under his +protection and be their God: but no, they would go to Egypt, and +put themselves under the king of Egypt's protection. Jeremiah told +them from the Lord, that Egypt itself should soon go into +captivity. But to Egypt they went and carried Jeremiah with them. +See Isaiah's prophecy on this occasion, chapter 30:1-4. Now look at +chapter 42:24; there you see God's judgment and chastening; follow +him in the beginning of chapter 43, <!--Page 300--><a name="P300" +id="P300"></a> and view his mercy; in the end of the same +chapter, again, see his charge against them, but it is followed, +with mercy, not judgment.</p> +<p>"Thus we learn the character of God. Thus we learn his dealings +with his people. They are not called to earthly comfort and +prosperity. They ever have been, and still are a suffering people; +they are all sinners — sin brings suffering, and God +overrules suffering, so as to make it profitable to them. Though +redeemed by the life and death of Christ, being justified by faith, +they have peace with God; yet the Lord has not pleased all at once +to qualify them for the purchased possession. They receive a new +birth, new life, and are called to work out their own salvation +with fear and trembling, with this consolation, that God worketh in +them both to will and to do of his good pleasure. This is not their +home, here they have no continuing city; they are travelling +through the wilderness, to the city and mansions purchased and +prepared for them by their Saviour, and must be made holy before +they can enter in. They have many corruptions to be mortified, and +many errors in their estimation of men and things to be corrected. +Their hearts require to be made spiritual, humble, tender, +resigned, and loving. 'Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna +— that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to +do thee good at thy latter end.'</p> +<p>"Besides, all suffering is not the immediate punishment of sin +in the individual sufferer, nor for his exclusive profit; it is +evident from Scripture, there is suffering for the benefit of the +body of Christ, <i>his church</i>, of which, I think, all have some +share. God <!--Page 301--><a name="P301" id="P301"></a> has wise +ends to answer by all the suffering of his creatures, and +especially of the members of his body. The apostles rejoiced in +this, and so ought we. 'If we suffer with him, we shall also reign +with him.' Paul says, 'I fill up in my flesh that which is behind +of the sufferings of Christ, for his body's sake, which is the +church.'</p> +<p>"Now, my dear friend, look at your real situation, as a +suffering member of a suffering body. Take a view of the saints of +God in history, sacred or profane, and compare your own individual +suffering with theirs: I am apt to think that, great as it is, it +will not rise to mediocrity. I could expatiate on this subject, +from what comes every day within my own knowledge. The Lord is +working in this way all around me; but of that another time. In +your own case, try for a moment to shut out of view every thing +without your own family, what you once were, what you once +possessed and enjoyed; also what your friends possess and enjoy at +this present time; detach yourself from all. What was yours is +gone; what you calculated upon is also gone; set all aside, and +consider yourself a sinner saved from destruction by grace; in a +state of purgation and preparation for happiness; on a pilgrimage +with thousands of others your fellow-saved sinners, through the +wilderness, to that inheritance which was purchased for you at +<i>such a price</i>. Your Saviour is your leader, protector, +provider; also your physician, and the physician of the whole body, +perfectly acquainted with the constitution, disposition, and temper +of every individual. He has made provision for each, all the +journey through, and given security that none shall suffer +<i>real</i> want.</p> +<!--Page 302--><a name="P302" id="P302"></a> +<p>"Bread and water are promised; nothing beyond these, though in +general he gives more; to each he gives a portion in hand, to some +for a day, some for a week, some for a year, which they calculate +upon with more or less probability: none with certainty. Your +portion is — for a year; take a view of those whom you know; +one with another, I am inclined to think the Lord has still given +you your full share of privilege. Look at the ordinary provision he +makes for the ministers of his gospel, most of them with large +families; many of those in the country have five hundred dollars, +some four hundred, some three hundred, generally ill paid. The Lord +puts a blessing in it, he makes it go far; they do what their hands +find to do, and get along: so will he do with you, my dear. He will +put you upon methods of industry and economy: your one chicken +divided into six parts, with a little bit of pork, with the fruit +of God's blessing on your industry in the garden, shall both taste +sweet and satisfy for the time. Try to be thankful; Moses said of +the manna, 'This is the bread which the Lord your God giveth you.' +Pray and watch against dwelling on the plentiful tables of others; +and when bidden to a feast take your portion, and say, this is from +the Lord for the time. Do not let a thought of misery or +wretchedness dwell upon your mind. O no, God is good; you shall not +want. O, what sweet meals have I and my children made on hot +potatoes, nicely boiled and cracked, with salt — not merely +content, but they tasted good and savory. There are peculiar +pleasures in a life of that kind. You shall yet sing of it.</p> +<p>"Now, my dear friend, I have done with what I +<!--Page 303--><a name="P303" id="P303"></a> had to say on this +head. I have had great fears of wounding, lest you should reckon me +among Job's friends; but you call me mother, and it is required of +a mother to be faithful. I now leave it with the Lord. We are +delighted to find you girding up the loins of your mind and setting +about active duty. Let us meet at a throne of grace, and look to +the course the Lord marks out for us."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mrs. G—— Y——.</p> +<p>"M<font size="-1">Y DEAR</font> M<font size="-1">ADAM</font> +— I have just parted with my dear afflicted friend Mrs. +C——; she left it in charge to me, that I should write to you in +the time of your affliction. Surely I would do any thing whatever +that I thought might alleviate either her or your distress. But +there are cases to which God alone can speak; afflictions which he +alone can console. Such are those under which the sufferer is +commanded to be 'still and know that he is God.' He never leaves +his people in any case, but sometimes shuts them up from human aid. +Their grief is too great to be consoled by human tongue or pen.</p> +<p>"Such I have experienced. I lost my only son; I neither know +when nor where; and for any thing I know, in a state of rebellion +against God. Here at my heart it lies still; who can speak to me of +it? neither can I reason upon it. Aaron held his peace. Old Eli +said, 'It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.' Samuel in +his turn had his heart wrung by his ungodly son. David lamented +over his beloved Absalom; but it availed him nothing. Job's sons +and daughters were all cut off in one day; he himself lay in deep, +sore bodily affliction; his friends sat seven days and seven nights +without opening their <!--Page 304--><a name="P304" id= +"P304"></a> mouths, because they saw his affliction was very +great; and if they spoke, it was to aggregate it; and when God +himself spoke, he gave him no reason for his dealings, but charged +him with folly and madness. 'Shall he that contendeth with the +Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it.' +Then he laid his hand on his mouth, confessed himself vile, and +became dumb before God; abhorring himself, and repenting in dust +and ashes, instead of the splendid catalogue of virtues enumerated +in chapter 29, and complaints in chapter 10, which I make not the +least doubt were true, as far as human virtue can reach; but if God +charge even his angels with folly, shall man, corrupt, +self-destroyed man, plead merit before God?</p> +<p>"But, my dear friend, I do not find in all God's Bible any thing +requiring us to acquiesce in the final destruction of any, for whom +we have prayed, pleaded, and committed to him; least of all, our +offspring whom he has commanded us to train up for him. Children +are God's heritage. I do not say he has given us any promise for +the obstinately wicked; but when cut off, he only requires us to be +still, to hold our peace. I do not think he takes hope from us. God +has set limits to our faith for others; our faith must not rest in +opposition to his threatenings. We must believe that the wicked +shall be turned into hell, and all that forget God; but he hath set +no bounds to his own mercy; in that glorious plan of redemption, by +which he substitutes his own Son in the stead of sinners, he has +made provision for the chief of sinners, and can now be just and +consistent while he justifies the ungodly who believe in Jesus. +Short was the <!--Page 305--><a name="P305" id="P305"></a> time +between the thief's petition and the promise of salvation; nay, the +petition was the earnest of it. The same was the case with the +jailer; I think, too, the publican had the earnest in his petition. +Now, instead of laboring to bring my mind to acquiesce in the +condemnation of my child, on the supposition of its being for God's +glory, I try to be still, as he has commanded: not to follow my +child to the yet invisible world; but turning my eyes to that +character which God has revealed of himself — to the plan of +redemption — to the sovereignty of God in the execution of +that plan — to his names of grace, 'The Lord, the Lord God, +merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and +truth, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin,' while he +adds, 'and that will by no means clear the guilty;' I meet it with +his own declaration, 'He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no +sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' I read +also that 'mercy rejoiceth against judgment,' and many other like +scriptures, which, although I dare not ground a belief of his +salvation on them, afford one ray of hope after another, that God +may have made him a monument of mercy to the glory of his +grace.</p> +<p>"Thus God himself consoles his own praying people, while man +ought to be very cautious, if not silent, where the Scriptures are +silent, as it respects the final state of another, whose heart we +cannot know, nor what God may have wrought in it. God hath set +bounds to our faith, which can nowhere find solid ground to fix +upon but in his own written promise. Yet, as I said above, he has +set no bounds to his own mercy, and he has made provision for its +boundless <!--Page 306--><a name="P306" id="P306"></a> flow, as +far as he shall please to extend it, through the atonement and +merits of his own Son, 'who is able to save to the uttermost all +who come unto God by him,' Now, my dear friend, you have my ideas +of our situation; if they be correct, I pray that our compassionate +Father may comfort you by them; if otherwise, may he pardon what is +amiss, and lead you, my dear friend C——, and myself, to such +consolation as he himself will own as the work of his Spirit, and +save us from the enemy and our own spirit.</p> +<p>"Since writing the foregoing, I feel afraid of what I have said; +it is dangerous seeking comfort where the Scriptures are silent; +yet while we plead with God to be preserved from error, and try to +be still before him, he will save us from the subtlety of the +serpent, as well as from the rage of the lion. I am, with love,</p> +<p class="center">"Your sympathizing friend,</p> +<p class="right">"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"R<font size="-1">OCKAWAY</font>, September 10, +1811.</p> +<p>"I have been here four Sabbaths. The first I spent at home, the +weather not permitting our going abroad; the second I spent at a +prayer-meeting with the Methodist brethren; the third we rode to +Hempstead, where I heard two plain gospel sermons from Mr. C——, +Presbyterian minister; and the last I attended at the Episcopal +church, same place; heard a good plain gospel sermon from Mr. +H——, and witnessed the dispensation of the Lord's supper.</p> +<p>"To sing the praises of our redeeming God, and to lift up my +heart in prayer with my fellow-sinners, in the comfortable hope +that there are other living souls praising and praying with me, +refreshes me: to <!--Page 307--><a name="P307" id="P307"></a> +hear the word of God read, and to be led to meditate upon it, +however simple and common the exposition, also refreshes me. I am +generally led to pray much for minister and people; to consider +myself as one with them in Christ. However weak his natural powers, +however few or small his talents, if I have reason to think that he +is taught of God that which flesh and blood cannot teach, I desire +to esteem him highly for his work's sake. I thank God for the +meanest and weakest of such: I believe they never labor in vain. +'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings,' in talents as well as +in years, God will perfect praise.</p> +<p>"In this new world, thickly settled in many places with natural +men 'eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,' while +the flood of wrath is hastening to overwhelm them, and none to warn +them of their danger, nor point out the ark of safety; shall such +men be reckoned of none account, and their labors of no value? No, +the wealth of both Indies cannot balance their work; nor all the +talents ever possessed by fallen man, with all the orthodoxy which +mere talents are capable of acquiring, without that divine teaching +which many of those, thus contemned, possess. That same small +discourse, those few plain points, these same things repeated in +the same way, contain truths by which sinners may be saved, by +which sinners shall be saved.</p> +<p>"Suppose, for it is but a supposition, that these men have made +a mistake. They are the Lord's, and in their place by his +providence. He will be forth-coming for them, and without miracle. +From him shall their fruit be found, and his power be manifested +<!--Page 308--><a name="P308" id="P308"></a> by their weakness. +Exert your energies, ye gifted doctors of divinity; and may the +Lord prosper the means used to produce a ministry which shall +render attendance upon their ministrations the interest of both the +understanding and the heart. Persuade men who are adding field to +field, house to house, thousand to thousand, to provide a competent +maintenance for them. If these last remain obstinate, and it be +idle to hope that youths of talents without fortune, whatever be +their piety, will serve the church of God at the expense of +devoting themselves to infallible penury, and all the wretchedness +which belongs to it — is it wise to weaken the hands and +discourage the hearts of those ministers already settled pastors, +or to furnish their people with arguments in their own vindication +for leaving them in want and penury?"</p> +<p>In the year 1811, some gentlemen of New York established a +Magdalen Society: they elected a board of ladies, requesting their +aid to superintend the internal management of the Magdalen House. +This board chose Mrs. Graham their presiding lady, which office she +held until her decease; the duties attendant on it she discharged +with fidelity and zeal. In 1812 the trustees of the Lancasterian +school solicited the attendance of several pious ladies, to give +catechetical instruction to their scholars one afternoon in every +week: and Mrs. Graham was one of those who attended regularly to +this duty.</p> +<!--Page 309--><a name="P309" id="P309"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> +<h4>DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES AND CORRESPONDENCE.</h4> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font> 8, 1812.</p> +<p>"'B<font size="-1">Y</font> faith Moses, when he was come to +years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; +esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures +of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward: +choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than +to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' Heb. 11:24.</p> +<p>"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer +persecution; the natural heart is enmity against God, and hates his +image wherever found. If individual Christians have the favor of +individual worldlings, it never is for their piety, that is rather +borne with than loved; and too often Christians save themselves +from reproach by unfaithfulness; that, alas, has been my sin and +shame. In all my friendships with worldlings, some of which have +been tender, how unfaithful have I been to friendship's highest +office. How seldom have I endeavored to rescue my friend from sin +and Satan, by leading her to the Friend of sinners, the source of +happiness. Contenting my vile, selfish heart, with things +pertaining to this life unconnected with that to come, leaving her +under the influence of 'the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, +and the pride of life;' without eyes to see her danger, or friend +to warn her of it; and while she communicated with me in things +common to both, in all the good she <!--Page 310--><a name="P310" +id="P310"></a> knew, keeping back nothing from me of all she +possessed; how often have I concealed my richest treasure, without +inviting her to the participation. O, faithless friend! O, +ungrateful, unfaithful — first to that gracious God who +opened mine own eyes, arrested ray attention, stopped up my path, +and turned me to the way of life; and next to my friend, whom I +have left to pursue that same way of death, without attempting to +lead her to this same sovereign, merciful, gracious Deliverer.</p> +<p>"And what withheld! Shame belongs to the heart governed by such +motives; fear of contempt, reproach, or, at most, the loss of a +carnal friendship. Of three such friends, now gone to their place, +two continued their worldly course to the last, so far as I know; +for the third the Lord provided a more faithful friend, who became +worker together with the Spirit of God, led her to the Friend of +sinners, who has compassion on the ignorant, and them that are out +of the way, By Him she was received, and in Him she found life, +light, and peace.</p> +<p>"She soon outran faithless me in the heavenly race; gently chid +me for my remissness, but continued my friend and helper. Ever +foremost in the race, humble and steady in faith, she looked not +back, nor halted. She has long since finished her course, received +her crown and reward of grace, and become fruit to the account of +that friend who supplied what was wanting in me. I rejoice with +them both, give glory to God, from whom their fruit was found, and +take shame and confusion for my part.</p> +<p>"How many opportunities have I lost, and from the same sinful, +shameful cause. O my Redeemer, <!--Page 311--><a name="P311" id= +"P311"></a> what can I say to thee? Words are wanting to express +my loathing of that vile, selfish cowardice.</p> +<p>"Didst Thou, who art the Creator of heaven and earth, the +brightness of the glory of God, the express image of his person, +and upholder of all things, suffer shame, contempt, anguish, death +for my sake, that thou mightest redeem me from the second death, +and purchase for me eternal life; and do I shrink and turn away +from the least taste of thy cup, though the curse is extracted and +a blessing infused!</p> +<p>"And after all this, art thou pacified towards me? I search in +vain for words to express the amazing grace. 'As the heaven is high +above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him, +and towards vile me, who can lay small claim to that character; +yet, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed my +transgressions from him. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, who excel +in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of +his word. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his +that do his pleasure; ye ministering spirits, sent forth to watch +over and minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font>, 1812.</p> +<p>"Dr. M——. 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin +of the world,' John 1:29.</p> +<p>"He dwelt chiefly on the substitution of the victim in the room +of the transgressor. When a victim was offered for an individual, +he was to lay his hand on the head of the animal, by the +appointment of God, as a token of his faith that his sins should be +transferred to the victim which suffered death in his stead, and +that his sins were forgiven and his person <!--Page 312--><a name= +"P312" id="P312"></a> accepted. If the victim was for the whole +congregation, then the elders, as their representatives, were to +lay their hands upon the head of the victim, signifying the same +faith. Great was the subject of the plan of redemption: The Son of +God clothed with our nature, given and set apart as a propitiatory +sacrifice, the victim upon whom the sins of his elect were laid, +and he sacrificed in their stead.</p> +<p>"The Lamb of God, which took away the sins not only of the +Jewish transgressors, but the sins of the elect out of every +nation, kindred, and tongue throughout the world — on this +Lamb of God rests my own individual hope for pardon and for +acceptance. I lay my own individual hand of faith on his dear head, +confess my sin, and rely upon his sacrifice for pardon and +acceptance, through the atonement made by himself, God's anointed +Priest."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, April, 1812.</p> +<p>"Dr. Romeyn. 'Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus +shall suffer persecution.' 2 Timothy 3:12. Gone as usual; but +it came home to my heart. I have not suffered persecution; and why? +because my life has not testified sufficiently against a sinful +world. Alas, alas! the world loves its own, and I have been so +accommodating, to say the least, as not to disturb it. 'The carnal +mind is enmity against God; is not subject to the law of God, +neither indeed can be;' but the world saw little in me of that +image which they hate, and enough of assimilation to balance that +little. O my God, my long-suffering, sin-pardoning God, thou +knowest my vile cowardice; with professors a professor of thy name, +with worldlings a seeming worldling. And now the season is +<!--Page 313--><a name="P313" id="P313"></a> past, the +opportunity lost; the time of life is arrived when the world itself +expects to be abandoned. No line of conduct in me will now reprove +them; they account it wise to look out for a better portion, when +the world can no longer be enjoyed; and through the deceitfulness +of their own hearts, and the suggestions of the ever-vigilant enemy +of souls, may be hardened in sin, by hoping to become religious in +old age. O, let thy grace prevent it.</p> +<p>"The sinfulness, and O, the ingratitude of my past life rise in +magnitude every review I take of it. And what can I say? Father, +forgive. Yes, I dare say, Father, forgive. I dare say more, Thou +hast forgiven. This grief of heart proves that thou hast not sealed +me up in impenitence. Thou rememberest thy covenant with me in the +days of my youth, when thou didst draw me with the cords of love +and the bands of a man; and though no language can express my +baseness and my ingratitude, through all my backsliding life, thy +covenant stands fast.</p> +<p>"'I remember, and am confounded, and will never open my mouth +any more because of my shame, now that thou art pacified towards me +for all that I have done. And I know that thou art the Lord.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Contrition dwell within this +breast,<br /></span> <span>That God within this heart may +rest:<br /></span> <span>Shame and confusion flush this +face,<br /></span> <span>And magnify this glorious +grace.<br /></span> <span>Grace be my theme while I have +breath,<br /></span> <span>And on my quivering lips in +death.<br /></span> <span>Angels and fellow-sinners, +say,<br /></span> <span>Will you not join me in this +lay,<br /></span> <span>Now, and through heaven's eternal +day?<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>"Blessed Comforter, thou seest old age upon me, +<!--Page 314--><a name="P314" id="P314"></a> loss of memory, and +a desultory mind; I cannot retain even the substance of my dear +pastor's sermons. I thank thee for the food and refreshment at the +time, and often after for refreshing meditations on the same +subjects. I commit all to thee; keep them for me, and feed me with +these truths as thou seest I need. O be to me memory, judgment, +presence of mind, for order, regularity, and natural powers are +gone. I rejoice in my dear Saviour, who of God is made unto me +wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He shall +perfect that which concerneth me, and finish the work he has begun. +Therefore I say, All is well."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"C<font size="-1">OMMUNION</font> S<font size= +"-1">ABBATH</font>, May 17, 1812.</p> +<p>"Was much melted under a sense of indwelling sin, and the +deceitfulness of the human heart, and of my own heart in +particular. I have been. I think, much in the exercise of +contrition for the sins of my past life, and exercised in watching +over my words, thoughts, and actions; now that the Lord has +delivered me from all necessity to care, having every thing +provided for me <i>necessary to life and godliness:</i> pleasant +food and clothing both for body and mind; my dear room, retirement, +fire, candle, attendance; my precious Bible, and precious, lively, +spiritual ordinances; a faithful and beloved pastor, who feeds me +with truth: I taste it, and I am fed. I am, as the Lord God +merciful and gracious has awarded, under the constant influence of +shame and confusion for my highly aggravated transgressions: but I +also enjoy the full sense of pardon; being justified by faith, I +have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; and knowing that +I have a 'great high-priest that is <!--Page 315--><a name="P315" +id="P315"></a> passed into, the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,' +I am enabled to hold fast my profession, comforted by this, that I +have not a high-priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of my +infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without +sin. I dare come, not very boldly, for I am under much depression, +to the throne of grace, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to +help in time of need. Every time is a time of need with me, for sin +still dwelleth in me. I have peace with God through my dear Lord +and Saviour Jesus Christ, but am at constant war with myself. I +plead thy promise, that thou wilt subdue my iniquities, that sin +shall not have dominion over me. And now, Captain of salvation, I +renew the fight, but it is depending upon thee to fight for me, +with me, and in me. I will set myself to watch, but I shall watch +in vain, if thou keep not the avenues of my heart, and the door of +my lips. O, clothe me with thy meek and lowly spirit."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, July 26, +1812.</p> +<p>"Tired of the bustle of Rockaway, and having some subordinate +motives for returning home for a time, I embraced this season in +particular; having, in the compass of one week, Sabbath, Wednesday +my birthday, and the day set apart both by the General Assembly of +our church and the Governor of our state, for fasting, prayer, and +humiliation, besides lectures on the same evening. I returned +therefore on Friday, the 24th.</p> +<p>"Dr. R—— preached from Psalm 27:1,'The Lord is my light and my +salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; +of whom shall I be afraid?'</p> +<!--Page 316--><a name="P316" id="P316"></a> +<p>"O my God, my merciful and gracious God, what can I say of thy +amazing, distinguishing mercy to me? Delivered from all these +fears, and able to adopt the text fully, I know of none who have +more or greater cause of fear as sinners. My transgressions have +been of <i>crimson</i> and <i>scarlet</i> hue. O my God, thou +knowest them, words cannot paint them. My Saviour, thou knowest +them, for thou baredst them; every jot and tittle was put to thy +account, and thou didst cancel all. O that garden, that cry on the +cross! the effects were seen on thy sacred body, but who can +conceive the mysterious horror which agonized thy sacred soul? But +thou saidst, <i>It is finished,</i> and finished it is. Lamb of +God, which takest away the sins of the world, on thy consecrated +head I lay the hand of faith, confess my sins, pray for +forgiveness, and believe that I am forgiven.</p> +<p>"July 29th, my birthday, and the last day of the threescore +years and ten of my sinful life. What an, exhibition will that day +produce, when the secrets of all hearts will be laid open, all my +actions and all the springs of them. In all the myriads which shall +appear at the bar of God, will there be such a sinner — +taking into view the early grace manifested?</p> +<p>"Born, I think, about the seventeenth year of my natural life; +previously instructed in the doctrines and precepts of the +Scriptures, as far as the natural mind can conceive, by pious +parents and a faithful pastor; with milk provided for my spiritual +infancy, and richer food set before me for my growth; the leaves of +the new covenant were opened to my view, and the fulness treasured +in Christ for my supply, to be asked, to be delighted in; and +delighted I was, and <!--Page 317--><a name="P317" id= +"P317"></a> satisfied. But Oh, I forsook the fountain of living +waters, and hewed out broken cisterns, that could hold no water. +Where can language be found to depict my ingratitude, my madness, +my folly; and where to describe the long-suffering, the +compassionate remonstrances, the kindly, fatherly chastisements, +the repeated pardons and restorations of my gracious God in days of +youth — aggravating my renewed backslidings, bringing upon my +sinful soul vengeance for my inventions? What were the sins of +Israel and Judah to mine? Mine were committed after the great +atonement was made; the adorable High-priest, Jesus, had with his +own blood entered within the veil, and was set on the right hand of +the throne of the Majesty of the heavens: the minister of the +sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and +not man. The new covenant was exhibited, established on better +promises, himself the Mediator. The new and living way was +consecrated to the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus; a throne +of grace was established, Jesus himself our Advocate and +Intercessor. We are now privileged to come boldly to a throne of +grace, that we may find grace to help in the time of need. O how +aggravated my sin above theirs, having such great and precious +privileges and promises, and a High-priest who can be touched with +the feeling of our infirmities, who was in all points tempted as we +are; who owns us as his brethren and sisters, yea, the very +<i>members of his body</i>, and his Spirit dwelleth in us.</p> +<p>"I set apart the day for fasting and deep humiliation; took +another survey of my past sinful life; confessed particulars on my +knees, and made a fresh application to the blood of sprinkling +which cleanseth <!--Page 318--><a name="P318" id="P318"></a> +from all sin; took a fresh hold of his new covenant of promise. +'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, +saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their +minds will I write them, and their sins and their iniquities will I +remember no more.' Lord, do as thou hast said. I rest my immortal +soul on thy promise."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"J<font size="-1">ULY</font> 30, 1812.</p> +<p>"The day set apart by the General Assembly and State Legislature +for fasting and humiliation, confession of sin and prayer.</p> +<p>"Our pastor read the second chapter of Jeremiah, a great portion +of which belongs to my own character as an individual; and is laid +up as part of that provision which is to support me through the +last stage in the wilderness, and through Jordan, over which I must +shortly pass; laid in as a proof of the amazing long-suffering of +God, and his readiness to forgive even the vile backslider in heart +and life, as proclaimed in chapter three."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, Nov. 22."</p> +<p>"'Turn ye to the strong-hold, ye prisoners of hope.' Zech. 9:12. +My Jesus — my hope, my stronghold, my safety, my Saviour, my +portion, my life, my happiness — yes, my happiness, for safe +I am and happy, though sometimes in heaviness, for yet sin dwelleth +in me, and in others dear as my own soul; and though I know it is +pardoned, and provision made for pardon to the end, yet, O it is +bitter, and bitter let it be. I would not have it otherwise. Heal +my depravity, O God; take sin out of this heart; O fill it with +love to thee, and to all my fellow-sinners. My dear High-priest, it +can be but a little further to Jordan. My <!--Page 319--><a name= +"P319" id="P319"></a> seventy years are run. Does not the ark of +the covenant appear, going before me? am I not called to decamp and +follow after? O my blessed, blessed High-priest, keep my eye fixed +on thy person, and let me the little further follow thee step by +step, foot after foot, without losing one mark all the way to +Jordan; and there let me see thee. Blessed ark of the covenant, +roll back the waters of terror, stand firm in Jordan, and bid me +come unto thee, and set up the stones of memorial in a song of +praise in the midst of Jordan.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"O then thy glory let me +see,<br /></span> <span>Then cause thy face to shine on +me,<br /></span> <span>And tune my heart, and tune my +voice,<br /></span> <span>And language furnish to +rejoice,<br /></span> <span>That all around may lend their +tongue,<br /></span> <span>And sweetly join my dying +song."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, December 8, +1812.</p> +<p>"'Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: +thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against mine enemies, and thy +right hand shall save me.' 'The Lord will perfect that which +concerns me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the +works of thine own hands.' Psalm 138:7, 8.</p> +<p>"I will no longer mourn over loss of memory; I think the Lord +has more than made it up to me by his sensible presence while +hearing and applying the sermon to my heart at the time; not only +so, he enlightens my understanding; it opens more to the +elucidations of my pastor; and though I forget the words and the +order of his discourses, I am instructed in the knowledge of the +subject and the Scriptures in general. Shall I deny the grace of +God through fear or pride? <!--Page 320--><a name="P320" id= +"P320"></a> I see it not to be my duty. Can I attribute any +thing to myself? No; shame and confusion of face belong to me, for +my carelessness and idleness in the use of means during health and +strength of body and mind. Never has God dealt with me as I sinned, +but according to his own mercy, and in a way of great sovereignty. +Let me record his great goodness, his tender mercies, and bless his +name.</p> +<p>"Old age is upon me, and some of its infirmities; my memory is +much impaired, and my mind in temporal things and subjects becomes +very desultory. Not so in spirituals: I think I not only hear and +read with more intense attention and prompt application, but my +mind is more disposed to meditation; and though I cannot remember +much of the sermons I hear, yet my mind is often furnished with +happy and profitable thoughts on the same subjects; and I find +myself instructed without remembering the instructions. This is +evidently from the Lord. It appears to me also that I have not lost +the sensibility of youth. I often shed tears, not only of +compunction, but of gratitude. I seldom commune without tears. I +think much of death; am solemnized, but not afraid.</p> +<p>"As far as I know, my confidence rests upon a +surety-righteousness, exclusive of every thing in myself. I am not +conscious of self-righteousness; I have no complacency in any thing +ever done by me. I not only believe that in all things I come +short, and that sin is mixed in all I do, because God hath said so, +but am sensible of the particular depravity. It is my sincere +desire to be stript of every thing that is mine — sins and +duties laid in one heap — and to be clothed in the +surety-righteousness of my Redeemer; all that is +<!--Page 321--><a name="P321" id="P321"></a> mine put to his +account, and all that he did and suffered, as the Mediator and +surety of the covenant, to mine.</p> +<p>"I am afflicted with rheumatism, but God gives me patience, +disposes me to enumerate my many remaining mercies — eyes to +read his word and ears to hear it preached; hitherto such +moderation of pain as very often to be able to attend with +fixedness. I have my room at my own command, candle, fire, and +attendance; and O, bless the Lord, my soul, much of his sensible +presence. In the night when my aches prevent me from sleeping, he +gives me some sweet hymn; I sing, my pain is diverted, while my +heart is melted and warmed under the expressions, and I often drop +asleep with the words on my tongue.</p> +<p>"I am convinced that the provision I have laid in for my last +journey in the wilderness and through Jordan, is selected by the +influence of the Holy Ghost. He takes of the things of Christ and +shows them unto me; and while he keeps upon my mind my meanness, my +vileness, wrings my heart with the retrospect of my backslidings +and highly aggravated transgressions, he opens at the same time the +leaves of the New Testament and shows me my deliverance from +punishment, the redemption of my soul, and my translation into the +kingdom of God's dear Son: I weep and rejoice; I loathe myself, and +clasping my Saviour to my heart, am at a loss for words to express +how precious he is to my saved soul.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Jesus, I love thy charming +name,<br /></span> <span class="i2">'Tis music to my +ear;<br /></span> <span>Fain would I sound it out so +loud<br /></span> <span class="i2">That heaven and earth should +hear.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 322--><a name="P322" id="P322"></a> <span>Yes, thou art +precious to my soul,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My transport and +my trust,<br /></span> <span>My Saviour, Shepherd, Husband, +Friend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">No other good I +boast.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>All my +capacious powers can wish,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In thee +doth richly meet;<br /></span> <span>Not to mine eyes is light so +dear.<br /></span> <span class="i2">Nor friendship's self so +sweet.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Thy grace shall +dwell upon my heart<br /></span> <span class="i2">And shed its +fragrance there,<br /></span> <span>The noblest balm of all my +wounds,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And cordial of my +care.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>I'll speak the +honors of thy name<br /></span> <span class="i2">While I have life +and breath;<br /></span> <span>Then, speechless, clasp thee in my +arms,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The antidote of +death.'<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>"Dr. M—— preached in the evening from Eph. 3:30: 'For we are +members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.' It was a rich +sermon; I enjoyed it at the time, but cannot recall it. Blessed +Spirit, keep it for me, and feed me with the substance of it, as I +stand in need.</p> +<p>"Accept of my thanks, blessed Jesus; that through thy +meritorious life and death, I have an interest in the great whole. +Accept of my thanks, blessed Spirit, for thus taking the things of +Christ and showing them unto me. And accept of my thanks, Father of +mercies, for the gift of thy Son, and all these blessings in +him.</p> +<p>"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who +hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in +Christ Jesus.' Amen."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"G<font size="-1">REENWICH</font>, Sabbath.</p> +<p>"Heard Dr. Milledoler preach in the state prison to the +convicts, from Luke 19:10: 'For the Son of <!--Page 323--><a name= +"P323" id="P323"></a> man is come to seek and save that which +was lost.' He addressed them as fellow-sinners, all being by nature +lost and dependent on the same means for recovery.</p> +<p>"True, my heart accords. O Lord, thou knowest I stand in my own +estimation a sinner, the chief of sinners. These have added to +their sin against thee, breach against men, and are suffering the +penalty.</p> +<p>"My sins have been chiefly, though far from exclusively, against +God, and with many aggravations. That I was born in a Christian +land, of pious parents, who gave me religious instructions; brought +up under faithful, lively ministers, and in religious society; +exposed to few temptations but what arose from the corruptions of +my own heart, are aggravations, which, perhaps, many are mourning +over, as heightening the sin of unbelief in their unregenerated +state. But the aggravations — the painful remembrance of +which mars my comfort and covers me with shame and confusion even +now, though I know that God is pacified with me — are as far +above these as the heavens are above the earth. For in that +Christian land, under those Christian parents and faithful pastors, +while yet young and tender, I was enlightened, tasted of the +heavenly gift, was made a partaker of the Holy Ghost, tasted of the +good word of God and the power of the world to come. I was taken +from the fearful pit and miry clay; my feet set upon the rock, and +a new song put into my mouth, even to the amount of, O death, where +is thy sting? — of redeeming love, pardoning grace, new +covenant mercy, I had 'joy and peace in believing,' But forgetting +my natural character, the extreme volatility of my spirits, my +taste for gayety; forgetting <!--Page 324--><a name="P324" id= +"P324"></a> the danger of smothering the heavenly spark by +indulging to the utmost bound of lawful pleasure; forgetting my +continual need of fresh supplies of grace to preserve and feed that +new life which could not live on earthly food; forgetting the +deceitfulness of my heart, the injunctions of my Bible, I became +cold, negligent in the use of means, distant in prayer, lost +enjoyment, and my heart, naturally carnal and madly fond of +pleasure, got entangled. 'The lust of the flesh, the lust of the +eye, and the pride of life' regained their power; other loves +usurped the place of that Beloved who had bought me with his blood, +and betrothed me to himself; 'that which came into my mind was, +that I would be as the families of the countries, to serve wood and +stone.' Blessed be his name, he said, 'It shall not be.' He brought +me into the wilderness and pleaded with me, caused me to pass under +the rod, brought me again into the bond of the covenant.</p> +<p>"O how often hast thou wrought with me, for thy name's sake. One +self-willed step brought with it a train of consequences dangerous +to spiritual life, filling even the path of duty with pits and +snares, cutting me off from ordinances, pastor, parents, church, +country, and Christian society; placing me at the same time in the +midst of carnal delights; and every thing in my natural temper and +dispositions was congenial to them. What saved me? What in heaven +or earth could save me, but thy covenant? Truly thy covenant +standeth fast; therefore I was not lost in the vortex. But 'the +Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in +goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,' +kept his eye upon me; many a time did he stop up my path. O from +how <!--Page 325--><a name="P325" id="P325"></a> many delusions +of my own seeking; how many snares and nets of my own weaving; how +many pits of my own digging, hast thou delivered me, when +wandering, bewildered, on temptation's ground, in the cloudy dark +day. How often hast thou sought me out; how often bound me up when +broken, strengthened me when sick, and fed me with judgment, and +very, very often, thou madest thyself known to me. I knew thy hand +when it shook the rod, when it arrested me on some mad career. I +knew thy hedge, thy bar; saw not only escapes, but my Deliverer: +often paused, turned, and took fast hold of thy covenant. I had no +afflictions in those days, but every pleasure lawful to be enjoyed, +and natural to the heart of woman; but no pastor, no church, no +Christian society; yet God was there, my Bible, my Doddridge, and +other good books. And to my shame and confusion this day, he was +not, in the midst of all my idolatry, a barren wilderness, nor a +land of drought to me. I had many Sabbaths; literally the Sabbath +was a sign between my covenant God and me: ill spent it often was, +but not with company; it was spent in retirement. The Lord did not +leave me so far as to give up the Sabbath to the world. Though my +heart was incrusted, and spiritual life scarcely discernible, +sometimes the Lord met me, and strange to tell, not with +threatenings causing terror, but with compunction, melting, +turning, and ere the day was over, manifestations of pardon, though +not joy; for I was grieved at my ingratitude.</p> +<p>"I did expect affliction long before it came, and my +presumptuous heart calculated upon the fruit being the peaceable +fruit of righteousness, and to take away sin; but still I held my +way, gadding about, drinking <!--Page 326--><a name="P326" id= +"P326"></a> the waters of Sihor and the rivers of Syria, and +eating the worldling's dainties. Oh, Oh, at last it came; yes, it +came. Thou didst cut off the desire of my eyes with a stroke, and +with that made the world a blank to me. But O the stately steps of +thy providential mercy previous to that trying hour. O my God, I +must ever wonder and stand amazed at thy exuberant grace. In +consistence with thy covenant, thou mightest have struck me among +these worldlings, in that dry and barren land, where not one tongue +could speak the language of Canaan, nor bring forth from thy +precious Bible the words of consolation to my wounded and bereaved +spirit; richly had I merited this; but never, no, never hast thou +dealt with me as I sinned. Through the whole of my life, from the +time that the Lord called me out of darkness into his marvellous +light — from the time that he first led me to the Saviour, +and enabled me to take hold of his covenant, wanderer, backslider, +transgressor, rebel, idolater, ingrate, and if there be any name +more expressively <i>vile</i> and <i>abominable</i>, that is mine. +And from the hour of my birth, through the whole of this refractory +perverse life, 'the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, +transgression, and sin,' has been, and now is, thy name to me.</p> +<p>"No, ye strong-built walls, ye grated windows, ye gloomy cells, +ye confine no such sinner as I. And did the Lord take vengeance on +my inventions? O no, <i>mercy</i> preceded, <i>mercy</i> +accompanied judgment; yea, it was all mercy, not vengeance. He +brought me and my idol out of that barren land, placed us under the +breath of prayer, among a dear little society +<!--Page 327--><a name="P327" id="P327"></a> of Methodists; he +laid us upon their spirits, and when the messenger Death was sent +for my beloved, the breath of prayer ascended from his bedside, +from their little meeting, and I believe from their families and +closets. The God of mercy prepared their hearts to pray, and his +ear to hear, and the answer did not tarry. Behold, my husband +prayeth; confesses sin; applies to the Saviour; pleads for +forgiveness for his sake; receives comfort; blesses God for Jesus +Christ, and dies with these words on his tongue, 'I hold fast by +the Saviour,' Behold another wonder; the idolatress in an ecstasy +of joy. She who never could realize a separation for one single +minute during his life, now resigns her heart's treasure with +praise and thanksgiving.</p> +<p>"O the joy of that hour; its savor remains on my heart to this +moment. For five days and nights I had been little off my knees: it +was my ordinary posture at his bedside, and in all that time I had +but <i>once</i> requested life. Surely the spirit of prayer and +supplication was poured out. The Spirit helped mine infirmities +with groanings which could not be uttered, leading me to pray for +that which God had determined to bestow; making intercession for my +husband, according to the will of God.</p> +<p>"O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous +things. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the +victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation. His righteousness +hath he openly shown in the sight of the heathen. He hath +remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All +the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." +Psalm 98.</p> +<!--Page 328--><a name="P328" id="P328"></a><br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">RIDAY</font>, December.</p> +<p>"Sermon from John 4:10: 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and +who it is that saith, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of +him, and he would have given thee living water,'</p> +<p>"This is part of my provision laid in for my passage through +Jordan. Christ is the gift of God. Christ is the water of life; he +is this living water, and the bread of life <i>given</i>; given by +God, received by the sinner. Life and comfort are experienced, and +fruit produced is the evidence; but first of all, this gift must be +known, and the soul's need must be known; Christ, the anointed +prophet, taught this woman both, and no other could. 'Search me, O +Lord, and try me.' Hast thou not taught my soul its miserable and +ruined state by nature; its helplessness as well as misery? Hast +thou not also brought me to this living, life-giving water? Oh, +hast thou not given me faith to come, faith to drink; and have I +not experienced its solacing quality? Has it not satisfied my soul, +and in some degree allayed my thirst for carnal delights? Blessed +Spirit, the gift of the Father and of the Son, pour into my soul +repeated draughts of this living water; yea, be in me, according to +my Redeemer's promise, a well of water springing up to eternal +life, and cause me to bring forth fruit to the glory of the +Father.</p> +<p>"'Other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, +Christ Jesus.'</p> +<p>"Do I, O my God, seek for or desire any other foundation? Are +not all my hopes for time and eternity built on this foundation? Is +not Christ all my salvation and all my desire? Do I not embrace thy +<!--Page 329--><a name="P329" id="P329"></a> covenant just as it +is, believing that thou givest unto me eternal life, and that this +life is in thy Son, whom thou hast given 'to be a covenant of the +people.' Iniquities prevail against me; but thou wilt not only +purge them away, but wilt subdue them. Sin shall not have dominion +over me, for I am not tinder the law, but under grace."</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Miss Walker, Edinburgh.</p> +<p class="right">"N<font size="-1">EW</font> Y<font size= +"-1">ORK</font>, 1812.</p> +<p>"My dear Miss Walker, I think, is in my debt; but that is no +reason why I may not inquire after her health and welfare, and +through her, of that of her brother, sister, and other dear friends +yet in their pilgrimage. My dear, dear Mrs. Walker lives in my +affections, and surely what concerns her children can never be to +me a matter of indifference. Your dear brother's persevering +kindness and tried friendship have written gratitude in indelible +characters on my heart. 'A friend in need is a friend indeed;' and +such was he. I trust the Lord has rewarded and will reward him. I +have still in my possession many dear remembrances of your worthy +mother; her sensible, pious letters, some of which have proved +prophetic, are among my treasures. What a lovely group presses upon +my memory at this moment, united to Jesus and to one another on +earth, and the union is now perfected in heaven. Your dear mother, +Mrs. Brown, dear Mrs. Randall, and Lady Glenorchy, all zealous for +the welfare of the widow and orphans, whose way lay peculiarly +through Vanity Fair, and whose spirits were too much assimilated to +the wares there exhibited, and most unworthy of all the care and +pains they bestowed upon her. Tell my then dear pastor the +<!--Page 330--><a name="P330" id="P330"></a> pilgrim is not +lost; he will find her in the 18th chapter of Ezekiel: he may +remember that he and dear Doctor Erskine gave me over to the Lord +when leaving Edinburgh. Well has he kept the charge, though I have +not my part, after all the chastisements and charges received. But +he is 'the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy +for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.'</p> +<p>"I am now a happy Mary, enjoying the full sense of pardon and +the light of his countenance in the meantime, and the full prospect +of being soon with him, made like him, and capacitated to praise +him.</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>, January 18.</p> +<p>"Dr. R——. 'By grace ye are saved through faith; and that not +of yourselves: it is the gift of God.'</p> +<p>"All is of grace, all is free gift, or we wicked, wretched +sinners, could have no interest in it. Thanks be unto God for his +unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ, given for a covenant of the +people. Thanks be unto God for the gift of faith, by which we +apprehend this covenant, and become interested in him, as the +salvation of our souls. Thanks be unto God for life to work; for +new principles and new motives, new desires, new hopes, new fears, +and, in some measure, new conduct. All of grace, and to the God of +grace be all the glory.</p> +<p>"Afternoon. 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither +let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory +in his riches: but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he +understandeth and knoweth me; that I am the Lord which +<!--Page 331--><a name="P331" id="P331"></a> exercise +righteousness, loving-kindness, and judgment in the earth: for in +these things I delight, saith the Lord.' Jer. 9:23.</p> +<p>"O Lord, hast thou not taught me by thy word, by observation, +and by experience, that 'all flesh is grass, and all the glory of +man as the flower of grass?' Alas, how much have I gloried in even +more worthless and transient things; but thou hast put a worm in +them, which I hope has cut the roots, and they are in a dying +state. O let grace supplant them; let me now glory only in thee and +thy blessed, gracious, and well-ordered covenant. Do I understand +and know thee, that thou art the Lord which exerciseth +righteousness, loving-kindness, and judgment in the earth? Dare I +say that I, worm as I am, and a sinful worm, am the subject of this +loving-kindness, through the righteousness of Christ? Yes, I dare, +by the constitution of thine own covenant — the Covenant of +the people, the Mediator, the guarantee of the covenant of grace, +which is all summed up in him.</p> +<p>"When thou givest Christ, thou givest freely all the blessings +of the new covenant.</p> +<p>"'And this is the record, That God hath given to us eternal +life, and this life is in his Son.'</p> +<p>"I believe the record, and do understand and know that thou art +the Lord, etc."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"F<font size="-1">EBRUARY</font> 4, 1813.</p> +<p>"My dear grandchildren J. and I. B—— waited on their beloved +pastor Dr. Romeyn, and professed their faith in the Lord Jesus +Christ as the Saviour of sinners and their Saviour, their desire to +give themselves to the Lord and to his church, and to be in all +things governed by it; to receive the seal of the covenant +<!--Page 332--><a name="P332" id="P332"></a> of grace, +commemorate the dying love of their Redeemer the next opportunity, +and swear allegiance to him over the symbols of his body and +blood.</p> +<p>"Glory to God for this fresh manifestation of his mercy and +grace to sinners. Not unto us, O Lord God, but to thy name be the +glory. Thou hast made a covenant with thy chosen, and with +believers in him; and thou hast, by thy Holy Spirit, drawn them to +take hold of this thy own covenant, and to give themselves to thee +to be made the subjects of it. And now, O Lord, remember thy own +covenant, and do as thou hast said: Put thy laws in their minds, +and write them in their hearts, and be unto them a God, and they +shall be unto thee a people; be merciful to their unrighteousness, +and their sins and their iniquities remember no more. Give them +understanding to know and believe thy laws, memories to retain +them, hearts to love them, consciences to recognize them, courage +to profess and power to put in practice. O, grant that the whole +habit and frame of their souls may be a table and transcript of thy +law. Blessed Redeemer, gather these lambs in thy arms and carry +them in thy bosom. O, seal them with the Holy Spirit of promise. +They look forward to that feast of love which thou didst institute +in that same night in which thou wast betrayed into the hands of +sinners. If it may please thee, manifest thyself to them as thou +dost not unto the world. Blessed Shepherd, call these lambs by +name; may they know thy voice, rejoice to hear it, and follow thee. +In all the preparatory exercises speak to their hearts and commune +with them in secret. O give them some love-tokens, which they may +never forget; and make thyself <!--Page 333--><a name="P333" id= +"P333"></a> known to them in the breaking of bread. Exercise +their parents with thankfulness and gratitude, and thine aged +servant, to whom, in an especial manner, belong 'shame and +confusion of face,' while she stands amazed at the stately steps of +thy free, sovereign mercy and grace to her, and to her children +according to the flesh. Husband of the widow, Father of the +fatherless, Shield of the stranger, glorify thy name, magnify thy +grace: all these thou hast been to me; give these parents deep +humility, if they have received grace to be more faithful than I; +yet thy holy eye has seen much shortcoming in them also. Glory to +thy name for the grace in which they stand, and that thou hast +enabled them to train up these children for thee. Oh, let this be a +heart-searching time with us all; humble us, and exalt thy name, +and magnify thy grace.</p> +<p>"O Lord, my covenant God, all my desire is before thee; is it +not that thou magnify thy grace in me and in my family? There are +others, Lord, and the residue of the Spirit is with thee. Put forth +thy power in the heart of I.G. S——, and compel him to come in. +And Oh, my dear I. S—— and her family; thou biddest me open my +mouth wide. Lord, see, there is much for thee to do. I praise thy +name for what thou hast done, and lay me at thy feet waiting for +further manifestations of thy mercy, thy sovereign mercy: I have no +other plea.</p> +<p>"Work with us, for thy name's sake, and with J. M——, for whom +my worthless prayers have been presented to thee, as also a member +of this family. O Lord, he is now gone out into the world; he is no +longer under the control of man; bring him under +<!--Page 334--><a name="P334" id="P334"></a> thy gracious +control; call him into thy kingdom of grace, and make him a willing +subject in the day of thy power. Father, glorify thy name."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"A<font size="-1">PRIL</font>, Sabbath, 1813.</p> +<p>"'Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speaking, as new-born babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.' +2 Peter, 2:1, 2.</p> +<p>"Blessed Spirit, thou hast convinced me of the indwelling of +every one of these, and also of my helplessness of myself to make +successful war against them. But Oh, hast thou not led me to the +Captain of salvation for armor, for strength, for wisdom, for +power; and is not my dependence for success on thy promise that sin +shall not have dominion over me; that thy grace is sufficient for +me; that as my day, so shall my strength be?"</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"M<font size="-1">AY</font> 5.</p> +<p>"'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, +through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Rom. 5:1.</p> +<p>"Blessed, blessed, blessed doctrine; by no other doctrine can I +be justified and saved. Christ the gift of God, and faith the gift +of God. All, all is of grace.</p> +<p>"I have shut my door, desiring to commune with God, but feeling +dull and lifeless, ask what shall I read? My Bible lies just at +hand; where shall I read? every part is good. I open and find it +marked: 'My prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time; O +God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy +salvation.' Psalm 69:13. In an acceptable time — when? +'To-day if ye will hear <!--Page 335--><a name="P335" id= +"P335"></a> his voice.' Nevertheless, I am continually with +thee; thou holdest me by my right hand, and ever upholdest me, in +the time of need especially.</p> +<p>"'In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy +salvation.' What is the truth of God's salvation? To be the +property of Christ by purchase, to have Christ made our property by +the Father's gift; to have the Holy Spirit sent into our hearts, to +enlighten our understandings, to govern our wills, to regulate our +affections and tempers, and to be in us 'a well of water springing +up into everlasting life.' Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ours by +gift and by power; this. Oh, this contains all my asking for +myself, for my children and children's children, for nay friends +and all dear to me. Take us, O Lord, and in 'the truth of thy +salvation' give thyself to us; do all the needful for us, and +glorify thy name."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"S<font size="-1">ABBATH</font>.</p> +<p>"'A certain man made a great supper, and bade many, and sent his +servants at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for +all things are ready. And they all, with one consent, began to make +excuse.' Luke 14:16.</p> +<p>"Alas, such are our hearts, that we make idols even of the +blessings and bounties of providence; no room is left for Christ, +though without him every temporal good is under a curse, and our +own persons also.</p> +<p>"O Lord, bless the gracious invitations given to perishing +sinners this day; the pathetic and tender remonstrances of thy +faithful servant. O, may many of the poor, the maimed, the halt, +the blind, from the streets and lanes of the city, and may many +from the <!--Page 336--><a name="P336" id="P336"></a> highways +and hedges, be compelled to come, that thy house may be filled. And +Oh, my gracious Father, let these careless ones, who are my flesh +and blood, be among the number. Hear, O hear the prayers offered +this day for poor, self-deluded, self-destroying sinners; awaken +them, O Lord, and sweep away all lying refuges, and, gracious God, +settle and establish these halters. O bring to the birth, and give +life and love and zeal to make a full profession to the glory of +thy powerful grace, and to the joy and comfort of fellow-members. +Let thy kingdom come."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"G<font size="-1">REENWICH</font>, June 11, +1813.</p> +<p>"In my large light closet, within my airy, comfortable room; the +prospect from my windows such as I have ever delighted in, woods +and water, flower-garden and fruit-trees, and beautiful shrubs of +various kinds, all as much mine as if my own individual property by +the laws of the land in which I live; surrounded with books, and my +children's rich library at my command; enjoying rich gospel +ordinances, under a godly, gifted pastor, with pious, loving, +sensible church-members; a carriage to convey me, Sabbath and +week-days, to places of worship; children whose desire is that I +may enjoy all these to the full without care or trouble, they +caring for me; with all these a large measure of health, my eyes +see my teachers, my ears hear their voice. Why then these tears? +Are they all for sin? Lord, search and see. Does no wounded pride, +no selfish hurt mix? Ah, Lord, thou knowest. I have detected much, +and mourn and weep on that account; but I fear there is yet much +lurking and working that I know not.</p> +<p>"I have set apart the remainder of this day for +<!--Page 337--><a name="P337" id="P337"></a> fasting and +humiliation on account of past sins which I already know, and for +yet further search into what I know not of at present. Lord, give +me heart-searching exercises. Glory, glory, glory to Father, Son, +and blessed Comforter, that I am forgiven; thy Spirit witnesseth +with my spirit that I am forgiven. Thou hast given me faith in the +truth of thy testimony, that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all +sin — that this is thy own provision for sinners — that +Christ died for the ungodly — that while we were yet sinners, +Christ died for us — that Christ hath loved us, and given +himself for us — that 'God so loved the world that he gave +his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not +perish, but have everlasting life.' These last words came from thy +own lips of flesh. Thou gift of God to a perishing world, and to +me, one of the most guilty in it, thou also saidst, 'He that +believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.' Thy Spirit witnesseth +with my spirit, that to me it is given on the behalf of Christ to +believe in him. Phil. 1:29. Therefore I have everlasting life. Him +who was slain and hanged on a tree, 'Him hath God exalted to be a +Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance and remission of +sins.' From this exalted Prince I have repentance and forgiveness +of sin, and therefore I dare look at my sins: I look with grief, +but not with terror. Though forgiven, and though provision is made +for forgiveness, sin is still an evil and a bitter thing.</p> +<p>"This day is set apart for mourning. I desire to search, to know +more of my vileness, that I may mourn yet more; that while my heart +is wrung for my ingratitude, the Lord may make it the means of +crucifying <!--Page 338--><a name="P338" id="P338"></a> my sins, +especially that which so easily besets me, that he will give me the +prayer of faith that they may be forgiven, and that I may be +delivered from their power in my heart; that I may be clothed with +humility, so humble that nothing can hurt me, wearing my Redeemer's +yoke, leaning upon him who was 'meek and lowly,' that I may find +rest to my soul. Now, Lord, assist me for the rest of the day" and +let to-morrow be the beginning of days."</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"Ten o'clock at night.</p> +<p>"The day is spent, and I look for the blessing. It has not been +spent so much in my usual way of retracing, confessing, and +bewailing, but with Owen on the subject of indwelling sin, of +purification and the, means appointed by God. The blood of Christ +is the only effectual means not only as atonement for sin, setting +us free from condemnation, but also for cleansing, as sprinkled on +the conscience by the Holy Ghost, and purging it from dead works. +There are means in which we are to exercise ourselves, depending on +the Spirit for benefit. We are to work in the faith that God works +in us. Mortification is one means, and though the mortification of +the body is perhaps one of the lowest, I think it is of divine +appointment, therefore not to be neglected. I have been also +studying the death of Christ, and his previous sufferings; the +unbelief, the opposition, contradiction, contempt, and cruel +mocking which he endured; and his meekness, patience, and +submission under them; healing Malchus' ear, praying for his +murderers; that, as the children of Israel were healed by looking +to the brazen serpent, I may be healed by looking unto the uplifted +Jesus; the Spirit producing the effect. And as the +<!--Page 339--><a name="P339" id="P339"></a> woman with the +bloody issue was healed by a touch, exercising faith in the power +of Christ, so I may be healed by a look, exercising the same faith, +the Spirit producing the effect of conformity to his example, +working in me that meek and lowly spirit for which I have been +praying. And now, by grace communicated, I hope to watch over my +spirit with more success than formerly. I wait for thy +salvation."</p> +<p>The following letter shows how Mrs. Graham persevered in her +endeavors to guide and benefit immortal souls as long as God gave +her powers to be employed.</p> +<br /> +<p class="center">To Mrs. J. W——.</p> +<p class="right">"G<font size="-1">REENWICH</font>, 1814.</p> +<p>"Did not the dove, my dear J——, get into the ark? Yes, Noah +put out his hand and pulled her in; both are types of Christ. He is +the Ark of safety from the flood of wrath that must overwhelm +unbelievers.</p> +<p>"I know not, my dear, the amount of that over which you mourn +with so much agony; I know not even if it be sinful, except in the +circumstances; you are conscious of sincerity, and you do not now +wish to draw back. We can, my dear, do nothing in our own strength; +no, not so much as think a good thought. To make any resolution +without dependence on God for strength to perform, is sinful; to +make any vow without a consciousness of our weakness and dependence +on God for strength to perform, is an aggravation of the evil.</p> +<p>"I suppose my J—— has sinned; what then? If any man say he has +no sin, he deceives himself, and <!--Page 340--><a name="P340" id= +"P340"></a> the truth is not in him. And if you suppose that +your sin in this is greater than many other sins with their +aggravations, you judge wrong. I think that any one +<i>deliberate</i> sin, wilfully committed with a knowledge that it +is sin, is greater than yours in such circumstances. You are bound +by your vow, and God will enable you to perform it. Turn, my dear, +to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where Peter +preaches to the very murderers of our blessed Saviour, and charges +the guilt upon them, verse twenty-second; and again in verse +thirty-sixth, 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know +assuredly, that this same Jesus whom ye crucified, God hath made +both Lord and Christ; and when they heard this, they were pricked +in their hearts.' Read on, my dear; Peter exhorts even them to +repent and be baptized in the name of Christ, for the remission of +sins. I make no doubt but many have made vows in a rash manner; +but, so far as I know, you have vowed only to serve the Lord; this +you are bound to do with or without a vow; and if the Lord makes +this vow the means of keeping you watchful and humble, and firm in +avoiding what you have vowed against, it will, by his overruling +Spirit, prove a blessing.</p> +<p>"You 'do not know where to look for comfort!' To, Jesus, my +dear; not to yourself, nor to any creature. 'Look unto me and be ye +saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none +else.' Isa. 45:22. 'O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in +me is thy help.' Hosea 13:9; chap. 14. Take a view, my dear, of the +character of God in his dealings with his perverse Israel, after +they had made the molten calf, and sinned otherwise grievously +against <!--Page 341--><a name="P341" id="P341"></a> God. He, at +the intercession of Moses, forgave their sin, and proclaimed that +wonderful name, which to this day is the encouragement of convicted +sinners, and mine in particular. And the Lord passed by him (Moses) +and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for +thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.' And how can +God do this, whose law is, as himself, immutable; and who adds +'that he will by no means clear the guilty?' Exodus 34:6. Look now +to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, where you will find your +Redeemer standing in your stead. In the thirtieth chapter is +another amazing display of God's forgiveness. The prophet begins +the chapter with, 'Woe to the rebellious children!' and lays +grievous things to their charge till you come to the eighteenth +verse, where he says, 'Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be +gracious to you; therefore will he be exalted, that he may have +mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all +they that wait for him.' Once more look at the proclamation, +Jeremiah 3:12. God has provided a sacrifice of sufficient value to +atone for our most aggravated transgressions, and a righteousness +answerable to the uttermost extent of his holy law. Both are made +over to the sinner by free gift. 'He hath made him to be sin for +us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God +in him.' 2 Cor. 5:21. <i>In Him</i> — He, our surety, having +fulfilled all righteousness for us, <i>as</i> our surety and +representative.</p> +<p>"You fear that it is not the hand of the Lord that is upon you. +I do think that it is, my J——. It is <!--Page 342--><a name= +"P342" id="P342"></a> the peculiar office of the Spirit to +convince of sin, and I do think that he is at this time dealing +with your soul. But why look so much at your vow? you have sinned, +my J——, in heart, lip, and life. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy +God with all thy heart.' O my J——, what prostituted affections, +what misspent time. While God says, 'Whether you eat or drink, or +whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God,' what +self-indulgence and self-will, instead of self-denial. Listen to +the voice of convictions, listen to it as the voice of mercy, +leading you to Christ the great propitiatory sacrifice, 'the Lamb +of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'</p> +<p>"Go to Christ, my dear, as a sinner; tell him you commit your +sinful soul into his hands; say, Thou hast bid me look unto thee +and be saved. Saviour, I do look unto thee for salvation. Wash me +in thy blood, clothe me in thy righteousness, sanctify me by thy +grace, accept of me as thy pardoned, saved child; and be a surety +for me for good, that having vowed to thee that I would be thy +servant, I may perform my vow; furnish me with both will and power +to devote myself to thee every day of my life.</p> +<p>"Try, my dear, to rest on Christ; put your trust in him; if you +do he will not disappoint you; as your faith, so shall it be unto +you. Now faith is a saving grace; thereby we receive and rest upon +Christ for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. Do as +you have said: wait his appointed time, in the use of means, till +he manifest himself to you. I am hurried for time to get this to +town. Farewell. I will pray for you.</p> +<p class="right">"I. G<font size="-1">RAHAM</font>."</p> +<br /> +<!--Page 343--><a name="P343" id="P343"></a> +<p class="right">"1814.</p> +<p>"'A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick +darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.' +Joel 2:2.</p> +<p>"Not in temporals, nor in the means of grace; every thing that +earth can afford is gathered into my present cup; it is full and +runs over with earthly good, and a large measure of health to enjoy +it. Moral temporals are also mine in no common degree, friendship, +society at my choice, and respectability in it. Rich means of grace +within my reach, my Bible, and books of every kind and great +variety at my hand, of instruction and of devotion. Mine eyes see +my teachers, and my judgment approves their doctrine as +corresponding with that sure word of testimony given me as the test +of all human writings. Yet it is a day of darkness and of +gloom.</p> +<p>"'Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice +of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him +trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.' +Isa. 50:10.</p> +<p>"To trust in the name of the Lord and to stay myself upon my God +is still my privilege, and though with little life and little +comfort, my experience. My mind is so desultory! My Bible, and +helps derived from men's deductions and experiences, seem useless; +they are not blessed as means to fix my heart; trifles of every +sort pass and repass often; while my eyes read the words, my mind +is gone in a dream on some other subject; my heart remains +unimpressed, my mind uninformed; the same in prayer, especially in +secret and in the family; less so in the sanctuary.</p> +<p>"I seem, as to apprehension, left to my own dark, +<!--Page 344--><a name="P344" id="P344"></a> dismal, carnal +self; naked faith on the finished work of my Redeemer is all that +supports me; and that as a bare preventive of fear and source of a +hope that 'I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my +countenance and my God.' I know his covenant stands fast, I have +taken hold of it; I do at this cold and stupid moment place my +confidence in it. Christ is God's covenant, God's gift to sinners; +I believe it; he is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of +the world; I believe it; I believe on the Son for all the purposes +for which God has sent him into the world; therefore I have +everlasting life; I believe the record that God gave of his Son; +that God hath given to me eternal life, and this life is in his +Son, not in me, but in union with him. 'He that hath the Son hath +life; he that hath not the Son, hath not life.' John 5.</p> +<p>"I thank thee, my God, that thou hast not left me to cast away +my confidence in Christ. I have life in him, and no life but as I +have it from him. Thou seest how it is with me. Thou art my +reconciled Father in Christ, but thou hast shut me out from thy +presence. I do not enjoy thee; my poor heart is tossed from trifle +to trifle. It has been my way through life to destroy myself, and +thy way to deliver me. Thou hast been very gracious to me in my old +age. I have enjoyed much of thy presence in thy sanctuary and in my +private hours; and although sin has dwelt and does dwell in me, I +have enjoyed thy forgiving grace, and have tasted thy love, far +beyond what I have for weeks past. 'Search me, O God, and know my +heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked +way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' Show me wherefore +thou contendest <!--Page 345--><a name="P345" id="P345"></a> +with me. Am I living in the indulgence of any known wilful sin; or +in the habitual neglect of any known duty? Lord, 'it is not in man +that walketh to direct his steps.' I know I have been unthankful, +unwatchful, idle; alas, this is my ordinary course; but it is not +the ordinary course of my Lord God, merciful and gracious, to mark +iniquity against me, but to forgive me daily, to lead me to the +blood of sprinkling, to give me contrition, and to restore me to +his favor by giving me 'joy and peace in believing.' Help, Lord; +give me heart-searching exercises. I read thy word, I set about +that to which thou callest me. I set apart this day for fasting, +but the gracious exercises are not in me. Come, O come, and be with +me. Exalted Prince, give repentance and remission; in thy light let +me see light.</p> +<p>"'Therefore now turn ye unto me with all your heart, with +fasting, with weeping and mourning; rend your heart and not your +garments, turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and +merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him +of the evil.' Joel 2:12. O, do I not know thee by this name; has it +not been thy name to me throughout this wide wilderness, 'pardoning +iniquity, transgression, and sin?' Thou hast prepared a prayer for +me, 'Turn me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God.' +Jer. 31:18. I look to thy new covenant in the same chapter; it is +all promise, I can do nothing in it. Christ by thine own +appointment answers for my part; or rather, I have no part. I can +render nothing to the Lord for all his benefits to me. I will put +forth the withered hand to 'take the cup of salvation, and call on +the name of the Lord.'</p> +<!--Page 346--><a name="P346" id="P346"></a> +<p>"Ten o'clock. The day is spent; I have confessed, and endeavored +to turn to the Lord with mourning, but with little sensibility.</p> +<p>"I attended meeting in the evening, heard two excellent +discourses on the priesthood of Christ, and joined in two prayers +and three hymns with more fixed attention than has been my +attainment lately; for this I thank thee, my God. Many have been +the beginnings of days and of months which thou hast afforded after +backsliding. O add this to the number. 'Hear my prayer, O Lord; +give ear to my supplications; in thy faithfulness answer me, and in +thy righteousness. Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in +thy sight shall no man living be justified.' Psalm 143.</p> +<p>"My spirit is overwhelmed within me, my heart within me is +desolate. I stretch out my hands unto thee; my soul thirsteth after +thee in a thirsty land. Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit +faileth; hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto those that +go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the +morning, for in thee do I trust; cause me to know the way wherein I +should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, +from mine enemies; I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy +will, for thou art my God. Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the +land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake; for +thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. I wait for +thy salvation.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>This heart my Jesus bought with +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">It is his honest +claim;<br /></span> <span>O seize it, fix it, Saviour +God,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To give it is my +aim.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <!--Page 347--><a name= +"P347" id="P347"></a> <span>Take full possession of this +heart,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And here set up thy +throne;<br /></span> <span>Command each idol to +depart,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And make it all thine +own.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>O dare I not to +thee appeal,<br /></span> <span class="i2">That 'tis my first +desire,<br /></span> <span>That on this heart thou stamp thy +seal<br /></span> <span class="i2">And grave it with love's +fire?<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>To fix this +heart to stray no more<br /></span> <span class="i2">I e'en would +quit the clay;<br /></span> <span>Would hasten on to Jordan's +shore,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And plough the watery +way.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Nor fear nor +dread my soul should move,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With Jesus +in my heart;<br /></span> <span>Each passion swallowed up in +love,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'd court the friendly +dart.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The resurrection +and the life<br /></span> <span class="i2">In death itself he'll +prove,<br /></span> <span>And while he closes mortal +strife,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Breathe his own life of +love.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Then boast not, +monster, of thy sting,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Nor of thy +victory, grave;<br /></span> <span>In th' arms of God's anointed +King<br /></span> <span class="i2">I dare thy fiercest +brave.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 348--><a name="P348" id="P348"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3> +<h4>CLOSING LABORS FOR THE POOR — SICKNESS AND DEATH.</h4> +<p>D<font size="-1">URING</font> the last two years of her life, +Mrs. Graham found her strength inadequate to so extensive a course +of visiting the poor as formerly; there were some distressed +families, however, that experienced her kind attentions to the +last. She would occasionally accompany the Rev. Mr. Stanford on his +visits to the state-prison, hospital, and to the Magdalen house. +This gentleman was the stated preacher employed by "the Society for +the Support of the Gospel among the Poor," and devoted his time to +preaching in the almshouse, hospital, state-prison, +debtors'-prison, etc., with great assiduity and acceptance.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham now spent much of her time in her room, devoted to +meditation, prayer, and reading the Scriptures; she seemed to be +weaning from earth and preparing for heaven. Prayer was that sweet +breath of her soul which brought stability to her life. Genuine +humility was obvious in all her sentiments and deportment. +Religious friends prized her conversation, counsel, and friendship; +sometimes they would venture on a compliment to her superior +attainments, but always experienced a decided rebuke. To her friend +Colonel L——, who expressed a wish to be such a character as she +was, she quickly replied with an air of mingled pleasantry and +censure, "Get thee behind me, Satan." To a female friend who said, +"If I were only sure at last of being admitted to a place +<!--Page 349--><a name="P349" id="P349"></a> at your feet I +should feel happy." "Hush, hush," replied Mrs. Graham, "There is +<font size="-1">ONE</font> S<font size="-1">AVIOUR</font>." Thus +she was always careful to give her divine Redeemer the whole glory +of her salvation.</p> +<p>This example of humility, self-denial, and sensibility to the +imperfection of her conduct, is the more to be valued, as it is so +difficult to be followed. Flattery is too commonly practised; and +there is no sufficient guard against its dangerous consequences, +except a constant and humbling recognition of the spirituality of +the law of God, and our lamentable deficiency in fulfilling it. +Pride was not made for man: "I have seen an end of all perfection," +said the Psalmist, "but thy commandment is exceeding broad." It was +by cherishing this sentiment, by studying her Bible, by searching +her heart and its motives, and above all, by grace accorded of +heaven in answer to her prayers, that Mrs. Graham was enabled to +maintain such meekness of spirit, such an uniformity of Christian +character throughout her life. May all who read her history be +directed to the same sources of true peace and genuine +happiness.</p> +<p>In the spring of 1814 she was requested to unite with some +ladies in forming a society for the promotion of industry among the +poor. This was the last act in which she appeared before the +public. A petition, signed by about thirty ladies, was presented to +the corporation of New York, praying that they would assign them a +building in which work might be prepared and given out to the +industrious poor, who being paid for their labor, might be saved +the necessity of begging, and at the same time cherish habits of +industry and self-respect. The corporation having returned +<!--Page 350--><a name="P350" id="P350"></a> a favorable answer, +and provided a house, a meeting of the Society was held, and Mrs. +Graham once more was called to the chair. It was the last time she +was to preside at the formation of a new society. Her articulation, +once strong and clear, was now observed to have become more feeble. +The ladies present listened to her with affectionate attention; her +voice broke upon the ear as a pleasant sound that was passing away. +She consented to have her name inserted on the list of managers, +and to give what assistance her age would permit in forwarding so +beneficent a work. Although it pleased God that she should cease +from her labors before the House of Industry was opened, yet the +work was carried on by others and prospered. Between four and five +hundred women were employed and paid during the following winter. +The corporation declared in strong terms their approbation of the +result, and enlarged their donation, with a view to promote the +same undertaking for the succeeding winter.</p> +<p>In the month of May, 1814, a report was received from Mr. +Stephen Prust of Bristol, in England, of the Society for +establishing Adult-schools. Mrs. Graham was so delighted with a +perusal of it, as immediately to undertake the formation of such a +school in the village of Greenwich. She called on the young people +who were at work in some neighboring manufactories, and requested +them to attend her for this purpose every Sabbath morning at eight +o'clock. This was kept up after her decease as a Sunday-school, and +consisted of nearly eighty scholars. She was translated from this +work of faith on earth, to engage in the sublimer work of praise in +heaven.</p> +<!--Page 351--><a name="P351" id="P351"></a> +<p>For some weeks previous to her last illness she was favored with +unusual health and much enjoyment of religion; she appeared to have +sweet exercises and communion in attending on all God's ordinances +and appointed means of grace. She was also greatly refreshed in +spirit by the success of Missionary and Bible Societies, and used +to speak with much affection of Mr. Gordon, Mr. Lee, Mr. May, and +Dr. Morrison, with whom she had been acquainted when in New York, +on their way to missionary stations in India and China.</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham was very partial to the works of Dr. John Owen, Rev. +William Romaine, and Rev. John Newton, and read them with pleasure +and profit. One day she remarked to Mr. B——, that she preferred +the ancient writers on theology to the modern, because they dealt +more in italics. "Dear mother," he replied, "what religion can +there be in italics?" "You know," said she, "that old writers +expected credit for the doctrines they taught, by proving them from +the word of God to be correct: they inserted the scripture passages +in italics, and their works have been sometimes one-half in +italics. Modern writers on theology, on the contrary, give us a +long train of reasoning to persuade us to their opinions, but very +little in italics." This remark of hers has great force, and +deserves the serious attention of those who write and those who +read on theological subjects.</p> +<p>On the two Sabbaths preceding her last illness she joined in +communion at the Lord's table. On the 10th of July, 1814, at +Greenwich, and on the 17th at her own church in Cedar-street. On +each week preceding these seasons she attended three evenings on +religious exercises; on Thursdays at the Orphan Asylum, +<!--Page 352--><a name="P352" id="P352"></a> on Friday evenings +the preparation sermons, and on Saturday evenings at the +prayer-meetings. She appeared lively, and expressed comfort in +those religious seasons, and continued actively useful until the +very day on which her illness commenced.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 17th she attended the Sabbath-school with +her daughter and grandchildren. Thus the Lord was pleased to direct +that she should lead her children's children into the walks of +usefulness before she took her flight to heaven, and impose a +pleasing obligation on them that they should follow her steps. Of +the same date is the last meditation in her diary.</p> +<br /> +<p class="right">"C<font size="-1">OMMUNION</font> S<font size= +"-1">ABBATH</font>, July 17, 1814.</p> +<p>"'Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him +not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of +glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your +souls,' 1 Peter, 1:8, 9.</p> +<p>"I had requested to be brought to my Lord's banqueting-house, +and to be feasted with love this day. I ate the bread and drank the +wine, in the faith that I ate the flesh and drank the blood of the +Son of man, and dwelt in him and he in me. Took a close view of my +familiar friend Death, accompanied with the presence of my Saviour, +<i>his sensible presence</i>. I cannot look at it without this; it +is my only petition concerning it. I have had desires relative to +certain circumstances, but they are nearly gone. It is my sincere +desire that God may be glorified, and he knows best how and by what +circumstances. I retain my one petition,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Only to me thy countenance +show,<br /></span> <span>I ask no more the Jordan +through."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 353--><a name="P353" id="P353"></a> +<p>Thus she arose from her Master's table, was called to gird on +her armor for a combat with the king of terrors, and came off more +than conqueror, through Him who loved her.</p> +<p>On Monday she appeared in perfect health, and visited and gave +religious instruction to the orphans in the asylum.</p> +<p>On Tuesday, the 19th of July, she complained of not feeling +well, and kept her room; on Thursday her disorder proved to be a +cholera-morbus, and her children sent for a physician. She thought +this attack was slighter than in former seasons. On Saturday, +however, she requested that Mrs. Chrystie might be sent for; this +alarmed Mrs. B——, knowing there existed an understanding between +those two friends, that one should attend the dying-bed of the +other, Mrs. Chrystie was a very dear friend of Mrs. Graham. For +upwards of twenty-four years they had loved each other, feeling +reciprocal sympathy in their joys and their sorrows; the hope of +faith was the consolation of both, and oftentimes it had been their +delightful employment to interchange their expressions of affection +towards Him whom having not seen, they loved, and in whom, though +they saw him not, yet believing on him, they rejoiced with joy +unspeakable and full of glory. On Mrs. Chrystie's entering the +chamber of her friend, Mrs. Graham welcomed her with a sweet +expressive smile, seeming to say, "I am going to get the start of +you, I am called home before you; it will be your office to fulfil +our engagement." When she sat by her bedside, Mrs. Graham said, +"Your face is very pleasant to me, my friend."</p> +<!--Page 354--><a name="P354" id="P354"></a> +<p>During Saturday night, a lethargy appeared to be overpowering +her frame. On Sabbath morning she was disposed to constant slumber; +observing Mr. B—— looking at her with agitation, she was roused +from her heaviness, and stretching her arms towards him and +embracing him, she said, "My dear, dear son, I am going to leave +you; I am going to my Saviour." "I know," he replied, "that when +you do go from us, it will be to the Saviour; but, my dear mother, +it may not be the Lord's time now to call you to himself." "Yes," +said she, "now is the time; and Oh, I could weep for sin." Her +words were accompanied with her tears. "Have you any doubts, then, +my dear friend?" asked Mrs. Chrystie. "Oh no," replied Mrs. Graham; +and looking at Mr. and Mrs. B—— as they wept, "My dear children, +I have no more doubt of going to my Saviour, than if I were already +in his arms; my guilt is all transferred; he has cancelled all I +owed. Yet I could weep for sins against so good a God: it seems to +me as if there must be weeping even in heaven for sin."</p> +<p>After this she entered into conversation with her friends, +mentioning portions of scripture and favorite hymns which had been +subjects of much comfort and joy to her. Some of these she had +transcribed into a little book, calling them her "victuals" +prepared for crossing over Jordan; she committed them to memory, +and often called them to remembrance as her songs in the night when +sleep had deserted her. She then got Mr. B—— to read to her some +of these portions, especially the eighty-second hymn of Newton's +third book:</p> +<!--Page 355--><a name="P355" id="P355"></a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Let us love, and sing, and +wonder;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Let us praise the Saviour's +name:<br /></span> <span>He has hushed the law's loud +thunder,<br /></span> <span class="i2">He has quenched mount +Sinai's flame:<br /></span> <span class="i2">He has washed us with +his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">He has brought us nigh to +God," etc.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>Mrs. Graham then fell asleep, nor did she awaken until the voice +of the Rev. Dr. Mason roused her. They had a very affectionate +interview, which he has partly described in the excellent sermon he +delivered after her decease. She expressed to him her hope as +founded altogether on the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: were +she left to depend on the merit of the best action she had ever +performed, that would be only a source of despair. She repeated to +him, as her view of salvation, the fourth verse of the same +hymn:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"Let us wonder: grace and +justice<br /></span> <span class="i2">Join, and point at mercy's +store;<br /></span> <span>When, through grace, in Christ our trust +is,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Justice smiles and asks no +more;<br /></span> <span class="i2">He who washed us with his +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Has secured our way to +God."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>Having asked Dr. Mason to pray with her, he inquired if there +was any particular request she had to make of God by him; she +replied, that God would direct: then as he kneeled, she put up her +hands, and raising her eyes towards heaven, breathed this short but +expressive petition, "Lord, lead thy servant in prayer."</p> +<p>After Dr. Mason had taken his leave, she again fell into a deep +sleep. Her physicians still expressed a hope of her recovery, as +her pulse was regular and the violence of her disease had abated. +One of them, however, declared his opinion that his poor drugs +would prove of little avail against her own ardent +<!--Page 356--><a name="P356" id="P356"></a> prayers to depart +and be with Christ, which was far better for her than a return to a +dying world.</p> +<p>On Monday the Rev. Mr. Rowan prayed with her, and to him she +expressed also the tranquillity of her mind, and the steadfastness +of her hope, through Christ, of eternal felicity.</p> +<p>Her lethargy increased; at intervals from sleep she would +occasionally assure her daughter, Mrs. B——, that all was well; +and when she could rouse herself only to say one word at a time, +that one word, accompanied with a smile, was, "Peace." From her +there was a peculiar emphasis in this expression of the state of +her mind: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," had +been a favorite portion of scripture with her, and a promise, the +fulfilment of which was her earnest prayer to the God who made it. +She also occasionally asked Mr. B—— to pray with her, even when +she could only articulate, as she looked at him, "Pray." She was +now surrounded by many of her dear Christian friends, who watched +her dying-bed with affection and solicitude. On Tuesday afternoon +she slept with little intermission. This, said Dr. Mason, may be +truly called "falling asleep in Jesus." It was remarked by those +who attended her, that all terror was taken away, and that death +seemed here as an entrance into life. Her countenance was placid, +and looked younger than before her illness.</p> +<p>At a quarter past twelve o'clock, being the morning of the 27th +of July, 1814, her spirit gently winged its flight from a mansion +of clay to the realms of glory, while around the precious remnant +of earth her family and friends stood weeping, yet elevated by the +<!--Page 357--><a name="P357" id="P357"></a> scene they were +witnessing. After a silence of many minutes, they kneeled by her +bed, adored the goodness and the grace of God towards his departed +child, and implored the divine blessing on both the branches of her +family, as well as on all the Israel of God.</p> +<p>Thus she departed in peace, not trusting in her wisdom or +virtue, like the philosophers of Greece and Rome; not even like +Addison, calling on the profligate to see a good man die; but like +Howard, afraid that her good works might have a wrong place in the +estimate of her hope, her chief glory was that of "a sinner saved +by grace."*</p> +<p class="note">*This was Howard's epitaph, dictated by +himself.</p> +<p>After such examples, who will dare to charge the doctrines of +the cross of Christ with licentiousness? Here are two instances of +persons, to whose good works the world have cheerfully borne +testimony, who lived and died in the profession of these doctrines. +It was faith that first purified their hearts, and so the stream of +action from these fountains became pure also. Had not Christ died +and risen again, all the powers of man could never have produced +such lives of benevolence, nor a death so full of contrition, yet +so embalmed with hope. Hallelujah, "unto Him who loved us, and +washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings +and priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory and dominion, +for ever and ever. Amen."</p> +<p>At the next weekly prayer-meeting which she had usually +attended, the circumstances of her death were made subjects of +improvement. On the 16th of July she was a worshipper with her +brethren and sisters <!--Page 358--><a name="P358" id= +"P358"></a> there, and on the evening of the 30th they were +called to consider her by faith as in the immediate presence of her +God, among "the spirits of the just made perfect." The services of +that evening were closed with the following hymn from Dobell's +collection, which is beautifully descriptive of her happy +change:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"'Tis finished! the conflict is +past,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The heaven-born spirit is +fled;<br /></span> <span>Her wish is accomplished at +last,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And now she's entombed with the +dead.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The months of +affliction are o'er,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The days and the +nights of distress,<br /></span> <span>We see her in anguish no +more —<br /></span> <span class="i2">She's gained her happy +release.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>No sickness, +or sorrow, or pain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Shall ever +disquiet her now;<br /></span> <span>For death to her spirit was +gain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Since Christ was her life when +below.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Her soul has +now taken its flight<br /></span> <span class="i2">To mansions of +glory above,<br /></span> <span>To mingle with angels of +light,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And dwell in the kingdom of +love.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The victory now +is obtained;<br /></span> <span class="i2">She's gone her dear +Saviour to see;<br /></span> <span>Her wishes she fully has gained +—<br /></span> <span class="i2">She's now where she longed to +be.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The coffin, the +shroud, and the grave<br /></span> <span class="i2">To her were no +objects of dread;<br /></span> <span>On Him who is mighty to +save,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Her soul was with confidence +stayed.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Then let us +forbear to complain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">That she is now +gone from our sight;<br /></span> <span>We soon shall behold her +again,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With new and redoubled +delight."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 359--><a name="P359" id="P359"></a> +<p>Mrs. Graham's death created a strong sensation in the public +mind. Magistrates of the city were careful to express their sense +of the public loss sustained, and many charitable institutions paid +affectionate tributes to her memory. Several clergymen also made +her death the subject of their discourses, among whom was her +beloved pastor, Dr. J<font size="-1">OHN</font> M. M<font size= +"-1">ASON</font>, who, on Sabbath evening, Aug. 14, delivered the +well-known powerful sermon, "C<font size="-1">HRISTIAN</font> +M<font size="-1">OURNING</font>," from 1 Thess. 4:13, 14: +"I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them +which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no +hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so +them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."</p> +<p>Contrasting the consolations afforded to the Christian with the +darkness and doubt of the pagan or infidel; dwelling on the +Christian's death as "sleeping in Jesus;" his immediate entrance +into bliss, and his glorious resurrection and reigning with Christ +in the judgment, he thus proceeds:</p> +<p>"In this faith the apostles labored and the martyrs bled. Ages +have elapsed and it is still the same. It is not a distant wonder; +not a brilliant vision; but a solid and present reality, under the +power of which at this moment, while the words are on my lips, +Christians, in various parts of the world, are closing their eyes +to sleep in Jesus. It has come home to our own business and bosoms. +It has chosen our houses to be the scene of its miracles. But +rarely does it fall to the lot of human eyes to witness so high a +display of its value and virtue, as was witnessed in that blessed +woman whose entrance into the joy of her Lord has occasioned our +assembling this evening.</p> +<!--Page 360--><a name="P360" id="P360"></a> +<p>"As we are commanded to be followers of them who through faith +and patience inherit the promises, we should have their example +before us, that we may learn to imbibe their spirit, to imitate +their graces, and be ready for their reward. With this view, permit +me to lay before you some brief recollections of our deceased +friend.</p> +<p>"It is not my intention to relate the history of her life. That +will be a proper task for biography. I design merely to state a few +leading facts, and to sketch such outlines of character as may show +to those who knew her not, what manner of person she was in all +holy conversation and godliness. Those who knew her best require no +such remembrancer, and will be able, from their own observation, to +supply its defects.</p> +<p>"I<font size="-1">SABELLA</font> M<font size= +"-1">ARSHALL</font>, known to us as Mrs. G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>, received from nature qualities which, in +circumstances favorable to their development, do not allow their +possessor to pass through life unnoticed and inefficient.</p> +<p>"An intellect strong, prompt, and inquisitive — a temper +open, generous, cheerful, ardent — a heart replete with +tenderness, and alive to every social affection and every +benevolent impulse — a spirit at once enterprising and +persevering — the whole crowned with that rare and +inestimable endowment, good sense — were materials which +required only skilful management to fit her for adorning and +dignifying any female station. With that sort of cultivation which +the world most admires, and those opportunities which attend upon +rank and fortune, she might have shone in the circles of the great +without forfeiting <!--Page 361--><a name="P361" id="P361"></a> +the esteem of the good. Or had her lot fallen among the literary +unbelievers of the continent, she might have figured in the sphere +of the Voltaires, the Duffauds, and the other <i>esprits forts</i> +of Paris. She might have been as gay in public, as dismal in +private, and as wretched in her end, as any of the most +distinguished among them for their wit and their woe. But God had +destined her for other scenes and services — scenes from +which greatness turns away appalled, and services which all the +cohorts of infidel wit are unable to perform. She was to be +prepared by poverty, bereavement, and grief, to pity and to succor +the poor, the bereaved, and the grieving. The sorrows of widowhood +were to teach her the heart of the widow — her babes, +deprived of their father, to open the springs of her compassion to +the fatherless and orphan — and the consolations of God, her +refuge and strength, her very present help in trouble, to make her +a daughter of consolation to them who were walking in the valley of +the shadow of death.</p> +<p>"To train her betimes for the future dispensations of his +providence, the Lord touched the heart of this chosen vessel in her +early youth. The spirit of prayer sanctified her infant lips, and +taught her, as far back as her memory could go, to pour out her +heart before God. She had not reached her eleventh year when she +selected a bush in the retirement of the field, and there devoted +herself to her God by faith in the Redeemer. The incidents of her +education, thoughtless companions, the love of dress, and the +dancing-school, as she has herself recorded, chilled for a while +the warmth of her piety, and robbed her bosom of its peace. But her +gracious Lord revisited <!--Page 362--><a name="P362" id= +"P362"></a> her with his mercy, and bound her to himself in an +everlasting covenant, which she sealed at his own table about the +seventeenth year of her age.</p> +<p>"Having married, a few years after, Dr. John Graham, surgeon to +the 60th British regiment, she accompanied him first to Montreal, +and shortly after to Fort Niagara. Here, during four years of +temporal prosperity, she had no opportunity, even for once, of +entering the habitation of God's house, or hearing the sound of his +gospel. Secluded from the waters of the sanctuary and all the +public means of growth in grace, her religion began to languish and +its leaf to droop. But the root was perennial — it was of the +seed of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. The Sabbath was +still to her the sign of his covenant. On that day of rest, with +her Bible in her hand, she used to wander through the woods, renew +her self-dedication, and pour out her prayer for the salvation of +her husband and her children. He who 'dwelleth not in temples made +with hands,' heard her cry from the wilds of Niagara, and +strengthened her with strength in her soul.</p> +<p>"By one of those vicissitudes which checker military life, the +regiment was ordered to the island of Antigua in the West Indies. +Here she met with that exquisite enjoyment to which she had been +long a stranger — the communion of kindred spirits in the +love of Christ: and soon did she need all the soothing and support +which it is fitted to administer; for in a very short time the +husband of her youth, the object of her most devoted affection, her +sole earthly stay, was taken from her by death. The stroke was, +indeed, mitigated by the sweet assurance that he slept +<!--Page 363--><a name="P363" id="P363"></a> in Jesus. But a +heart like hers, convulsed by a review of the past and anticipation +of the future, would have burst with agony, had she not known how +to pour its sorrows into the bosom of her heavenly Father. Trials +which beat sense and reason to the ground, raise up the faith of +the Christian, and draw her closer to her God. O, how divine to +have him as the rock of our rest when every earthly reliance is a +broken reed.</p> +<p>"Bowing to his mysterious dispensation, and committing herself +to his protection as the Father of the fatherless and the Husband +of the widow, she returns with her charge to her native land, to +contract alliance with penury, and to live by faith for her daily +bread. That same grace under whose teaching she knew how to abound, +taught her also how to suffer need. With a dignity which belongs +only to them who have treasure in heaven, she descended to her +humble cot, employment, and fare. But her humility, according to +the Scripture, was the forerunner of her advancement. The light of +her virtues shone brightest in her obscurity, and pointed her way +to the confidential trust of forming the minds and manners of young +females of different ranks in the metropolis of Scotland. Here, +respected by the great and beloved by the good; in sacred intimacy +with 'devout and honorable women,' and the friendship of men who +were in truth servants of the most high God, she continued in the +successful discharge of her duties till Providence conducted her to +our shores.</p> +<p>"She long had a predilection for America, as a land in which, +according to her favorite opinion, the church of Christ is signally +to flourish. Here she <!--Page 364--><a name="P364" id= +"P364"></a> wished to end her days and leave her children. And +we shall remember with gratitude, that in granting her wish, God +cast her lot with ourselves. Twenty-five years ago she opened in +this city a school for the education of young ladies, the benefits +of which have been strongly felt, and will be long felt hereafter, +in different and distant parts of our country. Evidently devoted to +the welfare of her pupils — attentive to their peculiarities +of character — happy in discovering the best avenue of +approach to their minds — possessing in a high degree the +talent of simplifying her instruction and varying its form, she +succeeded in that most difficult part of a teacher's work, the +inducing youth to take an interest in their own improvement, and to +educate themselves by exerting their own faculties.</p> +<p>"In governing her little empire, she acted upon those principles +which are the basis of all good government, on every scale and +under every modification — to be reasonable, to be firm, and +to be uniform. Her authority was both tempered and strengthened by +condescension. It commanded respect while it conciliated affection. +Her word was law, but it was the law of kindness. It spoke to the +conscience, but it spoke to the heart; and obedience bowed with the +knee of love. She did not, however, imagine her work to be +perfected in fitting her élèves for duties and +elegance of life. Never did she forget their immortal nature. +Utterly devoid of sectarian narrowness, she labored to infuse into +their minds those vital principles of evangelical piety which form +the common distinction of the disciples of Christ, the peculiar +glory of the female name, and the surest <!--Page 365--><a name= +"P365" id="P365"></a> pledge of domestic bliss. Her voice, her +example, her prayers concurred in recommending that pure and +undefiled religion without which no human being shall see the Lord. +Shall we wonder that her scholars should be tenderly attached to +such a preceptress; that they should leave her with their tears and +their blessing; that they should carry an indelible remembrance of +her into the bosom of their families; that the reverence of pupils +should ripen with their years into the affection of friends; and +that there should be among them, at this day, many a wife who is a +crown to her husband, and many a mother who is a blessing to her +children, and who owes, in a great degree, the felicity of her +character to the impressions, the principles, and the habits which +she received while under the maternal tuition of Mrs. G<font size= +"-1">RAHAM</font>?</p> +<p>"Admonished at length by the infirmities of age, and importuned +by her friends, this venerable matron retired to private life. But +it was impossible for her to be idle. Her leisure only gave a new +direction to her activity. With no less alacrity than she had +displayed in the education of youth, did she now embark in the +relief of misery. Her benevolence was unbounded, but it was +discreet. There are charities which increase the wretchedness they +are designed to diminish; which, from some fatal defect in their +application, bribe to iniquity while they are relieving want, and +make food and raiment and clothing to warm into life the most +poisonous seeds of vice. But the charities of our departed friend +were of another order. They selected the fittest objects — +the widow, the fatherless, the orphan, the untaught child, and the +ignorant adult. They combined intellectual and +<!--Page 366--><a name="P366" id="P366"></a> moral benefit with +the communication of physical comfort.</p> +<p>"In her house originated the Society for the Relief of Poor +Widows with Small Children. Large, indeed, is this branch of the +family of affliction, and largely did it share in her sympathy and +succor. When at the head of this noble association, she made it her +business to see with her own eyes the objects of their care; and to +give, by her personal presence and efforts, the strongest impulse +to their humane system. From morning till night has she gone from +abode to abode of these destitute, who are too commonly unpitied by +the great, despised by the proud, and forgotten by the gay. She has +gone to sit beside them on their humble seat, hearing their simple +and sorrowful story, sharing their homely meal — ascertaining +the condition of their children — stirring them up to +diligence, to economy, to neatness, to order — putting them +into the way of obtaining suitable employment for themselves and +suitable places for their children — distributing among them +the word of God, and tracts calculated to familiarize its first +principles to their understanding — cherishing them in +sickness, admonishing them in health — instructing, +reproving, exhorting, consoling — sanctifying the whole with +fervent prayer. Many a sobbing heart and streaming eye is this +evening embalming her memory in the house of the widow.</p> +<p>"Little if any less is the debt due to her from that invaluable +charity, the Orphan Asylum. It speaks its own praise, and that +praise is hers. Scores of orphans redeemed from filth, from +ignorance, from wretchedness, from crime — clothed, fed, +instructed — trained <!--Page 367--><a name="P367" id= +"P367"></a> in cleanliness to habits of industry — early +imbued with the knowledge and fear of God — gradually +preparing for respectability, usefulness, and happiness, is a +spectacle for angels. Their infantine gayety, their healthful +sport, their cherub faces, mark the contrast between their present +and former condition; and recall very tenderly the scenes in which +they used to cluster round their patron-mother, hang on her +gracious words, and receive her benediction.</p> +<p>"Brethren, I am not dealing in romance, but in sober fact. The +night would be too short for a full enumeration of her worthy +deeds. Suffice it to say that they ended but with her life. The +Sabbath previous to her last sickness occupied her with a recent +institution — a Sunday-school for ignorant adults; and the +evening preceding the touch of death, found her at the side of a +faithful domestic, administering consolation to his wounded +spirit.</p> +<p>"Such active benevolence could hardly be detected in company +with a niggardly temper. Wishes which cost nothing; pity which +expires on the lips; be ye warmed and be ye clothed, from a cold +heart and an unyielding gripe, never imprinted their disgraceful +brand upon Isabella Graham. What she urged upon others she +exemplified in herself. She kept a purse for God. Here, in +obedience to his command, she deposited the first-fruits of all her +increase; and they were sacred to his service, as in his providence +he should call for them. No shuffling pretences, no pitiful +evasions, when a fair demand was made upon the hallowed store; and +no frigid affectation in determining the quality of the demand. A +sense of <!--Page 368--><a name="P368" id="P368"></a> duty was +the prompter, candor the interpreter, and good sense the judge. Her +disbursements were proportioned to the value of the object, and +were ready at a moment's warning, to the very last farthing.* How +pungent a reproof to those ladies of opulence and fashion who +sacrifice so largely to their dissipation or their vanity, that +they have nothing left for mouths without food, and limbs without +raiment! How far does it throw back into the shade those men of +prosperous enterprise and gilded state who, in the hope of some +additional lucre, have thousands and ten thousands at their beck; +but who, when asked for decent contributions to what they +themselves acknowledge to be all-important, turn away with this +hollow excuse, 'I cannot afford it.' Above all, how should her +example redden the faces of many who profess to belong to Christ; +to have received gratuitously from him what he procured for them at +the expense of his own blood, 'an inheritance incorruptible and +undefiled, and that fadeth not away;' and yet, in the midst of +abundance which he has lavished upon them, when the question is +about relieving his suffering members, or promoting the glory of +his kingdom, are sour, reluctant, mean. Are these the Christians? +Can it be that they have committed their bodies, their souls, their +eternal hope, to a Saviour whose thousand promises on this very +point of honoring him with their substance, have less influence +upon their hearts and their hands than the word of any honest man? +Remember the deceased, and hang your heads — remember +<!--Page 369--><a name="P369" id="P369"></a> her, and tremble; +remember her, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance.</p> +<p class="note">*The author knew her, when in moderate +circumstances, to give, unsolicited, <i>fifty pounds at once</i> +out of that sacred purse to a single most worthy purpose.</p> +<p>"In that charity, also, which far surpasses mere almsgiving, +however liberal, the charity of the gospel, our friend was +conspicuous. The love of God shed abroad in her own heart by the +Holy Ghost, drew forth her love to his people wherever she found +them. Assuredly she had in herself this witness of her having +'passed from death unto life,' that she loved the brethren. The +epistle, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living +God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart; +yet read and known of all men: that is, the Christian temper +manifested by a Christian conversation, was to her the best letter +of recommendation. Unwavering in her own faith as to the peculiar +doctrines of the gospel, she could nevertheless extend love without +dissimulation, and the very bowels of Christian fellowship, to +others who, whatever might be their mistakes, their infirmities, or +their differences in smaller matters, agreed in the great Christian +essential of acceptance in the Beloved. Deeply did she deplore the +conceit, the bigotry, and the bitterness of sect. O that her spirit +were more prevalent in the churches; that we could labor to abase +our crown of pride; to offer up with one consent upon the altar of +evangelical charity, those petty jealousies, animosities, and +strifes which are our common reproach; and walk together as +children of the same Father, brethren of the same Redeemer, and +heirs of the same salvation.</p> +<p>"To these admirable traits of character were added great +tenderness of conscience and a spirit of prayer. Her religion, not +contented to justify her before men, <!--Page 370--><a name="P370" +id="P370"></a> habitually aimed at pleasing God, who looketh +upon the heart. It was not enough for her to persuade herself that +a thing might be right. Before venturing upon it, she studied to +reduce the question of right to a clear certainty. How cautious and +scrupulous and jealous of herself she was in this matter, they best +can tell who saw her in the shade of retirement as well as in the +sunshine of public observation. Perhaps it is not going too far to +say, that her least guarded moments would, in others, have been +marked for circumspection. At the same time her vigilance had +nothing austere, gloomy, constrained, or censorious — nothing +to repress the cheerfulness of social intercourse, or to excite in +others, even the thoughtless, a dread of merciless criticism after +they should retire. It was sanctified nature moving gracefully in +its own element. And with respect to the character and feelings of +her neighbors, she was too full of Christian kindness not to keep +her tongue from evil and her lips from speaking guile.</p> +<p>"These virtues and graces were maintained and invigorated by her +habit of prayer. With the 'new and living way into the holiest by +the blood of Jesus,' she was intimately familiar. Thither the +Spirit of grace and supplication daily conducted her; there taught +her to pray, and in praying to believe, and in believing to have +'fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.' She +knew her God as the God that heareth prayer; and could attest that +'blessed is she that believeth, for there shall be a performance of +those things which were told her from the Lord.'</p> +<p>"Under such influence her course could not but be +<!--Page 371--><a name="P371" id="P371"></a> correct, and her +steps well ordered. The 'secret of the Lord is with them that fear +him; and he will show them his covenant, he will guide them in +judgment.' Thus he did with his handmaid whom he hath called home. +Wherever she was, and in whatever circumstances, she remembered the +guide of her youth, who, according to His promise, never left her, +nor forsook her; but continued His gracious presence with her when +she was old and gray-headed.</p> +<p>"You may perhaps imagine, that with such direction and support +it was impossible she should see trouble. Nay, but waters of a full +cup were wrung out to her. She often ate the bread of sorrow +steeped in wormwood and gall. Her heavenly Father showed her great +and sore adversities; that he might try her as silver is tried, and +bring her forth from the furnace purified seven times. It was +during these refining processes that she found the worth of being a +Christian. Though her way was planted with thorns and watered with +her tears, yet the candle of the Lord shone upon her head; and from +step to step she had reason to cry, Hitherto hath Jehovah +helped.</p> +<p>"In a word, like Enoch, she walked with God; like Abraham, she +staggered not at his promise through unbelief; like Jacob, she +wrestled with the angel and prevailed; like Moses, endured as +seeing Him who is invisible; like Paul, finished her course with +joy. Blessed were the eyes of the preacher, for they saw the +victory of her faith; and his ears, for they heard her song of +salvation. 'You can say with the apostle, I know whom I have +believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I +have committed unto him?' 'O yes, but I cannot say the +<!--Page 372--><a name="P372" id="P372"></a> other, I have +fought a good fight; I must say, I have fought a poor fight, I have +run a poor race; but Christ fought for me. Christ ran with me, and +through Christ I hope to win,' 'But you have no fear, no doubts, +about your going to be with Christ?' 'O no, not a doubt; I am as +sure of that as if I were already in my Saviour's arms.' It was her +final conversation with children of the dust. The next day, when +her flesh and her heart had so far failed that she was incapable of +uttering a sentence, she still proved her God to be the strength of +her heart, and knew him to be her portion for ever. I said to her, +'It is peace,' She opened her eyes, smiled, closed them again, +bowed her dying head, and breathed out, 'Peace,' It was her last +word on this side heaven. The attending spirits caught it from her +lips, and brought to her the next day permission to sleep in +Jesus.</p> +<p>"From this review allow me to urge the value of private +exertions in promoting general good.</p> +<p>"In pursuing his gratifications, man is apt to look upon himself +as a being of great importance; in fulfilling his duties, to +account himself as nothing. Both are extravagances which it will be +his wisdom and happiness to correct. He is neither supreme in worth +nor useless in action. Let him not say, 'I am but one; my voice +will be drowned in the universal din; my weight is lighter than a +feather in the public scale. It is better for me to mind my own +affairs, and leave these higher attempts to more competent hands.' +This is the language, not of reason and modesty, but of sloth, of +selfishness, and of pride. The amount of it is, 'I cannot do every +thing, therefore I will do nothing,' But you can do much. Act well +your part <!--Page 373--><a name="P373" id="P373"></a> according +to your faculties, your station, and your means. The result will be +honorable to yourself, delightful to your friends, and beneficial +to the world. I advise not to gigantic aims, to enormous +enterprise. The world has seen but one Newton, and one Howard. +Nothing is required of you but to make the most of the +opportunities within your reach.</p> +<p>"Recall the example of Mrs. Graham. Here was a woman, a widow, a +stranger in a strange land, without fortune, with no friends but +such as her letters of introduction and her worth should acquire, +and with a family of daughters dependent upon her for their +subsistence. Surely if any one has a clear title of immunity from +the obligation to carry her cares beyond the domestic circle, it is +this widow, it is this stranger. Yet within a few years this +stranger, this widow, with no means but her excellent sense, her +benevolent heart, and her persevering will to do good, awakens the +charities of a populous city, and gives to them an impulse, a +direction, and an efficacy unknown before.</p> +<p>"What might not be done by men — by men of talent, of +standing, of wealth, of leisure? How speedily, under their +well-directed beneficence, might a whole country change its +physical, intellectual, and moral aspect; and assume, comparatively +speaking, the face of another Eden, a second garden of God. Why +then do they not diffuse thus extensively the seeds of knowledge, +of virtue, and of bliss? I ask not for their pretences; they are as +old as the lust of lucre, and are refuted by the example which we +have been contemplating: I ask for the true reason, for the +inspiring principle of their conduct. It is this — let them +look to it when God shall call them to account +<!--Page 374--><a name="P374" id="P374"></a> for the abuse of +their time, their talents, their station, their 'unrighteous +mammon' — it is this: they believe not 'the words of the Lord +Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.' +They labor under no want but one, they want <i>the heart</i>. The +bountiful God add this to the other gifts which he has bestowed +upon them. I turn to the other sex.</p> +<p>"That venerable mother in Israel who has exchanged the service +of God on earth for his service in heaven, has left a legacy to her +sisters: she has left the example of her faith and patience; she +has left her prayers; she has left the monument of her Christian +deeds; and by these she being dead, yet speaketh. Matrons, has she +left her mantle also? Are there none among you to hear her voice +from the tomb, Go and do thou likewise? None whom affluence +permits, endowments qualify, and piety prompts, to aim at her +distinction by treading in her steps? Maidens, are there none among +you who would wish to array yourselves hereafter in the honors of +this virtuous woman? Your hearts have dismissed their wonted warmth +and generosity, if they do not throb as the revered vision rises +before you. Then prepare yourselves now, by seeking and serving the +God of her youth. You cannot be too early adorned with the robes of +righteousness and the garments of salvation in which she was +wedded, in her morning of life, to Jesus the King of glory. That +same grace which threw its radiance around her, shall make you also +to shine in the beauty of holiness; and the fragrance of those +virtues which it shall create, develope, and ennoble, will be 'as +the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.'</p> +<p>"Yea, let me press upon all the transcendent +<!--Page 375--><a name="P375" id="P375"></a> excellence of +Christian character, and the victorious power of Christian hope. +The former bears the image of God; the latter is as imperishable as +his throne. We fasten our eyes with more real respect and more +heart-felt approbation upon the moral majesty displayed in walking +as Christ also walked, than upon all the pomps of the monarch or +decorations of the military hero. More touching to the sense and +more grateful to high heaven is the soft melancholy with which we +look after our departed friend, and the tear which embalms her +memory, than the thundering plaudits which rend the air with the +name of a conqueror. She has obtained a triumph over that foe who +shall break the arm of valor, and strike off the crown of kings. +'The fashion of this world passeth away.' Old Time approaches +towards his last hour. The proudest memorials of human grandeur +shall be food for the conflagration to be kindled when 'the Lord +Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. Then shall he +be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that +believe.'</p> +<p>"There are those perhaps, in the present assembly, who repute +godliness fanaticism, and the sobriety of Christian peace the gloom +of a joyless spirit; but who cannot forbear sighing out, with the +prophet of mammon, 'Let me die the death of the righteous, and let +my last end be like his.' If they proceed no further, their wish +will not be granted. None shall die the death of the righteous, +unless by a rare dispensation of mercy, who do not live his life. +They only are fit to be with God who love God and keep his +commandments. In that day of transport and of terror which we shall +all witness, how many of the thoughtless <!--Page 376--><a name= +"P376" id="P376"></a> fair who now 'sport themselves with their +own deceivings,' would give all the treasures of the east and +thrones of the west to sit with Isabella Graham on the right hand +of Jesus Christ. If ye be wise betimes, ye may. Now is the accepted +time; to-day is the day of salvation. The gospel of the Son of God +offers you at this very moment, the forgiveness of your sins, and +an inheritance among them that are sanctified. The blessing comes +to you as a free gift: accept it, and live; accept it, and be safe; +accept it, and put away the shudderings of guilt and the fear of +death. Then shall you too, like our friend, go in due season to be +with Christ. Your happy spirit shall rejoin hers in the mansions of +the saved. God shall bring you in soul and body with her when he +makes up his jewels. Then shall he gather his elect from the four +winds of heaven, shall perfect that which concerneth them, and make +them fully and for ever blessed. Be our place among them in that +day.'</p> +<br /> +<h4>EXTRACT FROM MRS. GRAHAM'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.</h4> +<p>"My children and my grandchildren I leave to my covenant God +— the God who hath fed me all my life with the bread that +perisheth, and the bread that never perisheth; who has been a +Father to my fatherless children, and a Husband to their widowed +mother thus far. And now, receiving my Redeemer's testimony, +John 3:33, I set to my seal that God is true; and believing +the record in John's epistle, that God hath given to me eternal +life, and this life is in his Son, who, through the eternal Spirit, +offered himself without spot unto God, and being consecrated a +<!--Page 377--><a name="P377" id="P377"></a> priest for ever, +hath with his own blood, entered into the holy place, having +obtained eternal redemption for me. I also believe that he will +perfect what concerns me, support and carry me safely through +death, and present me to his Father, complete in his own +righteousness, without spot or wrinkle. Into the hands of this +redeeming God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I commit my redeemed +spirit."</p> +<p>Mrs. Graham's epitaph on a tablet in the Pearl-street church, is +associated with that of her son-in-law Mr. Bethune, to whom before +his connection with the family she was a spiritual mother; who +prepared her memoir, wrote and printed tracts for her widows, +imported Bibles for her to distribute, replenished her charity +purse when exhausted; with whom she took sweet counsel and walked +to the house of God in company; and for whom she was pleased to +leave the written and honorable testimony: "He stands in my mind, +in temper, conduct, and conversation, the nearest to the gospel +standard of any man or woman I ever knew as intimately. Devoted to +his God, to his church, to his family, to all to whom he may have +opportunity of doing good, duty is his governing principle; cast +upon his care, under God he nourishes me with kindness," etc. They +have entered into rest. One sepulchre contains their sleeping dust, +and one monument bears the following tribute to their memory:</p> +<!--Page 378--><a name="P378" id="P378"></a> +<p class="center"><b>Sacred to the Memory</b><br /> +<font size="-2">OF</font><br /> +<b>DIVIE BETHUNE,</b><br /> +<font size="-2">MERCHANT OF THIS CITY,</font><br /> +<font size="-1">WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 18, 1824, AGED 53 +YEARS;</font><br /> +<font size="-2">AND OF</font><br /> +<b>ISABELLA GRAHAM,</b><br /> +<font size="-2">HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW,</font><br /> +<font size="-1">WHO DIED JULY 27, 1814, AGED 72 YEARS.</font><br /> +<font size="-2">THEY WERE BOTH NATIVES OF SCOTLAND.</font><br /> +<br /> +THIS MONUMENT<br /> +<font size="-2">IS REARED BY HIS BEREAVED WIDOW AND HER ORPHAN +DAUGHTER,<br /> +AS A TESTIMONIAL OF TWO SERVANTS OF JESUS CHRIST:<br /> +THE ONE A RULING ELDER IN HIS CHURCH, THE OTHER A MOTHER IN +ISRAEL;</font><br /> +<font size="-1">WHO, LIKE ENOCH, WALKED WITH GOD,<br /> +LIKE ABRAHAM, OBTAINED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH,<br /> +AND, LIKE PAUL, FINISHED THEIR COURSE WITH JOY.</font><br /> +<font size="-2">THEY WERE LOVELY AND PLEASANT IN THEIR LIVES,<br /> +AND THEY REST HERE TOGETHER IN THEIR GRAVES.</font><br /> +<br /></p> +<p><font size="-3">"THE BLESSING OF HIM THAT WAS READY TO PERISH +CAME UPON THEM; AND THEY CAUSED THE WIDOW'S HEART TO SING FOR +JOY." JOB 29:13.<br /> +<br /> +"OH HOW GREAT IS THY GOODNESS, WHICH THOU HAST LAID UP FOR THEM +THAT FEAR THEE; WHICH THOU HAST WROUGHT FOR THEM THAT TRUST IN THEE +BEFORE THE SONS OF MEN!" PSA. 31:19.</font></p> +<!--Page 379--><a name="P379" id="P379"></a><br /> +<hr /> +<h3>PROVISION</h3> +<h5>FOR</h5> +<h3>MY LAST JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS</h3> +<h5>AND</h5> +<h3>PASSAGE OVER JORDAN.</h3> +<p class="note">*Found in Mrs. Graham's pocket after her +decease.</p> +<p>"'P<font size="-1">REPARE</font> you victuals, for within three +days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land +which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. When ye see the +ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests bearing +it, then ye shall remove and go after it: that ye may know the way +by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way +heretofore.'</p> +<p>"'Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders +among you.'</p> +<p>"'Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth +passeth over before you into Jordan: and it shall come to pass, +that as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the +ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the +waters, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters +that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.'</p> +<p>"'And it came to pass, that when the people removed from their +tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the +covenant before the people, that as they that bare the ark were +come into Jordan, and the feet of the priests were dipped in the +<!--Page 380--><a name="P380" id="P380"></a> brim of the water, +that the waters that came down from above stood and rose up upon a +heap; and the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord +stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the +Israelites passed over on dry ground.'</p> +<p>"'And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the +place where the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the +covenant of the Lord stood; and they are there unto this day.'</p> +<p>"'When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, +saying, What mean these stones? ye shall let your children know, +saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land; for the Lord your +God dried up the waters from before you until ye were passed over, +as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up, until +we were passed over; that all people of the earth might know the +hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord +your God for ever,' Amen. Josh. 1:11; +chap. 3, 4.</p> +<p>"Oh, thou Jehovah; Israel's God, and by thy new covenant, my +God; thus far hast thou brought me through the wilderness: bearing, +chastising, forgiving, restoring. Well hast thou made out thy +wilderness name to me: 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and +gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, +keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and +sin.' Great have been my provocations, but greater still thy +covenant mercy. I have not perished with them that believed not; +sore bitten I am, but thou hast fixed mine eyes on the lifted-up +Healer, and I am in his hand for further cure. My journey has been +long, and my way devious; but my blessed Joshua is still in view. I +must be near to <!--Page 381--><a name="P381" id="P381"></a> +Jordan's flood; I have been preparing victuals from thine own +repository of truth. And now, my blessed High-priest and Ark of the +covenant, lead on my staggering steps the little further. I have +not gone this way heretofore, but thou hast measured these waters +while they overflowed all their banks. Thou hast passed through, +and made the passage safe for thy people. At thy command the waters +stand up upon a heap, and they pass through in thy presence on +faith's firm ground. Keep then mine eye upon thee, and I shall fear +no evil. And Oh, my, blessed Leader, if it might please thee, I +would ask a boon, yet with submission, that thy sensible presence +might be with me all the way through; and that thou wouldst bring +from my quivering lips a testimony to the glory of thy grace, that +my children may know that thou hast pardoned, restored, perfected, +dried up the waters of terror, carried me triumphantly through, and +put me in possession of the purchased inheritance. Amen.</p> +<p>"'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that +Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am +chief.' chief.' 1 Tim. 1:15.</p> +<p>"I have often inquired, What is there within us, or without us, +on which a sinner can rest in peace in a dying hour? If it be a +holy life, there can be no peace for me — taking the law of +God for my standard; backslider is my name; yet I think in this +sacred volume I find a hope even for me, the chief of sinners.</p> +<p>"'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must +the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should +not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that +he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever +<!--Page 382--><a name="P382" id="P382"></a> believeth on him +should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son +into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him +might be saved.' 'He that cometh from heaven is above all, and what +he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth.' 'He that receiveth his +testimony has set to his seal that God is true.' 'The Father loveth +the Son, and hath given all things into his hand; he that believeth +on the Son hath everlasting life.' John 3:14-36. Here is a hope for +me; the world is made up of sinners, I am one of them, and though +the chief, am not excluded. The Son of man came to save that which +was lost, Matt. 18:11; I am of that description. 'The Pharisees +said, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? Jesus +said, The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.' +Matt. 9:11. I am a sinner, and sick. 'I will have mercy, and not +sacrifice; for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to +repentance.' I am a sinner, and need repentance. 'Him hath God +exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give +repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.' Acts 5:31. 'The Lord +is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all +should come to repentance.' 2 Pet. 3:9.</p> +<p>"Christ said to the woman of Samaria, a notorious sinner, 'If +thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, +Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would +have given thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of this water +shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I +shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give +him shall be in him a well of water springing +<!--Page 383--><a name="P383" id="P383"></a> up into everlasting +life.' John 4:10, 14. Yes, my Redeemer, a draught of this water, +received in faith from the hand of the Spirit, will give life in +death. O pour it into my thirsty soul in that searching hour.</p> +<p>"Jesus said to a mixed multitude of sinners like me, 'Labor not +for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto +everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him +hath God the Father sealed,' John 6:27. These sinners said unto +him, 'What shall we do that we might work the works of God?' 'That +ye believe on Him whom he hath sent. My Father giveth you the true +bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he which cometh down +from heaven, and giveth life unto the world: I am the bread of +life; he that cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that +believeth on me shall never thirst. I am the living bread which +came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live +for ever. And the bread which I shall give is my flesh, which I +will give for the life of the world. Jesus said unto them, Except +ye eat the flesh, and drink the blood of the Son of man, ye have no +life in you: whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth +in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live +by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.' The +Father giveth this bread, the Son giveth this bread; whosoever +will, may take of this bread, and the promise with it. Father, I +take this bread, I take and believe that I have in thee eternal +life, according to thy word. O holy and blessed Comforter, Spirit +of the Father and of the Son, whose office it is to take of the +things of Christ and show them unto his redeemed, when the bread +and the <!--Page 384--><a name="P384" id="P384"></a> water that +perish can no longer refresh this dying body, apply this living +bread and living water to my soul, that life may spring up in the +midst of death; and in that trying hour, bear witness with my +spirit that I dwell in Christ, and Christ in me, and that I shall +never die.</p> +<p>"'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and +cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that +believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall +flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit, that they +who believe on him should receive.' John 7:37. This he proclaimed +to a mixed multitude of sinners like myself. Lord, I believe, and +am sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Be it +unto me according to thy word: 'I am the resurrection and the life: +he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; +and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. +Believest thou this?' John 11:25. I believe that thou art the +Christ, the Son of the living God, which should come into the +world; the promised Messiah; the gift of the Father, the covenant +given to the people; the anointed Prophet and King, and consecrated +High-priest; who through the eternal Spirit offeredst thyself +without spot unto God; who came to do that most perfect will of +God, by which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of +Christ once for all. Lamb of God, which takest away the sins of the +world, on thee I lay my precious never-dying soul; wash me in thy +blood, clothe me in thy righteousness; sanctify me, soul, spirit, +and body, to thy service. I have no other foundation of hope, +nothing within me, nothing without me; my entire dependence +<!--Page 385--><a name="P385" id="P385"></a> is on thy finished +work; into thy hands I commit my spirit.</p> +<p>"Let me hear thy consoling voice, compassionate Saviour. 'Let +not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. +In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would +have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again +and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be +also,' John 14:1-3. O seal this upon my heart, and it is enough. To +be where thou art, is heaven enough to me. To be where thou art, to +see thee as thou art, and to be made like thee, the last sinful +motion for ever past — no more opposition, no more weariness, +listlessness, dryness, deadness; but conformed to my blessed Head, +every way capacitated to serve him, and to enjoy him — this +is heaven.</p> +<p>"'Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man +cometh to the Father, but by me.' Blessed Comforter, do thine +office; take these things of Christ and show them unto me; lead me +in this way, feed me with this truth, and animate me with this +life: 'Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, that will +I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any +thing in my name, I will do it.' Blessed Comforter, here also do +thine office: I know not what to ask for as I ought; help mine +infirmities as thou hast said; suggest the prayer, be in me the +spirit of prayer and supplication, and especially in that hour of +need, when sickness saps the clay tabernacle, discomposing the +spirit, and confusing perhaps the ideas: still, still let my +thoughts rise to my God. Oh, let no unhallowed subject get hold of +me in that hour, but keep my Saviour's name in my heart, and on my +lips. <!--Page 386--><a name="P386" id="P386"></a> Is not this +according to thy will? watch over it then, and keep the avenues of +my soul from every vain idea.</p> +<p>"'If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the +Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide +with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot +receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know +him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. He that hath my +commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that +loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and +will manifest myself unto him; and we will come and make our abode +with him. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father +will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all +things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace +I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world +giveth, give I unto you: let not your heart be troubled, neither +let it be afraid.' In that last warfare, when nothing on earth can +give peace; when the world recedes, and disappears; when friends +must stand aloof and leave me to the combat alone; Oh, blessed and +promised Comforter, bring to my remembrance, and impress on my +weary spirit these sweet words of my Saviour. But it has often +occurred to me, and may in that hour, that though Jesus received +sinners, they were ignorant sinners. The Jews understood not the +gospel contained in their types and sacrifices; they were +unenlightened and unconverted; the Gentiles were totally blind, +serving dumb idols; neither had known the gospel, neither had +tasted the grace of God, neither were backsliders, like me. I have +known the truth, been enlightened, tasted of the +<!--Page 387--><a name="P387" id="P387"></a> heavenly gift, been +made a partaker of the Holy Ghost, tasted of the good word of God, +and of the power of the world to come.</p> +<p>"Fifty years ago the Lord convinced me of my sin, my misery, and +my total helplessness. I was also, I think, enabled to lay hold on +the hope set before me.</p> +<p>"I have, in numerous exercises and acts, accepted of God's gift +of Jesus Christ to me a condemned sinner; taking hold of the +Scripture words of invitation and promise held out for my +acceptance. I have pleaded his own covenant provision, in the +substitution of his own Son in my stead, making him to be sin, who +knew no sin, that sinners might be made the righteousness of God in +him. I put in my claim as a sinner, among the ungodly for whom +Christ died. I believed his testimony, and set to my seal that God +is true. I rested on this foundation — I yet have no other; I +know there is no other. The foundation standeth sure. But Oh, what +am I to think of the fruits? I have again and again turned back +into the world, grieved the Spirit, crucified the Son of God +afresh, and put him to open shame. No wonder I stand alarmed at the +apostle's assertion: my conscience testifies that my character is +nearly, if not altogether, such as the apostle, by the Holy Spirit, +says it is impossible to renew to repentance. Hebrews 6:4, 5. But +thou hast renewed to repentance! Thy name is 'the Lord, the Lord +God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in +goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving +iniquity, transgression, and sin.' Thou wilt by no means clear the +guilty; but thou hast provided a substitute, and laid my guilt and +guilty person on thine own Son.</p> +<!--Page 388--><a name="P388" id="P388"></a> +<p>"By this gracious name thou wast known to thy backsliding Israel +in the wilderness; whose heart, like mine, was not right with God; +neither were they steadfast in his covenant; but he, 'being full of +compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not.' Many a +time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. +They forgot God their Saviour, who had done great things for them; +they transgressed his commandment, and in their heart turned back +again to Egypt; they brought upon themselves many afflictions, and +many times did he deliver them; they provoked him with their +counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity; nevertheless, he +heard their cry, and repented according to the multitude of his +mercies; while the blood of bulls and of goats typified the great +propitiatory sacrifice, by which 'God can be just and justify the +ungodly.' By this name was the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +known in the pleasant land; and by the same sacrifice, the blood of +Christ, which cleanseth from all sin, was typified. Psalms +103, 51.</p> +<p>"The prophets prophesied in his name. 'All we, like sheep, have +gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. +He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our +iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was laid on him, and by +his stripes we are healed.' 'Deliver him from going down to the +pit; I have found a ransom.' Even backsliders, among whom I stand +chief, have been recalled. 'My people have committed two evils: +they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and have hewn +out to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no +water. Is Israel a servant; is he a home-born slave; wherefore is +he spoiled? Hast thou not procured <!--Page 389--><a name="P389" +id="P389"></a> this to thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the +Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way? And now what hast thou +to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what +hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the +river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy +backslidings shall reprove thee. Know therefore, and see that it is +an evil and bitter thing, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, +and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. For +of old I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou +saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under +every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had +planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how art thou turned +into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? Why gaddest +thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of +Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. Have I been a barren +wilderness, or a land of darkness unto thee? Wherefore say my +people, We are lords, and will come no more to thee? Can a maid +forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have +forgotten me, days without number.' Jeremiah 2. 'They say, If +a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another +man's, shall he return to her again? shall not that land be greatly +polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet +return again unto me, saith the Lord. Wilt thou not from this time +cry unto me. My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?' What can I +say to such grace? Thou art infinite in thy mercy to pardon, and in +thy power to save. Such has been my character, and such the amazing +mercy of my offended God. <!--Page 390--><a name="P390" id= +"P390"></a> Often, often has he pardoned, restored, blessed, and +made me happy. But Oh, just is the renewed charge against me. 'For +the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very +treacherously with me, saith the Lord. They have belied the Lord, +and said, It is not he, neither shall evil come upon us.' 'Go and +proclaim these words, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, +saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: +for I am merciful, saith the Lord, I will not keep anger for ever. +Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed +against the Lord thy God; and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith +the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, for I am married unto you.' +Jer. 3. What, O what can I say to such grace? Truly, thy ways +are not as our ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts. For as the +heavens are higher than the earth, so are thy ways higher than our +ways, and thy thoughts than our thoughts. Oh, how is my guilt +aggravated by all this grace; and yet thou callest, <i>Return;</i> +and thou thyself turnest me. I do, O Lord God, merciful and +gracious, I do acknowledge my iniquity; every time I turn back my +eyes upon my past life my sins rise in magnitude, heightened by +more enlarged views of thy goodness. It is of the Lord's mercies +that I am not consumed, because his compassions fail not.</p> +<p>"A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and +supplication of the children of Israel, for they have perverted +their ways, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Yes, thou +hast, my gracious God, granted repentance. Thine eye has seen the +tears I have shed; thou hast given me a contrite heart. I have +looked upon him whom I have pierced, and <!--Page 391--><a name= +"P391" id="P391"></a> been in bitterness as for a first-born. I +feel it now, and must feel it while the body of sin exists. But Oh, +Lord God, merciful and gracious, the cause is in thyself, that I +hear thy voice, and that I answer. 'Return, ye backsliding +children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, I come unto +thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation +hoped for from the hills and the multitude of mountains. Truly, in +the Lord God is the salvation of Israel. We lie down in our shame, +our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our +God; we and our fathers, even from our youth; and have not obeyed +the voice of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God, I will even +deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in +breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant +with thee in the days of thy youth; and I will establish unto thee +an everlasting covenant, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. +That thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy +mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards +thee, saith the Lord God.' Amen, Lord God, merciful and gracious. +Be it so. It is so <i>now</i> — it <i>must</i>, it will be +so, until death shall open mine eyes on that mystery: The glory of +God arising out of the abounding of sin, through the superabounding +of grace, and grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal +life, by Jesus Christ our Lord!</p> +<p>"Till then, while sin dwelleth in me, let me enjoy the +blessedness of a contrite heart; yea, even shame and confusion, +since it is the sign that thou art pacified with me. Thou hast +dealt with me, thou hast chastened, and in some instances taken +vengeance on my <!--Page 392--><a name="P392" id="P392"></a> +inventions. But thou art pacified with me, and I dare look again to +thy holy temple, to the temple not made with hands, to the minister +of the sanctuary, and the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, +and not man; to the blessed High-priest, who through the eternal +Spirit offered himself a sacrifice without spot unto God, and by +his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained +eternal redemption for us, and when he had purged our sins, sat +down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; to the blessed +Mediator of the new and better covenant, established on better +promises; to the Surety of the new testament, and sealed with his +own blood. Oh, I will look unto Jesus, the object, the author, and +the finisher of that faith which interests us in himself and the +whole of his purchase. He bids me look unto him, and be saved. I do +look unto him, and I am saved. Who dares condemn the sinner whom +Christ acquits? Who shall lay any thing to his charge? 'It is +Christ that died; yea, rather, who is risen again; who is even at +the right hand of God; who also maketh intercession for us.'"</p> +<br /> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>ISAIAH 44:22. "RETURN UNTO +ME.<br /></span> <span>A SCRIPTURE PARAPHRASE BY +D. B——<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Return to +thee, my God? dost thou<br /></span> <span>The invitation yet +renew?<br /></span> <span>Return to thee! my chiefest +joy,<br /></span> <span>Till sin did all my peace +destroy.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"And yet, to +hear thy pardoning voice<br /></span> <span>Must make my trembling +heart rejoice;<br /></span> <span>Though sin is there, thou well +dost know<br /></span> <span>It is my burden and my +foe.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <!--Page 393--><a name= +"P393" id="P393"></a> <span>"O let me hear those gracious +words:<br /></span> <span>Be still, my soul, they are the +Lord's;<br /></span> <span>That God, who once on thee did +shine,<br /></span> <span>And filled thee with a hope +divine.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"'Thy black +transgressions, trembling soul —<br /></span> <span>Thy sins +so heinous and so foul,<br /></span> <span>Which like a cloud +obscure thy day,<br /></span> <span>I've blotted out, I've washed +away.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"'Return to me, +thou 'rt mine; I own<br /></span> <span>Thee for my servant, and my +son;<br /></span> <span>I have redeemed thy precious +soul,<br /></span> <span>And none my purchase shall +control.'<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I hear, I +come, my covenant God:<br /></span> <span>Thy love's my life, my +raiment, food;<br /></span> <span>Thy favor, through my Jesus +given,<br /></span> <span>Is to my soul the bliss of +heaven.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I come, my +Jesus; hold me fast,<br /></span> <span>Till, life and Jordan's +journey past,<br /></span> <span>My faith to vision yield her +place,<br /></span> <span>And I shall see thy unveiled +face.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Then, with the +loudest of the throng,<br /></span> <span>Of sins forgiven I'll +raise the song —<br /></span> <span>Of pardon bought with +Jesus' blood,<br /></span> <span>Sinners made kings and priests to +God."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>PSALM 103. FIFTY YEARS AGO.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Oh thou, my soul, bless God the +Lord,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all that in me +is<br /></span> <span>Be stirréd up, his holy +name<br /></span> <span class="i2">To magnify and bless," +etc.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>"'I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a +little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: +because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that +I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Believest thou not +that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? +<!--Page 394--><a name="P394" id="P394"></a> He that hath seen +me, hath seen the Father. Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth is +come, he will guide you into all truth. He shall glorify me; for he +shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that +the Father hath are mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of +mine, and shall show it unto you.' John 14; 16:14. 'Neither +pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me +through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art +in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us: that the world may +believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me +I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in +them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; that the +world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou +hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given +me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which +thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of +the world.' John 17:20, etc. 'All are yours; and ye are Christ's; +and Christ is God's.' 1 Cor. 3:22. 'Ye are dead, and your life +is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall +appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.' +Col. 3:3. 'For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead +bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all +principality and power.' Col. 2:9. 'There is one body, and one +Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one +Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is +above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of +us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.' +Eph. 4:4.</p> +<!--Page 395--><a name="P395" id="P395"></a> +<p>"'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, +but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the +flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and +gave himself for me,' Gal. 2: 20.</p> +<p>"'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the +world! And looking upon Jesus as he walked, John saith, Behold the +Lamb of God!' John 1:29, 36.</p> +<p>"'Therefore let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; +whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or +death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye +are Christ's; and Christ is God's,' 1 Cor. 3:21.</p> +<p>"'It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He +sitteth alone and keepeth silence; he putteth his mouth in the +dust, if so be there may be hope; he giveth his cheek to him that +smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.' Lam. 3:27.</p> +<p>"'That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open +thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward +thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord.' +Ezek. 16:63. <i>Amen.</i></p> +<p>"'A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of +thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. +Therefore, also now, saith the Lord, turn ye unto me with all your +heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your +heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for +he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, +and repenteth him of the evil,' Joel 2:2, 12.</p> +<p>"'I will visit upon her the days of Baalim: she went after her +lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. <!--Page 396--><a name= +"P396" id="P396"></a> I will allure her, and bring her into the +wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will betroth thee +unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in +righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in +mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou +shalt know the Lord.' Hosea 2:13.</p> +<p>"'O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help.' +'Return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine +iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, +Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we +render the calves of our lips. Ashur shall not save us; we will not +ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our +hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.' +Hosea 13:14.</p> +<p>"'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for +mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto +Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as +Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? +I have heard him, and observed him. I am like a green fir-tree; +from me is thy fruit found.' Hosea 14.</p> +<p>"'O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, because we have +sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and +forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.' +Daniel 9.</p> +<p>"'He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the +lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom; and shall gently +lead those that are with young. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and +speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is +passed over from my God? Hast thou not <!--Page 397--><a name= +"P397" id="P397"></a> known, hast thou not heard, that the +everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no +searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and +to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths +shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but +they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall +mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; +they shall walk, and not faint.' Isa. 40:11, etc.</p> +<p>"'Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not +the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk +in his ways, neither were they obedient to his law. Therefore he +hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of +battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; +and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. But now thus saith +the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O +Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by +thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I +will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow +thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; +neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy +God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Since thou wast precious +in my sight thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee.' Isa. +42:24, etc.</p> +<p>"Yes, my God, I remember and am confounded; amazed at my +ingratitude, amazed at thy grace. I am thy witness, just so has +been thy way with me. What can I say? Thou hast wrought with me for +thy name's sake. I am dumb before thee; Oh, I am vile — and +<!--Page 398--><a name="P398" id="P398"></a> yet I am thine! +Thou hast redeemed me; it is thy good pleasure to save me. Glorify +thy name. 'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy +transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I +have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: +shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye +mountains, O forest and every green tree therein; for the Lord hath +redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.'</p> +<p>"'For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more +they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of +righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Christ Jesus. Where sin +abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto +death, so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal +life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.'</p> +<p>"'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for +I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word +is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, +that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely +shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even +to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall +be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, +and shall glory.' 'Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the +remnant of the house of Israel. Even to your old age, I am he; and +even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; +even I will carry, and will deliver you.' Isa. +45:22; 46:3.</p> +<p>"'Thus saith the Lord; I, even I, will both search my sheep, and +seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that +he is among his sheep <!--Page 399--><a name="P399" id= +"P399"></a> that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and +will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered +in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the +people, and gather them to their own land, and feed them upon the +mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places +of the country. And I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon +the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they +lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the +mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to +lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and +bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which +was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.' Ezek. 34:11. +He hath done it, I am his witness: I, the poor wanderer, the happy +subject of this grace. 'And I will raise up for them a plant of +renown,' my Jesus, 'and they shall be no 'more consumed with hunger +in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. Thus +shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that +they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. +And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your +God, saith the Lord God.' Ezek. 34:29. 'As the mountains are round +about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from +henceforth, even for ever.' Psa. 125:2.</p> +<p>"'When the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled +it by their own way and by their doings. And I scattered them among +the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries; +according to their ways and according to their doings I judged +them. And when they entered unto the heathen, +<!--Page 400--><a name="P400" id="P400"></a> whither they went, +they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the +people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had +pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among +the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of +Israel, thus saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sakes, O +house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have +profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my +great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have +profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am +the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you +before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and +gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own +land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be +clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I +cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit +will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of +your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my +Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye +shall keep my judgments, and do them. I will also save you from all +your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase +it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of +the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no +more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember +your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall +loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for +your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the +<!--Page 401--><a name="P401" id="P401"></a> Lord God, be it +known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O +house of Israel.' Ezek. 36:17, etc."</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span><br /> +EZEKIEL 16:63; 36:32.</span> <span><br /> +A SCRIPTURE PARAPHRASE BY D. B——.</span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>"Not for your sakes; for, born unclean,<br /></span> +<span>The slaves of Satan and of sin.<br /></span> <span>I saw no +comeliness in you,<br /></span> <span>To bid my grace such wonders +do.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your +sakes; for when my love<br /></span> <span>And grace should your +affections move,<br /></span> <span>The working of an evil +heart<br /></span> <span>Still makes you from my truth +depart.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your +sakes; for, bold and blind,<br /></span> <span>To lust and avarice +inclined,<br /></span> <span>Each shadowy idol you +obey,<br /></span> <span>Disowning my paternal sway.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your sakes; with heaven in +view,<br /></span> <span>For sin you sell your souls +anew;<br /></span> <span>You barter, for a gilded +bait,<br /></span> <span>The joys of an eternal state.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your sakes; for though you +eyed<br /></span> <span>The cross of Christ on which he +died,<br /></span> <span>You scorn his love for worldly +ends,<br /></span> <span>And wound him in the house of +friends.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your +sakes; with Jesus' name,<br /></span> <span>You put him to an open +shame;<br /></span> <span>And by your sins, consent +again<br /></span> <span>To have the dear Redeemer +slain.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for your +sakes; 'tis my free grace<br /></span> <span>That grants you +pardon, life, and peace;<br /></span> <span>And works a change on +all your frame,<br /></span> <span>And binds you to adore my +name.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 402--><a name="P402" id="P402"></a> <span>"Not for my +sake! — I hail the sound;<br /></span> <span>Let power of +grace my pride confound:<br /></span> <span>Salvation is a work +divine;<br /></span> <span>Confusion and the shame be +mine.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for my +sake! — did I but trust<br /></span> <span>To weakness, +vanity, and dust,<br /></span> <span>I ne'er could reach the +heavenly prize,<br /></span> <span>Nor hope a mansion in the +skies.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Not for my +sake! — yet save and call;<br /></span> <span>Let Jesus be my +all in all:<br /></span> <span>When glory comes I'll self +disown,<br /></span> <span>And grace, free grace shall wear the +crown."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>"'Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is +good: for his mercy endureth for ever.' Psalm 106:1.</p> +<p>"'Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy +people: O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of +thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that +I may glory with thine inheritance.' Psalm 106:4, 5.</p> +<p>"'At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the +commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of +promise, having no hope, and without God in the world; but now, in +Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off, are made nigh by the +blood of Christ.' Eph. 2:12, 13.</p> +<p>"'Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt +prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: to judge +the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no +more oppress.' Psalm 10:17.</p> +<p>"'Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led +thee these forty years in the wilderness, <!--Page 403--><a name= +"P403" id="P403"></a> to humble thee, to prove thee, to know +what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, +or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed +thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers +know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread +only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the +Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither +did thy foot swell, these forty years.'</p> +<p>"'Thou shalt also consider in thy heart, that as a man +chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore +thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in +his ways, and to fear him.' Deut. 8:2-6.</p> +<p>"'Thou, God, seest me.' Gen. 16:13.</p> +<p>"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who +hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in +Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation +of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him +in love: having predestinated us to the adoption of sons by Jesus +Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to +the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us +accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his +blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his +grace; wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and +prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, +according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: +that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather +together in one all things in Christ, both which are in +<!--Page 404--><a name="P404" id="P404"></a> heaven, and which +are on earth; even in him, in whom also we have obtained an +inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him +who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we +should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.' +Eph. 1:3-12.</p> +<p>"'God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he +loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us +together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us +up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ +Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches +of his grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus. For +by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, +it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast; for +we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, +which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Now +therefore ye,' Gentiles, 'are no more strangers and foreigners, but +fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and +are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus +Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the +building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the +Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God +through the Spirit.' Eph. 2:4, etc. 'I,' Paul, 'bow my knees unto +the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in +heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the +riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in +the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that +ye being rooted and grounded in love, may <!--Page 405--><a name= +"P405" id="P405"></a> be able to comprehend with all saints, +what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know +the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be +filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do +exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according +to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by +Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.' +Eph. 3:14-21.</p> +<p>"'I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye +walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all +lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another +in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of +peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in +one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God +and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you +all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the +measure of the gift of Christ. That we may grow up into him in all +things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body +fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint +supplieth' — ministers and people in the use of all appointed +means — 'according to the effectual working in the measure of +every part, maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself +in love.' Eph. 4:1, etc.</p> +<p>"'I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and +I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can +do nothing.' John 15:5, 7.</p> +<p>"'And Moses said, The Lord heareth your murmurings that ye +murmur against him; and what are we? your murmurings are not +against us, but against the <!--Page 406--><a name="P406" id= +"P406"></a> Lord. And Moses said, This is the bread which the +Lord hath given you to eat. And the children of Israel did eat +manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.' +Exodus 16.</p> +<p>"'I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man +eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I +will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. +He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and +I in him. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and +they are life.' John 6:51, etc.</p> +<p>"'For of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us +wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' +1 Cor. 1:30.</p> +<p>"'Seeing then that we have a great High-priest, who is passed +into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our +profession. For we have not a High-priest who cannot be touched +with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted +like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto +the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to +help in time of need.' Heb. 4:14. 'For this is the covenant that I +will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the +Lord: I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their +hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a +people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every +man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from +the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their +unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I +remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made +the first old. Now that <!--Page 407--><a name="P407" id= +"P407"></a> which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish +away.' Heb. 8:10-13.</p> +<p>"'This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, +and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he +that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.' 1 John +5:11, 12. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.' +2 Cor. 9:15.</p> +<p>"'Truly my soul waiteth upon God; from him cometh my salvation. +He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. My soul, wait thou +only upon God, for my expectation is from him: he only is my rock +and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is +my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge +is in God.' Psa. 62:1-7."</p> +<br /> +<hr /> +<h4>REST.</h4> +<p>"'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished: and on the +seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested the +seventh day from all his work which he had made; and God blessed +the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had +rested from all his work that he had created and made.' Genesis +2:1-3.</p> +<p>"'And Moses said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto +the Lord. So the people rested on the seventh day.' Exodus 16:23, +30.</p> +<p>"'And the women followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and +how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and +ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the +commandment.' Luke 23:55, 56.</p> +<!--Page 408--><a name="P408" id="P408"></a> +<p>"Christ rested in the tomb of Joseph the last Sabbath under the +law; but the evening and the morning were the first day. On that +morning he closed his work of humiliation, manifested his victory +over death — the curse denounced — by rising from the +tomb, and rested on the first day of the week from all his +humiliation work; his death, burial, and rest in the grave on the +seventh day being the last part of that work."</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"My God, thy service well +demands<br /></span> <span class="i2">The remnant of my +days:<br /></span> <span>Why is this feeble life +preserved,<br /></span> <span class="i2">But to repeat thy +praise?<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Thine arms of +everlasting love<br /></span> <span class="i2">Do this weak frame +sustain,<br /></span> <span>While life is hovering o'er the +grave,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And nature sinks with +pain.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Thou, when the +pains of death assail,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Wilt chase the +fears of hell,<br /></span> <span>And teach my pale and quivering +lips<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thy matchless grace to +tell.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Calmly I'll lay +my fainting head<br /></span> <span class="i2">On thy dear faithful +breast:<br /></span> <span>Pleased to obey my Father's +call<br /></span> <span class="i2">To his eternal +rest.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Into thy hands, +my Saviour God,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Do I my soul +resign,<br /></span> <span>In firm dependence on that +truth<br /></span> <span class="i2">That made salvation +mine."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 409--><a name="P409" id="P409"></a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>   THE INWARD +WARFARE.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Strange and +mysterious is my life;<br /></span> <span class="i2">What opposites +I feel within:<br /></span> <span>A stable peace, a constant +strife,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The rule of grace, the power +of sin.<br /></span> <span class="i2">Too often I am captive +led,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Yet daily triumph in my +Head.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I prize the +privilege of prayer;<br /></span> <span class="i2">But O, what +backwardness to pray:<br /></span> <span>Though on the Lord I cast +my care,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I feel its burden every +day.<br /></span> <span class="i2">I seek his will in all I +do,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Yet find my own is working +too.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I call the +promises mine own,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And prize them +more than mines of gold;<br /></span> <span>Yet, though their +sweetness I have known,<br /></span> <span class="i2">They leave me +unimpressed and cold.<br /></span> <span class="i2">One hour upon +the truth I feed;<br /></span> <span class="i2">The next, I know +not what I read.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I +love the holy day of rest,<br /></span> <span class="i2">When Jesus +meets his gathered saints:<br /></span> <span>Sweet day, of all the +week the best,<br /></span> <span class="i2">For its return my +spirit pants;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Yet often, through my +unbelief,<br /></span> <span class="i2">It proves a day of guilt +and grief.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"While on +my Saviour I rely,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I know my foes +shall lose their aim;<br /></span> <span>And therefore dare their +power defy,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Assured of conquest +through his name;<br /></span> <span class="i2">But soon my +confidence is slain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all my fears +return again.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 410--><a name="P410" id="P410"></a> <span>"Thus +different powers within me strive,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">And death and sin by turns prevail.<br /></span> <span>I +grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And +victory hangs in doubtful scale;<br /></span> <span class="i2">But +Jesus has his promise passed,<br /></span> <span class="i2">That +grace shall overcome at last."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>    FLESH AND +SPIRIT.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"What +different powers of grace and sin<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Attend our mortal state:<br /></span> <span>I hate the +thoughts that work within,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Yet do the +works I hate.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Now I +complain, and groan, and die,<br /></span> <span class="i2">While +sin and Satan reign;<br /></span> <span>Now raise my songs of +triumph high,<br /></span> <span class="i2">For grace prevails +again.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"So darkness +struggles with the light,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Till +perfect day arise;<br /></span> <span>Water and fire maintain the +fight,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Until the weaker +dies.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Thus will the +flesh and spirit strive,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And vex and +break my peace;<br /></span> <span>But I shall quit this mortal +life,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And sin for ever +cease."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Join all the names of love and +power<br /></span> <span>That ever men or angels bore;<br /></span> +<span>All are too mean to speak his worth,<br /></span> <span>Or +set Emmanuel's glory forth.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>"But O, what condescending ways<br /></span> <span>He takes +to teach his heavenly grace:<br /></span> <span>Mine eyes, with joy +and wonder, see<br /></span> <span>What forms of love he bears for +me.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <!--Page 411--><a name= +"P411" id="P411"></a> <span>"The Angel of the covenant +stands,<br /></span> <span>With his commission in his +hands;<br /></span> <span>Sent from his Father's milder +throne,<br /></span> <span>To make his great salvation +known.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Great Prophet, +let me bless thy name;<br /></span> <span>By thee the joyful +tidings came,<br /></span> <span>Of wrath appeased and sins +forgiven,<br /></span> <span>Of hell subdued, and peace with +heaven.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"My bright +Example, and my Guide,<br /></span> <span>I would be walking by thy +side;<br /></span> <span>Oh, let me never run astray,<br /></span> +<span>Nor follow the forbidden way.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"I love my Shepherd, he shall +keep<br /></span> <span>My wandering soul among his +sheep;<br /></span> <span>He feeds his flock, he tells their +names,<br /></span> <span>And in his bosom bears the +lambs.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"My Surety +undertakes my cause,<br /></span> <span>Answering his Father's +broken laws:<br /></span> <span>Behold my soul at freedom +set,<br /></span> <span>My Surety paid the dreadful +debt.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, my great +High-priest, has died,<br /></span> <span>I seek no sacrifice +beside;<br /></span> <span>His blood did once for all +atone,<br /></span> <span>And now it pleads before the +throne.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"My Advocate +appears on high,<br /></span> <span>The Father lays his thunders +by;<br /></span> <span>Not all that earth or hell can +say,<br /></span> <span>Shall turn my Father's heart +away.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"My Lord, my +Conqueror, and my King,<br /></span> <span>Thy sceptre and thy +sword I sing;<br /></span> <span>Thine is the victory, and I +sit<br /></span> <span>A joyful subject at thy feet.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <!--Page 412--><a name="P412" id= +"P412"></a> <span>"Aspire, my soul, to glorious +deeds,<br /></span> <span>The Captain of salvation +leads;<br /></span> <span>March on, nor fear to win the +day,<br /></span> <span>Though death and hell obstruct thy +way.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Though death and +hell, and powers unknown,<br /></span> <span>Put all their forms of +mischief on,<br /></span> <span>I shall be safe, for Christ +displays<br /></span> <span>Salvation in more sovereign +ways."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Be this my one great business +here,<br /></span> <span>With holy trembling, holy +fear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To make my calling +sure;<br /></span> <span>Thine utmost counsel to +fulfil,<br /></span> <span>And suffer all thy righteous +will,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And to the end +endure.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Then, +Saviour, then my soul receive,<br /></span> <span>Transported from +this vale, to live,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And reign with +thee above:<br /></span> <span>Where faith is sweetly lost in +sight,<br /></span> <span>And hope in full supreme +delight,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And everlasting +love."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span class="i2">"Hush, my distrustful +heart,<br /></span> <span class="i3">And cease to flow, my +tears;<br /></span> <span class="i2">For greater, Lord, thou +art<br /></span> <span class="i3">Than all my doubts and +fears.<br /></span> <span>Did Jesus once upon me +shine?<br /></span> <span>Then Jesus is for ever mine.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span class="i2">"Unchangeable his +will,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Whatever be my +frame:<br /></span> <span class="i2">My Saviour's heart is +still<br /></span> <span class="i3">Eternally the +same.<br /></span> <span>My soul through many changes +goes,<br /></span> <span>His love no variation knows.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <!--Page 413--><a name="P413" id= +"P413"></a> <span class="i2">"Thou, Lord, wilt carry +on,<br /></span> <span class="i3">And perfectly +perform,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The work thou hast +begun<br /></span> <span class="i3">In me, vile sinful +worm.<br /></span> <span>Mine own self-will brings grief and +woe,<br /></span> <span>But Jesus will not let me go.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span class="i2">"The bowels of thy +grace,<br /></span> <span class="i3">At first did freely +move;<br /></span> <span class="i2">And still I see thy +face,<br /></span> <span class="i3">And feel that God is +love.<br /></span> <span>Into thine arms my soul I +cast;<br /></span> <span>By sovereign mercy saved at +last.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span class="i2">"The +Priest and Ark now move<br /></span> <span class="i3">To Jordan's +gulfy strand;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Come now in covenant +love,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Take firm thy promised +stand:<br /></span> <span>Only to me thy countenance +show,<br /></span> <span>I ask no more the Jordan +through."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Come, let us join our cheerful +songs<br /></span> <span class="i2">With angels round the +throne;<br /></span> <span>Ten thousand thousand are their +tongues,<br /></span> <span class="i2">But all their joys are +one.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Worthy the Lamb +that died, they cry,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To be exalted +thus;<br /></span> <span>Worthy the Lamb, our souls +reply,<br /></span> <span class="i2">For he was slain for +us.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus is worthy +to receive<br /></span> <span class="i2">Honor and power +divine;<br /></span> <span>And blessings, more than we can +give,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Be, Lord, for ever +thine.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 414--><a name="P414" id="P414"></a> <span>"The whole +creation join in one,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To bless the +sacred name<br /></span> <span>Of Him that sits upon the +throne,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And to adore the +Lamb."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Give me the wings of faith, to +rise<br /></span> <span class="i2">Within the veil, and +see<br /></span> <span>The saints above, how great their +joys,<br /></span> <span class="i2">How bright their glories +be.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Once they were +mourners here below,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And wet their +couch with tears;<br /></span> <span>They wrestled hard, as we do +now,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With sins, and doubts, and +fears.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I ask them +whence their victory came:<br /></span> <span class="i2">They, with +united breath,<br /></span> <span>Ascribe their conquest to the +Lamb,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Their triumph to his +death.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"They marked +the footsteps that he trod;<br /></span> <span class="i2">His zeal +inspired their breast;<br /></span> <span>And following their +incarnate God,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Possessed the promised +rest.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Our glorious +Leader claims our praise,<br /></span> <span class="i2">For his own +pattern given;<br /></span> <span>While the long cloud of +witnesses<br /></span> <span class="i2">Show the same path to +heaven."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"With heart and hands, and lifted +eyes,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'll praise thee while I've +life and breath;<br /></span> <span>And, while my loosened spirit +flies,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'll gasp thy praise in very +death.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 415--><a name="P415" id="P415"></a> <span>"Faith fain +would say, in cheerful mood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thy name +be glorified,<br /></span> <span>By leading through the swelling +flood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Or through the channel +dried.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"If grace in +time of need I have,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And strength as +is my day,<br /></span> <span>I'll triumph through the foaming +wave,<br /></span> <span class="i2">As through the side-walled +way."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"I'll praise my Maker while I've +breath;<br /></span> <span>And when my voice is lost in +death,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Praise shall employ my noblest +powers;<br /></span> <span>My days of praise shall ne'er be +past,<br /></span> <span>"While life and thought and being +last.<br /></span> <span class="i2">And immortality +endures."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"My God, indulge my humble +claim;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thou art my hope, my joy, my +rest;<br /></span> <span>The glories that compose thy +name<br /></span> <span class="i2">Stand all engaged to make me +blest.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Thou great and +good, thou just and wise,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thou art my +Father and my God;<br /></span> <span>And I am thine by sacred +ties,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thy child, thy servant, bought +with blood.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"With +heart, and eyes, and lifted hands,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">For thee I long, to thee I look;<br /></span> <span>As +travellers in thirsty lands<br /></span> <span class="i2">Pant for +the cooling water-brook."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, the weary wanderer's +rest,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Give grace thy sovereign will +to bear;<br /></span> <span>With steadfast patience arm my +breast,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With holy love and lowly +fear.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 416--><a name="P416" id="P416"></a> <span>"Thankful, I +take the cup from thee,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Prepared and +mingled by thy skill;<br /></span> <span>Though bitter to the taste +it be,<br /></span> <span class="i2">It has a sovereign power to +heal.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Be thou a Rock +of ages nigh;<br /></span> <span class="i2">My savéd soul on +thee alone<br /></span> <span>Shall safely rest, and fears shall +fly,<br /></span> <span class="i2">As clouds before the mid-day +sun.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Speak to my +troubled conscience peace;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Say to my +trembling heart, Be still;<br /></span> <span>My power thy strength +and fortress is.<br /></span> <span class="i2">Amen, to all thy +sovereign will.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"O +Death, where is thy sting? where now<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Thy boasted victory, O grave?<br /></span> <span>Who shall +contend with God, or who<br /></span> <span class="i2">Condemn whom +he delights to save."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"How sweet the name of Jesus +sounds<br /></span> <span class="i2">In a believer's +ear:<br /></span> <span>It soothes his sorrows, heals his +wounds,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And drives away his +fear.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"It makes the +wounded spirit whole,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And calms the +troubled breast;<br /></span> <span>'Tis manna to the hungry +soul,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And to the weary, +rest.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Dear Name, the +Rock on which I build,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My Shield and +Hiding-place;<br /></span> <span>My never failing Treasury, +filled<br /></span> <span class="i2">With boundless stores of +grace:<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, my +Shepherd, Husband, Friend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My +Prophet, Priest, and King,<br /></span> <span>My Lord, my Life, my +Way, my End,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Accept the praise I +bring.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 417--><a name="P417" id="P417"></a> <span>"Weak is the +effort of my heart,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And cold my +warmest thought;<br /></span> <span>But when I see thee as thou +art,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'll praise thee as I +ought.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Till then I +would thy love proclaim<br /></span> <span class="i2">With every +fleeting breath;<br /></span> <span>And may the music of thy +name<br /></span> <span class="i2">Refresh my soul in +death."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Amazing grace! how sweet the +sound<br /></span> <span class="i2">That saved a wretch like +me:<br /></span> <span>I once was lost, but now am +found;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Was blind, but now I +see.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"'Twas grace that +taught my heart to fear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And grace my +fears relieved:<br /></span> <span>How precious did that grace +appear<br /></span> <span class="i2">The hour I first +believed.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Through +many dangers, toils, and snares,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Already I have come:<br /></span> <span>'Twas grace that +brought me safe thus far,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And grace +will lead me home.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>"Yes, when this heart and flesh shall fail,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And mortal life shall cease,<br /></span> <span>I +shall possess, within the veil,<br /></span> <span class="i2">A +life of joy and peace."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>A swelling Jordan rolls between —<br /></span> +<span class="i2">A timid pilgrim, I;<br /></span> <span>But grace +shall order all the scene,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And Christ +himself be nigh.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>He +shall roll back the foaming wave,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Command the channel dry;<br /></span> <span>No sting has +death, no victory grave?<br /></span> <span class="i2">With Jesus +in my eye.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 418--><a name="P418" id="P418"></a> <span>"Come, thou +Fount of every blessing,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Tune my +heart to sing thy grace;<br /></span> <span>Streams of mercy, never +ceasing,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Call for songs of endless +praise.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Teach me some +melodious sonnet,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Sung by flaming +tongues above;<br /></span> <span>Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon +it —<br /></span> <span class="i2">Mount of God's unchanging +love.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Here I raise my +Ebenezer,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Hither by thy help I'm +come,<br /></span> <span>And I hope, by thy good +pleasure,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Safely to arrive at +home.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus sought me +when a stranger,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Wandering from the +fold of God;<br /></span> <span>He, to save my soul from +danger,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Interposed with precious +blood.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Oh, to grace +how great a debtor<br /></span> <span class="i2">Daily I'm +constrained to be:<br /></span> <span>Let that grace, Lord, like a +fetter,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Bind my wandering heart to +thee.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Prone to +wander, Lord, I feel it,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Prone to +leave the God I love;<br /></span> <span>Here's my heart, O take +and seal it,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Seal it from thy courts +above."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Eternal God, I bless thy +name,<br /></span> <span>The same thy power, thy grace the +same;<br /></span> <span>The tokens of thy friendly +care<br /></span> <span>Open and crown and close the +year.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>I mid ten +thousand dangers stand,<br /></span> <span>Supported by thy +gracious hand;<br /></span> <span>And see, when I survey thy +ways,<br /></span> <span>Ten thousand monuments of +grace.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 419--><a name="P419" id="P419"></a> <span>Thus far +thine arm has led me on;<br /></span> <span>Thus far I make thy +mercy known;<br /></span> <span>And while I tread this desert +land,<br /></span> <span>New mercies shall new songs +demand.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>My grateful +soul on Jordan's shore<br /></span> <span>Shall raise one sacred +pillar more;<br /></span> <span>Then bear, in thy bright courts +above,<br /></span> <span>Inscriptions of immortal +love.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>No works to rest upon have +I,<br /></span> <span>No boast of moral dignity;<br /></span> +<span>If e'er I lisp a song of praise,<br /></span> <span>Grace is +the note my soul shall raise.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>'Twas grace that quickened me when +dead;<br /></span> <span>'Twas grace my soul to Jesus +led,<br /></span> <span>Grace brings me pardon for my +sin,<br /></span> <span>And grace subdues my lusts +within.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>'Tis grace +that sweetens every cross,<br /></span> <span>'Tis grace supports +in every loss;<br /></span> <span>In Jesus' grace my soul is +strong,<br /></span> <span>Grace is my hope, and Christ my +song.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Thus, 'tis alone +of grace I boast,<br /></span> <span>And 'tis alone in grace I +trust:<br /></span> <span>For all that's past, grace is my +theme,<br /></span> <span>For what's to come 'tis still the +same.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>And when I come +to Jordan's shore,<br /></span> <span>I'll raise one Ebenezer +more;<br /></span> <span>Th' ark of the covenant in my +view,<br /></span> <span>I'll sing of grace the Jordan +through.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Is this the kind +return,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Are these the thanks we owe +—<br /></span> <span>Thus to abuse eternal love,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whence all our blessings flow?<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <!--Page 420--><a name="P420" id= +"P420"></a> <span>"To what a stubborn frame<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Has sin reduced our mind!<br /></span> <span>What +strange rebellious wretches we,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And +God as strangely kind!<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>"Turn, turn us, mighty God!<br /></span> <span class="i2">And +mould our souls afresh;<br /></span> <span>Break, sovereign grace, +these hearts of stone,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And give us +hearts of flesh.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Let +past ingratitude<br /></span> <span class="i2">Provoke our weeping +eyes;<br /></span> <span>And hourly, as new mercies +fall,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Let hourly thanks +arise."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"O the sweet wonders of that +cross,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Where Christ my Saviour loved +and died;<br /></span> <span>Her noblest life my spirit +draws,<br /></span> <span class="i2">From his dear wounds and +bleeding side.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I +would for ever speak his name,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In +sounds to mortal ears unknown;<br /></span> <span>With angels join +to praise the Lamb,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And worship at +his Father's throne."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, the vision of thy +face<br /></span> <span class="i2">Hath overpowering +charms;<br /></span> <span>Scarce shall I feel death's cold +embrace,<br /></span> <span class="i2">If Christ be in my +arms."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"O glorious hour! O blest +abode!<br /></span> <span class="i2">I shall be near and like my +God;<br /></span> <span>And flesh and sin no more +control<br /></span> <span class="i2">The sacred pleasures of my +soul."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 421--><a name="P421" id="P421"></a> <span>"When in +death's gloomy vale I tread,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With joy +e'en there I'll lift my head;<br /></span> <span>From fear and +dread he'll keep me free,<br /></span> <span class="i2">His rod and +staff shall comfort me."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, to thy dear faithful +hand<br /></span> <span class="i2">My naked soul I +trust;<br /></span> <span>My flesh but waits for thy +command,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To drop into the +dust."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Before we quite forsake our +clay,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Or leave this dark +abode,<br /></span> <span>The wings of love bear us +away<br /></span> <span class="i2">To see our smiling +God."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"O make it true, my Saviour +God;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Raise me all fears +above;<br /></span> <span>And when I think on Jesus' +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Let my last pulse beat +love."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"O for an overcoming +faith,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To cheer my dying +hours;<br /></span> <span>To triumph o'er the monster +Death,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all his frightful +powers.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Joyful, with +all the strength I have,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My quivering +lips should sing,<br /></span> <span>'Where is thy boasted victory, +Grave,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And where the monster's +sting?'<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"If sin be +pardoned, I'm secure;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Death has no +sting beside;<br /></span> <span>The law gives sin its damning +power,<br /></span> <span class="i2">But Christ, my Ransom, +died.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 422--><a name="P422" id="P422"></a> <span>"Now to the +God of victory,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Immortal thanks be +paid;<br /></span> <span>Who makes us conquerors while we +die,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Through Christ, our living +Head."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>All mortal vanities be +gone,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Nor tempt mine eyes, nor tire +mine ears;<br /></span> <span>Behold, amidst the eternal +throne,<br /></span> <span class="i2">A vision of the Lamb +appears.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>All the +assembling saints around,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Fall +worshipping before the Lamb;<br /></span> <span>And in new songs of +gospel sound,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Address their honors to +his name.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Our voices +join the heavenly strain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And with +transporting pleasure sing,<br /></span> <span>Worthy the Lamb that +once was slain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Our blessed Prophet, +Priest, and King.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Thou +hast redeemed our souls from hell,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">With thine invaluable blood;<br /></span> <span>And wretches, +that did once rebel,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Are now made +fav'rites of their God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>Worthy for ever is the Lord,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">That died for treasons not his own,<br /></span> <span>By +every tongue to be adored,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And dwell +upon his Father's throne.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>   THE NEW TESTAMENT +IN</span> <span>    THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.</span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"The promise of my Father's +love,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Shall stand for ever +good;<br /></span> <span>He said, and gave his soul to +death,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And sealed it with his +blood.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 423--><a name="P423" id="P423"></a> <span>"To this dear +covenant of thy word,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I set my +worthless name;<br /></span> <span>I seal the engagement of the +Lord,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And make my humble +claim.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"The light, and +strength, and pardoning grace,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And +glory shall be mine;<br /></span> <span>My life and soul, my heart +and flesh,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all my powers are +thine.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I call that +legacy mine own,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Which Jesus did +bequeath;<br /></span> <span>'Twas purchased with a dying +groan,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And ratified in +death.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Sweet is the +memory of His name,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Who blessed us in +his will:<br /></span> <span>And to his testament of +love<br /></span> <span class="i2">Made his own life the +seal.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"To him that +washed me in his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Be +everlasting praise;<br /></span> <span>Salvation, honor, glory, +power,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Eternal as his +days."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Blest be the Father, and his +love,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To which celestial source we +owe<br /></span> <span>Rivers of endless joys above,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And rills of comfort here below.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Glory to the great Son of +God;<br /></span> <span class="i2">From his dear wounded body +rolls<br /></span> <span>A precious stream of vital +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Pardon and life for dying +souls.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"We give thee, +sacred Spirit, praise,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Who in our +hearts of sin and woe<br /></span> <span>Mak'st living springs of +grace arise,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And into boundless glory +flow.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 424--><a name="P424" id="P424"></a> <span>"Thus God the +Father, God the Son,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And God the +Spirit, we adore;<br /></span> <span>The sea of life and love +unknown,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Without a bottom or a +shore."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Let me but hear my Saviour +say,<br /></span> <span>Strength shall be equal to thy +day;<br /></span> <span>Then I rejoice in deep +distress,<br /></span> <span>Leaning on all-sufficient +grace.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I glory in +infirmity,<br /></span> <span>That Christ's own power may rest on +me:<br /></span> <span>When I am weak, then am I +strong;<br /></span> <span>Grace is my shield, and Christ my +song.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I can do all +things, or can bear<br /></span> <span>All sufferings, if my Lord +be there;<br /></span> <span>Sweet pleasures mingle with the +pains,<br /></span> <span>While his strong hand my head +sustains.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Faith has +an overcoming power,<br /></span> <span>It triumphs in the dying +hour;<br /></span> <span>Christ is our life, our joy, our +hope,<br /></span> <span>Nor can we sink with such a +prop."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Jesus, I love thy charming +name,<br /></span> <span class="i2">'Tis music to mine +ear;<br /></span> <span>Fain would I sound it out so +loud<br /></span> <span class="i2">That heaven and earth should +hear.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Yes, thou art +precious to my soul,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My transport and +my trust;<br /></span> <span>My Saviour, Shepherd, Husband, +Friend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">No other good I +boast.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"All my +capacious powers can wish,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In thee +doth richly meet;<br /></span> <span>Not to mine eye is light so +dear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Nor friendship half so +sweet.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 425--><a name="P425" id="P425"></a> <span>"Thy grace +still dwells upon my heart,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And sheds +its fragrance there:<br /></span> <span>The noblest balm of all my +wounds,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The cordial of my +care.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"I'll speak the +honors of thy name<br /></span> <span class="i2">With my last +faltering breath;<br /></span> <span>Then speechless clasp thee in +my arms,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The antidote of +death."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Grace, 'tis a charming +sound,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Harmonious to my +ear;<br /></span> <span>Heaven with the echo shall +resound,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all the earth shall +hear.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Grace first +contrived the way<br /></span> <span class="i2">To save rebellious +man;<br /></span> <span>And all the steps <i>that</i> grace +display,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Which drew the wondrous +plan.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Grace taught my +wandering feet<br /></span> <span class="i2">To tread the heavenly +road;<br /></span> <span>And new supplies each hour I +meet,<br /></span> <span class="i2">While pressing on to +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Grace all the +work shall crown,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Through everlasting +days;<br /></span> <span>It lays in heaven the topmost +stone,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And well deserves the +praise."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"My God, the spring of all my +joys,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The life of my +delights,<br /></span> <span>The glory of my brightest +days,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And comfort of my +nights:<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"In darkest +shades, if thou appear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My dawning is +begun;<br /></span> <span>Thou art my soul's sweet +Morning-star,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And thou my rising +Sun.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <!--Page 426--><a name= +"P426" id="P426"></a> <span>"The opening heavens around me +shine<br /></span> <span class="i2">With beams of sacred +bliss,<br /></span> <span>While Jesus shows his heart is +mine,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And whispers I am +his.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"My soul would +leave this heavy clay,<br /></span> <span class="i2">At that +transporting word;<br /></span> <span>Run up with joy the shining +way,<br /></span> <span class="i2">T' embrace my dearest +Lord.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Fearless of +hell and ghastly death,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'd break +through every foe;<br /></span> <span>The wings of love, and arms +of faith,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Should bear me conqueror +through."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Backward with humble shame I +look,<br /></span> <span class="i2">On my original;<br /></span> +<span>How is my nature dashed and broke,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">In our first father's fall.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"To all that's good averse and +blind,<br /></span> <span class="i2">But prone to all that's +ill;<br /></span> <span>What dreadful darkness veils my +mind,<br /></span> <span class="i2">How obstinate my +will.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Conceived in +sin: O wretched state;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Before I drew +my breath,<br /></span> <span>My first young pulse began to +beat<br /></span> <span class="i2">Iniquity and death.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"How strong in my degenerate +blood<br /></span> <span class="i2">The old corruption +reigns;<br /></span> <span>And mingling with the crooked +flood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Wanders through all my +veins.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Yet, mighty +God, thy wondrous love<br /></span> <span class="i2">Can make my +nature clean;<br /></span> <span>While Christ and grace prevail +above<br /></span> <span class="i2">The tempter, death, and +sin.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <!--Page 427--><a name= +"P427" id="P427"></a> <span>"The second Adam shall +restore<br /></span> <span class="i2">The ruins of the +first;<br /></span> <span>Hosanna to that sovereign +power,<br /></span> <span class="i2">That new-creates our +dust."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> +<span>       JORDAN.*<br /></span> +<span>Joshua 1:11, chapter 3; Psalm 23:4; 73:24.<br /></span> +<p class="note">*The three following effusions by Mrs. Graham, +constituting a part of her "Provision," were found in a separate +paper after her funeral sermon was preached. The hymn of Newton +which she had annexed to the first, was selected by Dr. Mason and +sung on that occasion; and the circumstances described at the +beginning of the third, page 434, occurred at her death, as +narrated in the memoir, though the existence of this paper was then +unknown.</p> +<span> <br /></span> <span>The solemn hour, my soul, draws +near,<br /></span> <span>The holy ark and priests +appear;<br /></span> <span>They forward move to Jordan's +flood,<br /></span> <span>The type, thou knowest, thy covenant +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The signal too to +thee is known;<br /></span> <span>Obey, remove, and follow +on;<br /></span> <span>The ark appears, thy hallowed +guide;<br /></span> <span>Shrink not, but face the rolling +tide.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The waves toss +high their foaming heads,<br /></span> <span>But can'st thou +perish? Jesus leads.<br /></span> <span>This way before I ne'er did +pass,<br /></span> <span>But Jesus thy forerunner has.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>When all its banks it +overflowed,<br /></span> <span>All nature wrapt in midnight +cloud;<br /></span> <span>While darkness held its awful +power,<br /></span> <span>And all God's billows passed him +o'er.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The waves for +him must not divide,<br /></span> <span>Deep calls to deep on every +side;<br /></span> <span>Around his head the surges +roll,<br /></span> <span>And rush into his inmost +soul.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 428--><a name="P428" id="P428"></a> <span>He was the +sufferer in my stead,<br /></span> <span>The curse for sin lay on +his head;<br /></span> <span>The law's demands came like a +flood,<br /></span> <span>My Surety met them with his +blood.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Till every +tittle had been paid,<br /></span> <span>Till due atonement had +been made,<br /></span> <span>No beam appeared of heavenly +grace,<br /></span> <span>A cloud concealed his Father's +face.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>From brim to +bottom he drank up<br /></span> <span>Of wrath the deep mysterious +cup;<br /></span> <span>This Jordan passed, he rose on +high,<br /></span> <span>And captive led captivity.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Justice now fully +satisfied,<br /></span> <span>The law now honored, +magnified,<br /></span> <span>At God's right hand he takes his +place,<br /></span> <span>Executor of covenant grace.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Crowned by Jehovah's firm +decree<br /></span> <span>With universal sovereignty,<br /></span> +<span>All nature owns his powerful sway —<br /></span> +<span>He speaks, the elements obey.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>The emblem then thou may'st +pursue,<br /></span> <span>And safely pass this Jordan +through;<br /></span> <span>The priests but touch the watery +space,<br /></span> <span>When, lo, the floods desert their +place.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>They gather up +upon a heap,<br /></span> <span>Leave dry the channel of the +deep;<br /></span> <span>The ark and priests there take their +stand,<br /></span> <span>And beckon thee to leave the +land.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>I come, my best +Beloved, I come;<br /></span> <span>Now lead me to our Father's +home;<br /></span> <span>On thy dear person fix mine +eye,<br /></span> <span>And faith firm footing shall +supply.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 429--><a name="P429" id="P429"></a> <span>I fear no ill +while thou art near;<br /></span> <span>But let thy voice salute my +ear,<br /></span> <span>Should spirits faint and 'scape the +sigh,<br /></span> <span>With these sweet words, "Fear not; 'tis +I."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>With courage fresh +my soul shall tread<br /></span> <span>On faith's firm ground where +thou dost lead;<br /></span> <span>While still upon thy gracious +face<br /></span> <span>My steady eye maintains its +place.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>And now, my +Joshua, choose, and lay<br /></span> <span>The stones in Jordan's +middle way;<br /></span> <span>Let them o'ertop the flowing +wave,<br /></span> <span>Memorial of thy power to +save.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>For, once a suit +I did prefer,<br /></span> <span>With feeble hope and trembling +fear,<br /></span> <span>That I might have a Pisgah +view,<br /></span> <span>In Jordan's swells, of Canaan +new.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Thy softened +glory let me see,<br /></span> <span>Then cause thy face to shine +on me;<br /></span> <span>And tune my heart, and tune my +voice,<br /></span> <span>And language furnish to +rejoice.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>That all +around may lend their tongue,<br /></span> <span>And sweetly join +my dying song;<br /></span> <span>Then, Newton, saved by grace like +me,<br /></span> <span>We'll sing of sovereign grace with +thee.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>*"Let us love, and sing, and +wonder,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Let us praise the Saviour's +name;<br /></span> <span>He has hushed the law's loud +thunder,<br /></span> <span class="i2">He has quenched mount +Sinai's flame;<br /></span> <span class="i3">He has washed us in +his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">He has brought us nigh to +God.<br /></span> +<p class="note">*Olney Hymns, 82, book 3.</p> +<span> <br /></span> <!--Page 430--><a name="P430" id= +"P430"></a> <span>"Let us love the Lord who bought +us,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Pitied us when +enemies;<br /></span> <span>Called us by his grace, and taught +us;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Gave us ears, and gave us +eyes:<br /></span> <span class="i3">He has wafted us in his +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">He presents our souls to +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Let us sing, +though strong temptation<br /></span> <span class="i2">Threaten +hard to bear us down:<br /></span> <span>For the Lord, our strong +salvation,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Holds in view the +conqueror's crown,<br /></span> <span class="i3">He who washed us +in his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Soon shall bring us +home to God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Let us +wonder, grace and justice<br /></span> <span class="i2">Join and +point to mercy's store;<br /></span> <span>When through grace, in +Christ our trust is,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Justice smiles, +and asks no more.<br /></span> <span class="i3">He who washed us in +his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Has secured our way to +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Let us praise, +and join the chorus<br /></span> <span class="i2">Of the saints +enthroned on high;<br /></span> <span>Here they trusted him before +us,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Now their praises fill the +sky.<br /></span> <span class="i3">Thou hast washed us in thy +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Thou art worthy, Lamb of +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Hark, the name +of Jesus sounded<br /></span> <span class="i2">Loud from golden +harps above;<br /></span> <span>On that rock our hopes are +founded;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Sovereign grace, and +sovereign love.<br /></span> <span class="i3">We shall conquer +through his blood,<br /></span> <span class="i3">Kings and priests +be made to God."<br /></span> <span class= +"i4">            NEWTON.<br /> +</span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 431--><a name="P431" id="P431"></a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> +<span>       HEAVEN.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>To be where thou my Saviour +art,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To see, and be conformed to +thee,<br /></span> <span>Perfect in holiness this +heart;<br /></span> <span class="i2"><i>This; this</i> is heaven +itself to me.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>To see +thee in thy glory, Lord,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Thy Father's +glory and thy own;<br /></span> <span>The eternal, the incarnate +Word,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Adored upon his Father's +throne.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>To see as +seen, to know as known,<br /></span> <span class="i2">My Saviour in +my flesh and blood;<br /></span> <span>To be made like him, with +him one,<br /></span> <span class="i2">I in him, and he in +God.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The holy, holy, +holy One,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Who was, and is, and is to +come,<br /></span> <span>The earth his footstool, heaven his +throne,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The church his bride, he her +Bridegroom.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Angels and +elders, earth and heaven,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Are +summoned to unseal the book;<br /></span> <span>But silent all, no +answer given,<br /></span> <span class="i2">None worthy found +therein to look.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>But +Judah's Lion, David's Son,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And +David's Root, the great I AM,<br /></span> <span>Appears upon his +Father's throne,<br /></span> <span class="i2">As slain for +sacrifice, the Lamb.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>He takes the book he can unseal;<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">He worthy is, and he has power<br /></span> <span>God's secret +counsels to reveal,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And to fulfil +each in its hour.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The +heavenly host united fall<br /></span> <span class="i2">In humble +worship at his feet;<br /></span> <span>One glorious theme inspires +them all,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The joy is full, the +concert sweet.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 432--><a name="P432" id="P432"></a> <span>New odors to +the throne ascend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In accents new +their praises soar;<br /></span> <span>Each finds in each a glowing +friend,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all the God of all +adore.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>And shall I +join that prostrate throng,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In love's +ecstatic heaven-taught lays,<br /></span> <span>With powers +expanded, that new song<br /></span> <span class="i2">Hymn to the +Lamb's exalted praise?<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>"Worthy art thou to take the book,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">And loose the seals, and read therein,<br /></span> +<span>God's holy mysteries to unlock;<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Worthy art thou, for thou wast slain.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>"Thou hast redeemed us with thy +blood,<br /></span> <span class="i2">From every nation of the +earth;<br /></span> <span>And made us kings and priests to +God,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And sharers of a heavenly +birth."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Myriads of +angels stand around,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Uniting in the +loud acclaim;<br /></span> <span>And fill the temple with the +sound<br /></span> <span class="i2">Of our Redeemer's gentle +name.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>"Worthy the Lamb +that once was slain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">A sacrifice for +every sin,<br /></span> <span>All power and glory to +obtain,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And universal empire +win."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Heaven, earth, +and sea shall swell the tone<br /></span> <span class="i2">Of +fervent universal praise;<br /></span> <span>And grateful joy +around the throne,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Its voice from age +to age shall raise.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>In +all these myriads, is there one<br /></span> <span class="i2">Who +had on earth so much forgiven?<br /></span> <span>And shall I reach +their highest tone<br /></span> <span class="i2">Of love to Jesus? +THIS IS HEAVEN.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 433--><a name="P433" id="P433"></a> <span>And when this +breast to heave shall cease,<br /></span> <span>And heart and lungs +are hushed to peace,<br /></span> <span>Some friendly hand the +eyelids close,<br /></span> <span>And leave the clay to short +repose.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Still on your +knees be thanks expressed,<br /></span> <span>According as the Lord +has blessed;<br /></span> <span>This tongue, then mute, can now +foretell<br /></span> <span>Jesus shall have done all things +well.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Should the great +Sovereign will it so,<br /></span> <span>That I in secret with him +go,<br /></span> <span>'T will be enough that He stands +by,<br /></span> <span>He all my wants will well +supply.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Upon his dear, +his faithful breast,<br /></span> <span>My heart and head shall +safely rest;<br /></span> <span>The fluttering pulse and bursting +sigh,<br /></span> <span>He'll soothe with, "Fear not; it is +I."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Into his hands my +spirit I'll breathe,<br /></span> <span>Inhaling life from him in +death;<br /></span> <span>Though none should see, faith can +foretell<br /></span> <span>My Jesus shall do all things +well.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Though he deny +my half-formed prayer,<br /></span> <span>Well may I cast on Him my +care;<br /></span> <span>All things are mine, or life or +death;<br /></span> <span>In praise of Him I'll spend my +breath.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Be this my +only wish beside,<br /></span> <span>That God's great name be +glorified,<br /></span> <span>What me concerns faith can +foretell,<br /></span> <span>My Jesus shall do all things +well.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 434--><a name="P434" id="P434"></a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> +<span>      WIDOWHOOD.<br /></span> +<span>WRITTEN IN THE ISLAND OF ANTIGUA<br /></span> <span>SHORTLY +AFTER DR. GRAHAM'S DEATH.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>     PART I.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Hail; thou state of +widowhood,<br /></span> <span>State of those that mourn to +God;<br /></span> <span>Who, from earthly comforts +torn,<br /></span> <span>Only live to pray and mourn.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Meanest of the number, +I<br /></span> <span>For my dear companion sigh;<br /></span> +<span>Patiently my loss deplore,<br /></span> <span>Mourn for one +that mourns no more.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>Me my consort hath outrun,<br /></span> <span>Out of sight he +quite has gone;<br /></span> <span>He his course has finished +here,<br /></span> <span>First come to the sepulchre.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Following on with earnest +haste,<br /></span> <span>Till my mourning days are +past,<br /></span> <span>I my partner's steps pursue,<br /></span> +<span>I shall soon be happy too;<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>Find the ease for which I +pant,<br /></span> <span>Gain the only good I want;<br /></span> +<span>Quietly lay down my head,<br /></span> <span>Sink into my +earthy bed.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>There my +flesh shall rest in hope,<br /></span> <span>Till the quickened +dust mount up,<br /></span> <span>When to glorious life I'll +rise,<br /></span> <span>To meet my husband in the +skies.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>     PART +II.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Happy they who +trust in Jesus,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Jesus turns our loss +to gain;<br /></span> <span>Still his balmy mercies ease +us,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Sweeten all our grief and +pain.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 435--><a name="P435" id="P435"></a> <span>When he calls +our friends t' inherit<br /></span> <span class="i2">All the +glories of the blest,<br /></span> <span>He assures the widowed +spirit,<br /></span> <span class="i2">"Thou shalt quickly be at +rest."<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Though my flesh +and spirit languish,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Let me not too +much complain;<br /></span> <span>Sure at last t' outlive my +anguish,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Sure to find my friend +again.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Ransomed from a +world of sorrow,<br /></span> <span class="i2">He to-day is taken +home;<br /></span> <span>I shall be released to-morrow +—<br /></span> <span class="i2">Come, my dear Redeemer, +come.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>From my +sanctified distresses,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Now, or when +thou wilt, receive;<br /></span> <span>Grant with him in thine +embraces,<br /></span> <span class="i2">After all my deaths, to +live.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>     PART +III.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>Hail, holy, holy, +holy Lord,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Mysterious Three in +One!<br /></span> <span>For ever be thy name adored,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thy will for ever done.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>For this alone on earth I +wait,<br /></span> <span class="i2">To glorify my God;<br /></span> +<span>And suffer, since thou will'st, the state<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of sacred widowhood.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>And may I, in thy strength, +fulfil<br /></span> <span class="i2">My awful +character;<br /></span> <span>And prove thine acceptable +will,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And do thy pleasure +here;<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The children to +thyself restore,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Whom thou to me hast +given;<br /></span> <span>And rule my house with all my +power,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And train them up for +heaven.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 436--><a name="P436" id="P436"></a> <span>Be this my +hospitable care:<br /></span> <span class="i2">The stranger to +receive,<br /></span> <span>The burden of thy church to +bear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And all their wants +relieve;<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>My labor of +unwearied love<br /></span> <span class="i2">With pleasure to +repeat,<br /></span> <span>My faith unto thy saints to +prove,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And gladly wash their +feet.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>The servant of +thy servants bless<br /></span> <span class="i2">With active +earnest zeal;<br /></span> <span>And every work of +righteousness<br /></span> <span class="i2">I shall with joy +fulfil.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 437--><a name="P437" id="P437"></a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>      __________<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span><font size= +"+1">     LINES,</font><br /></span></div> +</div> +<p class="note">Occasioned by viewing the portrait of Mrs. Graham, +prefixed to the<br /> +first edition of her memoir. By the late Mrs. Margaret Brown,<br /> +daughter of Rev. Dr. John Mason.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span> <br /></span> <span>While in this +faded form I trace<br /></span> <span class="i2">The features which +I loved so well,<br /></span> <span>Remembrance brings each mental +grace<br /></span> <span class="i2">Within its hallowed shrine to +dwell.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>For I have seen +that darkened eye<br /></span> <span class="i2">In all the fire of +genius roll,<br /></span> <span>With eagle-gaze explore the +sky,<br /></span> <span>Or with a keener glance descry<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The secret workings of the soul.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>And I have seen this pallid +cheek<br /></span> <span class="i2">Suffused with feeling's richest +glow;<br /></span> <span>And virtue's brightest halo +deck<br /></span> <span class="i2">With sacred charms these locks +of snow.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>And on these +lips in silence closed,<br /></span> <span class="i2">With rapt +attention oft I hung,<br /></span> <span>And heard those wondrous +truths disclosed<br /></span> <span class="i2">Which sages taught +or seraphs sung.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>And I +have known this withered hand<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">Extended wide the poor to bless;<br /></span> <span>And this +contracted breast expand<br /></span> <span class="i2">With +generous schemes to aid distress.<br /></span> +<span> <br /></span> <span>And now, though far removed from +earth<br /></span> <span class="i2">And every scene of mortal +pain,<br /></span> <span>This dear memorial of her +worth<br /></span> <span class="i2">Shall many a drooping heart +sustain.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<!--Page 438--><a name="P438" id="P438"></a> <span>Still shall +it dry the widow's tear,<br /></span> <span class="i2">The hapless +orphan's want supply,<br /></span> <span>Guide to a blessed asylum +here,<br /></span> <span class="i2">And point to happier realms on +high.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> <span>My father's +friend — how poor the praise,<br /></span> <span class= +"i2">By his unworthy offspring given,<br /></span> <span>Who thus +records, in humble lays,<br /></span> <span class="i2">What angels +registered in heaven.<br /></span> <span> <br /></span> +<span>FRANKFORT, Kentucky, August, 1816.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<!--Page 439--><a name="P439" id="P439"></a><br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<p class="center">One hundred dollars was paid by John W. +Hamersley, Esq. of New York, towards perpetuating this volume.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<!--Page 440--><a name="P440" id="P440"></a> +<h2>The American Tract Society,</h2> +<h3>PUBLISH</h3> +<h4>THE RELIGIOUS (OR PASTOR'S) LIBRARY,</h4> +<p>Comprising 25 standard volumes 12mo, at $10. Including some of +the best practical works of the 17th century; <font size="-1">THE +EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY; CHRISTIAN MEMOIRS; and D'AUBIGNÉS +HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION.</font></p> +<h4>THE EVANGELICAL FAMILY LIBRARY,</h4> +<p>Of 15 volumes, 18mo, price $5 50; with 21 additional volumes, +bound to match this library. Price of the 36 volumes, $13 00.</p> +<h4>THE YOUTH'S LIBRARY,</h4> +<p>Of 70 volumes, at $10, comprising Hannah More's <font size= +"-1">CHEAP REPOSITORY</font>, 8 volumes, and an invaluable +collection of reading for the young; with 255 highly finished +engravings.</p> +<h4>BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR CHILDREN,</h4> +<p>In neatly enveloped packets; or bound in attractive <font size= +"-1">CHILDREN'S LIBRARIES</font>. Also a packet of 54 attractive +<font size="-1">PICTURE-CARDS</font>.</p> +<p>The energies of the Society are directed to the one object of +issuing and circulating the best evangelical publications, at +barely remunerating prices. Every Christian Parent is here provided +with safe and instructive reading for his children.</p> +<h4>The American Messenger,</h4> +<p>Issued monthly to 200,000 families, at 25 cents single six for +$1; twenty for $3; forty for $5.</p> +<h4>The Child's Paper,</h4> +<p>Is a gem welcomed monthly in more than 275,000 families. Ten +copies for $1; fifty for $4 50; one hundred for $8. Payable in +advance.</p> +<h5>TO BE HAD AT</h5> +<p>150 Nassau-street, New York; 28 Cornhill, Boston; and in other +principal cities and towns.</p> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<!--Page 441--><a name="P441" id="P441"></a> +<h2>INTERESTING BOOKS</h2> +<h6>FOR SALE AT</h6> +<!--<p class="bkads">FOR SALE AT</p>--> +<h4>150 NASSAU ST., NEW YORK: 28 CORNHILL, BOSTON.</h4> +<hr /> +<p class="bkads">MEMOIR OF REV. JUSTIN EDWARDS, D.D.</p> +<p class="bkads">D'AUBIGNÉS HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 5 +vols.</p> +<p class="bkads">BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.</p> +<p class="bkads">NELSON'S CAUSE AND CURE OF INFIDELITY.</p> +<p class="bkads">ANECDOTES FOR THE FAMILY.</p> +<p class="bkads">SABBATH MANUAL.</p> +<p class="bkads">CHALMERS' ASTRONOMICAL DISCOURSES.</p> +<p class="bkads">THE GODLY PASTOR; OR, LIFE OF REV. JEREMIAH +HALLOCK.</p> +<p class="bkads">LADY HUNTINGTON AND HER FRIENDS.</p> +<p class="bkads">THE PASTOR'S WIFE; OR, MRS. MARTHA SHERMAN.</p> +<p class="bkads">BACKUS ON REGENERATION.</p> +<p class="bkads">ROMAINE'S LIFE OF FAITH.</p> +<p class="bkads">ANXIOUS INQUIRER. CHRISTIAN PROGRESS.</p> +<p class="bkads">YOUNG MAN FROM HOME.</p> +<p class="bkads">DR. SPRAGUE'S LETTERS TO A DAUGHTER.</p> +<p class="bkads">TEMPERANCE MANUAL. 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Dr. William R. +Williams;<br /> +488 pages, 12mo, price 55 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">FAMILY TESTAMENT AND PSALMS,<br /> +With Notes and Instructions by Dr. Edwards, 70 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">D'AUBIGNÉ'S HISTORY OF THE GREAT +REFORMATION,<br /> +Revised by the author; 5 volumes, with portraits; price 2 20.</p> +<p class="bkads">JAY'S MORNING EXERCISES.<br /> +Price 75 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">CHALMERS' ASTRONOMICAL DISCOURSES,<br /> +263 pages, 12mo, 45 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">BACKUS ON REGENERATION.<br /> +184 pages, 18mo, 15 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">ROMAINE'S LIFE OF FAITH.<br /> +185 pages, 18mo, 15 cents.</p> +<p class="bkads">And numerous kindred works contained in the +Religious and Family Libraries.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Power of Faith, by Isabella Graham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POWER OF FAITH *** + +***** This file should be named 16276-h.htm or 16276-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/2/7/16276/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tom Roch and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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