"'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.

"'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.

"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."

"MAY 16, 1796.

"'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 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.

"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.

"In some cases thou hast let me eat of the fruit of 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.

"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.'

"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."

"MAY 28, 1796.

"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, 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 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.' HALLELUJAH."

"JUNE, 1796.

"'I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.' Psalm 122.

"'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.

"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, 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.'

"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.

"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."

"AUGUST 4, 1796.

"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 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.'

"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, 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."

"AUGUST 13, 1796.

"'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.

"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 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.'

"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.

"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, 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."

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, the formation of the first Missionary Society in New York. 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.

"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 was never preached. Here I was brought into great affliction, and to pass through the severest trial that I ever experienced before or since.

"'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.

"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 fifty pounds. 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, 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.

"Ever, my dear friend, yours,

"I. GRAHAM."

To the same.

"1796-7.

"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.

"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 Secretary—our dear Mr. Mason—which, when printed, I will send you.

"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.

"I. GRAHAM."

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.

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.

"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 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 Pilgrim, the letters to her inserted in the former editions of this memoir, are noticed as addressed to P——.

To Mrs. C——, a Lady near Boston.

"FEBRUARY 10, 1797.

"MY EVER DEAR FRIEND—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.

"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 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 sinners to repentance;' his errand to our world was to seek and to save the lost. Trusting in his mercy, through Christ, your soul is as safe as his word is true; for none perish that trust in him.

"'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.'

"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 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.'

"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.,

"I.G."

"APRIL 14, 1797.

"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 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.

"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, but grow in the divine life, and in the joy and comfort of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

"OCTOBER 20, 1797.

"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 all things 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.'

"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.

"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.

"Grant direction with respect to whom, and how much to give."

The following meditations will afford refreshment to every Christian heart:

"1797.

"'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.'

"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.'

"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 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.

"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, that 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.

"O Lord, I received thee as my king: depending upon promised strength, I swore allegiance to thee, 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.

"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; and he has promised, that 'as our days so shall our strength be.'

"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."

"OCTOBER, 1797.

"'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.

"The way of lies as it respects our judgment and sentiments, as it respects our motives of action, and as it respects our conduct.

"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 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.

"'Remove far from me the way of lies, and teach me thy law graciously.'

"'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.'"

"OCTOBER, 1797.

"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.'"



CHAPTER VI.

FORMATION OF THE WIDOWS' SOCIETY— CLOSE OF HER SCHOOL.

In 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.

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.

At the semiannual meeting in March, 1798, Mrs. 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:

"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."

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.

"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 churches; they have collected about seventeen hundred dollars, and are looking out for two missionaries to send among the Indians, or to the frontiers."

A few months later we find the following letter to a young man on his joining the church:

"SEPTEMBER, 1798.

"MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND—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 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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"A degree of mystery, my son, runs through the whole of God's revealed word; but it is his, and to be received with reverence, and believed with confidence, because it is his. 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?'

"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 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.'

"I. GRAHAM."

Again we have the following merited strictures by one taught from above, on a passage in Pope's Essay on Man.

"1798.

"'Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees.'

"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 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."

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.

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 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.

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."

We next find letters to her female friend near Boston, who was still in much spiritual darkness and despondency.

To Mrs. C——, near Boston.

"MARCH, 1799.

"MY EVER DEAR FRIEND—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.

"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.

"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 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.

"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.

"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.

"Yours, etc."

To the same.

"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.'

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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 Jesus, pardoned, comforted, and highly honored in after-life.

"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.

"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.'

"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 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.' I John, I: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.

"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.

"Yours, etc."

To the same.

"JANUARY 14, 1800.

"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.

"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 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.

"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; when guilt disturbs, wash in the open Fountain. But hold fast the beginning of your confidence unto the end.

"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.

Yours, etc."

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.

"NEW YORK, March 3, 1800.

"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 feasting, dancing, and revelling, 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.'

"The city, indeed the United States, have been 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 mere orator.

"Great things were said of Washington, and they were due.

"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.

"What misery is in the world at this day. It is only equalled by the wickedness. How does potsherd 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."

"1800.

"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 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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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."

"1800.

"'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 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.

"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.

"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 be, 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, who alone doeth wondrous things, and blessed be his glorious name for ever!' Whatever the cost, it is finished. 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.

"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 us, 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 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."

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:

"1800.

"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.

"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."



CHAPTER VII.

BENEVOLENT LABORS—MRS. HOFFMAN— CORRESPONDENCE.

The "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.

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 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."

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.

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.

In April, 1800, she stated that "again the pestilence had emptied the city; again every source of industry 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.

"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."

In the summer of 1800, Mrs. Graham again visited her friends in Boston, whence she wrote her daughter Mrs. B—— as follows:

"BOSTON, August, 1800.

"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.

"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, 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.

"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.

"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."

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.

To Miss M——, Boston.

"There was, my dear Miss M——, something in your countenance and manner, at our last interview, 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.'

"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 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.

"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.'

"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.'

"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 free and finished 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 and converse with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

"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.'

"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 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.

"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. 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.

"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 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

"Yours, in love,

"I. GRAHAM."

To the same.

"NOVEMBER 2, 1800.

"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.

"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.

"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 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.

"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.'

"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 sinner to a Saviour; go at his command, put honor on his appointment, and repeat the dedication of all that you are, have, or can 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 he will 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 he may be to you 'wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,' and complete 'redemption.'

"I am, my dear Miss M——,

"Your ever affectionate,

"I.G."

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:

"MARCH 23, 1801.

"MY DEAR CHILDREN—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 His 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.

"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."

"SABBATH, after morning service, March 29.

"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.

"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.

"FIVE O'CLOCK."

"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 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."