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time of your prosperity he called upon you to remember and acknowledge him; even now, by this afflicting dispensation, he calls on you afresh, "in the day of adversity" to "consider," Eccl. vii. 14. "Call upon me in the day of trouble." How kind, that long as you have slighted God in prosperity, he should still say, "Call upon me in trouble!" Surely you will listen to him now. "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," Psa. 1. 15. When our comforts have not drawn us to the throne of grace, it is a mercy if God sends afflictions to drive us there. May you, my friend, in the time of your trouble, pour out a prayer unto God; not the mere natural cry of distress, nor the expression of transient seriousness; but the prayer of deep genuine penitence, issuing from a heart broken for sin, conscious of its dreadful deserts and its deep pollution, amazed at the forbearance and long-suffering goodness of God, in not having cut off so vile and provoking a sinner; yet hoping in his mercy, through the sacrifice of Christ. Now, in the time of your calamity, may you turn to him that smiteth you, and seek the Lord of hosts, Isa. ix. 13. May that gracious promise be fulfilled in your experience: "I will pour upon" them "the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn," Zech. xii. 10.

In connexion with an endeavour to direct the young widow to sources of consolation and hope,

it is desirable, also, that she should be stimulated to exertion. Heavy as is her loss, she must not sink in hopeless, helpless despondency, and give herself up to the luxury of grief. Let her rather feel herself called upon to new exertions, that she may be enabled, as far as possible, to supply to her offspring the place of both parents; and let her assure herself that such an effort is consistent with the most tender and ardent attachment, and with the deepest and most poignant grief; and will be far more honourable to the memory of her departed husband, than if she should suffer her children to want any attention, comfort, or advantage, which she could bestow.

Perhaps the family has hitherto been wholly dependent on his exertions for support; and, her time having been properly occupied in domestic duties, it may not have occurred to her, that she could or ought to do anything towards obtaining a livelihood. And now she is left a widow, with four, five, or more helpless children, in destitute circumstances; many will pity, but few will be inclined to help. Besides, if she should obtain from friends a little temporary assistance, she cannot, she would not, look forward to being always dependent on their kindness. No: she must bestir herself; and Providence will open for her some suitable employment, some means of support. She will, perhaps, have to engage in exertions and endure privations to which she has not been accustomed; but native energy of character will rise to an unwonted degree of vigour: her children will be about her, to encourage and to reward her exertions; and He who feeds the young ravens

will not leave the widow, with her fatherless children, to starve, but will make her hands sufficient for her, Psa. cxlvi. 9.

Should the following remarks, from Foster's "Essay on Decision of Character," prove consolatory and stimulating to the reader, it will not be the first instance in which they have been so to an individual in the circumstances supposed, and in which their effect has been remembered with gratitude by herself, and those dependent on her. "Desertion is another cause which may conduce to consolidate this character. A kind, mutually reclining dependence is certainly the happiest state of human being. But this necessarily prevents the development of some great individual powers, which would be forced into action by a state of desertion. I lately happened to notice, with some surprise, an ivy, which being prevented from attaching itself to the rock beyond a certain point, had shot off into a bold elastic stem, with an air of as much independence as any branch of oak in its vicinity. So a human being, being thrown, whether by cruelty, justice, or accident, from all social support and kindness, if he (or she) has any vigour of spirit, and is not in the bodily debility of either childhood or age, will instantly begin to act for himself with a resolution which will appear like a new faculty." "Common life would supply illustrations of the effect of desertion. Some of the most resolute men have become such, partly from being left friendless in early life. The case has also sometimes happened, that a wife and mother, remarkable perhaps for gentleness and

acquiescence before, has been compelled, after the death of her husband, on whom she depended, and when she met with nothing but neglect or unkindness from relatives, and those who had been deemed friends, to adopt a plan of her own, and has executed it with a resolution which has astonished even herself."

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Let not, then, the widowed mother fear to engage in whatever of lawful employment may present itself, however far it may seem beyond her past attainments, and hitherto undeveloped capabilities. Her energies will rise with her occasions. energies and capabilities of a mother, when exerted in support of her infant offspring, will, under the assistance of the widow's God, rise to a vigour and perseverance before unknown and unanticipated. The path will clear before her as she proceeds; one source of supply after another will open upon her, at once calling forth her lively gratitude and cheerful confidence. Her children, instead of being considered a burden, will stimulate and sweeten her toil. While she sees them growing up around her, supported by her exertions, educated by her care, and becoming more and more sensible of their obligations, she will feel herself amply rewarded; and should they be spared to maturity, and she to old age, she has reason to solace herself with the hope, that it will be their delight, as well as their duty, to sustain her sinking years, and to requite, though they can never repay, that debt of gratitude, which her honourable, maternal spirit, exertions, and perseverance have laid upon them. "Her children arise up, and call her blessed," Prov. xxxi. 28.

CONCLUSION.

But it is time to bring this volume to a close. It will have effected something, if it shall only prove the means of rousing some young married woman to a just sense of her important duties and responsibilities; if it shall awaken in her an anxious desire to discharge them aright, as in the sight of God; and direct her, under a sense of her own weakness, to seek the assistance of Him who has promised, to those who acknowledge him in all their ways, that he will direct their steps, Prov. iii. 6.

Let the Bible, my dear young friend, be your daily study. Transcribe into your own character, all the excellences that distinguished the holy women of old; and let yours present an example of that picture of conjugal excellence drawn by the pen of inspiration:

Who can find a virtuous woman?

For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,
So that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax,

And worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants' ships;

She bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night,

And giveth meat to her household,

And a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it:

With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She girdeth her loins with strength,

And strengtheneth her arms.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:

Her candle goeth not out by night.

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