,transcriber's ,notes3      ,italic text
 is denoted by underscores and bold text
 by    equal signs4      ,small         
uppercase have been replaced with       
regular uppercase4      ,characters     
after a carat are superscripts4         
,blank pages have been eliminated4      
,variations in spelling and hyphenation 
have been left as in the    original4   
,a few typographical errors have been   
corrected4          ,illustration3      
,painted by ,robinson4      ,engd4 by   
,j4 ,sartain            ,a              
,,memorial      ,,of      ,,mrs4        
,,margaret ,,breckinridge4        ,,in  
,,two ,,parts4        ,,part ,i4        
,,memoir1 ,,and ,,funeral ,,sermon4     
,,part ,,ii4 ,,letters ,,to ,,her       
,,surviving ,,children4                 
,,philadelphia3    ,,william ,s4        
,,martien4    #ahci4          ,entered1 
according to the ,act of ,congress1 in  
the year #ahci1 by    ,,william ,s4     
,,martien1    in the office of the      
,clerk of the ,district ,court1 for the 

,eastern  ,district of ,pennsylvania4   
,,contents        ,,part ,i4            
,page4      ,,introduction1             
#ac        ,,chapter ,i4      ,life of  
,mrs4 ,breckinridge1                    
#ag        ,,chapter ,,ii4              
,additional ,illustrations of the ,life 
and ,character of ,mrs4                 
,breckinridge1                          
#ce      ,her ,religious ,character1    
#db      ,her dedication to the work of 
,foreign ,missions1                #df  
,her ,sacrifices for the ,church of     
,god1                          #dg      
,her ,last ,sickness and ,death1        
#ed        ,,chapter ,,iii4             
,closing ,reflections1                  
#fa        ,,submission3      ,a        
,,sermon--by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,alexander1  
,d4,d4                       #fi        
,,part ,,ii4      ,,letters ,,of ,a     
,,grandfather4        ,,letter ,i4      
,introductory1                          
#e        ,,letter ,,ii4      ,human    
,nature1                                

#aj        ,,letter ,,iii4      ,the    
,way of ,salvation1                     
#ag        ,,letter ,,iv4      ,the     
,bible1                                 
#bi        ,,letter ,v4      ,prayer1   
#cg        ,,letter ,,vi4               
,cultivation of the ,mind1              
#de        ,,letter ,,vii4              
,cultivation of the ,heart and the      
,moral ,habits1                 #fg     
,,letter ,,viii4      ,manners1         
#hg            ,a      ,,memoir         
,,of      ,,mrs4 ,,margaret             
,,breckinridge4        ,jesus wept4     
,,part ,i4          ,,introduction4     
,,more than a year has now passed since 
,mrs4 ,,margaret ,,breckinridge1 the    
beloved subject of the following brief  
notices1 was taken from us into  the    
saints' everlasting rest4 ,by that      
event1 the little family of which  she  
was the joy and crown1 was dissolved4   
,the surviving parent felt that  ,god   
had committed to him the interesting but
 mournful duty of preserving  the memory

 of so inestimable a friend4 ,but it is 
long after such an  event1 before the   
mind is sufficiently tranquil to utter  
our thoughts  and feelings without      
excess4 ,the peaceable fruits of so     
dreadful a  chastisement succeed1 alas6 
but slowly in our intractable hearts1 to
 the  distraction of grief1 and the     
desolation of the grave4    ,it was in  
the midst of the deepest of his sorrow1 
also1 that the writer  was hastened 7by 
a very kind ,providence1 as he now sees 
it to have been7  into the active duties
 of an office which left no rest for    
body or mind  during almost an entire   
year4 ,so that if his feelings had      
allowed the  attempt at preparing a     
,memoir1 his duty to the ,church of ,god
 forbade it4    ,in these trying and    
peculiar circumstances1 he was permitted
 to call in  the aid of those honoured  
and venerable ,friends1 from whose      
hands1 in a  happier day1 he had        
received the lovely wife of his youth4  
,they of all  others knew her best1     

especially from her birth to her        
marriage4 ,they  had done most1 under   
,god1 to fit her for life's duties1 and 
its close2  and to make her worthy to be
 had in everlasting remembrance4 ,and   
none  were judged to be so well         
qualified to do justice to her memory4  
,to the  one we are indebted for the    
following interesting ,sketch1 making   
the  first chapter4 ,to the other for   
the valuable ,letters to her surviving  
children1 forming the second part of    
this memorial4    ,while all must admire
 the delicacy and candour with which    
this sketch is  drawn1 it is evident to 
those who knew the deceased1 that much  
remains  to be said which ought not to  
be omitted--especially in regard to that
  portion of her life1 embracing more   
than fifteen years1 which passed        
between the time of leaving the parental
 roof1 and her lamented death4  ,in     
attempting to supply this omission1 the 
writer felt the  inconvenience--even    
awkwardness of returning upon a         

narrative which  seemed to have been    
brought to an appropriate close4 ,but   
this was  thought preferable to leaving 
the memoir incomplete2 or to breaking   
the  thread of the narrative given in   
the first chapter4    ,and moreover it  
was felt that the design of the work    
which called for  the additional        
chapters1 dispensed with form in the    
manner of  furnishing them4 ,it is      
intended to preserve the memory of the  
beloved  dead for her bereaved children1
 and her numerous kindred and friends1  
rather than to unveil her retiring      
character to the public eye4 ,the work  
being designed1 not so much for general 
circulation as for family use1  is      
rather printed1 than published2 and all 
its imperfections will  readily be      
overlooked by those who will come to    
these pages1 as ,mary  went to the tomb 
of ,lazarus--to weep there4             
,,memoir4      ,,chapter ,i4    ,a      
,,narrative of the life of our departed 
friends1 bears some resemblance  to the 

representation1 on canvass1 of their    
persons and features2 it  serves to     
restore and collect our scattered       
thoughts1 and revive our  affections2   
and prevents the hand of time from      
obliterating entirely1  their peculiar  
mental and moral lineaments4    ,it was 
in consequence of the necessity of this 
help to our natural  infirmities1 that  
our ,lord gave to his people the bread  
and wine1 as a  symbol of his body and  
blood1 and said1 ,do this in remembrance
 of me4  ,he knew too well our careless1
 wandering hearts1 to trust the         
recollections1 even of his great and    
lovely character1 to our  unfaithful    
keeping1 and established1 as a help to  
his word1 the  ordinance which was to   
continue unto the end of the world1 as a
  memorial of him4 ,and we trust that   
his people are permitted to  endeavour  
to perpetuate the remembrance of each   
other by means1 which1  however they may
 come greatly short of the significant  
emblem ordained  by himself1 will assist

 in enabling them to love one another as
 he also  loved them4    ,in view of    
this encouragement1 given us in the     
,scriptures of  inspiration1 we would   
endeavour to bring together1 and        
exhibit1 in the  history of the short   
life of ,mrs4 ,margaret ,breckinridge1  
some of those  graces of a ,christian   
character1 which lead us to hope that   
the finger  of the ,lord had engraven   
his name on her heart1 and that his     
grace was  carrying on the work1        
notwithstanding much infirmity of flesh 
and  spirit1 until the body of sin and  
death within her was rolled away1 and  a
 simple1 undivided hold taken on the    
,rock of ages4    ,she was born         
,september #bith1 #ahjb1 in ,new ,york1 
and educated for several  years under   
the immediate instruction of the        
sanctuary1 in a  comparatively pure     
state of the ,church1 when the name and 
influence of a  few such venerable and  
holy men as the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,john        
,rodgers1 had thrown  a restraint on the

 vices of the world around them1 as well
 as on the  constantly recurring        
disorders of the ,church1 so that the   
very vagrants  of the street felt their 
presence4#a ,every pastor of a flock of 
,jesus  ,christ seemed to feel it his   
privilege1 as well as his duty1 to feed 
the  lambs of his flock himself1 and did
 not commit them to the ever-varying1   
heterogeneous instruction of others4    
,the ,scriptures1 and the ,catechism1   
it was his own business to inculcate2   
and the same afternoon in each  week1   
had been for many years1 in several of  
the churches of the city1  of various   
denominations1 the season for this      
instruction4         #a ,the appearance 
of these servants of ,god1 in any part  
of the       city1 seemed to make       
iniquity hide its head1 and was often   
the       means of dispersing an idle1  
youthful group1 in which profanity and  
disorder were beginning their           
destructive career4 ,through their      
influence1 in a great measure1 the      

,sabbath was1 at least       externally1
 a holy day1 on which the public ways   
exhibited no crowd       or bustle1 but 
what was of necessity occasioned by a   
church-going       people4    ,by these 
and other means1 the ,bible had taken a 
systematic form in  ,margaret's mind1   
very early2 and whenever she met1 even  
in childhood1  with a scriptural scene  
or subject1 she generally knew where to 
place  it1 and was particularly animated
 by it4 ,and this peculiar skill1 and   
taste1 continued and increased until    
childhood passed away1 and the  pride   
and enjoyment of life opened a new scene
 before her4    ,for a time it seemed as
 if every vestige of the sensibility    
arising from  religious instruction     
would be swept away4 ,she had friends   
who wished to  see her enjoying the     
innocent pleasures of youth2 especially 
as in  person and mind there was a      
promise of peculiar adaptation to them4 
,and  there was a will of her own very  
clearly developing1 which wanted more   

restraint than parents are generally    
willing to exercise4 ,many              
interpositions1 however1 in providence  
occurred1 which1 though sad in  the view
 of her family1 proved a real           
deliverance to her--frequently          
arresting her first decisive step in    
folly4    ,at the age of eleven she was 
removed with her family to ,princeton1  
in  consequence of a call which her     
father received1 to a ,professorship in 
the ,theological ,seminary in that      
place4 ,being thus separated from many  
snares incident to a city life1 she     
began anew1 as it were1 to form  habits 
and connexions1 which1 although in some 
respects1 more dangerous  and ensnaring 
than those which she had left1 had not  
grown with her  growth1 and strengthened
 with her strength2 and were1 on that   
account1  more ready to yield1 when the 
follies of youth passed away1 and the   
solemnities of this world1 in view of   
another1 opened before her4    ,the want
 of a good school in ,princeton1 induced

 her parents to send her1  at the age of
 about fourteen years1 to ,philadelphia1
 for the purpose of  obtaining for her  
some finish to the education which she  
had received at  home4 ,she remained    
there nearly a year1 residing with an   
aunt1 and  attending a daily and well   
conducted school4 ,indeed it was her    
privilege1 as well as the privilege of  
many others1 to receive  instruction    
from a teacher1 who not only was        
competent to every branch  of polite    
learning which adorns the mind of a     
female1 but desirous of  having all     
which he taught so sanctified as to     
reach the heart1 and be  made the means 
of communicating spiritual and saving1  
as well as  intellectual instruction4#b 
#b ,many will probably have reason for  
everlasting rejoicing in the       kind 
arrangement which placed them under ,mr4
 ,jaudon's instruction4       ,he was   
truly a man of ,god1 and the effects of 
his wise and holy       instruction and 
discipline1 we have no doubt are felt in

 the bosom       of many families1 and  
in the hearts of many individuals in    
,philadelphia1 to this day1 who will1 we
 trust1 be prepared to meet       him1  
where1 having turned many to            
righteousness1 he shall shine as       a
 star for ever and ever4    ,the        
immediate effect of this experiment was 
injurious to ,margaret's  disposition   
and deportment4 ,she returned to her    
parents with more love  for the world1  
and a better opinion of herself2 and of 
consequence was  less docile4 ,it was   
evident that the atmosphere of a city   
was not the  element in which her heart 
would receive the best influence4    ,in
 a revival which took place in          
,princeton1 when she was about eighteen 
years of age1 an interest was excited in
 some of her pious female  friends for  
her conversion4 ,they concluded to make 
her the subject of  special prayer4 ,of 
this she was entirely ignorant1 until   
the evidence  appeared in herself of the
 verity of the promise1 as to the result

 of  fervent1 effectual prayer4 ,a      
sermon of the celebrated ,president     
,edwards1 read in a small1 social       
meeting1 arrested her attention1 and    
brought her to continued1 deep1 serious 
thinking1 which ended1 as she  thought1 
in a new view of everlasting things4    
,with all the sanguine  feelings of     
youth1 she judged herself prepared to be
 united with the  ,church2 but owing to 
the unwillingness of her parents to risk
 the  possibility of a premature        
profession of religion1 this step was   
delayed4    ,in connexion with this     
period of her life1 it seems necessary  
to relate  some circumstances which took
 place with regard to a much loved      
sister  of hers2 not many years younger 
than herself4 ,they had been so closely 
educated together1 as to make them one  
in many of their views and  feelings4   
,elizabeth1 in giving an account of the 
exercises of her own mind on the        
subject of religion1 some time after    
they took place1 said1 that she         

experienced an irresistible feeling of  
contempt for the concern which          
,margaret manifested1 and concluded that
 she was indulging a mere  hypocritical 
affectation2 in consequence of which she
 was beginning to  make some            
observations to this effect1 when1 in a 
moment1 a deep  conviction fastened on  
her conscience1 of the danger of        
resisting what  might prove to be the   
influence of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this   
impression  resulted in a real concern  
for herself1 and in views equally solemn
 with  those expressed by ,margaret4    
,they both now made progress together in
 their inquiries and experience1  and   
were a mutual help1 rather than a       
hinderance to each other4 ,both  soon   
thought that they had obtained an       
interest in ,him1 whose blood  cleanseth
 from all sin4    ,it appeared1 however1
 soon after this1 as if our fears with  
regard to  ,margaret were but too well  
founded4 ,because of manifold           
temptations1  she seemed to be taking a 

new hold on the world2 but a state of   
things  about the same time1 began with 
,elizabeth1 which disciplined and       
humbled  her spirit2 and she was soon   
enabled to realize all the insufficiency
  and uncertainty of this world1 as a   
portion4    ,many doubts with regard to 
the genuineness of the change which     
,elizabeth  trusted had taken place in  
her heart1 increased by the weakness    
which  rapidly declining health had     
induced1 perplexed and troubled her1 and
  made her more and more unwilling to   
make a profession of religion4 ,she  had
 witnessed some of the extravagances of 
revivals1 and felt the danger  of being 
deceived1 and of having a name to live  
whilst she was dead4    ,in ,january1   
#ahbc1 ,margaret was married to the     
,rev4 ,john ,breckinridge1  and returned
 with him to ,kentucky1 his native      
,state1 in the spring of  the same year4
 ,in consequence of a call which her    
husband received1 to a  church in       
,kentucky1 7which he accepted17 they    

were soon after this  settled in        
,lexington4 ,her departure from her     
early home was her first  real trial4   
,for although1 through the course of    
several months1 she had  taken a        
prospective view of this arrangement1   
with much buoyancy of  spirits1 as the  
time approached1 every circumstance     
connected with a  separation from all   
the associations of her childhood and   
youth1 seemed  to produce a new and     
deeper impression1 and seven or eight   
hundred miles  appeared at length1 as   
almost an interminable space4 ,the      
sadness which  irresistibly overspread  
her countenance1 convinced her friends  
that  when1 in view of ,mr4             
,breckinridge's first destination1 she  
had given  herself unreservedly to a    
foreign mission1 she1 like many others1 
little  knew her own heart1 and all the 
sacrifices which such a destination     
involved4 ,and when it was seen         
expedient that this intention should be 
relinquished by him1 for a plan more    

eligible in the view of his fathers  in 
the ministry1 a release from this more  
enduring trial1 formed no  small part of
 the considerations which assisted in   
making her  submissively bow to one so  
much more lenient4 ,and indeed1 she had 
reason  to say1 that goodness and mercy 
had followed her at every step4 ,for    
this  very trial which sobered her      
countenance1 made her heart better1 and 
prepared the way for deeper             
self-examination1 and probably more     
fervent  prayer2 and the result was1    
that with a trembling confidence she    
united  herself with her husband's      
church in ,lexington1 a few months after
 he  took charge of it4 ,from her       
letters1 after this event1 we learned   
that  her connexion with the church took
 place at the same time--it is thought  
on the same day--in which her sister    
,elizabeth1 having been delivered  from 
the many doubts which had clouded her   
mind1 made a profession of  religion in 
the church in ,princeton4 ,this         

co-incidence in providence1  having     
occurred without any mutual intercourse 
or understanding on the  subject1 seemed
 so consistent with the plans of ,him   
who sees the end  from the beginning1   
and who1 from their first serious       
impressions1  appeared to have united   
the lines of their experience until they
 ended  in one gracious result1 that it 
did much to confirm their friends in the
  hope1 that a good work was begun in   
them which should be carried on4  ,they 
felt constrained to say1 ,it is the     
,lord's doings and wonderful in  our    
eyes4    ,the kind and affectionate     
family in ,kentucky1 of which she now   
made one1  assisted much in alleviating 
the pressure of sorrowful recollections1
  and in making the resolution which she
 had formed of learning in  whatsoever  
state she was1 therewith to be content1 
more practical1 and  more enduring2 and 
when ,mr4 ,breckinridge was called to   
,baltimore in  #ahbf1 although she was  
pleased with the prospect of getting    

nearer to  her early home1 she felt that
 a new tie had been formed which could  
not  be broken1 even partially1 without 
much pain4 ,it was a source of much     
grateful recollection to her1 that she  
was not permitted to use any  undue     
influence to lead her husband away from 
his congregation in  ,lexington1 to     
which she was indebted in so            
considerable a degree1 for  the pleasant
 circumstances which surrounded her4    
,her health was remarkably firm1        
especially for one of her delicate      
appearance1 for several years after her 
marriage1 and during all the  time that 
her husband had a settled charge4 ,in   
,baltimore1 to which he  removed from   
,lexington1 she seemed to realize with  
much gratitude1 the  particularly       
pleasant circumstances in which her     
family was placed4  ,situated on the    
direct way between her husband's        
relatives1 endeared to  her by so many  
pleasant recollections1 and the family  
of her youth1 with  both of which she   

could have frequent intercourse1 and in 
the midst of a  kind circle of friends1 
not limited by the bounds of ,mr4       
,breckinridge's  congregation1 she was  
literally at home2 and when the summons 
came to  call him to another sphere of  
labour in the ,church1 she was the last 
to  be persuaded that it was his duty to
 obey it1 and reluctantly yielded to    
the opinion of those whose judgment she 
honoured4    ,from this time she may    
truly be said to have been a sacrifice  
to the  interests of the ,church4 ,the  
unsettling of her domestic duties and   
habits1 to which her temperament was    
particularly adapted1 was1  probably1   
directly and indirectly at the          
foundation of those causes1  which      
gradually but too surely undermined her 
health1 and prepared her  for a         
premature grave4 ,her last change of    
residence1 which placed her in          
,princeton by the side of her paternal  
family1 and amongst many of her         
youthful associates1 seemed to her to   

fill up the measure1 as it  regarded    
this world1 of that providential        
goodness which had followed  her all the
 days of her life2 and she said1 not    
long after it took  place1 with a       
humility which was in itself an evidence
 of her gracious  state1 ,i think1 in   
view of all my mercies1 there is a      
thankfulness  experienced which is not  
the natural growth of my own heart4 ,to 
us who  remain it is given to see1 that 
these unusual comforts were mercifully  
intended to soothe the infirmities of a 
rapidly dissolving body1 and  soften the
 approach of the last and most          
formidable enemy4    ,several attacks of
 disease in the course of two years1    
which threatened  to be immediately     
fatal1 were1 by the aid of skilful      
medical treatment1  happily arrested1   
but not until their baleful effect had  
fastened on her  feeble body1 and each  
had left her more a prey for death4 ,and
 it was a  cause of much thankfulness to
 her friends1 that instead of one of    

those  unexpected instant departures1   
which so frequently occur1 and which in 
her case it was often feared would take 
place1 the approach of death was        
gradual and mild1 so as to involve no   
pain1 and but little surprise4    ,the  
simplicity of her character appeared    
through all her last days1  especially  
after she ascertained that her end was  
not far off4 ,her  words were few1      
because she studied to utter none but   
the words of  truth and soberness2 she  
seemed to feel that there might be a    
parade  even in dying4    ,after a short
 conversation in her room a day or two  
before she departed1  on the subject of 
the unprofitableness of our best works1 
which we found  had deeply exercised her
 mind1 she remarked with much emotion1 a
 tear  starting to her eye1 ,i feel the 
truth of these remarks2 but1 after a    
pause1 she said1 ,i have tried to do my 
duty as a wife and as a  mother2 ,i have
 endeavoured to conduct the affairs of  
my family with  discretion1 and to      

instruct my children in the best things4
 ,she  evidently clung to this as an    
evidence of grace1 7and not at all as a 
cause of acceptance with ,god17 and as  
affording some hope for her  children1  
when relied on in view of the promises  
of ,him who says1 that  if this precious
 seed is sowed1 grace shall insure the  
crop4    ,her ,sabbath evenings1 after  
the good old way of our puritan fathers1
 saw  her with all her household1 over  
whom she had any authority1 gathered    
around her for the purpose of giving    
them that instruction which1 with  the  
promised blessing1 would save them from 
the paths of sin and folly  in this     
world1 and prepare them for enjoying the
 blessedness of another4  ,and through  
the distractions of an unsettled life1  
and the hinderances  experienced in a   
large boarding house1 in which several  
winters were  spent with her family1 she
 persevered as far as possible1 in the  
instruction of both children and        
servants in the week and on the         

,sabbath1 with a determination which    
both she and her friends thought had    
shortened her life4    ,in view of this 
peculiar faithfulness to her domestic   
duties1 we are the  more willing to     
offer an apology for what appeared to   
some of her  friends1 an indifference to
 various extra means2 which in these    
last  times have been esteemed needful  
for the awakening of a slumbering       
church4    ,when her mind began to open 
to this subject1 the glory of our       
revivals  was beginning to be tarnished4
 ,the enemy had begun to sow his tares4 
,the extravagance which so frequently   
attended them1 had produced in her  no  
little disgust for what she thought the 
mere machinery of religion4  ,in such   
circumstances1 it is difficult to choose
 the good1 and refuse  the evil4 ,the   
cast of her mind was such1 that parade  
in any thing1 and  especially in the    
vital concerns1 in which is involved our
 everlasting  destiny1 irresistibly     
revolted her mind4 ,and the errors in   

principle and  in practice1 which had   
been by these means insinuated into1 and
  corrupted the legitimate and professed
 doctrines and ordinances of the        
,presbyterian ,church1 greatly impaired 
her confidence in what many good  people
 esteemed genuine revivals of religion4 
,subsequent events have  abundantly     
confirmed the wisdom of her early and   
deep distrust4    ,after her            
constitution had been tried with another
 violent and unusual  attack1 in ,march1
 #ahch1 which prostrated nearly all her 
remaining  strength in a few hours1 it  
was evident to many of her friends1 that
  recovery was no longer to be expected4
 ,every means1 however1 were made  use  
of1 that might in any way prove         
salutary2 many of which1 as has  often  
occurred1 were rather injurious than    
beneficial4 ,as a last  resource1 a     
journey was commenced1 for the purpose  
of trying the ,springs  of ,virginia1 so
 highly recommended to invalids4 ,she   
was not permitted1  however1 to go      

beyond ,philadelphia4 ,her physicians   
there1 judging so  long a journey very  
hazardous1 gently arrested it1 by       
proposing a delay  of a few days2 thus  
endeavouring to obviate the effects of  
any  disappointment which she might     
experience4 ,her own views seemed1      
spontaneously1 to meet theirs1 and a    
quiet acquiescence was every day  more  
manifest4 ,after a consultation of      
physicians1 in which they agreed  that  
an effort might be safely made for her  
return to ,princeton1 the  sweet        
complacency with which she said to a    
very kind friend1 who was  visiting her1
 ,i am going home to-morrow1 encouraged 
a hope that she  had realized her       
danger2 and that her will was gradually 
moulding to  the ,divine will1 and she  
preparing for a far better home4    ,it 
appeared as if she was permitted to get 
thus far on her journey1 in  order to   
gratify the feelings1 and experience the
 renewed kindness of  friends1 whom her 
husband had attached to his family1 from

 his  temporary labours amongst them4   
,the attention of these1 and indeed many
  others1 whom their interesting        
circumstances were a means of winning to
  them1 is deeply felt in the family    
circle1 of which she was a beloved      
member2 and which will continue to be   
felt1 as long as her memory shall  be   
cherished amongst them4    ,it was with 
difficulty that she was removed to her  
own residence at  ,princeton1 a few days
 before she died1 fully sensible that   
her departure  was not far off4 ,one of 
her anxious friends1 wishing to be more 
satisfied of this1 said3 ,you know1 my  
dear ,margaret1 how ill you are8  ,a    
most emphatic ,o yes1 silenced every    
remaining doubt4    ,the day before she 
died1 the conversation leading to the   
subject of  death1 she said1 ,i am only 
afraid of the article of death3 ,i know 
that  when this is over1 ,i shall be in 
,jesus' arms4 ,from one1 so slow to     
speak1 these were encouraging words4    
,a few hours after this1 she awoke from 

a light sleep1 with that sort of        
bewildered spirit1 which is frequently  
experienced under circumstances  of so  
much weakness1 especially when          
accompanied with1 perhaps1 the  effects 
of an opiate1 and repealed the name of a
 person1 with which  she had been       
familiar in her childhood4 ,she         
observed1 what easy words6  ,some one   
present remarked--there are words       
equally easy4 ,she said1 tell  me some4 
,upon being referred to a ,psalm which  
had been spoken of the  day before1 she 
commenced1 as having found something    
exceedingly  pleasant--,the ,lord is my 
shepherd--and continued to the end of   
this  short and interesting portion of  
the ,word of ,god1 in a tone of         
sweetness  and solemnity1 which         
impressed every one present1 adding her 
testimony  to the sweetness of the      
words4 ,it appeared as if1 while the    
world was  fast receding1 her character 
was rapidly finishing in the mould of   
this  precious ,word4    ,reason was    

continued to her until the last         
departing moment1 when1 after  a violent
 but short struggle1 which seemed to    
arrest every mental  exercise1 except   
that which led her spirit immediately to
 ,him who takes  away the sting of      
death1 the freshness of former years was
 restored to  her complexion1 which had 
been1 for some months1 suffused with    
feverishness1 and marked with suffering1
 and a calm and solemn composure        
settled on her countenance1 appearing   
full of meaning1 which persuaded  those 
who were around her1 that she had some  
communication to make4 ,but  her mouth  
was sealed1 and her hand could no longer
 effect the gentlest  pressure4 ,we were
 left to conclude1 that when in her     
agony she had  cried--,come1 ,lord      
,jesus--come quickly2--,lord ,jesus     
receive my  spirit1 she was heard1 in   
that she asked2 and the freshness of    
everlasting youth1 casting one parting  
ray upon her mortal countenance1  had   
passed upon her1 and she had gone to be 

forever with the ,lord4    ,she being   
dead yet speaketh1 and speaks1          
especially1 to all who yet  live of her 
youthful associates4 ,many of them are1 
as she was1 called to  sustain the      
character of wife and mother1 and their 
history in its  prominent features1 most
 probably resembles hers4 ,her course   
was marked  with much failure in duty1  
over which she mourned1 and1 in view of 
which  she seemed deeply humbled4 ,she  
once said--many months before she       
died--,o6 if the ,lord were to send his 
bereaving commission into my  family1 ,i
 could never forgive myself for the     
manner in which ,i have  failed to      
improve the trust committed to me1 and  
fulfilled the duties to  which ,i have  
been called4 ,hear the voice which      
speaking1 says1 ,my dear  companions in 
sin and infirmity1 ,i leave you a poor  
example4 ,but ,i  exhort you to become  
believingly and affectionately          
acquainted with ,him1  who has borne me 
through the dark valley and shadow of   

death1 and  'presented me faultless     
before his ,father1 clothed in his      
righteousness1  and washed in his       
blood4'    ,ye cannot1 though ,christian
 wives and mothers1 do the things ye    
would2 but there is a fountain opened1  
in which your poorest desires  and      
efforts1 though like filthy rags1 may be
 washed and made white1 and  made       
instrumental for much good4 ,point this 
out to your children1  talk to them in  
the house and by the way1 in sitting    
down and rising  up1 of this only hope  
of perishing sinners4 ,and lest1 after  
all1 they  should come short1 plead1    
unceasingly1 the promises for them1 and 
take  hold by faith of the blessing4 ,o6
 how will you rejoice if you can say1   
,here am ,i ,lord1 and the children thou
 hast given me4 ,in order to  sustain   
your character as wives1 aim            
continually1 by prayer1 to obtain  the  
gift of a meek and quiet spirit1 which  
in the sight of ,god is of  great price1
 that even the unbelieving husband may  

be won to the  knowledge of the truth4  
,may such exhortations from our departed
 friends1 reach us all1 and be          
sanctified to us--and may we exhort one 
another1 daily1 so that our  social     
intercourse may be made the means of    
grace1 and assist in  preparing us for  
our last great change6      ,,chapter   
,,ii4    ,,additional ,,illustrations   
,,of ,,the ,,life ,,and ,,character ,,of
 ,,mrs4 ,,margaret  ,,breckinridge4     
,,whoever has been called1 in the midst 
of life1 to part with 'the wife of  his 
youth'--if these pages should chance to 
meet his eye--will know  what the writer
 has felt4 ,such a bereavement must be  
felt1 in order to  be understood4 ,there
 is a shock in its coming for which no  
foresight or  submission can fully      
prepare us4 ,there is a chasm created by
 it which  nothing can fill4 ,it is a   
new experience1 replete with dreadful   
desolation4 ,it is a wonderful attribute
 of grace that can make these  great    
afflictions so work for us an exceeding 

and eternal weight of  glory1 that the  
most weighty and enduring of them all1  
shall seem1 in  comparison1 to be light1
 and but for a moment4 ,yet no          
chastisement1  7especially such as this7
 for the present seemeth to be joyous1  
but  rather grievous4 ,god intends that 
we shall be moved by such  visitations4 
,the call which they utter is too costly
 to be lightly felt4  ,the stroke is too
 deep to be hastily healed4 ,to faint   
when we are  rebuked of ,him1 is to     
reproach the goodness of ,god1 when we  
ought to  lay hold on his strength4 ,but
 insensibility to his afflictive        
dispensations is to despise the methods 
of his grace4 ,and who can fail  to feel
 at such a moment6 ,to find one's self  
strangely1 and after all  the warnings  
mercifully given1 suddenly left alone2  
in the midst of life  to be broken in   
twain2 to come to a time when you may no
 longer pray  with her whose presence   
sweetened devotion itself2 no more pray 
for her  who many a year has been the   

dear burden of all your intercessions2  
to  see your orphan babes left desolate1
 and enhancing your woe1 by being       
unconscious of their own2 yea1 to sorrow
 most of all for those dread  words1    
that you shall see her face no more6    
,this is sorrow6 ,if it were  possible1 
and being so1 were right to ask it for  
others1 we might pray  for our readers1 
that they may be forever ignorant of our
 experience4  ,but we know that every   
house is appointed to such a sorrow1    
sooner or  later4 ,they who are yet to  
pass through these deep waters1 if they 
cannot now fully enter into our trials1 
may at least be expected to  excuse this
 humble tribute to the dead1 as an      
amiable weakness4    ,but it is not     
bleeding affection1 merely1 which has   
prompted us to add  to the foregoing    
brief narrative1 these imperfect        
illustrations of the  life and character
 of ,mrs4 ,margaret ,breckinridge4 ,the 
bereaved children  having been early    
called to lose a mother's care1 justly  

claim of  surviving friends to preserve 
her image that they may gaze on it1 and 
her example that they may imitate it1 in
 after life4 ,it is a cruel  addition to
 an orphan's lot1 to consign to the tomb
 even the memory of  the dead4 ,we refer
 not to the indecent and revolting haste
 with which  every memorial of the      
deceased is swept into oblivion by those
 who1  studious of new relations1 are   
faithful only to forget4 ,such a spirit 
is  abhorrent to every sentiment of     
humanity and religion4 ,but it often    
happens that the disconsolate survivor1 
for a season careless of all  things but
 of grief1 neglects to treasure and     
record what ,god gave in  peculiar trust
 to him--for the good of others4 ,that  
godly example1 which  it cost the toils 
and the trials of a life to exhibit1    
ought not to be  permitted to perish    
from the world4 ,that death of the      
saints1 which  is precious in the sight 
of the ,lord1 and which so gloriously   
shows  forth his praise1 is worthy of a 

monument that time cannot consume4      
,these should live6 ,we should embalm   
them in the memory of the heart4 ,we    
should hand them down in the tradition  
of faithful love4 ,we should  record    
them in a household book1 if not publish
 them to the world--in  honour of       
,jehovah2 in memory of the beloved dead2
 and for the good of  those who1 even   
while they were spared to them1 were too
 young to know  their value4 ,it is the 
memory of the wicked alone which ,god   
has doomed  to rot2 or if it live1 to   
stand as a beacon on the brow of death4 
,there is another consideration of great
 tenderness and force by which we  have 
been influenced in making these         
sketches4 ,woman dwells1 to speak  so1  
in the shade of retirement2 and not like
 man1 in the blaze of public  life4 ,in 
the household she sits enthroned1 the   
weaker vessel1 but the  stronger power4 
,yet the domestic circle1 in a great    
degree1  circumscribes her influence2   
shuts in her character4 ,her            

refinement--her  patience--her          
humility--her cheerfulness in trial--her
 fortitude--her  readiness to           
forgive--her faithful1 constant         
love--her self-devotion to  her         
children--her personal charms--her      
domestic virtues--her ,christian        
graces--which make her         ,the     
light and music of our happy homes1     
are little known beyond the narrow      
boundary of her own family1 on which    
they continually rest1 like the dew of  
,hermon that descended upon the         
mountains of ,zion4 ,it is not less so  
with her domestic trials--with her      
perplexing domestic duties1 as she      
meekly toils in patient continuance     
amidst their innumerable detail1 and    
ever returning round4 ,now while the    
full disclosure and rewards must be     
reserved to the great day of final      
account1 it is a special duty1 on proper
 occasions1 to bring such  excellence to
 view4 ,without our care1 this never    
will be done1 since the  graces that    

most adorn1 are the most retiring4 ,by  
an affectionate  diligence in this      
service1 a thousand pearls might be     
brought from the  recesses of domestic  
life1 and added to the too scanty stock 
of  memorable worthies4 ,at least1 we   
ought not to make oblivion the penalty  
of domestic virtue4 ,on the other hand1 
the doing of proper justice to  real    
female merit1 would most effectually    
rebuke that assurance of  coarse and    
fanatic women1 who1 in the insulted name
 of ,god1 assume the  prerogative1 and  
attempt the offices of the stronger     
sex--forgetting  that the immodesty     
which is offensive to all men1 can never
 be an  offering pleasing to a ,god of  
purity and order4 ,by presenting to     
mankind  examples of ,christian women   
revolving in orderly beauty1 and shining
  with mild lustre in their appointed   
course1 we not only preserve the  memory
 of those who rest from their labours1  
but we diffuse their  influence abroad4 
,if we may but do justice to the subject

 of these  notices1 she would be herself
 the only being likely to complain1 for 
she  shrunk with instinctive sensibility
 from every such disclosure of her      
retiring character4    ,without         
repeating what has been said in the     
first chapter1 we proceed to  fill up   
the narrative given therein1 by         
additional notices1 which some  one     
ought to furnish1 and which a parent    
could not4    ,it was ,god's peculiar   
mercy to ,margaret 7,miller7            
,breckinridge1 that she  came into life 
under parental influence so admirable in
 all respects1  that she may be said to 
have been born and reared in a family1  
which1  like that of ,aquilla and       
,priscilla1 had a church in the house4  
,she  enjoyed1 in its happiest form1 a  
domestic ,christian education1 having   
the ,,bible for the basis of knowledge2 
the ,parents for instructors2 the       
family fire-side for the school of      
manners2 and the royal law of love  and 
truth1 as the standard and source of all

 true politeness4 ,truly it  is a goodly
 spectacle in these days of pretension1 
and vulgar parade2 of  shallow learning1
 and degenerate manners1 to behold here 
and there a  mother in ,israel1 after   
the manner of the olden time1 training  
her  little flock without the aids of   
modern parties1 fashions1 vain          
accomplishments1 and earthly tinsel2    
waiting with them day by day at the     
door-posts of that wisdom by which grace
 is poured into the lips1 and  mien1 as 
well as heart--where woman indeed       
becomes the glory of man2  7#a ,cor4 xi4
 #g17 and then to see her lead them     
forth into life1 from  these sacred     
shades1 polished after the similitude of
 a palace4#c ,such  a school was well   
fitted to form the mind1 refine the     
manners1 and  under ,god to save the    
soul of our lamented friend4 ,god had   
been pleased  to endow her with an      
unusual measure of personal beauty1 and 
great charm  of character and mind4 ,so 
that as soon as she entered into        

society1  which she did with great      
reserve1 she attracted much attention1  
and was  universally admired4 ,these    
things combined1 might have been        
expected1  especially in early life1 to 
draw her into the world2 and lead her   
away  from the humbling and self-denying
 religion of her father's house4 ,but   
even before she gave her heart to ,god1 
there was an inimitable  simplicity in  
her character1 manner1 and dress1 which 
evinced either a  total unconsciousness 
of her attractions1 or a noble          
superiority to  human praise4 ,her good 
taste1 and the better principles of the 
,gospel1  enabled her in all her after  
life1 notwithstanding the many          
temptations  to which she was exposed1  
to exhibit the same transparent and     
lovely  example4         #c ,the        
following passages are so graphic1 that 
it would seem as if       our day had   
set for the likeness1 though they were  
written two       thousand six hundred  
years ago3--,moreover the ,lord saith1  

because       the daughters of ,zion are
 haughty1 and walk with stretched forth 
necks1 wincing as they go1 and making a 
tinkling with their feet3               
,therefore the ,lord will smite with a  
scab the crown of the head of       the 
daughters of ,zion3 ,the ,lord will take
 away in that day the       bravery of  
their tinkling ornaments ,footnote3     
about their feet1 and       their cauls1
 and their round tires like the moon1   
the chains1 and       the bracelets1 and
 the mufflers1 the bonnets1 and the     
ornaments of       the legs1 and the    
head-bands1 and the ear-rings1 the      
rings1 the       changeable suits of    
apparel1 and the mantles1 and the       
whimples1 and       the crisping pins1  
and the glasses1 and the fine linen1 and
 the       hoods1 and the               
veils4--,isaiah iii4 chap4 ,behold the  
contrast6 #a       ,peter iii4 #a-f4 #a 
,timothy ii4 chap4 #i-aj4      ,,her    
,,religious ,,character4    ,the work of
 the ,spirit was early begun in her     

heart2 but it was for some  time        
resisted4 ,our acquaintance with her    
began just as she was closing  her      
domestic education1 7in her sixteenth   
year17 and almost before she  had looked
 this evil world in the face4 ,in #ahbj 
she became decidedly  serious2 and after
 several months of deep religious       
impression1  expressed a trembling hope 
of an interest in the ,divine ,redeemer4
 ,at  this time she was strongly        
disposed to make a public profession of 
religion2 but the salutary caution of   
her parents induced her to  postpone it 
to a future occasion4 ,subsequently to  
this1 the extreme fear  which she ever  
after cherished1 of self-delusion in    
religious exercises2  the high standard 
of ,christian character which she had   
proposed to  herself2 and her strong    
conviction of the frequent and very     
hurtful  inconsistencies of many        
professors of religion2 influenced her1 
in the  end to defer that solemn step to
 a distant day4 ,that day1 as stated in 

the narrative1 did not arrive until     
after her marriage1 her removal to      
,kentucky1 and her settlement as the    
wife of a pastor4 ,in the mean time1    
however1 it cannot be doubted1 that the 
grace of ,god had taken  possession of  
her heart4 ,and when finally she did    
publicly connect  herself with the      
people of ,god1 her tenderness of heart1
 her  self-distrust1 her deep humility1 
her child-like simplicity1 and          
transparency of ,christian character1   
condemned her only for a delayed        
profession1 and left few fears for her  
sake in any bosom but her own4    ,she  
was in a remarkable measure devoted to  
the ,word of ,god4 ,her  extraordinary  
memory faithfully stored with its rich  
treasure in early  youth1 vividly       
retained the chief part of it through   
life4 ,the ,psalmody  of ,dr4 ,watts1   
her favourite author in that department1
 she had almost  wholly at her command4 
,and with the ,commentary of the        
inimitable ,matthew  ,henry1 a ,latin   

and a ,french ,bible1 and a ,harmony of 
the ,gospels at her  side1 she daily and
 most devoutly searched the ,scriptures4
 ,clarke on the  ,promises1 was also a  
favourite book1 especially in her last  
days2 and  the ,pilgrim's ,progress was 
her companion to the water's edge1 where
  her real visions of the celestial city
 enabled her to lay the sweet  ,dreamer 
by1 as the ,parting ,pilgrim did his    
crutches1 when on the bank of  the river
 he saw chariots of fire to bear him to 
the ,pearly ,gates4  ,her diligence in  
studying the ,bible1 without in the     
least degree  neglecting her domestic   
duties1 7and even in the days of her    
feeblest  health17 was truly wonderful4 
,when a subject specially interested    
her1  she compiled and collated all the 
leading passages of the ,bible upon it2 
often writing them out at great length1 
and preserving them for  reference on   
future occasions4 ,indeed1 so far did   
she carry her  interested inquiries into
 the various parts of the ,old and ,new 

,testament1 and especially into the life
 of ,christ1 that she drew out a        
harmony of the ,gospels with her own    
hand2 the better to confirm her         
knowledge of the true order and relation
 of the events of his history4    ,she  
was a most faithful hearer of the       
preaching of the ,gospel4 ,her  luminous
 face cheered the progress of the herald
 of the ,lord1 and marked  the deep     
measure of her personal interest in the 
message from the skies4  ,since her     
decease1 we have found numerous briefs  
of sermons which she  had heard at      
different periods of her life1 from     
those whom she most  admired4 ,some of  
these were delivered by ,dr4 ,james ,p4 
,wilson1 and some  by her father1 others
 by ,dr4 ,green1 but chiefly by the     
venerable and  honoured friend whose    
tribute to her memory is affixed to this
 ,memoir4  ,he was undoubtedly her most 
esteemed instructor from the sacred     
desk4  ,his inimitable simplicity1      
vivacity1 richness1 and force of truth1 

always carried her understanding and her
 affections along with him2 and  those  
appeals which were most searching and   
simple1 were most treasured  and        
admired4    ,to her refined and candid  
spirit1 nothing was more detestable than
  religious parade4 ,as it is intimated 
in the former chapter1 it sometimes     
served to repel her from things and     
people that were good1 but savoured  of 
religious cant4 ,she was especially     
shocked with the numberless and  painful
 examples of female impropriety in this 
way1 which our age has  disclosed4 ,but 
in all the appropriate walks of         
,christian females1 and in  every       
becoming expression of their feelings   
and influence1 though  diffident of     
herself1 she promptly took her part4    
,perhaps her most  cherished occupation 
in the service of others1 was that of a 
,sunday-school teacher4 ,here she       
rejoiced in the work of her hands4      
,here1  without indelicacy or           
pretension1 she could use the word of   

,god1 in his  house1 and on his day1 to 
teach the little children1 whom like her
 ,lord1  she so much loved to take in   
her arms and bless4 ,she had for this   
service uncommon adaptation in the      
vivacity of her mind1 in the charm of   
her manner1 and especially in the rich  
store of her ,biblical knowledge4  ,she 
continued this relation after she became
 a wife1 and a mother2 and  the         
tenderness of a ,christian mother's love
 seemed to be transferred to  the little
 commonwealth of the ,sabbath-school4   
,we shall never forget the animation and
 delight with which she  communicated to
 us1 two years before her decease1 the  
account of a visit  which had been paid 
her very recently1 by a highly          
respectable young  gentleman1 then      
attached to a learned profession1 the   
son of a  distinguished public man1 who 
had been a member of her ,sunday-school 
class in ,princeton1 fifteen years      
before6      ,,her ,,dedication ,,to    
,,the ,,work ,,of ,,foreign ,,missions4 

,it was not long after the first        
experience 7as was hoped7 of the grace  
of ,god in her heart1 that the relation 
was formed between herself and  the     
writer of these pages1 which1 by its    
consummation and close1 became  in      
succession the crowning joy and the     
absorbing sorrow of his life4    ,while 
this interesting event1 combined with   
other causes1 was made the  occasion    
7from an excess perhaps of delicacy on  
her part7 of retarding  her public      
profession of religion1 it led to an    
early and very decisive  trial of her   
,christian principles in another form4  
,at this time the  friend whom she so   
much honoured by her affection1 was     
devoted to the  work of ,foreign        
,missions2 and he had solicited her hand
 with the  distinct expression1 both to 
herself and her venerable parents1 of   
such  a purpose4 ,this necessarily      
called her to consider the question of a
  personal engagement in this work4 ,she
 met and decided this question with  a  

promptitude and nobleness of ,christian 
resolution which surprised even  those  
who knew her best2 and though in the    
providence of ,god she was  spared the  
expected trial of separation for life   
from her family and  country1 yet the   
unreserved dedication of herself to the 
,missionary  cause which her ,redeemer  
enabled her to make1 gave elevation to  
her  ,christian character1 and prepared 
her for the trials scarcely less  severe
 to which she was called in the domestic
 field4 ,it was on the  ground of her   
having thus dedicated herself1 that with
 so much  self-oblivion1 and even       
cheerfulness1 she encountered the many  
difficulties of which we are now to     
speak4      ,,her ,,sacrifices ,,for    
,,the ,,church ,,of ,,god4    ,by a     
train of events over which we had no    
control1 and in the  interpretation of  
which we were permitted to enjoy the    
direction of the  ,church1 7it would be 
needless to recite them here17 we were  
hindered  from indulging the desire to  

go far hence to the ,gentiles4 ,but the 
principle of dedication for life was    
settled2 and hence it was from  the     
first1 understood and acted on at all   
times1 that other things being  equal1  
the field at home in which there was    
opportunity to do most for  the         
conversion of the heathen1 was always to
 be preferred1 if offered by  the ,lord 
of the harvest4 ,her first and second   
settlements could scarcely  be          
considered as giving occasion to many   
sacrifices4 ,lexington1  ,kentucky1 was 
in the bosom of her husband's native    
state4 ,there1 in the  garden of        
,america1 surrounded by a great circle  
of the most affectionate  kindred and   
friends1 and in a city remarkable as the
 ,athens of the west  for its refinement
 and general intelligence1 and connected
 with a most  kind and worthy           
congregation1 ,mrs4 ,b4 felt1 that even 
separation from  the home of her youth1 
was a form of trial so softened by her  
circumstances1 that it was converted    

into a mercy4    ,in our removal to the 
interesting and important city of       
,baltimore1 we  felt that goodness and  
mercy followed us1 changing our abode1  
but  augmenting the number of our       
friends1 and opening to us new and      
effectual doors of usefulness4 ,her     
attachment was very strong to both      
cities2 she left each with regret2 but  
still referring the decision to  others 
in whose wisdom and affection she       
confided1 she cheerfully obeyed  their  
successive summons to depart4 ,it was in
 leaving the latter city  that her      
sacrifices for the ,church more         
especially commenced4 ,at this  eventful
 period1 7the summer of #ahca17 it was  
found that there were more  than one    
thousand congregations in the           
,presbyterian ,church without a  pastor1
 not to mention the immeasurable        
destitution of the heathen  world4 ,to  
supply this immense demand required1 in 
addition to the very  inadequate means  
already in use1 a greatly enlarged and  

quickened effort  of the entire ,church4
 ,this necessity was deeply felt by the 
,general  ,assembly of #ahca1 and led to
 the re-organization by that body of its
  ,board of ,education4 ,in the solemn  
providence of ,god1 the writer of these 
sketches was called to fill the office  
of ,corresponding ,secretary and        
,general ,agent for that ,institution4  
,he found it impossible to resist  what 
appeared to be the voice of ,god        
speaking through his ,church2  though in
 yielding to it he was constrained to   
dissolve forever the  sacred tie which  
bound him to a beloved people1 and to   
pass from the  endearments of domestic  
and ,pastoral life1 to incessant toil   
and travel  in the wide and homeless    
world4 ,she foresaw1 and with keen      
anticipation  felt1 all the trouble     
which such a step must bring upon       
herself and her  little household4 ,but 
the decision of all her friends1        
excepting the  kind people we were about
 to leave1 was in favour of removal4    

,she  remembered her ,missionary vows4  
,she saw in it the sweetness as well as 
the severity of the cross1 and without a
 murmur meekly bowed to the  burden of  
the ,lord4 ,in this service1 which      
continued for nearly five  years1 she   
shared2 and like an angel1 soothed the  
trials of the work4  ,the comforts of   
domestic life were almost annihilated1  
either by  incessant separations1 or the
 nameless discomforts of a constant     
absence  from home4 ,during one entire  
year her house was occupied by her but  
six  weeks1 the rest being spent in     
hotels1 and boarding houses1 and        
steamboats1 and stages1 with occasional 
intervals of repose in the bosom  of    
related or attached families scattered  
through the wide field of her  visits   
from the ,mississippi to the ,hudson4   
,yet never did woman shine  with more   
lovely lustre at home2 never was woman  
more indisposed to step  from this1 her 
undisputed and delightful empire1 into  
the confusion and  folly of this selfish

 and evil world4 ,yet did she give up   
all1 and  consent to erect her domestic 
altar in the wilderness1 and gather her 
little fold on the highway1 for ,jesus' 
sake4 ,when weary of a year of  travel1 
undertaken to shun a year of separation1
 she returned to occupy  and order her  
solitary home4 ,there she was           
constrained1 though both  tender and    
inexperienced1 to guide her house alone2
 and to receive her  husband only as an 
occasional visitant4 ,still1 she never  
murmured2 nor  would we complain4 ,but  
faithful history--now that she rests    
from her  labours1 requires this        
narrative2 and ,god permits the record  
of those  works which follow such as die
 in the ,lord4 ,thus1 for five years1   
were kept up the alternations of these  
affecting trials4 ,they were  relieved1 
it must devoutly be acknowledged1 by the
 unremitting  attentions of those kind  
and lovely families in ,philadelphia1   
whose  virtues bound them to us by      
better ties than those of earthly       

kindred--as ,zion's friends1 and ours2  
whose reward we will not attempt  to    
take out of a ,saviour's hands by our   
poor praises2 and whose  displeasure we 
shall only then be sure of incurring1   
when we attempt to  unveil to the public
 eye1 the authors of so much            
disinterested and  untiring goodness4   
,the same reference is due to very many 
families in  the city of ,new ,york1 in 
which1 for several successive years1 she
 passed  the winters with her husband4  
,he who thus imperfectly attempts to    
record  his gratitude1 knew her worth so
 well1 that he cannot wonder that such  
friends should love her2 and he feels it
 his duty here to say1 that any  portion
 of success in the work herein referred 
to1 is under ,god1 largely  owing1 not  
only to her influence on his labours1   
but to the charm which  she threw upon  
every circle with which she mingled1 and
 the interest she  kindled in all the   
persons and objects which interested    
her4 ,when1 at  the end of two years1 he

 felt overwhelmed with the review of her
  domestic trials1 and was strongly     
moved to abandon a work which made  them
 inevitable1 she earnestly resisted the 
thought of change2 and  with generous   
self-devotion urged her husband forward 
in a work which1  though painful to her 
feelings1 was in her view useful to the 
,church1  and pleasing to its glorious  
,head4 ,as her impressions were those of
 all  her friends1 and apparently of the
 ,church at large1 and as the ,board    
itself kindly relaxed some of the       
severer features of our trials1 we  were
 confirmed in the conviction that it was
 our duty to persevere1 lest  we should 
incur the divine displeasure1 by being  
weary in  well-doing4    ,when1 however1
 the indications of divine ,providence  
in the spring of  #ahce seemed plainly  
to say1 that our work for the ,board of 
,education was  done1 and that we ought 
to enter the door opened for us at      
,princeton1  she was the last to see the
 duty of a removal2 and though her      

parental  home was there1 and though her
 heart and her wearied nature cried     
aloud  for rest1 she would not allow any
 reasons for the change1 to be drawn    
from her wishes or her sacrifices1 and  
to the last1 rather submitted  to1 than 
heartily approved of1 the new relation4 
,but how deep are the ways of ,god6     
,scarcely had she time to establish     
herself in her new home at ,princeton1#d
 when another and loud call to  an      
agency1 directly in behalf of ,foreign  
,missions1 was pressed upon  us4 ,though
 at this period her health had become   
evidently far more  delicate1 she heard 
and heeded again the voice of her       
,saviour2 and still  recalling the      
,missionary vow1 offered herself again a
 willing sacrifice  on the altar of     
,god4 ,in deciding this momentous       
question 7in the winter  of #ahch1 after
 having spent but eighteen months in    
,princeton1 nearly  half of which was   
occupied by her husband in active agency
 in behalf of  the funds1 library1 c4 of

 the ,theological ,seminary17 we found  
ourselves incapable of being            
instrumental in recalling her still     
again  to the commotion1 desertion at   
home1 and incessant cares1 of another   
agency4 ,three months therefore were    
given to the important work1 and the    
offer of the office finally declined4   
,even here however1 she persisted  in   
referring the decision to public        
relations alone1 leaving all  personal  
considerations out of view4 ,and though 
fast approaching her end  7what at that 
time none of us knew7 she spontaneously 
put herself at the  disposal of the     
friends of the ,board of ,foreign       
,missions1 for her part  of any service 
which might be required of her husband1 
whether it was in  extensive journeys   
with him1 or separation from him1 or a  
winter's  sojourn with him and her      
children in the city of ,new ,york4 ,for
 the  first1 hoping it might invigorate 
her health1 she was actually  furnished2
 and when that was abandoned for the    

last1 she repaired1 with  the spirit of 
her ,master in her heart1 to meet the   
trials it induced4 ,it  was in the fresh
 recollection of the parting scene1 on  
her way thither1  that the following    
sentences were addressed to the writer  
by the ,rev4  ,dr4 ,alexander4          
#d ,it is at once a remarkable          
indication of the nobleness of those    
,philadelphia friends already named1 and
 of the extent to which her       worth 
and her sacrifices were appreciated1    
that on being informed       of our     
final purpose to remove to ,princeton1  
they united in the       purchase of a  
commodious dwelling1 which was presented
 to ,mrs4       ,breckinridge and her   
children4 ,it is true1 one object in    
view was1       the accommodation of the
 ,professor 7for the time7 of ,pastoral 
,theology and ,missionary instruction in
 the ,seminary4 ,but the terms       of 
the gift are specific2 and when we      
attempted to alter the       direction  
of this munificent testimonial1 so as to

 make it the       property of the      
,institution1 it was peremptorily       
declined2 and       the deed was drawn  
in the name of ,margaret ,breckinridge  
and her       children4    ,i cannot    
conclude1 without a word to dear ,mrs4  
,breckinridge4 ,i admire  her ready     
submission to the calls of ,providence4 
,for although she cannot  help dropping 
the silent tear1 she makes no complaint1
 but shuts up her  comfortable house1   
leaves her home and her friends1 and as 
cheerfully as  she can1 goes to live in 
a hotel1 and among strangers4 ,well1 she
  shall not lose her reward4 ,for these 
sacrifices she shall have rich          
compensation3 and our sweetest earthly  
pleasure is in doing the will of  our   
,heavenly ,father4 7,dated ,princeton1  
,december #agth1 #ahcg47    ,at the     
close of the winter we returned to      
,princeton1 hoping that now ,god  would 
grant us a little rest in that quiet    
village and that delightful  home1 where
 not unaware we entertained an angel4   

,but ah6 this  blessedness was not long 
intended for us4 ,having done her work1 
7though  still we did not fear it17 she 
was soon to be taken to her rest and her
  reward on high4      ,,her ,,last     
,,sickness ,,and ,,death4    ,her last  
sickness was of a protracted and very   
interesting character4  ,when she       
returned from ,new ,york1 she was       
delicate and her state of  health was   
mysterious1 but not yet alarming even to
 her physicians4 ,very  soon after this1
 she had a violent attack1 which in a   
short season  prostrated her frame1 and1
 disclosing a peculiar complication of  
diseases1 overwhelmed every mind in the 
family1 but her own1 7she was  calm17   
with the most gloomy apprehensions of   
her danger4    ,at the close of the     
winter term of the ,theological         
,seminary1 7,may  first17 it was our    
anxious desire to take her to the ,red  
,sulphur ,springs  in ,virginia4 ,but it
 was too early in the season2 and being 
yet doubtful1  whether this or that     

place would be useful or hurtful1 it was
 agreed by  her physicians to indulge   
her strongly expressed wish to try the  
waters  of ,saratoga4 ,thither therefore
 we went1 pausing only a short time in  
the  city of ,new ,york for medical     
consultation4    ,at this time1 she was 
a most interesting object to all who saw
 her4 ,her  debility was so extreme that
 she was borne from place to place in   
the  arms of her husband1 which1 from   
her delicate frame1 it was easy to do4  
,the gentleness and patience with which 
she endured her sickness1 the           
inimitable moral beauty of her          
countenance1 and the general expression 
of frailty mingled with grace1 excited  
the deepest interest wherever she       
passed4#e         #e ,there is poetic   
beauty in the ,stanza of ,southey's on  
the       portrait of ,bishop ,heber1   
written after his decease2 and though   
fanciful it is striking4 ,blessed be    
,god our ,redeemer1 we have surer       
marks of recognition in the heavenly    

world4              ,they too1 will gaze
             ,upon his effigy           
,with reverential love1                 
,till they shall grow familiar with its 
lines             ,and know him when    
they see his face in heaven4    ,at     
,saratoga we spent a very quiet season  
of three weeks1 7before the  great      
hotels were opened1 or the crowds had   
arrived7 at the house of a  most kind   
and deserving ,christian woman1 ,mrs4   
,taylor1 whose unceasing  attentions    
greatly conduced to soothe sufferings   
which ,god had pleased  should not be   
arrested4 ,during this visit she used   
the waters freely1 as  a beverage1 and  
in the bath1 with no apparent injury1   
except that it  evidently disclosed the 
fatal symptoms of her malady4 ,she was  
able  almost every day1 to take gentle  
rides in the open air1 and frequently   
to mingle with the family4 ,but her     
chamber was her sanctuary4 ,there she   
reclined1 feeding on the ,word of ,god4 
,she was especially delighted with      

,clarke on the ,promises4 ,during that  
season of seclusion1 she seemed to  grow
 in grace with a progress which         
surprised 7while it delighted7 us2  for 
we knew not then how near she was to the
 perfection of the heavenly  rest4 ,but 
it has since been interpreted to us1 by 
the event1 as one of  ,god's peculiar   
mercies4 ,what made this the more       
pleasing evidence of  grace was1 that   
she did not know her own danger4 ,it was
 the power of  religion poured upon her 
spirit by ,him who was hastening to make
 her up  among his jewels4 ,at one time1
 she said--,oh1 yes1 pray that the      
distance between ,god and me may be     
taken away4 ,and after uniting1  with   
the most affecting solemnity and        
tenderness in the prayer which was      
offered1 she at its close expressed     
aloud her joy in the exercise1 7a  thing
 most unusual with her7 and her delight 
in ,god her ,saviour1 who  draweth nigh4
 ,on another occasion1 after hearing    
some of the promises  of healing to the 

body1 as collected by ,clarke1 she      
seemed for a  moment to be musing1 she  
then gently said3 ,my dear----,i am like
 the  poor woman who had spent all her  
living upon physicians1 neither could   
be healed of any2 but rather grew worse4
 ,my hope is in the ,great  ,physician6 
,since we have been calm enough to      
review the various stages of her last   
sickness in relation to her religious   
exercises1 it has been a subject  of    
deep regret1 and of no little           
self-reproach1 that we had not made the 
attempt at recording1 as they were      
uttered1 some of the deeply affecting   
expressions of her ,christian principles
 and feelings4 ,but the tumultuous  hour
 of hope and fear1 and hurried1 anxious 
watching at the bed of  death1 is not   
the time for cool calculation4 ,some of 
the most affecting  parts of such scenes
 are incapable of being written down1   
even by one  not interested in the      
sufferer4 ,nay1 more--like the voices   
which ,john  heard from heaven in       

,patmos1 the ,spirit seems to say of    
them1 write  them not4 ,these are joys  
with which the stranger intermeddleth   
not4  7,prov4 xiv4 #aj47 ,it is a       
sanctuary which no creature can enter4  
,and then  our beloved ,friend1 who was 
often afraid to whisper her religious   
joys  to her ,saviour1 lest she should  
be found offering strange fire on his   
altar1 seldom talked of her hopes1      
7though often of her sins17 to her      
nearest friends2 and never1 by writing  
them down1 put it in the power  of      
posthumous publications to expose them  
to the view of others4 ,we can  only1   
therefore1 illustrate her religious     
character1 at the stage which  we now   
approach1 by broken fragments of        
thoughts and feelings1 caught  from her 
lips amidst the awful mercies of a dying
 hour4    ,she began at length1 visibly 
to sink1 when ,dr4 ,freeman1 of         
,balston1  whose skilful and kind       
attentions she enjoyed1 7,dr4 ,steel1 of
 ,saratoga1  having himself been        

recently removed by death17 strongly    
advised a  discontinuance of the use of 
the waters1 and an attempt to reach the 
,red  ,sulphur ,springs4 ,for now the   
prevailing type of the disease had      
become  distinctly pulmonary2 and the   
skill of physicians1 and the healing    
waters1 and all the help of man were    
vain4 ,now1 for the first time1 we      
began to discern the dread reality of   
her approaching dissolution2 and  had   
some foretaste of the first anguish of  
such a loss4#f         #f ,the following
 touching stanzas do more real honour to
 their       illustrious author1 7,lord 
,palmerston7 than all the distinctions  
of       his high rank and public life4 
,whoe'er1 like me1 with trembling       
anguish brings            ,his dearest  
earthly treasure to these springs2      
,whoe'er1 like me1 to soothe distress   
and pain1            ,shall court these 
salutary springs in vain3               
,condemn'd1 like me1 to hear the faint  
reply1            ,to mark the fading   

cheek1 the sinking eye--                
,from the chill brow to wipe the damps  
of death1            ,and watch in dumb 
despair the short'ning breath3--        
,if chance should bring him to this     
humble line1            ,let the sad    
mourner know his pangs were mine4       
,ordain'd to lose the partner of my     
breast1            ,whose virtues warm'd
 me1 and whose beauty bless'd2          
,fram'd ev'ry tie that binds the heart  
to prove1            ,her duty          
friendship1 and her friendship love4    
,but yet1 remembering that the parting  
sigh            ,appoints the just to   
slumber1 not to die1            ,the    
starting tear ,i check'd--,i kissed the 
rod1            ,and not to earth       
resigned her1 but to ,god6    ,with     
heavy hearts1 but hastened steps1 we    
returned to ,princeton2 whence  almost  
in despair1 yet anxious to try any and  
all means for so great an  end1 we      
hastily set out with our meek sufferer  
for the ,virginia ,springs3  but as the 

previous narrative has recited1 we were 
arrested at  ,philadelphia4 ,here all   
was done by the assiduity and skill of  
her  physicians1#g and the most tender  
and constant attentions of a great      
number of friends4 ,but her divine      
,redeemer claimed her for himself4 ,she 
returned to ,princeton1 to bless her    
household1 and to die4 ,on the  evening 
of ,june the #acth1 she reached her     
children1 and her earthly  home4 ,on the
 morning of the #afth1 a quarter before 
ten o'clock1 with her  reason unclouded1
 in a frame of calm and holy triumph    
which marked the  dawning of heaven on  
her soul2 with a meek prayer for        
permission to die1  and with but a      
single pang1 she bade the world         
farewell1 and ascended to  ,god6        
#g ,drs4 ,chapman and ,meigs1 to whom   
with ,dr4 ,nelson of ,new ,york1 we     
all owe more for their unwearied and    
sympathizing care than we have          
words to express4    ,her remains were  
attended to the grave by a very large   

and deeply  affected assembly1 after the
 delivery of the impressive funeral     
discourse affixed to this ,memoir2 where
 they rest by the side of her  three    
little children1 two daughters and a    
son1 removed by death before4  ,the like
 number and of the same sex1 two        
daughters and a son1 are left  to the   
surviving parent1 to mourn her loss1 to 
treasure and imitate her  example1 and1 
by the grace of the ,saviour1 to follow 
them to the skies1  where the house now 
left desolate unto them shall be        
restored with  added bliss2 and the     
little family thus divided in the midst 
of life1  being reunited in pure and    
perfect love1 be received into          
everlasting  habitations4    ,a neat    
marble monument points to the spot where
 her dust reposes4      ,,chapter ,,iii4
    ,,closing ,,reflections4    ,,thus  
it has pleased our ,heavenly ,father to 
take away from us the desire  of our    
eyes1 with a stroke4 ,the first         
impression of such a loss is that  of   

amazement--overwhelming and bewildering 
the soul1 and with strange  horror1     
destroying for a time1 the power to     
feel4 ,deep calleth unto  deep--all thy 
waves1 and billows have gone over me4   
,such is the abyss  of grief6 ,at such a
 time1 our part is to be still--sitting1
 like the  ,marys1 over against the     
sepulchre4    ,when the disciples of    
,john lost their earthly ,master1 they  
came and  took the body1 and buried it1 
and went and told ,jesus4 ,this ought to
 be  the first act of every mourner1 to 
tell it unto ,jesus4 ,with him we  shall
 find both sympathy and support4 ,and   
more than this3 ,he resolves  the death 
of our friends into his own gracious    
sovereignty1 when he  calls it1 the     
coming of the ,son of ,man4 ,death loses
 its terror when it  becomes his act of 
grace4 ,the death of his saints is      
precious in his  sight1 and is always   
ordered with a supreme regard to their  
blessedness1 and his glory4 ,so that the
 feeblest of his dying children  may    

confidently say1 ,though ,he slay me1   
yet will ,i trust in ,him4  ,though ,i  
walk through the valley of the shadow of
 death1 ,i will fear no  evil2 for ,thou
 art with me4    ,there is a feeling    
about the death of our friends1 which is
 made up in  part of unbelief1 and in   
part of that tender regard which is     
produced by  their dependence on us     
through life4 ,those endearing relations
 which  make us their protectors1 and   
supports1 send their deep sympathies    
even  into the grave4 ,who of us that is
 a husband1 or a parent1 that does not  
feel the horror of the separation       
aggravated by the spectacle of our      
helpless kindred struggling alone in    
mortal strife with the king of  terrors8
 ,we1 to whom they have always looked   
for succour1 are then as  helpless as   
they1 in their extremest need4 ,we      
cannot even share their  agony4 ,it is  
this which gives a nameless anguish to  
such a moment4#h         #h ,one of the 
most affecting scenes ever witnessed1   

was the death       of a little child1  
who1 in the last moments1 called on her 
mother       to die with her4 ,this was 
the voice of nature4 ,to this call the  
heart would1 but cannot respond4 ,here  
our father and mother must       forsake
 us4    ,but it is because we forget    
that when father and mother1 and all    
they  most depended on in life1 forsake 
them1 then the ,lord doth take them  up4
 ,the ,christian is never so little     
alone as on the verge of heaven4  ,the  
,lord of life is there4 ,underneath are 
the everlasting arms2 and  through all  
the terrors of the grave2 and above all 
the tumult of that  last hour1 the      
,shepherd's voice is heard1 saying--,,it
 ,,is ,i--,,be ,,not  ,,afraid4 ,while  
some pass over ,jordan on the wing1 and 
some struggle  through the waves1 yet   
all safely pass4 ,not one of them shall 
perish1  but each appear in ,zion before
 ,god4    ,it adds tenderness and force 
to these consoling hopes1 that ,jesus   
once  tasted death himself4 ,it moves   

us1 that ,jesus wept4 ,but it gives a   
new nature to death1 that ,jesus died6  
,for while the merit of his  death takes
 the sting from ours1 his presence in   
the tomb dispels all  its terrors4      
,therefore1 since ,jesus died1 let us   
consent to death2 and  surrender at his 
call those most dear to us4             
,the graves of all his saints he blest1 
,and softened every bed--         ,where
 should the dying members rest1         
,but with their dying head6    ,it must 
be sweet to lie in that grave which he  
has hallowed by his  presence among the 
dead4    ,one of the considerations     
which should make us acquiesce in the   
removal  of our beloved friends who die 
in the ,lord1 is this--that we are      
suffering for their sakes2 and that they
 could not be blessed without  our      
sufferings4 ,for their death1 7the dread
 cause of all our grief17 was  necessary
 to their perfect and eternal           
blessedness4 ,this thought ought  to    
soften every pang4 ,if we really love   

them1 and if our sacrifices for  them   
while they were here below1 were the    
fruit of our love1 then we  have only to
 remember that this is one prolonged1   
supreme sacrifice for  their            
sakes4--,this reflection if properly    
pursued1 would often turn our  mourning 
into gladness4#i ,and then1 if this     
weight of sorrow that is  laid on us may
 but be duly improved and meekly borne2 
if it may not only  mark the bliss of   
our friends begun on high1 but be made  
by a wise and  good ,god conducive to   
our growth in grace--it will have in it 
the pledge  of our everlasting re-union 
in heaven2 and thus be an affliction    
doubly  blessed4         #i ,a lovely   
example of the power of this sentiment  
in subduing       grief1 is given in the
 narrative of one of our ,american      
missionaries4 ,he and his               
fellow-labourer were alone in a         
barbarous       land1 far away from any 
creature who cared for their ,lord or   
for       them4 ,suddenly his friend was

 taken from him4 ,in that awful moment  
of desertion and anguish1 after         
commending the parting soul to ,god1    
and closing the eyes of the dead1 he    
kissed his cold lips1 and       thought1
 ,what glory has already burst upon his 
view6 ,in this       thought his sorrow 
was lost4    ,but the silencing1 yea1   
elevating thought of all is1 that it is 
for  ,jesus' sake1 we are called to     
suffer4 ,the ,master is come and called 
for her4 ,it is indeed the richest of   
our earthly treasures4 ,our own  life   
were a far lighter offering4 ,but for   
that reason we honour him the  more4 ,it
 is our ,isaac that ,god calls for2 and 
it is then indeed we  honour ,god when  
we can offer like ,abraham4 ,we shall   
receive the  offering back1 if not as   
soon1 as certainly--and at no distant   
day6  ,when1 therefore1 ,he who laid    
down his life for us1 asks for our      
richest  gift1 let us not call him a    
hard master1 but give without a murmur4 
,the death of our friends should have   

the effect of bringing ,heaven  nearer  
to us4 ,we ought to cultivate1 if we may
 so speak1 domestic  views of that      
blessed world to which we are so much   
honoured as to have  sent up angels from
 our households4 ,while all             
superstitious emotions are  carefully to
 be quelled1 we are permitted to draw   
very nigh to them4 ,we  may cherish     
their image in our memories and hearts2 
we still belong to  the same great      
communion--and all are members of that  
body of which  ,jesus is the head4 ,as  
death does not separate from the ,lord1 
neither  does it divide the saints from 
one another4 ,our spirit and theirs     
daily  meet at the one throne--they to  
praise1 we to pray2 therefore1 in that  
sense1 though we are absent in body1 we 
are present in spirit4    ,and the      
distance which lies between them and us 
is daily growing less4  ,how swiftly we 
travel1 yea1 fly1 in all the speed of   
time6 ,it may not be  an inappropriate  
close to these meditations1 to insert   

the family hymn1  with which the remnant
 of a bereaved household often close the
 day1 and  comfort each others' hearts1 
at the hour when we feel most desolate4 
,come let us join our friends above1    
,that have obtained the prize2          
,and on the eagle wings of love1        
,to joy celestial rise4           ,let  
saints below his praises sing1          
,with those to glory gone2         ,for 
all the servants of our ,king1          
,in heaven and earth are one4           
,one family1 we dwell in him1           
,one church above1 beneath3             
,though now divided by the stream1      
,the narrow stream of death4            
,one army of the living ,god1           
,to his commands we bow2         ,part  
of the host have crossed the flood1     
,and part are crossing now4             
,ten thousand to their endless home1    
,this solemn moment fly2         ,and we
 are to the margin come1           ,and 
soon expect to die4           ,dear     
,saviour1 be our constant guide1        

,then when the word is given1           
,bid the cold waves of death divide1    
,and land us safe in heaven4    ,and    
now1 in bringing to a close these very  
imperfect notices of a  beloved saint of
 ,god1 it is proper to say1 that much   
more might truly  have been added in    
reference to many points of her         
character1 that would  have been proper1
 and interesting3 as for example1 her   
intellectual  endowments2 her extensive 
acquirements2 her domestic life2 her    
personal  accomplishments4 ,but we fear 
to indulge our feelings4 ,nor is it     
needful4  ,for it was her ,christian    
character mainly which we designed to   
illustrate4 ,her love for the ,redeemer1
 and her sacrifices for his sake1  were 
the jewels which adorned her on earth1  
and which lose not their  lustre in     
death4 ,it was the glory of all those   
qualities which so  eminently fitted her
 to attract the admiration of this      
world1 that she  meekly laid them at the
 ,saviour's feet4 ,there also1 we desire

 to leave  this humble tribute to one   
whose sun went down while it was yet    
day1  praying that he who thus early    
fitted her for heaven1 may by these poor
  means prolong her usefulness1 and     
bless her memory on earth4              
,,submission3        ,a ,,sermon        
,,occasioned ,,by ,,the ,,death ,,of    
,,mrs4 ,,margaret ,,breckinridge4       
,,by ,,the      ,,rev4 ,a4 ,,alexander1 
,d4,d4          ,,sermon4    ,,psalm    
,,xlvi4 #aj4    ,be still1 and know that
 ,i am ,god4      ,,omitting all        
critical discussion of the true import  
of the text1 ,i will  consider the words
 as addressed by ,jehovah to his own    
people1 when  suffering affliction under
 the strokes of his mighty hand4 ,it may
 be  considered as the language of      
authority2 or of consolation4 ,according
 to  the first view1 it is as if the    
,almighty had said1 ,be still1 and      
neither repine1 nor rebel1 for your     
affliction comes not from the dust1  but
 from me1 your rightful ,sovereign2 to  

whom you owe absolute  subjection4 ,if  
viewed in the sense last mentioned1 then
 it will be as  though ,god1 feeling    
compassion towards his afflicted saints1
 puts them  in mind of the sure refuge  
which they had in him2 as if he had     
said1 ,be  calm and unruffled1 in the   
midst of all your overwhelming          
calamities1  for ,i am able to sustain  
you1 and to deliver you by my ,almighty 
arm4  ,be still1 and know that ,i am    
,god4 ,in either case1 the result1 as to
  our duty1 is the same4 ,unreserved    
submission is the thing enjoined1 and   
the reason to enforce the injunction is1
 ,i am ,god4    ,man that is born of a  
woman is of few days1 and full of       
trouble4 ,he  cometh forth as a flower1 
and is cut down3 he fleeth also as a    
shadow1  and continueth not4 ,his days  
are determined3 the number of his years 
are  with thee2 thou hast appointed his 
bounds1 that he cannot pass4 ,no        
condition in this life is exempt from   
trouble4 ,no bulwarks can be  erected by

 kings and princes1 strong enough1 and  
high enough1 to be a  safeguard against 
the shafts of adversity4 ,in regard to  
this matter1 the  rich and the poor     
stand very much upon a level4 ,man is   
born unto  trouble as the sparks fly    
upward4 ,hence1 this life has justly    
been  denominated1 the vale of tears4   
,uninterrupted bliss cannot be found    
beneath the skies4 ,the righteous are   
not exempt1 but many are their          
afflictions4 ,besides a participation in
 the common lot of humanity1 they  have 
troubles peculiar to themselves4 ,the   
dispensations of ,god towards  his own  
people1 are1 indeed1 in covenant love   
and faithfulness1 but they  are not     
calculated to encourage them to take up 
their rest in this  world1 but to render
 their path so thorny1 and their bed so 
uneasy1 that  they are continually      
admonished of their duty to set their   
affections on  things above1 and to     
press forward as pilgrims to the        
possession of  their heavenly           

inheritance4    ,the reasons which      
should persuade us to exercise          
unreserved and  uncomplaining submission
 to the will of ,god1 as manifested in  
the  dispensations of his wise and      
righteous ,providence1 are at the same  
time obvious and weighty4 ,but1 here1 as
 in other cases1 theory and  practice   
are very different things4 ,on this     
subject1 we all can teach  and inculcate
 what is right2 but when it becomes     
necessary to practise  our own lessons1 
we experience a sad deficiency4 ,this is
 a school in  which1 sooner or later1 we
 must all be learners2 and it behoves us
 to  use diligence in preparing         
ourselves to endure trials with         
fortitude1  and cheerfully to acquiesce 
in those painful events1 which we cannot
  avoid4 ,some persons1 when overtaken  
by severe strokes of adversity1 are1    
like the bullock unaccustomed to the    
yoke1 restive and rebellious2 they      
resist the hand which presses them1 and 
struggle to throw off the yoke4  ,such a

 course is altogether unwise1 and must  
be unsuccessful4 ,wo to him  that       
striveth with his ,maker4 ,let the      
potsherds strive with the  potsherds of 
the earth1 but let not a feeble1 sinful 
worm rise up in  rebellion against the  
,almighty2 for who hath hardened himself
 against  him and hath prospered8 ,and  
when there is no open rebellion1 there  
is  often a spirit of discontent and    
murmuring1 which1 though smothered in   
the breast1 partakes of the nature of   
rebellion1 and is the very  opposite of 
cordial1 filial submission4 ,every      
degree of this temper1  whether         
concealed or expressed1 is exceedingly  
offensive to ,god1 as we  learn from his
 word1 and is so far from mitigating the
 evils which we  suffer1 that it doubles
 their pressure2 it makes even a light  
burthen  intolerable4    ,others again1 
endeavour to form habits of hardy       
insensibility2 they seek  refuge from   
the keen arrows of affliction1 in a     
stoical indifference4  ,they affect to  

contemn1 as weak1 and wanting in        
fortitude1 all those who  seem to suffer
 exquisitely under the strokes of       
adversity4 ,much  practical progress    
never can be made in this unnatural     
system4 ,whatever  men may profess or   
pretend1 nature will assert her claims1 
and if her  feelings may be for a season
 suspended1 she will again resume her   
sway2  and indeed the equanimity        
acquired by these principles1 has been  
more in  appearance than reality2 and   
the greatest adepts in eradicating the  
susceptibilities of our nature1 have    
only learned the art of  successfully   
concealing the emotions of their bosoms 
from the  observation of others4    ,but
 while some endeavour to obtain relief  
by rendering themselves  insensible to  
the calamities of life1 and aim at      
braving the storms of  adversity1 there 
are others1 who err on the opposite     
extreme4 ,under the  chastising hand of 
,god1 they are prostrated in the dust2  
not in  humility1 but in despondency2   

their sorrow not only casts them down1  
but  overwhelms them4 ,they find        
themselves sinking in deep waters1 where
  there is no standing4 ,such persons   
not only put away all hope1 but cease   
from all exertion1 and abandon          
themselves to grief2 forgetting the     
exhortation which speaketh unto them as 
to children1 ,my son1 despise  not thou 
the chastening of the ,lord1 nor faint  
when thou art rebuked of  him4    ,there
 is but one effectual remedy for the    
evils to which man is heir1  while on   
his earthly pilgrimage2 and that is     
,,religion--true religion1  not merely  
apprehended and approved in its theory1 
but deeply felt1 and  cordially embraced
 in the inmost soul4 ,this is the only  
principle of  sufficient potency to     
tranquillize the perturbations of the   
soul when  deeply afflicted4 ,this only 
can sustain the mind1 ready to sink into
  despair4 ,this furnishes the only     
medicine which heals the anguish of the 
broken heart2 the only balm which       

relieves the wounds made in the spirit  
by painful bereavements4 ,here the      
superlative value of true religion is   
realized2 and this principle of heavenly
 origin is found to possess a  power1   
not only to sustain the soul under the  
heaviest pressure of  affliction1 but to
 pour sweet consolations into the       
desolate and  troubled heart4 ,here1    
indeed1 is opened a fountain of         
refreshing  streams1 in the midst of    
this dreary wilderness1 of which the    
poor  heathen had no knowledge1 and of  
which the men of the world are still    
ignorant4    ,these blessed effects of  
genuine piety are not produced by any   
irrational process1 or blind impulse2   
but by the contemplation of truths      
adapted to the end4 ,consolations which 
do not rest on this firm  foundation1   
will ever be found precarious1 and      
commonly evanescent4  ,buoyant hope and 
cheerful resignation must have the solid
 pillar of  truth on which to repose4   
,it will therefore be consonant to our  

present  purpose1 to bring more         
distinctly into view1 some of those     
important  doctrines1 the practical     
belief of which leads to the exercise of
  ,christian submission4    ,that which 
lies at the foundation of the whole1 is1
 that ,god exists1 and  governs all     
events by his providence4 ,whatever men 
profess1 or  speculatively believe1 as  
it relates to the actual presence and   
operative providence of ,god1 there is  
undoubtedly much practical atheism  in  
the hearts of men4 ,most feel and act as
 if there was no ,god1 and as  if all   
things happened by chance4 ,this is     
remarkably manifest when they  are      
suddenly cast down into deep affliction4
 ,they recognise not the hand  that     
smites them4 ,they seem to think1 that  
affliction cometh from the  dust1 and   
that trouble springeth out of the       
ground4 ,in all their bitter            
lamentations1 their views extend no     
farther than to the proximate causes  of
 their distress2 and they often         

experience the bitterest regret1        
because they did not pursue a different 
course1 or make use of different  means 
from what they did2 although with the   
knowledge possessed1 they  could not    
have done better4 ,under the same       
short-sighted views1 they are  prone to 
censure others who have had an innocent 
instrumentality in  bringing about the  
events by which they are distressed4    
,all this arises  from the want of faith
 in ,divine ,providence2 and too much of
 this  unbelief cleaves to the pious    
themselves1 and greatly aggravates their
  calamities4 ,but when their faith in  
the being and providence of ,god is     
strong1 they see his hand in every thing
 good and evil1 which occurs2  they     
behold him operating through all nature1
 and giving efficacy to all  second     
causes2 and are as fully persuaded that 
he directs the fall of a  sparrow1 as   
the overthrow of a kingdom4 ,this       
doctrine of an universal  and particular
 ,providence1 is the foundation of our  

trust in ,god1 for  security and        
sustenance4 ,how beautifully did ,christ
 teach this lesson to  his disciples1   
when he said1 ,behold the fowls of the  
air1 for they sow  not1 neither do they 
reap1 nor gather into barns2 yet your   
heavenly  ,father feedeth them4 ,are ye 
not much better than they8 ,and why take
 ye  thought for raiment8 ,consider the 
lilies of the field1 how they grow2     
they toil not1 neither do they spin2 and
 yet ,i say unto you1 that even         
,solomon in all his glory was not       
arrayed like one of these4 ,wherefore1  
if ,god so clothe the grass of the      
field1 which to-day is1 and to-morrow   
is cast into the oven1 shall ,he not    
much more clothe you1 ,o ye of little   
faith8    ,when the dark and cloudy day 
of adversity1 or the long and           
tempestuous  night comes upon us--when  
our comforts are suddenly blasted1 and  
our  brightest earthly prospects are    
obscured1 then1 instead of repining or  
desponding1 we should betake ourselves  

to the doctrine of an overruling        
,providence4 ,the dispensation may be   
dark1 and afflictive1 and even          
profoundly mysterious2 yet we should    
think1 it is ,god that hath done it4    
,these are his footsteps4 ,this is the  
operation of his hand4 ,he it is1  who  
formeth the light and createth the      
darkness2 that maketh peace1 and        
createth evil4 ,the more1 in such       
circumstances1 we look beyond all       
creatures1 and second causes1 and fix   
our thoughts and our faith1 on ,god     
alone1 the sooner shall we find         
composure of mind4 ,if we fully believe 
that ,god is in the storm1 and that it  
is his voice which is heard in the      
thunder1 and his face which is seen in  
the flashing of the lightning1  the less
 shall we be terrified with the         
apprehension of unknown dangers4    ,but
 we are permitted to know not only that 
,god governs all human affairs  by his  
,providence1 but also that his          
dispensations1 as it relates to his  own

 people1 are all ordered in wisdom1 in  
faithfulness1 and in love4 ,the         
doctrine of ,providence can bring no    
true consolation to any who are         
unreconciled to ,god4 ,they may know    
that it is his rod by which they are    
smitten1 but they cannot tell but his   
strokes are those of vindicatory        
justice1 and only a prelude to more     
intolerable pains4 ,before we can       
repose with confidence and comfort on   
the faithfulness1 wisdom1 and  goodness 
of the ,divine dispensations1 we must   
possess some evidence that  our sins are
 pardoned and our persons accepted2 for 
the more perfect  the ,divine           
government1 the more certainly will     
punishment pursue the  guilty4 ,our     
cheerful resignation to the afflictions 
of life1 is  therefore1 closely         
connected with our justification through
 the merits  of the ,lord ,jesus        
,christ4 ,while we contemplate our own  
sins and  imperfections only1 we can    
entertain no other feeling1 than a      

fearful  looking for of wrath2 but when 
with the spirit of adoption we can look 
up to our heavenly ,father's reconciled 
face1 we need not be alarmed nor  cast  
down1 under the heaviest afflictions    
which befall us4 ,we know that  he doth 
not willingly afflict his beloved       
children1 but out of love  chastises    
them for their greater good1 that they  
may become in a higher  degree1         
partakers of his holiness4 ,they are    
assured1 therefore1 that all  these     
painful events shall be so overruled1 as
 to work for their good4  ,and the ,holy
 ,scriptures clearly teach1 that        
although these chastisements  are1 for  
the present1 not joyous1 but grievous1  
yet1 hereafter1 they  will produce in   
them who are exercised thereby1 the     
peaceable fruits of  righteousness4     
,they eminently conduce to wean the     
affections from this  vain world1 to    
humble the spirit in the dust under a   
sense of  unworthiness1 and to excite an
 ardent spirit of prayer4 ,it is1       

moreover1  by a severe but salutary     
discipline of this kind1 that saints are
 made  meet for the heavenly            
inheritance4 ,and not only so1 but these
 temporary  afflictions1 somehow or     
other1 will have a direct efficiency in 
increasing their future felicity and    
glory1 according to that remarkable     
declaration of ,paul1 ,these light      
afflictions which are but for a  moment1
 work out for us a far more exceeding   
and eternal weight of  glory4 ,it is not
 surprising1 therefore1 that ,god who   
loves his people  with an unchangeable  
love1 should visit them with the rod4   
,it is the  method which he takes to    
purge out their dross and their tin4    
,affliction  is therefore compared to a 
furnace1 in which the precious metals   
are  assayed and purified4 ,thus ,peter 
comforts suffering ,christians in his   
time3    ,beloved1 think it not strange 
concerning the fiery trial which is to  
try you1 as though some strange thing   
happened unto you2 but rejoice1         

inasmuch as ye are partakers of         
,christ's sufferings1 that when his     
glory  shall be revealed1 ye may be glad
 also with exceeding joy4 ,again3 ,that 
the trial of your faith being much more 
precious than gold that  purifieth      
though it be tried with fire1 might be  
found unto peace1 and  honour1 and      
glory1 at the appearing of ,jesus       
,christ4    ,in the testimony just      
cited1 there is another interesting     
reason  suggested for the affliction of 
,christ's disciples4 ,and it is one     
which  must be touching to the hearts of
 all who truly love their ,lord4 ,it is1
  that as he was pre-eminently the man  
of sorrows1 there is a congruity  in    
their participating in suffering1 that  
in this respect1 as in  others1 they may
 be conformed to his example4 ,paul also
 makes express  and repeated mention of 
the same thing4 ,if children1 then heirs
 of ,god1  and joint heirs with ,christ1
 if so be that we suffer with him1 that 
we  may also be glorified together4 ,he 

speaks of this communion with ,christ   
in suffering1 as a characteristic of    
discipleship1 and as a high  privilege1 
,always bearing about in the body the   
dying of the ,lord  ,jesus4--,for unto  
you it is given in the behalf of        
,christ1 not only to  believe on him1   
but also to suffer for his sake4        
,christians1 therefore1  in primitive   
times1 gloried in their severest        
sufferings4 ,and now1 no  consideration 
is more efficacious in fortifying the   
believer against  fainting than the idea
 of the sufferings of ,christ for us4   
,it would seem  that they who have been 
privileged to endure nothing for        
,christ's sake1  would scarcely be      
admitted to reign with him in glory4    
,and as we should endeavour1 while in   
the world1 to glorify ,god to the       
utmost of our power1 by letting the     
light of a holy example shine forth1  so
 there is no situation in which piety   
appears to greater advantage1  than when
 exercised in deep affliction4 ,what    

disposition can be  conceived as        
possessing more moral beauty1 than the  
grace enjoined in  our text2 cheerful1  
quiet submission to the will of our     
heavenly  ,father1 under the heaviest   
pressure of his hand4 ,and as we all are
  conscious that there is yet much      
impurity and dross cleaving to our      
nature1 we should rejoice in being      
subjected to a process1 though it be  a 
fiery one1 by which we might be more and
 more purified from sin4  ,indeed1 we   
cannot do without this salutary         
discipline3 our salvation1  probably1   
depends upon our sufferings as a means  
of conservation in a  state of grace4   
,we ought not1 therefore1 to think it   
strange concerning  the fiery trial1    
which is to try us1 as though some      
strange thing  happened to us2 but      
should rather rejoice1 inasmuch as we   
are partakers  of ,christ's sufferings1 
that when his glory shall be revealed1  
we may be  glad with exceeding joy4     
,be still1 and know that ,i am ,god4 ,be

 calm and submissive2 be not  alarmed   
nor perturbed2 let your resignation to  
the ,divine will be  unreserved and     
cheerful4 ,seize the occasion1 which    
severe afflictions  offer1 to show your 
entire willingness that ,god should     
govern and  dispose of you and yours    
according to his own sovereign will4 ,he
 is  wise1 and knows how to order every 
thing for the best4 ,he is powerful1    
and can bring light out of darkness1 and
 good out of evil4 ,he is  faithful1 and
 will certainly fulfil all his gracious 
promises4 ,he is  good and merciful1 and
 will consult the best interests of his 
children  in all his dealings towards   
them2 and even those events which seem  
to be  most adverse1 he will so temper  
and overrule1 that ultimately1 and      
relatively1 they will be made to work   
for their good4    ,under sore and      
unexpected bereavements1 the human heart
 will bleed2 and  the susceptible       
feelings will be lacerated1 and the gush
 of sorrow will  have its course2 but   

grace comes in and suggests             
considerations which  ought to moderate 
our grief2 and to teach us to be quietly
 submissive to  the hand of the         
,almighty4 ,it is a blessed state1 when 
the feelings of  the man are absorbed in
 the nobler feelings of the ,christian2 
when our  will is swallowed up in the   
will of ,god4 ,what ,he doeth we know   
not now1  but we shall know hereafter4  
,it will not be long until we shall be  
able  to see1 that he hath done all     
things well4    ,in the recent mournful 
dispensation of ,divine ,providence1 we 
see how  many hearts may be wounded1 and
 how many joys withered1 by a single    
stroke4 ,in this interesting group of   
mourners1 we behold the aged  parents   
weeping over the lifeless body of a much
 loved1 and very lovely  daughter4 ,they
 have lived to witness the premature    
departure of one1  whom they might      
naturally have expected to be a comfort 
to them in their  declining years1 and  
to wipe from their foreheads the cold   

drops1 in a  dying hour4 ,parental      
bereavements admit of less alleviation1 
than  others1 from earthly              
considerations4 ,the friends and        
comforts which1  late in life1 we lose1 
we cannot hope to have made up to us4   
,and1  sometimes1 the parents of a      
numerous offspring are preserved so     
long1  that they survive all1 or most of
 their children2 and they stand1 like   
aged trees1 which1 by successive storms1
 have been stripped of their  foliage   
and branches4 ,but1 although bereaved   
parents cannot draw much  consolation1  
under their afflictions1 from this      
world2 yet the rich  consolations of the
 ,gospel are accessible to them1 and    
peculiarly  appropriate to their        
condition4 ,the pious do not know how to
 appreciate  the promises of ,god       
rightly1 until1 in the hour of          
affliction1 they are  made to experience
 their power and sweetness4 ,we cannot  
blame these  parents for mourning the   
loss of a first born and very amiable   

daughter2  but we trust that they now   
find support and comfort in that ,god on
 whose  ,almighty arm they have long    
trusted4 ,they have not now for the     
first  time1 to learn the riches of that
 grace which is treasured up in ,christ 
,jesus2 and may they be enabled to come 
now to that fountain of mercy1 by  the  
streams of which they have been so often
 refreshed and comforted1  under former 
trials6    ,the grief of affectionate   
brothers and sisters also1 flows this   
day1 in  a strong current4 ,they feel as
 if a part of themselves had been taken 
away2 and yet they can scarcely realize 
the extent of their calamity4 ,it  often
 requires time for grief to become      
rooted in the soul4 ,the first  gush of 
sorrow from the bleeding heart1 is      
indeed a more sensible  emotion1 but the
 full value of our loss is not felt1    
until after serious  reflection4 ,it is 
a painful thing to be separated from    
those around  whom our earliest and     
tenderest affections were entwined4 ,the

 thought of  never again1 in this world1
 seeing a face1 from which always the   
most  benignant affections beamed upon  
us1 cannot but leave a melancholy and   
heart-sinking impression4 ,who can      
adequately describe the anguish         
produced by the sudden severance of     
hearts1 long cemented in the bands  of  
the tenderest affection6 ,but1 though   
nature will be obeyed1 and the  floods  
of sorrow cannot be altogether          
restrained1 yet there is a  ,christian  
duty incumbent on those placed in these 
circumstances4 ,the  command does not   
say1 that we should not weep1 but that  
we should not  sorrow as those that have
 no hope4 ,christians are not divested  
of the  common sensibilities of         
humanity2 but they possess principles   
much  higher than mere humanity1 by     
which they moderate their passions1 and 
by  which the stream of natural sorrow  
may be sanctified1 and turned into  that
 of godly sorrow1 which worketh a       
repentance not to be repented  of4      

,but among the weeping mourners1 on this
 sad occasion1 ,i see some1 who  though 
deeply affected1 can scarcely be        
supposed capable1 on account of  their  
tender age1 of estimating the           
irreparable loss which they have        
sustained4 ,i call the loss of a mother 
irreparable2 because1 however  many     
affectionate friends may stand ready to 
do all in their power to  supply a      
mother's place2 yet1 the assiduity1     
forbearance1 and  tenderness1 so        
requisite in the treatment of young     
children1 can be  expected in perfection
 from nothing but that affection1 which 
the  ,creator has deeply implanted in   
the hearts of mothers4 ,to those who    
have  had long experience in the world1 
there are few ideas more affecting  than
 that of a motherless child4 ,but       
orphaned1 as these dear little  ones    
are1 by the loss of one parent1 they    
are1 ,i may say1 on this  account1 more 
peculiarly the care of a covenant ,god1 
whose promise  extends not only to      

believers1 but to their seed1 and whose 
kind care  extends especially to such   
children of the faithful1 as have been  
bereaved of one or both parents4 ,these 
dear children1 we confidently  trust    
will be the objects not merely of ,god's
 common goodness1 but of  his special   
grace2 and after spending a life of     
usefulness in acts of  piety and        
beneficence1 will enjoy the blessed     
privilege of regaining  their beloved   
mother1 in the mansions of glory1 where 
sickness1 death1  and tears1 will be    
known no more4    ,in addressing the    
interesting group of mourners now before
 me1 ,i  perceive one1 whose griefs are 
too big for utterance1 and whose        
swelling  bosom cannot be soothed1 at   
this time1 by any of the common topics  
of  consolation4 ,an officious intrusion
 into the sacred recess of such         
indescribable sorrows1 only serves to   
exacerbate1 rather than mitigate  the   
wounded spirit4 ,all that the kindest   
friends can do1 in such a case1  is to  

let their warmest1 tenderest sympathies 
fall in with the tide of  overwhelming  
grief1 which rejects all consolation4   
,weep with them that  weep4 ,there is   
another thing which we can do1 and that 
far more  important1 we can pray for our
 afflicted and bereaved brother4 ,in    
such  circumstances1 prayer is almost   
our only refuge2 for all our help must  
come from ,god4 ,while the voice of man 
is powerless to afford relief1  there is
 ,,one who causes his voice to be heard 
even in the midst of the  tempest4 ,and 
his authoritative1 his affectionate     
language to our beloved  brother is1 ,be
 still1 and know that ,i am ,god4 ,god  
is our refuge and  strength1 a very     
present help in trouble4 ,it is         
somewhere related of  that eminently    
pious reformer1 ,luther1 that when he   
fell into any great  trouble1 he was    
wont to say to his friends1 ,come1 let  
us sing the  forty-sixth psalm4    ,a   
striking example of uncomplaining       
submission we have in the good old      

priest ,eli1 who1 when informed that    
,god was about to bring such  judgments 
on his house1 as would cause the ears of
 every one that heard  them to tingle2  
meekly replied1 ,it is the ,lord1 let   
him do what seemeth  him good4    ,and  
the patriarch ,job1 when deprived of all
 his property1 and of all his  children1
 humbled himself and worshipped ,god1   
saying--,the ,lord gave1  and the ,lord 
hath taken away1 blessed be the name of 
the ,lord4 ,what1  shall we receive good
 from the hand of the ,,lord1 and shall 
we not  receive evil8    ,when ,jesus   
visited the mourning family of ,bethany1
 who were among his  dearest friends1 he
 did not say to the afflicted sisters1  
weep not--but  the compassionate        
,redeemer united his tears with theirs2 
for it is  written1 ,jesus wept4 ,these 
were indeed only the tears of sympathy1 
for  it was in his benevolent purpose to
 restore the deceased brother to his    
disconsolate sisters4 ,here also1 we    
have a striking illustration of the     

truth1 that ,god's children are ignorant
 often of his kind designs1 when  he    
permits sore afflictions to come upon   
them2 ,if thou hadst been  here1 said   
both the weeping sisters1 my brother had
 not died4 ,their  regret was keen1 and 
unmitigated by any known circumstance2  
but in one  short hour1 they were1 no   
doubt1 glad that their ,lord was not    
there--they rejoiced that their beloved 
brother had died2 because the  glory of 
,god and the power of the ,redeemer had 
now been manifested4  ,indeed1 a        
gracious visit from ,jesus will turn our
 bitterest sorrows into  joy4 ,his      
name--his word--his grace--has a mighty 
power to calm the  swelling surges of   
overwhelming sorrow4 ,he can say1 as he 
did to the  raging storm1 ,peace1 be    
still1 and there will be a great calm4  
,were it  not for thoughts of ,god--of  
his providence1 and promises1 and of the
  seasonable and effectual aid of his   
grace1 grief would often drown the  soul
 in perdition2 as it often does work    

death in the heathen1 and in  the men of
 the world1 who are without ,god1 and   
without hope4    ,it would be in place  
here to speak of our dear departed      
sister1 whose  loss we now mourn2 but   
this task will hereafter be better      
performed by  another hand4 ,and to this
 audience little need be said2 for she  
was  brought up among you from her      
childhood1 and enjoyed the affectionate 
regards of this community in no common  
degree1 as is manifest by the  general  
and tender sympathy felt on this        
occasion4 ,by her sweet  simplicity1    
engaging vivacity1 affectionate temper1 
and affable manners1  our beloved friend
 endeared herself to her acquaintances  
and neighbours1  wherever she resided4  
,and in regard to her ,christian        
character1 she  adorned her profession  
by a consistent life and conversation1  
in all the  relations which she         
sustained4    ,her latter end was calm  
and peaceful4 ,she felt some dread of   
the pangs  of dissolution2 but in regard

 to what comes after death1 she had no  
fear--her hope continued firm and her   
prospects bright to the last  moment4   
,it is always a cause of lively         
gratitude1 when ,god is pleased to      
sustain  his dear children in passing   
through the valley of the shadow of     
death4 ,it affords to mourning friends  
the sweetest consolation which  could be
 received under such sore bereavements4 
,this consolation of our  benignant     
,father has not been withheld in the    
present instance4 ,mourning  friends are
 permitted to rejoice in the midst of   
their overflowing  sorrow1 in the       
confident hope1 that the departed spirit
 of our dear  sister1 free from all sin 
and pain1 rests sweetly in the love and 
beatified vision of her divine          
,redeemer4    ,,blessed ,,are ,,the     
,,dead ,,that ,,die ,,in ,,the ,,lord1  
,,from ,,henceforth2 ,,yea1 ,,saith     
,,the ,,spirit1 ,,that ,,they ,,may     
,,rest ,,from ,,their ,,labours2 ,,and  
,,their ,,works ,,do  ,,follow ,,them4  

,,letters      ,,of      ,a             
,,grandfather1        ,,to ,,the        
,,surviving ,,children ,,of      ,,mrs4 
,,margaret ,,breckinridge4        ,,by  
,,the      ,,rev4 ,,samuel ,,miller1 ,d4
 ,d4        ,,part ,,ii4                
,,letters    ,,of    ,a ,,grandfather4  
,,letter ,i4    ,,introductory4    ,,my 
,,dear ,,grandchildren3--,the decease of
 your beloved and lamented ,mother1  has
 placed both you and me in circumstances
 of great solemnity and  responsibility4
 ,to be deprived of a mother's care and 
counsel at the  tender age at which she 
left you1 is indeed a loss which no     
human  arithmetic can estimate2         
especially to be deprived of such a     
mother1  one so well qualified by       
strength of intellect1 by sincere piety1
 and by  peculiar loveliness of         
character1 to be a blessing to you1 for 
time and  eternity1 is a bereavement of 
which1 even now1 ,i know not how to     
speak  without emotions too strong for  
utterance4 ,while this precious ,parent 

lived1 she seemed to interpose between  
your beloved grandmother and  myself1   
and any immediate responsibility in     
regard to your education2  but now that 
she is removed1 we seem to be brought1  
in the mysterious  and mournful         
,providence of ,god1 to stand in some   
measure in her place1  and to perform   
some of the most important duties which 
she owed to her  children4 ,and1        
although your surviving ,parent is      
eminently fitted1 both  by nature and   
grace1 to be a guide to your youth2 yet1
 as he is engaged1  and is likely for   
some time to be engaged1 in active1     
arduous1 and  extended labours for the  
,church of ,god1 which will probably    
separate him  from you often and much   
for a considerable time2--an additional 
responsibility on our part seems to grow
 out of every circumstance4    ,it is   
under these impressions that ,i now     
address you4 ,your grandparents  are    
drawing near to the end of their course4
 ,they must soon leave you in  a        

depraved and ensnaring world4 ,what they
 do for your benefit1 they must  do     
quickly4 ,as one placed in these tender 
and endearing relations to  you1 and in 
these solemn circumstances1 allow me to 
pour out the fulness  of a heart most   
earnestly engaged for your welfare1 and 
desiring more  ardently than ,i am able 
to express1 to see you walking in truth 
and  happiness1 and embalming by your   
conduct1 as well as by your affection1  
the memory of that blessed ,parent1 who1
 if she is ever permitted from  her high
 and holy abode1 to look down on those  
whom she has left behind1  will rejoice 
to see you making choice of that path   
which leads to the  same blessedness4   
,there are two considerations1 beloved  
grandchildren1 which1 ,i think1 you     
will all agree1 entitle me to expect    
from you a respectful and  affectionate 
attention to what ,i have to offer in   
these letters4 ,the  first is1 that ,i  
have lived a long and somewhat eventful 
life2 and1 of  course1 my range of      

experience has not been small4 ,in my   
three-score  and tenth year1 ,i have had
 an opportunity of following many young 
people  from the cradle to the grave4 ,i
 have seen the training1 the subsequent 
course1 and the end of thousands4 ,need 
,i say1 that the lessons derived  from  
such experience are not unworthy of your
 regard8 ,o1 if you could  start in your
 career with that practical knowledge of
 the vanity1 the  snares1 and the       
sufferings of the world1 which has come 
to me through  the medium of many a     
melancholy sight1 and many a painful    
conflict1 how  great would be the       
advantage6 ,but this cannot be4 ,happy  
were it for you1  if you were willing to
 profit as you might from the experience
 of  others4 ,but neither can this be   
expected1 in ordinary cases1 to be      
realized4 ,i cannot1 however1 admit the 
thought1 that you will be willing  to   
reject this teaching altogether4    ,the
 second claim which ,i have on your     
attention is1 my ardent and             

affectionate desire to promote your     
happiness4 ,you cannot suspect me of    
any sinister design in what ,i have to  
say4 ,this would be to suppose me       
capable of hating my own flesh4 ,no1    
dear children1 ,i have no desire to     
damp the sanguine joy1 or cloud the     
smiling sun of your youth4 ,i would  not
 take from you a single rational        
pleasure4 ,on the contrary1 ,i delight  
to see you happy2 and desire1 by all the
 means in my power to promote  your true
 enjoyment and honour4 ,but you must    
allow me now1 in my old  age1 when ,i   
have seen so much of the illusions of   
the world1 and so many  examples of the 
destruction of those who yielded to     
them1 to counsel  you1 not in the style 
of youthful flattery1 but in the        
language of  truth and soberness4 ,you  
will find nothing in these letters      
intended  to carry a point by           
overpainting1 or by any other artifice4 
,if you have  a real disinterested      
friend on earth1 who unfeignedly wishes 

to promote  your best interest in both  
worlds1 it is he who now addresses you4 
,i  shall not give a counsel or an      
injunction1 but what ,i verily believe  
your precious ,mother1 if she were      
permitted to speak from the bosom of    
her ,saviour1 would ratify with all her 
heart4    ,you will observe that some of
 my counsels have a respect to objects  
beyond the period of childhood1 which   
you now occupy4 ,the truth is1 ,i       
expect soon to leave you4 ,probably long
 before any of you shall reach  adult   
age4 ,of course1 ,i feel that what ,i   
have to say at all1 had better  be said 
now4 ,i may have no other opportunity4  
,besides1 one of the  great truths which
 ,i wish to impress upon your minds is1 
that you are1  even at your present age1
 sowing the all important seeds of a    
future  harvest of good or evil4 ,you   
will not find a single habit or         
attainment  recommended in the following
 pages1 which1 if you are ever to gain  
it1  you will not find an advantage in  

having calculated and prepared for1 as  
far as possible1 at the earliest age4   
,the earlier you begin to imbibe  good  
principles1 and lay good plans1 the     
better will it be for all the  future4  
,let me entreat you1 then1 to receive   
with all the affection and docility  of 
dutiful children1 the counsels of one   
who1 while he writes1 looks up  to ,him 
who has the residue of the ,spirit1 that
 what is rightly said1  may be impressed
 upon your hearts1 and made to bring    
forth precious  fruit1 to your          
happiness1 and to the glory of his holy 
name6      ,,letter ,,ii4    ,,human    
,,nature4    ,,dear ,,children3--,on all
 important subjects there are certain   
great facts  which must be regarded as  
fundamental2 as lying at the foundation 
of all  truth1 and all duty4 ,i feel    
that this is peculiarly the case in     
regard  to the counsels which ,i am     
about to give you concerning your course
 in  life4 ,among these fundamental     
facts are the depravity1 the misery1 and

  the numberless temptations of the     
world in which you live2 the depravity  
of your own nature1 ever ready to be    
attracted by the allurements and        
corruptions of the world2 and your      
consequent need of the grace of ,god1   
at every step1 for your guidance1       
protection1 and deliverance4 ,and until 
you know and feel1 and in some degree   
lay to heart1 that the world in  which  
you live is a fallen1 depraved world2   
that its habitual maxims and  ways are  
hostile to your best interests2 that you
 are yourselves1 by  nature1 miserable  
sinners1 standing in need of pardoning  
mercy1 and  sanctifying grace2 and that 
you are every day exposed to snares and 
perils1 from the joint influence of a   
depraved nature and a corrupt           
world2--until you have learned1 in some 
good measure1 to recognise these  facts2
 to dwell upon them daily and hourly2   
and to receive the lessons  which they  
are adapted to teach2 you are not       
prepared even to begin  life4 ,you are  

not prepared to meet or encounter the   
most common scenes1  much less the more 
formidable dangers which are likely to  
beset your  path every day that you     
live4 ,but the moment you are brought to
 admit  these humbling1 momentous       
truths2 to feel their reality2 and to   
consider  and treat them in some degree 
according to their practical importance2
  then1 and not till then1 may we hope  
you will be ready to make a proper      
estimate of the world2 to guard against 
its allurements2 to ponder well  what   
you need for securing your true         
happiness2 and to implore that  divine  
aid which is necessary if you desire1 in
 such circumstances1 to  perform any    
duty aright4 ,and1 therefore1 when ,i   
see young people  apparently forgetful  
of the character of their own hearts1   
and of the  world in which they live2   
thinking that all is gold that glitters2
 and  imagining that they can safely    
trust to their own wisdom and strength  
in  every situation1 ,i regard them as  

objects of the deepest commiseration1   
and as wholly unqualified for either the
 duties or the best enjoyments  of life4
    ,know1 then1 dear children1 and     
remember1 that you belong to an apostate
  race2 that we are all1 according to   
the declaration of ,god's own word1     
born in sin1 and shapen in iniquity2    
that we are by nature the  children of  
wrath2 that our native propensities are 
all of them  corrupt2 opposed to ,god2  
impelling us to habits and practices    
forbidden  by his law1 and unfriendly to
 our best interest4 ,remember1 too1     
that1 so  far from being able to trust  
your own hearts to resist the           
temptations  around you1 and to guide   
you aright1 they are all naturally      
inclined to  that which is evil1 and    
disposed to take side with the vanities 
and  corruptions of the world4 ,so that 
there is constant need of self-denial2  
of imposing restraints upon all our     
appetites and passions2 and of          
submitting1 especially in early life1 to

 the counsels of the wise and  the good1
 who have gone before us in the journey 
of life1 and have had  more experience  
than ourselves of its temptations and   
dangers4    ,hence it is1 that so large 
a part of religion is represented in    
,scripture as consisting in opposing our
 own corrupt inclinations2 in           
crucifying the flesh with the affections
 and lusts2 in constant  efforts to     
bring down pride and vanity2 to mortify 
our evil  propensities2 to keep under   
the body2 to rule our own spirits2 and1 
in general1 to gain the victory over    
ourselves4 ,all these expressions  imply
 that the course of true wisdom is a    
warfare with evil2 that our  most       
formidable enemies are within2 and that 
resisting our own corrupt  nature is at 
once the most constant1 and the most    
serious part of our  duty as accountable
 creatures4    ,nor is this all4 ,not   
only is our nature corrupt2 not only are
 we from  our very birth1 prone to evil 
as the sparks fly upward2 but we are    

also by nature under condemnation4 ,in  
the language of that incomparable       
,catechism1 with which you have been    
familiar from lisping infancy--and      
every doctrine of which1 as ,i believe1 
is drawn from the ,bible--,all  mankind 
by their fall lost communion with ,god1 
are under his wrath and  curse1 and so  
made liable to all the miseries of this 
life1 to death  itself1 and to the pains
 of hell forever4    ,such is the       
condition of our race by nature4 ,not   
only depraved and  unworthy1 but guilty1
 condemned1 and perishing2 not only in  
danger of  being forever lost2 but      
already under a sentence of death1      
unless  rescued from it by the power and
 grace of the ,saviour4 ,all the        
posterity  of ,adam are by nature1 dead 
in trespasses and sins1 having no       
resources within themselves for         
regaining the favour and image of ,god4 
,the carnal mind is enmity against ,god2
 it is not in subjection to the  law of 
,god1 neither indeed can be4 ,so that1  

left to ourselves1 we  should infallibly
 go on in sin to eternal1 merited1 and  
hopeless  destruction4    ,here you are1
 then1 dear children1 in a revolted1    
polluted1 lost world1  where the vast   
majority of the population is in open   
rebellion against  ,god2 where the      
prevailing habits and maxims are        
selfish1 carnal1 and  opposed to all    
that is truly and spiritually good2     
where1 if you fall  in1 and continue to 
go with the prevailing current1 you are 
inevitably  and eternally lost2 where   
your only safety consists in renouncing 
the  world1 its idols1 its master1 and  
its hopes2 in crucifying the flesh  with
 its affections and lusts2 in resisting 
the fashions and allurements  which     
reign around you2 and taking refuge in  
that ,saviour1 who came to  seek and to 
save that which was lost4 ,such are the 
temptations and  perils with which you  
are constantly and every where          
surrounded2 and  such your only refuge4 
,and1 what greatly adds to your danger  

is1 that if  the representation which ,i
 have given be correct1 your own hearts 
are  naturally disposed to take the side
 of the enemy1 and to betray you into   
his toils and his power4 ,so that you   
are like persons travelling in an       
enemies' country1 and liable every      
moment to be taken in some insidious    
and fatal snare1 and whose own          
inclinations to yield to the enemy are  
among their greatest dangers4 ,these are
 the humbling facts which it  behoves   
you constantly to keep in view1 and to  
regard as the great  practical index of 
all your plans1 resolutions1 and        
efforts1 as long as  you live4    ,and  
as you can never be truly wise until you
 learn the corruption of  your own      
nature1 and how indispensably you need  
pardoning mercy1  sanctifying grace1 and
 unceasing guidance and help from on    
high2 so you  are not prepared to begin 
your intercourse with a corrupt world1  
until  you have learned to appreciate   
the real character of human nature as it

  appears in all the walks of social    
life4 ,the young1 anterior to           
experience--and indeed many1 long after 
experience ought to have taught  them   
otherwise--are too ready to put         
confidence in the professions and  arts 
of men4 ,they are apt to believe the    
flattering tongue2 to rely on  plausible
 promises2 to trust heartless           
professions of attachment2 to  repose   
confidence in civilities never meant to 
be accepted2 and to  expect much from   
protestations of kindness1 and          
assurances of  friendship--all dictated 
by the merest selfishness1 and never    
intended  to be fulfilled4 ,rely on it1 
dear children1 you live in a cold1      
selfish1  heartless world4 ,its         
civilities are hollow2 its promises are 
deceitful2  its flatteries are          
insidious2 its most splendid attractions
 are  delusive4 ,expect little from the 
warmest professions1 and be very        
backward to avail yourselves of the most
 fervent proffers of friendship4  ,i am 

far1 indeed1 from recommending a        
misanthropic suspicion of every  body4  
,your parents and grandparents ought to 
be the last persons in the  world to    
indulge or recommend such a spirit4     
,they have been so happy as  to enjoy   
friendships sincere1 disinterested1     
active1 and unwearied1  never to be     
forgotten4 ,for these they would be     
thankful1 and enjoin it  upon you never 
to forget such precious friends4 ,but   
remember1 that  social confidence is a  
plant of slow growth2 that there are few
 cases in  which it can be safely       
indulged2 that where it exists1 great   
care ought  to be taken not to abuse it 
by laying too much upon it2 and that1   
while  you ought to receive all         
expressions of civility and respect with
 a  suitable acknowledgment1 nothing can
 be more unwise and unsafe in such  a   
world as this1 than to trust            
indiscriminately to the professions and 
promises of men4    ,if such be our     
deplorable circumstances1 as a race1 and

 as individuals1  then we need          
deliverance4 ,we need salvation4 ,to    
this great subject ,i  would next       
entreat your attention4      ,,letter   
,,iii4    ,,the ,,way ,,of ,,salvation4 
,,dear ,,children3--,salvation is a word
 often on your lips1 and on the lips  of
 many around you4 ,the truly pious look 
forward to it with humble1  joyful hope4
 ,and those who have no piety1 and even 
the profane and  profligate often speak 
of it as something which they desire and
  anticipate4 ,but what is ,,salvation8 
,the very expression presupposes that   
we are all by nature in a state from    
which we need to be delivered or  saved4
 ,we never apply this term to any but   
those who are in danger of  being lost4 
,when a man is drowning1 or in the      
utmost peril of death in  any form1 and 
by the interposition of some benevolent 
and active friend1  is rescued1 we say  
he is saved4 ,now in a similar sense is 
the term  used in the case before us4   
,the salvation of man implies that he   

is1 by  nature not only in danger1 but  
in a lost and perishing condition4      
,accordingly ,i told you1 my dear       
children1 in the preceding letter1 that 
our whole race1 and you among the rest1 
are1 by nature in a state of  guilt1    
depravity1 and misery2 that we are      
fallen creatures2 under  condemnation2  
exposed to the wrath and curse of ,god2 
liable not only to  natural death1 but  
also exposed to all the terrors of      
eternal death1  that is1 of eternal     
separation from the presence of the     
,lord1 and the  glory of his power1     
unless delivered1 or1 in other words1   
saved by the  interposition of some     
mighty and merciful deliverer4 ,such a  
great  ,deliverer has appeared to save  
sinners of our race2--to put away sin by
  the sacrifice of himself4 ,and now1   
the word of ,god assures us1 that  there
 is no other name given under heaven    
among men whereby we can be  saved1 but 
the name of ,jesus ,christ4    ,it is my
 earnest desire1 dear children1 to open 

this way of salvation to  your minds1   
and to recommend it to your serious and 
solemn attention4  ,believe me1 it is   
not a vain thing for you1 it is even    
your life4  ,unless you are1 by the     
grace of ,god made partakers of this    
great  salvation1 it had been better for
 you that you had not been born4    ,by 
the salvation revealed in the ,gospel is
 meant1 delivering us from all  the     
ruins of the fall--from the condemnation
 of sin and the power of  sin--restoring
 us to the favour and image of ,god--and
 bringing us to the  everlasting        
enjoyment of his presence in heaven4    
,this is salvation4 ,now  ,i wish to    
show you how this great and blessed     
result is accomplished by  the          
undertaking and work of ,jesus ,christ1 
whom we are accustomed1 on  that        
account1 to denominate1 with emphasis1  
our ,,saviour4    ,man was made upright2
 in full possession of all the powers   
necessary to  perfect moral agency1 and 
with all the dispositions which prompted

 to a  perfectly correct use of those   
powers4 ,but man being in honour abode  
not4 ,he rebelled against ,god4 ,he     
violated the covenant under which he    
was placed1 and became liable to the    
dreadful penalty which it denounced     
against transgression4 ,in this fall of 
our first parents we are all  sharers4  
,in ,adam1 says the apostle1 all die4   
,by one man's  disobedience1 he again   
declares1 many were made sinners4 ,we   
have all  totally lost our original     
righteousness2 so that there is now1 by 
nature1 none righteous1 no not one4 ,in 
short1 we have all become  guilty and   
polluted before ,god1 and incapable of  
regaining his image or  his favour by   
any merit or doings of our own4 ,how1   
then are we to be  delivered from these 
deplorable circumstances8 ,how shall we 
escape that  perdition which is the just
 reward of sin8 ,how can we escape the  
damnation of hell8 ,how can any be      
saved8 ,god cannot set aside his own    
law1 or permit his authority and        

majesty1 as a righteous ,governor1 to be
  trampled under foot4 ,to clear the    
guilty2 to take impenitent rebels  into 
the arms of his love1 would be to deny  
himself4 ,where1 then1 is  our refuge8  
,must we sit down in despair1 and say1  
,there is no hope8  ,no1 by no means4 ,a
 ,god of infinite wisdom1 power1 and    
love1 has devised  and proclaimed a     
wonderful plan by which sin was punished
 while the  sinner is pardoned2 by which
 justice is completely satisfied1 while 
mercy is extended to the guilty and     
vile2 by which grace reigns through     
righteousness1 unto eternal life1 by    
,jesus ,christ our ,lord4    ,this      
wonderful and glorious plan of mercy    
consisted in the ,father giving  his own
 ,son to obey1 suffer1 and die in our   
stead1 as our substitute2  and in the   
,son consenting to bear the penalty of  
the law for us2 to put  away our sin by 
the sacrifice of himself2 and to bring  
in an everlasting  righteousness for our
 justification4 ,yes1 dear children1    

however coldly  an unbelieving world may
 receive the amazing annunciation1 the  
,lord  ,jesus ,christ1 the eternal ,son 
of ,god1 condescended1 in his wonderful 
love1 to assume our nature2 to take the 
place of the guilty and the  perishing2 
and to become the victim of ,divine     
justice in their stead4  ,his language1 
in the eternal counsel of peace1 was1   
,let me suffer  instead of the guilty4  
,let me die to save them4 ,deliver them 
from going  down to the pit2 ,i will be 
their ransom4 ,this wonderful1 this     
unparalleled offer was accepted4 ,the   
,father was well pleased for the        
righteousness sake of his ,son4 ,he     
accepted it as the price of our  pardon2
 as that on account of which all who    
repent and believe should be  justified4
 ,so that the ,scriptures may well say  
concerning the  ,saviour--,he is the end
 of the law for righteousness to every  
one that  believeth4 ,he is the ,lord   
our righteousness4 ,he was wounded for  
our  transgressions2 he was bruised for 

our iniquities2 the chastisement of  our
 peace was upon him2 and by his stripes 
we are healed4 ,he bare our  sins in his
 own body on the tree4 ,he died the just
 for the unjust1 that  he might bring us
 to ,god4 ,he delivered us from the     
curse of the law1  being made a curse   
for us4    ,here then1 dear children1 is
 the way1 and the only way of a sinner's
  acceptance with ,god4 ,in virtue of   
the covenant of redemption1 the         
righteousness of ,christ1 or what he did
 and suffered on our behalf1 is  placed 
to the account of his people1 as if they
 had performed it in  their own persons4
 ,though sinful and unworthy in         
themselves1 ,god is  pleased to pardon  
and accept them as righteous in his     
sight1 only for  the righteousness sake 
of his beloved ,son4 ,i am aware1       
indeed1 that some  who speak much of the
 merits of ,christ1 and profess to rely 
entirely  on those merits1 represent the
 whole subject in a very different      
light4  ,they suppose that in           

consideration of the sufferings and     
death of our  blessed ,saviour1 the old1
 original law of ,god1 requiring perfect
  obedience1 is repealed1 and a         
mitigated law now prescribed as the rule
  of our obedience4 ,so that now1 under 
the ,christian dispensation1 a  perfect 
obedience is not even required1 but only
 an imperfect one1  accommodated to our 
fallen condition and our many           
infirmities4 ,but  still1 they insist1  
that this imperfect obedience is the    
meritorious  ground of our acceptance   
with ,god2 and1 of course1 that eternal 
life is  the purchase of our own        
obedience4 ,in short1 the doctrine of   
these  errorists is1 that the benefit   
conferred by the sufferings and death of
  ,christ1 consists1 not in providing an
 entire righteousness for us1 but  only 
in abating the demands of the law2 in   
bringing down the divine  requisitions  
more to a level with our ability2 and   
still enabling us1  low as we have      
fallen1 to be the purchasers of         

salvation by our own  works4    ,be     
assured1 dear children1 this view of the
 subject is a grievous  departure from  
the ,scriptural doctrine concerning the 
way of salvation4  ,the ,bible          
represents our pardon and acceptance    
with ,god as not founded1  in any       
respect1 or in any degree1 on our own   
obedience2 but as wholly of  grace--as a
 mere unmerited gift1 bestowed solely on
 account of what the  ,redeemer has done
 as our substitute and surety4 ,it      
represents the holy  law of ,god as     
remaining in all its original strictness
 without repeal or  mitigation2 and as  
falling with the whole weight of its    
penalty on all  the impenitently guilty4
 ,but it declares that penalty to be    
removed from  those who repent and      
believe the ,gospel1 not on account of  
any  worthiness in themselves1 as the   
meritorious ground of the benefit2 but  
only on account of the perfect          
righteousness of ,him who came to seek  
and  save those who were lost4 ,in      

short1 a gracious ,god saves his people 
not  by overlooking their sins2 but by  
lifting the penalty from them1 and      
laying it upon the divine ,redeemer1 and
 for his sake letting them go  free1 and
 accepting them solely on account of his
 merit4    ,this righteousness of       
,jehovah the ,saviour is said to be to  
all1 and  upon all them that            
believe2--that is1 it is imputed to     
none--set to the  account of none but   
those who receive ,christ by faith4     
,faith is that  great master grace by   
which we become united to the ,saviour1 
and  interested in his atonement4 ,this 
righteousness1 therefore1 is called  the
 righteousness of faith1 and the        
righteousness of ,god by faith4  ,hence 
we are said to be justified by faith1   
and to be saved by  faith4 ,not that    
faith1 as an act of ours1 is1 in any    
measure1 the  ground of our             
justification2 but all these expressions
 imply1 that there  is an inseparable   
connexion1 in the economy of grace1     

between believing  in ,christ1 and being
 justified by him1 or having his        
righteousness  imputed to us4 ,happy1   
thrice happy they1 who can thus call the
 ,saviour  theirs1 and who have thus    
received the atonement6 ,though unworthy
 in  themselves1 they are graciously    
pronounced righteous by their heavenly  
,judge1 on account of what the ,mediator
 has done4 ,their sins1 though  many1   
are1 for his sake1 forgiven them4 ,they 
are freely justified from  all things   
from which they could not be justified  
by the law of ,moses4  ,they are        
accepted in the ,beloved4 ,though       
polluted and undeserving in  their own  
character1 they are complete in ,him4   
,there is no  condemnation to them now2 
and in the day of judgment they shall   
find1 to  their eternal joy1 that there 
is both safety and happiness in         
appearing  in the righteousness of ,him 
who loved sinners1 and gave himself for 
them1 clothed in robes which have been  
washed and made white in the  blood of  

the ,lamb4    ,but we not only need to  
be justified by the righteousness of    
,christ2 we  also indispensably need to 
be sanctified by the ,spirit of ,christ4
  ,accordingly1 the purification of our 
nature1 as well as the pardon of  our   
sins1 is one of the benefits purchased  
by ,him1 and secured by  covenant to all
 believers4 ,hence the teaching and the 
sanctifying power  of the ,holy ,spirit 
must be regarded as an essential part of
 the great  salvation of which ,i am    
speaking4 ,we need as much to be        
delivered from  the love of sin as from 
its condemnation4 ,and for both1 the    
plan of  mercy held forth in the ,gospel
 of ,christ1 makes equal and effectual  
provision4 ,whom he justifies1 them he  
also sanctifies2 and whom he            
sanctifies1 them he also glorifies4 ,by 
the power of the ,holy ,spirit1  the    
dominion of sin is broken in the hearts 
of all who are brought under  the power 
of the ,gospel4 ,the reign of corruption
 in the soul is  destroyed2 the love of 

it is taken away2 and though not        
perfectly  sanctified in the present    
life1 yet every believer has his        
sanctification begun4 ,it is carried on1
 not by his own wisdom or  strength1 but
 by the same divine power by which it   
was commenced2 until  he is1 at last1   
made perfectly holy1 as well as         
perfectly happy in the  presence of his 
,god and ,saviour4    ,thus does it     
appear that salvation is all of grace1  
sovereign1 unmerited  grace4 ,the       
original devising of the plan1 in the   
eternal counsels of  peace1 was         
prompted1 not by any foresight of faith 
and holiness in the  fallen creature2   
but in mere grace4 ,the plan itself1 in 
all its  principles and provisions makes
 our salvation perfectly gratuitous1 and
  wholly excludes all human merit4      
,after the plan was formed and executed1
  and the knowledge of it imparted to   
us1 no one would ever accept of it1  did
 not the same grace which formed it1    
incline the sinner to lay aside  his    

native opposition1 and accept of the    
offered mercy4 ,and even after          
cordially accepting it1 no individual   
would ever cleave to his hope1 and      
continue to embrace it1 and live under  
its power1 were he not kept by  the     
power of ,god through faith unto        
salvation4    ,after the foregoing      
statement1 the great question is1 what  
message does  this plan of salvation    
bring to ,,you8 ,the message which it   
brings1 dear  children1 is an           
unspeakably solemn one4 ,it charges you 
with being  sinners--miserable sinners  
in the sight of ,god--without           
merit--without  help1 and without hope  
in yourselves4 ,it offers you peace1 and
 pardon1  and sanctification1 and       
eternal life1 through the atoning       
sacrifice of  the blessed ,redeemer4 ,it
 entreats you to lay aside your enmity1 
and to  receive these benefits with     
humble and adoring gratitude1 as a free1
  unmerited gift1 through the redemption
 that is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,its        

language is1 ,whosoever will1 let him   
come1 and take of the water of  life    
freely4 ,and again1 ,whosoever cometh to
 me1 ,i will in no wise cast  out4 ,it  
calls upon you to renounce all          
confidence in yourselves1 and to        
receive and rest on ,christ alone for   
salvation as he is freely offered  in   
the ,gospel2 to receive him as the ,lord
 your righteousness1 and the  ,lord your
 strength1 and rejoice in him as your   
only hope4 ,to this end1  it is         
indispensable that you be convinced of  
sin2 that you experience a  deep and    
cordial sense of your own sinfulness and
 unworthiness2 that you  despair of     
saving yourselves2 that you fall at the 
footstool of  sovereign grace1 feeling  
that you deserve to die1 and that you   
can have  no hope but in the atoning    
blood1 and sanctifying ,spirit of the   
,redeemer4 ,it is your duty and your    
privilege to go to the ,saviour at      
once1 and cast yourselves on his mercy1 
without waiting for any  qualifications 

to render you worthy of his favour4 ,you
 are commanded to  go to him as         
miserable1 helpless sinners1 not with a 
price in your  hands2 but to receive    
from him all that you need to make you  
holy and  happy here and hereafter4 ,and
 until you are prepared thus to go to   
him1  as miserable1 unworthy sinners1   
who deserve ,god's wrath and curse      
forever2 until you sincerely feel that  
you have nothing to plead but the  merit
 of another2 until you are ready to cast
 yourselves at the feet of  the         
,saviour1 and to be indebted for pardon 
and eternal life as a mere  gift of     
grace1 you have yet to learn the vital  
element of practical  religion4    ,dear
 children6 will you hesitate a          
moment--will you wait for a second      
invitation to accept of such a ,saviour8
 ,will you turn away with  ingratitude  
from such a salvation8 ,listen to the   
entreaty of one who  loves you1 and who 
has no stronger desire concerning you   
than to see you  walking in the ,spirit1

 and enjoying the consolation of the    
,gospel3 or  rather listen to the voice 
of that blessed ,saviour himself who    
died for  sinners2 and who says to you1 
and to all who hear the ,gospel--,come  
unto  me all ye who labour and are heavy
 laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,him 
that cometh unto me ,i will in no wise  
cast out4    ,think not1 ,i beseech you1
 of putting off this acceptance of the  
,saviour's love until you are farther   
advanced in life4 ,do you forget  that  
the ways of wisdom are ways of          
pleasantness1 and all her paths  peace1 
and that you cannot too soon begin to be
 happy8 ,besides1 have  you any         
assurance that you will live to be much 
more advanced in age  than you now are8 
,not long since1 a graduate of one of   
our colleges was  heard to say1 ,i have 
finished my college education4 ,i will  
now devote  two years to the study of a 
profession2 and then ,i will take one   
year  to see what there is in that      
mighty thing they call ,,religion4 ,so  

calculated this careless1 blooming      
youth4 ,but before his plan was half    
accomplished1 he suddenly fell sick2 was
 seized with delirium2 and died  without
 hope4 ,but there are facts1 dear       
children1 which ought to come  nearer   
home4 ,can you forget your beloved      
brother and sisters1 who1 in  the very  
threshold of their existence1 were cut  
down1 and laid in the  grave8 ,and what 
security have you that you will live to 
see another  year8 ,but even if you are 
permitted to live until you reach adult 
age1  or until you are old and          
grey-headed1 what reason have you to    
hope1 if  you go on hardening yourselves
 against the ,gospel until that time1   
that  you will then have grace given you
 to consider your ways8 ,o1 how many    
who were in youth thoughtful and tender1
 have become more and more  callous to  
every serious impression1 as they       
advanced in life1 and have1  at length1 
sunk into the grave without hope6 ,be   
entreated1 then1 dear  children1 now1   

while your hearts are tender2 before the
 world has  twined around them a        
thousand entanglements2 before you      
become hardened  by inveterate habits of
 sin2 be entreated to make choice of    
that good  hope through grace1 which    
will form the best treasure1 and the    
only  effectual pledge of safety and    
happiness in the voyage of life3 the    
treasure which is emphatically that good
 part which can never be taken  away    
from you4      ,,letter ,,iv4    ,,the  
,,bible4    ,,dear ,,children3--,if you 
were walking1 in a dark night1 along a  
road full  of sloughs1 and pits1 and    
snares1 and dangers of every kind1 what 
would  you do for safety8 ,you would    
naturally1 if you could obtain it1 take 
a  light in your hands4 ,you would also1
 if possible1 engage a guide1  strong   
and faithful1 well acquainted with the  
road1 and qualified to  conduct and     
defend you4 ,and1 besides all this1 you 
would vigilantly  look around you at    
every step1 and eagerly mark and avoid  

every spot  that had a suspicious or    
doubtful appearance4    ,your situation1
 dear children1 in the journey of life1 
is precisely such  as ,i have described2
 or rather1 ,i ought to say1 the half   
has not been  told you4 ,you are just   
entering on a world1 dark1 corrupt1 and 
full of  allurement and danger4 ,on     
every side enemies lie in wait to       
deceive and  betray4 ,you are and will  
be exposed to a thousand temptations and
 perils  from which you have no wisdom  
or strength to deliver yourselves4 ,you 
need direction and guidance at every    
step4 ,now the ,,bible presents the     
only complete and perfect map of the    
road which you are travelling4 ,it  was 
given us to be a light to our feet1 and 
a lamp to our path4 ,it  exhibits1 with 
unerring fidelity1 every enemy1 every   
snare1 every danger  which beset your   
path4 ,it gives all the information1 all
 the warning1  all the caution1 and all 
the encouragement which you need4 ,it   
tells you1  more perfectly than any     

other book1 all that you have to fear1  
and all  that you have to hope for4     
,there is not a form of error1 or of    
corruption1 against which it does not   
put you on your guard2 nor an           
excellence or a duty which it does not  
direct you how to cultivate and  attain4
 ,wherewith1 asks the ,psalmist1 shall  
the young cleanse their  way8--,by      
taking heed thereto1 he replies1        
according to thy word4 ,no  one ever    
made this holy ,book the guide of his   
life1 without walking  wisely1 safely1  
and happily2 without finding the truest 
enjoyment in  this world1 and eternal   
blessedness in the world to come4       
,can you wonder1 then1 beloved children1
 that ,i place a high value on  this    
blessed ,book2 that ,i earnestly        
recommend it to your serious  attention1
 to your constant study1 and to your    
devout and affectionate  application and
 confidence8 ,can you wonder that ,i    
should delight to see  it daily in your 
hands2 much of its sacred contents      

committed to your  memory2 and your     
hearts deeply imbued with its spirit and
 its power8  ,you1 no doubt1 remember   
how earnestly your precious ,mother1 now
 gone to  the ,god who gave this ,book1 
recommended it to your attention2 how   
assiduously she put it into your hands2 
how often she constrained you to  commit
 portions of it to memory2 and how      
frequently1 on ,sabbath  evenings1 she  
gathered you round her to recite those  
portions in her  hearing1 and to receive
 her instructions and counsels in regard
 to them4  ,can you ever forget these   
scenes1 and the solemn1 tender lessons  
which  you then received8 ,call to mind 
her earnest looks1 her affectionate     
tones1 her unceasing labour to impress  
the contents of this sacred ,book  on   
your minds and hearts4 ,think of these  
things2 and if you can  recollect them  
without gratitude to ,god for such a    
mother1 and without  tears of regret    
that you have not profited more by her  
faithful  counsels1 you have less moral 

feeling1 and less filial sensibility    
than  ,i have been accustomed to give   
you credit for4    ,why is it1 my dear  
children1 that so many young people     
regard the ,bible  with aversion1 and   
consider the study of its pages1 and    
especially  committing them to memory1  
as a task and a burden8 ,when we reflect
 that  it is sent to us from heaven2    
that it contains the glad tidings of    
peace1 and love1 and salvation to a lost
 world2 that it is besides full  of the 
noblest specimens of literary beauty1   
and of tender pathetic  eloquence that  
the world ever saw2 that there is       
something in it adapted  to touch the   
finest and best cords of human          
sensibility--why is it that  you so     
often feel aversion to the study of this
 volume1 and would  gladly be excused   
from the task of perusing its chapters8 
,alas6 dear  children1 this is one of   
the many proofs that your nature1 as ,i 
before  stated1 is depraved2 and that   
you need the renewing and sanctifying   

power of the ,holy ,spirit1 before you  
can understand and relish a book  given 
by his inspiration4 ,every feeling of   
reluctance to the study of  this ,book  
which you experience1 ought to fill you 
with alarm1 and to  constrain you to cry
 mightily to ,god that he would open    
your eyes and  your hearts1 and give you
 that taste for the best of all books1  
without  which you cannot be prepared   
for the joys of his presence4 ,consider1
 ,i  beseech you1 that1 as you have been
 made acquainted with this ,book from   
your earliest childhood1 so you will    
have to give an account for this        
knowledge4 ,many children around you    
have never had the ,bible put into      
their hands2 have never been taught to  
venerate and love its sacred  pages2 but
 you have been informed of its origin   
and value4 ,you have  enjoyed a         
privilege denied to thousands4 ,will you
 not be grateful for  this privilege8   
,will you not manifest that you know how
 to prize a gift  of more value than all

 the world beside8 ,can you deliberately
 consent to  meet the dreadful          
condemnation of those who1 from         
childhood1 knew the  ,master's will1 and
 did it not4    ,i hope ,i need not     
remind you that the ,,book ,,of ,,god is
 to be read with  feelings and in a     
manner very different from those with   
which you read  all other books4 ,when  
you have read books of human composition
 once or  twice1 you have gotten from   
them all they contain--you have done    
with  them4 ,but with the perusal of the
 ,bible you can never have done4 ,the   
oftener you go over it1 if you feel as  
you ought1 the richer and more          
delightful will it appear4 ,you can     
never exhaust its meaning or its        
interest4 ,like its divine ,author1 it  
has a length and breadth and depth  and 
height1 concerning which no human reader
 can ever say that he has  completely   
fathomed its meaning1 or measured its   
riches4    ,other books are to be read  
with attention1 and1 if they abound with

  truth and wisdom1 with respect2 but   
the ,book of ,god is to be read with    
the deepest veneration1 as containing   
the mind and will of our heavenly       
,sovereign4 ,in fact1 every line of it  
is to be considered as the voice of     
,god speaking to us4 ,woe to those1     
whether young or aged1 who can handle   
the ,bible with levity1 make sport of   
its contents1 or recite its solemn      
language as matter of jest6 ,the ,lord  
will not hold them guiltless who  thus1 
practically1 take his name in vain4 ,the
 ,mohammedans manifest  much more       
reverence for their ,koran1 than many   
,christians for the  ,bible4 ,they never
 allow themselves to touch it without   
washing their  hands4 ,they handle it   
with the most pointed respect1 never    
holding it  lower than their girdles4   
,every copy of it commonly contains an  
inscription or label on the cover1 in   
these words--,let none touch but  those 
who are clean4 ,how very differently do 
many1 young and old1 among  us1 treat   

the ,holy ,scriptures6 ,i have often    
been distressed when ,i have  seen      
children toss about their ,bibles1 and  
even throw them in the dirt1  as they   
would the least valued of their         
play-things1 or rattle over some  of the
 most solemn language of the ,bible with
 as little apparent thought  or respect 
as they would repeat the veriest        
effusions of nonsense4    ,the ,bible1  
farther1 is to be read daily1 and with  
diligence1 as  containing that daily    
food from which you are to derive       
spiritual  aliment1 and strength        
continually4 ,it is to be read with     
fixed  attention1 seriously directing   
your mind to its rich and important     
meaning2 with humility1 feeling your    
need of the instruction and grace  which
 it contains2 with prayer1 imploring the
 guidance of the ,holy  ,spirit1 that he
 may open your hearts to receive the    
engrafted word which  is able to save   
your souls2 with application--asking    
continually--,how  does this concern me8

 ,does it describe my case8 ,does it not
 contain  a lesson which demands my     
special regard8 ,do ,i know any thing in
 my  own experience of what is here     
taught8    ,in this precious ,book you  
will find every thing adapted to enlarge
 the  mind1 to gratify the taste1 to    
elevate the affections1 and to purify   
the  heart4 ,if you only sought the     
richest entertainment1 you could not    
open a book more fitted to gratify you4 
,it is an inexhaustible mine of         
instruction as well as of beauty--the   
deeper you dig1 the richer will  you    
find its treasures4 ,its exquisite      
simplicity1 its pathos1 its  sublimity1 
its heavenly wisdom1 its purity1 are all
 adapted to turn us  away from the      
vanities of the world2 to enlarge our   
views beyond these  regions of disorder 
and darkness2 to strengthen every high  
and holy  motive2 and to lead us upward 
to ,him who is the source and the sum of
  all good4 ,happy1 thrice happy will   
those children and young people be1  who

 early learn to go to the ,,bible for   
all their sentiments1 principles1  and  
rules of action2 who learn daily to go  
to that precious ,book to  direct them  
in their pursuits1 to comfort them in   
their sorrows1 to  guide them in their  
perplexities1 and to animate them in    
their labours  whatever they may be6    
,such have the best pledge of temporal  
enjoyment1  and of eternal blessedness4 
,when1 therefore1 those who love you1   
and  would in some measure take the     
place of your dear departed ,mother1    
daily  put this precious ,book of ,god  
into your hands1 and urge you to read   
and  commit to memory a portion of its  
contents1 do not allow yourselves to    
regard it as a task or a burden4 ,think 
from whom it comes--from the ,god  who  
made you4 ,think of the great purpose   
for which it was given--to make  you    
wise and eternally happy4 ,think of the 
only means of making it truly           
profitable to you--studying it with     
devout attention1 laying it up in  your 

hearts1 and practising it in your lives4
 ,think of the solemn  responsibility   
which the possession of this ,book lays 
upon you--for to  whomsoever much is    
given1 of them shall much be required4  
,and may the  great ,author of this     
,book give you grace to seek for the    
heavenly  wisdom which it contains as   
silver1 and search for it as for hid    
treasures6      ,,letter ,v4            
,,prayer4    ,,dear ,,children3--,prayer
 is the offering up of our desires to   
,god1 for  things agreeable to his will1
 in the name of ,christ1 with confession
 of  our sins1 and thankful             
acknowledgment of his mercies4 ,this is 
the  definition given in a ,catechism   
with which you are familiar1 and a more 
complete and perfect one could scarcely 
be conceived4 ,it is the offering  up of
 our sincere desires2 for unless it be  
sincere1 it is but  solemn mockery4 ,it 
is to be addressed to ,god alone2 for   
prayer  addressed to any created being1 
is an act of treason to our rightful    

,sovereign4 ,it is to be for things     
agreeable to the divine will2 or  else  
it is unauthorized and presumptuous4 ,it
 is always to be presented  in the name 
of ,christ2 for there is no other name  
under heaven given  among men whereby we
 can draw near to a holy ,god with      
acceptance1 but  the name of ,jesus     
,christ4 ,it must be accompanied with   
confession of  sin2 because the approach
 of a sinner to ,god1 without an humble 
sense  and acknowledgment of            
unworthiness1 would be contrary to every
 principle  of reason1 as well as to the
 ,christian plan of salvation4 ,and1    
finally1  it ought to include a thankful
 acknowledgment of divine mercies2 for  
without a grateful sense of ,god's      
goodness1 we cannot be in a frame of    
mind fitted to receive farther favours4 
,i trust1 dear children1 ,i need not    
dwell long on either the  reasonableness
 or the duty of prayer4 ,if we are      
entirely dependent  on ,god for every   
temporal and spiritual blessing1 then it

 is surely  reasonable that we          
acknowledge our dependence1 and apply to
 him with  humility and earnestness for 
his aid4 ,if his favour is life1 and his
  blessing the best riches1 it is       
evident that we ought to supplicate them
  with importunity and perseverance4 ,if
 we are sinners1 unworthy of the  divine
 favour1 we ought to humble ourselves at
 his footstool1 and make  confession of 
our sins with penitence and obedience4  
,if he has revealed  a plan of mercy and
 grace to us1 of which he invites and   
commands us to  avail ourselves1 then   
every principle of self interest concurs
 with  reason1 in urging us to seek with
 earnestness a participation in that    
mercy4 ,and if our ,maker and ,redeemer 
has1 in so many words1 commanded us  by 
prayer and supplication with            
thanksgiving to make known our requests 
to ,god1 who can question1 for a moment1
 the reasonableness of a  compliance    
with that command8    ,nor is the duty  
of prayer less apparent than its        

reasonableness4 ,the  command of our    
,father in heaven is--,pray without     
ceasing--pray always  with all prayer   
and supplication1 and abound therein    
with thanksgiving4  ,i will be inquired 
of by my people to do that for them     
which they need4  ,ask and ye shall     
receive2 seek1 and ye shall find2 knock1
 and it shall  be opened unto you4 ,for 
if ye1 being evil1 know how to give good
 gifts  unto your children1 how much    
more shall your ,father in heaven give  
his  ,holy ,spirit to them that ask him8
 ,all things whatsoever ye shall ask in 
prayer1 believing1 ye shall receive4    
,the effectual1 fervent prayer of a     
righteous man availeth much4 ,when thou 
prayest1 enter into thy closet1  and    
when thou hast shut thy door1 pray to   
thy ,father which is in secret1  and thy
 ,father which seeth in secret1 shall   
reward thee openly4 ,if any  one lack   
wisdom1 let him ask of ,god1 who giveth 
liberally1 and it shall  be given him4  
,is any afflicted8 let him pray4 ,be    

careful for nothing2  but in every thing
 by prayer and supplication with        
thanksgiving1 let  your requests be made
 known to ,god4 ,the ,lord is rich in   
mercy to all  that call upon him4 ,in   
the day of my trouble ,i called upon the
 ,lord1 and  he heard me1 and delivered 
me out of all my distresses4    ,such   
are some of the numerous passages of    
,scripture which plainly  require and   
encourage prayer4 ,can any one who reads
 and believes the  ,bible1 doubt for a  
moment1 that it is equally his duty and 
his  privilege to go daily to the throne
 of grace to supplicate for all the     
temporal or spiritual good which he     
needs8 ,i hope1 my dear children1  you  
will not be disposed to say1            
notwithstanding such express and        
positive declarations of ,god's word1 in
 the language of profane  objectors of  
old--,wherefore should we seek after    
,god8 ,does he need to  be informed of  
our wants8 ,can we1 by importunity1     
alter his purposes8  ,where is1 then1   

the advantage of asking for what we     
need8 ,what profit  shall we have if we 
pray unto him8 ,if you should ever be   
tempted to ask  such a question1 ,i     
would answer--,much every way4 ,god has 
connected our  asking for blessings with
 receiving them4 ,he has promised to    
hear and  answer prayer4 ,he has        
condescended to say1 that he will regard
 with all  the tenderness of a parent's 
heart1 the cries of his children4 ,he   
has  said in his word1 ,ye have not1    
because ye ask not4 ,this is enough4    
,but  it is not all that is worthy of   
our attention4 ,prayer is not intended  
to  inform ,god1 but to benefit         
ourselves4 ,it tends to remind us of our
  dependence and unworthiness2 to       
impress our hearts with a deeper sense  
of the divine goodness and mercy2 and to
 beget in our minds that humble1        
grateful1 tender sense of our own       
weakness1 and of our obligation to the  
,author of all good1 which constitute   
the best preparation for receiving  the 

gracious gifts of our heavenly ,parent4 
,while your precious1 lamented ,mother  
was alive1 what a privilege did you     
consider it to be allowed to go to her  
in all your troubles1 and to  make known
 to her all your desires6 ,how much     
greater the privilege to be  allowed    
every hour free access to your ,father  
in heaven1 with all your  anxieties and 
distresses1 to pour out all your wants  
and wishes1 your  hopes and fears into  
the bosom of an ,almighty ,friend1 who  
is ever able  and ready to help6        
,since1 then1 dear children1 there are  
so many reasons prompting you to        
prayer2 since you are always weak1      
always dependant1 always unworthy1  and 
always in need1 can you doubt that it is
 your duty and your interest  to abound 
in prayer8 ,let me entreat you1         
therefore1 never to suffer a  day to    
pass without engaging in this delightful
 and most reasonable  exercise4 ,set    
apart fixed times for the purpose1 that 
you may form such  habits as will aid   

your memory1 and prevent your neglecting
 it4 ,retire  as soon as you can1 after 
rising in the morning1 to return thanks 
for  the mercies of the night1 and to   
implore the protection1 the guidance1   
and the blessing of your heavenly       
,father1 through the day4 ,and in the   
evening1 before drowsiness overtakes    
you1 retire again1 to praise him  for   
the mercies of the day1 and to ask for  
his guardianship during the  night      
watches4 ,but are these the only        
subjects of prayer8 ,far from it4  ,they
 are numerous as the moments you live1  
and various as the objects  which you   
are called to contemplate4 ,pray in the 
morning1 that ,god would  keep you from 
all evil in body or soul1 through the   
day2 that he would  create in you a     
clean heart1 and renew within you a     
right spirit2 that  he would guard your 
speech and behaviour at all times1 and  
in every  situation2 that he would      
enable you to mortify and subdue every  
sinful  affection1 and to overcome every

 improper habit2 that he would deliver  
you from sloth1 and pride1 and vanity1  
and malice1 and envy1 and every  evil   
temper2 that he would enable you to     
treat all around you in a  dutiful and  
becoming manner2 in a word1 that he     
would enable you to  spend the day in a 
manner profitable to yourselves1 and to 
the benefit  of all around you4 ,and in 
the evening pray1 that he would pardon  
all the  deficiencies and infirmities of
 the preceding day2 that he would make  
you grateful for all the favours of his 
merciful ,providence2 that he  would    
watch over you during the hours of      
darkness and repose2 and bring  you to  
the light of another day in health1 in  
the exercise of your  reason1 and in the
 enjoyment of his favour and love4      
,and while you thus pray daily for      
yourselves1 it is your privilege and    
duty to include in your petitions all   
with whom you are connected in the      
various relations of life4 ,you ought to
 pray continually for your  beloved     

father1 who is engaged in such important
 labour for the  ,church1 and who loves 
you with an affection and solicitude    
which you can  never repay2 for your    
grandparents1 who are daily praying for 
you1 and  who are falling more and more 
under the infirmities of age2 for one   
another1 that you may be guided and     
blessed amidst all the temptations  and 
dangers of youth2 for your teachers2 for
 your school-mates2 for  the poor       
children around you1 who have none of   
the advantages of  instruction and      
restraint which you enjoy2 for your     
friends1 and  neighbours1 and all with  
whom you are acquainted4 ,o1 my dear    
children1  if you prayed as you ought   
every day for all these1 how much       
happier  would you be6 ,what a benign   
influence it would have on your whole   
temper  and conduct6 ,it would make you 
kind1 tender hearted1 and forgiving     
toward all with whom you conversed2 and 
make all of them1 in their turn1  love  
you as a friend and benefactor4    ,let 

me make1 on this subject1 one more      
suggestion4 ,most people1  especially   
most young people1 have no idea of      
engaging in prayer unless  at particular
 times when they retire for the purpose4
 ,i wish you all1  dear children1       
besides your stated seasons of prayer1  
morning and  evening1 to form the habit 
of lifting up your thoughts and your    
desires  to ,god in any and every       
situation2 when walking by the way2 when
  surrounded with company2 when met by  
any call of duty1 or by any             
circumstance of a doubtful aspect1 or   
perplexing character--be in the  habit  
of silently but devoutly looking up to  
,god for wisdom and strength  to perform
 every duty4 ,this kind of intercourse  
with ,god may be carried  on at all     
times1 and in all situations2 and1 ,i   
will add1 was never  sincerely adopted  
by any one without being connected with 
guidance and  consolations of           
unspeakable value4 ,in this way the     
suggestion of the  apostle in writing to

 ,timothy will be realized1 that every  
thing be  sanctified by the word of     
,god1 and prayer4      ,,letter ,,vi4   
,,cultivation ,,of ,,the ,,mind4        
,,dear ,,children3--,that every human   
being is bound to cultivate1 in the     
best manner1 the intellectual powers    
which ,god has given him1 ,i hope you   
will take for granted1 anterior to all  
argument2 and1 although the moral       
aspects of education are the most       
vitally important1 yet as no one can  be
 a moral agent without some degree of   
intellect2 so it may be said1  that the 
wisest and best culture even of our     
moral powers1 depends more  on the      
discipline1 the enlargement1 and the    
furniture of the intellect1  than is    
commonly supposed4    ,the cultivation  
of the mind comprises two things1 and   
two only1 viz3  giving it proper habits 
of exercise1 and filling it with useful 
knowledge4 ,the case is precisely       
similar with regard to the body4 ,the   
sum total of all that we are called to  

do for the benefit of the body1  is to  
secure its strength by constant and     
wholesome action or exercise1  and to   
furnish it with appropriate nourishment4
 ,on the one hand1 were  its exercise   
ever so abundant1 if left without       
aliment1 it would  speedily sink into   
weakness and death2 and1 on the other1  
if its aliment  be ever so plentiful and
 rich1 yet if it be left wholly without 
exercise1 it will soon become a mass of 
disease and corruption4  ,precisely so  
is it in the cultivation of the mind4   
,exercise and aliment  are equally      
indispensable1 and must go together4 ,if
 the mind be not  taught to think1 and  
to feel an appetite for intellectual    
provision1 all  the knowledge in the    
world1 if introduced into it1 would be  
of little  use4 ,but1 if it be taught   
only to think and feel1 and be furnished
 with  none of the appropriate aliment  
of knowledge1 it cannot grow either in  
strength1 or in a capacity to act its   
part in the world with dignity or       

usefulness4    ,as these principles lie 
at the foundation of all intellectual   
culture1  so they are also adapted to   
instruct us with regard to the wisest   
and  best means of conducting that      
culture1 with regard to the departments 
of  knowledge most worthy of being      
studied1 and the relative stress which  
ought to be laid on different pursuits4 
,if you would be trained up  merely to  
be splendid butterflies1 to shine and to
 please the  superficial and the empty1 
for a day1 and1 having done this1 to die
 like  senseless insects2 why1 then1 a  
corresponding plan of culture must be   
adopted4 ,but1 if you wish to be        
regarded as rational creatures2 to be   
prepared for sober thought and action2  
to serve your generation by the  will of
 ,god2 to die in peace1 and to be       
remembered with love and  veneration    
when you are gone1 then it is perfectly 
manifest a very  different method of    
training is indispensable4    ,i trust  
you will not hesitate a moment in       

deciding which of these  courses you    
ought to choose4 ,i trust the way of    
practical wisdom1 of  piety1 and of     
usefulness1 will be the object of your  
prompt and decisive  choice4 ,if so1 the
 course of mental culture which you     
ought to adopt1  cannot possibly be     
mistaken by a mind of the least         
reflection4 ,if you  are to feel and act
 as moral accountable agents1 and to    
consider human  life as a serious1      
momentous thing2 then1 doubtless1 you   
will feel that  you are bound1 first of 
all1 and above all1 to exercise your    
minds in  such a manner1 and to store   
them with such branches of knowledge1 as
  will tend most effectually to enlarge 
them1 to strengthen them1 to  inspire   
them with practical wisdom1 and to      
furnish them with the means  of the most
 solid and extensive usefulness4        
,upon this principle1 ,i would say1 let 
your first and chief attention be       
directed to those branches of knowledge 
which lie at the foundation of  all that

 is enlarged1 liberal1 and elevated in  
human pursuits2 such as  ,grammar1      
,rhetoric1 ,geography1 the ,latin1      
,greek1 and ,french languages1  ,natural
 and ,moral ,philosophy1 the elements of
 ,mathematical science1  ,chemistry1 and
 as many of the branches of ,natural    
,history as may be  within your reach1  
especially ,botany and ,mineralogy4     
,these are all  proper for both sexes2  
and the more you gain of all of them1   
the better  fitted will you be both for 
enjoying life1 and for fulfilling its   
various and momentous duties4 ,i grant1 
indeed1 my dear grandson1 that  with    
regard to what is denominated ,classic  
literature1 and ,mathematics1  ,i wish  
you to go more thoroughly to work1 than 
would be desirable1 or  perhaps proper1 
for your sisters4 ,but ,i hope that     
neither of these will  be entirely      
neglected by them4 ,for ,i have an      
impression1 that the  careful study1 to 
a certain extent1 of the best of the    
dead languages1  and an intelligent     

acquaintance with the elementary        
principles of  ,mathematics1 ought to be
 omitted by none who can possibly attain
 them4  ,in my opinion1 they are adapted
 to produce an effect on the mind1 and  
to  diffuse an influence over all its   
other acquisitions1 more happy and  more
 important than is commonly recognised1 
even by many of the educated            
themselves4    ,besides the popular     
sciences just mentioned1 with which     
every human  being who can afford it1   
ought to seek some good acquaintance1   
there is  an extensive and important    
field of knowledge1 which is defined by 
the  general term of literature1 and1 in
 our case1 of ,english ,literature4     
,there is a large class of writers1 with
 whose works every one who claims  to be
 intelligent and well informed1 must be 
familiar4 ,to this  department belongs  
the whole subject of ,history1 which1 ,i
 trust1 will  receive the serious       
attention of all of you2 and about which
 ,i hope you  will take enlightened     

advice1 as a number of the most         
attractive and  popular writers in this 
department1 are unfit to be perused     
without  much reserve and caution4 ,to  
these1 of course1 ought to be added1    
those  great writers1 both in prose and 
poetry1 which deserve to be ranked as   
,english ,classics2 and1 with which1 ,i 
feel confident1 you will seize  the     
earliest opportunity of becoming        
acquainted4 ,i refer to such writers  as
 ,milton1 ,shakspeare1 ,dryden1         
,addison1 ,steele1 ,pope1 ,thompson1    
,gray1  ,young1 ,goldsmith1 ,johnson1   
,cowper1 ,beattie1 and a number of      
others1 whom  ,i cannot pause to        
specify1 but with whom it would be      
highly  discreditable not to have some  
intimate knowledge4 ,without an         
acquaintance with these writers1 you    
cannot appreciate the riches1 the       
beauties1 or the purity of your         
vernacular tongue1 or form for          
yourselves a good style of writing4 ,in 
these writers1 too1 you will find  a    

great store-house of fine sentiment1 as 
well as diction1 adapted  greatly to    
enlarge and elevate the mind1 to impart 
to it its highest  polish1 and to       
prepare it for its best efforts4        
,there are certain accomplishments      
commonly called ornamental1 deemed  by  
many desirable for females1 and by some 
considered as of much  consequence4     
,among these are dancing1 music1        
painting1 drawing1  embroidery1 c4 ,with
 regard to dancing1 your beloved        
grandmother and  myself never thought   
proper to permit any of our own children
 to be  instructed in this art2 not     
because we thought the act of dancing   
itself criminal1 but because we         
considered it as inseparably and almost 
necessarily connected with the whole    
system of balls1 dancing  assemblies1   
midnight parties1 c41 all of which we   
deemed criminal1 and  in a great variety
 of ways1 hostile to the principles and 
the claims of  true religion4 ,we do1   
indeed1 find dancing spoken of in the   

,old  ,testament ,scriptures1 as having 
been employed1 even on occasions of     
religious joy2 but never on such        
occasions do we read of the midnight    
dance1 nor of promiscuous dancing1 that 
is1 of the sexes together4 ,and  with   
respect to the ,new ,testament1 we read 
there of only one actual  dance1 and    
that was performed by a profligate      
woman1 and connected with  crime of the 
most atrocious and revolting character4 
,as to music1 ,i am persuaded it is the 
duty of every one who is able to  do it1
 to acquire the power of uniting in the 
social praise of ,god with  excellence  
and efficiency4 ,the cultivation of     
vocal music1 and the  attainment of such
 a degree of skill in it as is essential
 to imparting  an interest in the       
exercise1 are conducive to health and   
favourable to  moral and spiritual      
improvement4 ,so far1 ,i am confident   
you ought all to  go4 ,and if my        
granddaughters should have a special    
taste and love for  instrumental music1 

,i am by no means prepared to advise    
that they deny  themselves the pleasure4
 ,it is an elegant accomplishment1 and  
when  wisely employed1 may be connected 
with innocent pleasure1 and sometimes   
with benefit4 ,but ,i should deeply     
regret to find them aiming at that      
exquisite skill in instrumental music1  
which cannot be attained  without great 
expense1 much loss of time1 and that    
intense and long  continued attention   
which cannot fail to engross the mind   
and stand in  the way of more worthy    
objects of pursuit1 if it do not wholly 
exclude  them4 ,this is so unworthy of a
 rational accountable creature1 that ,i 
would infinitely rather my dear         
grandchildren should know nothing of    
music1 than that they should carry their
 zeal for it1 and their devotion  to it1
 to such an injurious length4 ,and as to
 my dear grandson1 while ,i  hope always
 to hear him unite in singing the       
praises of ,god in the  sanctuary with  
taste and skill1 it would give me       

unspeakable pain to  hear that he was   
regarded as a highly acceptable and     
admired singer at  convivial meetings1  
and that his company was courted on that
 account4 ,i  concur in opinion with the
 old ,grecian sage1 who1 when a young   
gentleman  of his acquaintance1 of      
respectable station and employment in   
society1  had performed on an instrument
 of music with consummate skill and     
effect1 said to him1 ,are you not       
ashamed1 my young friend1 to play so    
well8    ,in conducting the intellectual
 culture of the young1 there is one     
question which ,i presume you will not  
fail to ask1 and which ,i wish to       
anticipate and answer in this little    
system of affectionate advices4 ,the    
question is1 whether ,novels ought to   
have any place in the course of  reading
 prescribed for young people8 ,this is a
 question of exceeding  great           
importance4 ,when ,i was a youth it was 
far less interesting and  momentous1 as 
a practical matter1 than it has now     

become4 ,three quarters  of a century1  
and more especially a century ago1 the  
number of this  class of writings was so
 small1 and their popular circulation so
  inconsiderable1 that their influence  
was scarcely worthy of notice1  compared
 with that which they have more recently
 exerted1 and which they  are daily     
going on to extend4 ,bear with me then1 
dear children1 while ,i  dwell a little 
on this subject1 and call your attention
 to some thoughts  which ,i pray ,god   
may be deeply impressed upon your minds4
    ,that fictitious history is not in  
its own nature and necessarily          
criminal1 will probably be acknowledged 
by all4 ,it may be so construed  as to  
awaken curiosity1 to excite sympathy1   
and to impress the  understanding and   
the heart in a salutary manner4 ,of     
course1 to condemn  every thing of the  
kind as such1 and however constructed or
 employed1  would be to pronounce an    
unjust judgment4 ,hence we find examples
 of this  mode of instruction in the    

holy ,scriptures2 and on the same       
principle1  some of the wisest and best 
human teachers in all ages1 have used   
the  vehicle of lively and interesting  
fiction1 known to be such at the time1  
for insinuating into the mind moral and 
religious lessons1 which in a  different
 form1 might not so readily have gained 
admittance4    ,but the great error of  
modern times is two-fold2 ,first1 in    
multiplying publications of this kind1  
until they bear an inordinate and       
injurious proportion in the current     
literature of the day2 and1  ,secondly1 
in constructing them upon a plan adapted
 to degrade virtue  and piety1 to       
recommend vice1 and of course to prove  
seductive and  immoral in their whole   
influence4    ,even when such works are 
perfectly unexceptionable in their      
character2  when they are wholly free   
from any thing improper1 either in      
language or  sentiment1 they may be     
productive of incalculable mischief1 if1
 as now1  they are issued in excessive  

numbers and quantity4 ,leaving the      
character of modern novels entirely out 
of the question1 the enormous  number   
which for the last half century has been
 every day increasing1  has become a    
grievous intellectual and moral         
nuisance4 ,as long as they  were few in 
number1 and were regarded not as the    
substance1 but only  as the seasoning of
 the literary feast1 they occupied but a
 small  share of public attention4 ,the 
chief time and attention of the reading 
portion of the community were mainly    
devoted to works of substantial  value1 
fitted to strengthen1 enlarge1 and      
enrich the mind4 ,but1 within  the last 
twenty or thirty years1 the number of   
novels has increased so  rapidly2 they  
have become so prominent and alluring a 
part of the  current literature of the  
day2 and by their stimulating and       
inexhaustible variety1 have so drawn    
away the minds of the aged as well  as  
the young from solid reading1 that they 
have formed the principal  reading of a 

large portion of the community1 and1 of 
course1 have become  a snare and an     
injury to an extent not easily          
calculated4 ,as long as  exhilarating   
gases1 or other stimulating substances1 
are administered  sparingly1 and as     
medicines1 they may be altogether       
harmless1 and even  essentially useful4 
,but1 when those who have taken them for
 some time in  this manner1 become so   
enamoured with them as to be no longer  
satisfied  with their moderate and      
salutary use1 but make them their daily 
and  principal aliment1 they become     
inevitably mischievous4 ,they destroy   
the  tone of the stomach1 and1 in the   
end1 radically undermine the health4    
,so it is with the insidious excitement 
of novels4 ,were the reader of  them to 
take none into his hands but those which
 might be safely  pronounced perfectly  
pure and innocent2 and were he certain  
that he  would never be tempted to go   
beyond the most moderate bounds in      
seeking  and perusing even such1 there  

would1 perhaps1 be little danger to be  
apprehended4 ,but no one can be thus    
certain of either4 ,the general         
stimulus of fictitious narrative is     
morbid and disorderly4 ,it excites  the 
mind1 but cannot fill or enrich it4 ,the
 probability is1 that he who  allows    
himself to enter on this course1 will be
 led on1 like the  miserable tippler1   
from one stage of indulgence to another1
 until his  appetite is perverted2 his  
power of self-denial and restraint lost2
 and  his ruin finally sealed2 or1 at   
least1 his mind so completely indisposed
  and unfitted for the sober realities  
of practical wisdom1 for the  pursuits  
of solid science and literature1 as to  
be consigned to the  class of           
superficial drivellers as long as he    
lives4    ,the truth is1 novels--even   
the purest and best of them--are        
adapted1 not  to instruct1 but only to  
amuse2 not to nourish and strengthen1   
but only to exhilarate4 ,they even      
enervate the mind2 they generate a      

sickliness of fancy2 and they render the
 ordinary affairs and duties of  life   
altogether uninteresting and insipid4   
,after wading through hundreds  of the  
most unexceptionable volumes belonging  
to this class--what has  been gained8   
,what has been laid up for future use8  
,nothing4 ,not a trace  of any thing    
useful has been left behind4 ,the days  
and nights devoted to  their perusal    
have been absolutely lost4 ,what        
infatuation is it for a  rational       
creature who is sent into the world for 
serious and important  purposes1 and who
 is hastening to the judgment seat1 thus
 to waste  precious time2 and1 what is  
worse1 thus to pervert his mind1 and    
disqualify himself for sober            
employments6 ,the celebrated ,dr4       
,goldsmith1  in writing to his brother1 
respecting the education of his son1    
expresses himself in the following      
strong terms1 which are the more        
remarkable1 as he himself had written a 
novel3--,above all things1 never  let   

your son touch a romance or novel4      
,these paint beauty in colours  more    
charming than nature1 and describe      
happiness that man never tastes4  ,how  
delusive1 how destructive are those     
pictures of consummate bliss6  ,they    
teach the youthful mind to sigh after   
beauty and happiness which  never       
existed2 to despise the little good     
which fortune has mixed in our  cup1 by 
expecting more than she ever gave2 and1 
in general1 take the  word of a man who 
has seen the world1 and has studied     
human nature more  by experience than   
precepts--take my word for it1 ,i say1  
that such books  teach us very little of
 the world4#aj ,he might have gone      
farther1 and  said--,they teach us      
little of any thing2 and so pervert the 
taste1 as  to take away all relish for  
applying the mind to any thing sober or 
useful4 ,often have ,i known young men  
and women so bewitched by novels1  that 
they could read nothing else4 ,they     
sought for new works of this  class in  

every direction2 devoured them with     
insatiable avidity2 and  became less and
 less disposed for pursuing any study   
either prescribed  by their preceptors1 
or adapted to promote their ultimate    
enjoyment2  until their prospects for   
both worlds were irrecoverably overcast 
with  clouds and darkness4         #aj  
,life of ,goldsmith1 prefixed to his    
,miscellaneous ,works4    ,imagine not1 
dear children1 that you will exercise   
more resolution  than others1 and thus  
avoid the snare of which ,i have spoken4
 ,you  cannot answer for yourselves in  
this matter1 any more than the man who  
is constantly exposed to the temptation 
of stimulating drinks can be  sure of   
escaping the danger4 ,rely upon it1 the 
more confident you are of  your own     
wisdom and firmness in avoiding the evil
 in question1 the  greater your peril4  
,in this1 as in many other things1 the  
only complete  safety is to be found in 
wholly avoiding the dangerous territory4
    ,but there is another source of evil

 in this department of literature1      
still more serious and formidable4 ,a   
very large proportion of modern  novels1
 are far from being innocent4 ,they are 
positively seductive and  corrupting in 
their tendency4 ,they make virtue to    
appear contemptible1  and vice          
attractive1 honourable1 and triumphant4 
,folly and crime have  palliative and   
even commendatory names bestowed upon   
them4 ,the  omnipotence of love over all
 obligations and all duties1 is         
continually maintained2 and the         
extravagance of sinful passion          
represented as the effect of amiable    
sensibility4 ,surely these              
representations can have no other       
tendency than to pervert the moral      
sentiments1 and to corrupt the hearts of
 those who habitually dwell upon  them4 
,and even though they be1 at first1     
contemplated with abhorrence1  no one   
can tell how soon the mind may be       
gradually and insidiously  reconciled to
 them1 by familiarity with the          

infectious influence4    ,for example2  
the novels of ,sir ,walter ,scott have  
been read with eager  delight by        
millions of the young and the old2 and  
many pronounce them at  least innocent4 
,but those who read them with           
intelligence1 and with a  proper        
estimate of the times and the characters
 which he undertakes to  portray1 will  
perceive that the writer arrays himself 
against the  patriotism and the piety of
 some of the best men that ever adorned 
the  history of his country2 that he    
exhibits orthodoxy and zeal under the   
guise of enthusiasm and fanaticism2 that
 he strives to cover with  dishonour1   
men of whom the world was not worthy2   
and to elevate and  canonize their      
persecutors4 ,in short1 that his general
 influence is  wholly unfriendly to     
religion4 ,these characteristics pervade
 the most  popular of his novels4 ,of   
course few of his readers1 especially of
 his  youthful readers1 are aware of his
 misrepresentation1 and1 therefore1  are

 not armed against the mischievous      
influence4    ,but there is a poison    
lurking in this field1 still more       
virulent and  fatal4 ,a large portion of
 novels may be charged with being       
seductive and  immoral1 upon a more     
refined and deep laid plan4 ,they are   
systematic1  and1 in some instances1    
ingenious and plausible apologies for   
the most  atrocious crimes4 ,in many    
modern productions of this kind1 the    
intelligent reader will recognise the   
following process of  representation3   
,corrupt opinions are put into the mouth
 of some  favourite hero1 the splendour 
of whose character1 in other respects1  
is  made to embellish the principles    
which he holds1 and the force of whose  
eloquence is employed to recommend the  
most unreasonable and mischievous       
dogmas4 ,when this hero commits a crime1
 and when1 by this crime1  according to 
the fixed laws of the divine government1
 he is involved in  serious difficulty1 
if not lasting and fatal misery1 the    

fashionable  novelist endeavours to     
throw the blame on the religious and    
moral  institutions of society1 as      
narrow1 illiberal1 and unjust4 ,when a  
splendid but corrupt woman1 has forsaken
 the paths of virtue1 and when  she     
suffers in her reputation and her       
comfort1 by such conduct1 all this  is  
ascribed to the wretched state of       
civilization--to the deplorable         
condition of society4 ,every opportunity
 is taken to attack some  essential     
principle of morality1 under the tide of
 a prejudice2 to  ridicule the duties of
 conjugal and domestic life1 as flowing 
from  contracted and slavish views2 to  
stigmatize the sober pursuits of  honest
 industry1 as dull and spiritless2 and1 
in a word1 to frame an  apology for     
robbery1 murder1 suicide1 and the       
indulgence of every  propensity1 for    
which a corrupt heart can plead an      
inclination4    ,now1 my dear children1 
when novels of this kind are placed on  
the  shelves of every circulating       

library1 and strewed over every part of 
our  land1 what security have youthful  
novel-readers that many of this class   
will not fall into their hands1 and that
 they may not imbibe the fatal  poison  
before they are aware8 ,is it any wonder
 that wise parents and  guardians are   
painfully apprehensive of such danger8  
,many amiable and  well-intentioned     
young people1 who fancied they were     
gaining amusement  only1 have been      
unwarily betrayed into opinions1 and    
prepared for  practices which they would
 once have regarded with abhorrence1 and
 which  ultimately led them into error1 
crime1 and ruin4 ,since1 then1 there are
  so many novels of this insidious and  
baneful character2 and since it is  by  
no means easy for the young and         
inexperienced to distinguish between    
the innocent and the vile1 you will not 
wonder that ,i advise1 nay1  entreat you
 to avoid the reading of novels         
altogether2 never to allow  yourselves  
to take a volume of this kind into your 

hands at all4 ,the  most innocent of    
them1 as you have seen1 are worthless1  
and the perusal  even of them1 a waste  
of time2 and if you allow yourselves to 
touch  any of them1 you will be in      
danger of being led astray to an extent 
which you can hardly be made to         
anticipate4 ,i beseech you1 dear        
children1 trust one who sincerely loves 
you2 who understands the subject  of    
which he is speaking2 and who would not 
deprive you of a single safe  or solid  
pleasure--trust him when he earnestly   
exhorts you1 ,,never ,,to  ,,read ,a    
,,novel4    ,you will1 perhaps1 ask1    
what is my opinion of what are called   
religious  novels1 that is1 of          
fictitious narrative1 designed to       
illustrate and  recommend religion8 ,i  
am compelled to say1 that my deliberate 
judgment  is unfavourable to these also4
 ,they are neither edifying nor safe as 
instructors in the great department of  
religion4 ,i do not deny that  some of  
this class may be adapted to do good1   

and may have been  actually useful4 ,but
 this is not the question4 ,the question
 is1 whether1  as a system1 it is better
 to instruct in religion through the    
medium of  fictitious narrative1 and by 
means of thrilling incidents1 or by     
plain1  sober1 didactic1 and exhortatory
 address4 ,in general1 ,i cannot help   
deciding in favour of the latter4 ,the  
reason why the large majority of        
mankind prefer fictitious narrative is1 
that they love excitement2 and  most    
youthful readers will be more likely to 
take interest in the  story1 than in the
 moral lessons which it conveys4        
,condiments and  stimulants are useful  
in our food2 but to make our daily food 
consist  wholly or mainly of condiments 
and stimulants1 would not1 surely1 be   
wise or salutary4    ,but this is not   
the worst4 ,among the novels called     
religious1 there  are various classes4  
,almost all the different religious     
denominations  have issued novels       
appropriate to their respective         

sectarian characters4  ,we not only have
 those which have been put forth by the 
friends of truth  and piety2 but1 also1 
many by the advocates of error4         
,socinianism is now  strenuously        
inculcated through the medium of        
fictitious narrative4 ,cold             
,pelagianism on the one hand1 and       
,antinomianism on the other1 have been  
presented in the same manner4 ,amidst   
these alternate pleadings of  orthodoxy 
and heresy1 how shall the youthful      
learner discriminate8 ,were  he to take 
up a didactic treatise in favour of     
,socinian or ,pelagian  opinions1 he    
would see the error in a moment1 and be 
on his guard  against it4 ,but when he  
is borne away by the excitement of a    
stirring  narrative1 and a spirited1    
eloquent dialogue1 he may imbibe the    
poison  of error1 before he is aware4   
,you must not1 dear children1 consider  
me as fanciful1 if ,i express an        
opinion1 that the present prevailing    
state of mind of the religious  public  

has some connexion with that class of   
novels of which ,i am now  speaking4    
,the most striking characteristic of the
 present time is a  love of excitement4 
,the old and sober mode of proceeding in
 any thing  has become unpopular and    
intolerable4 ,our children can scarcely 
be  prevailed upon to read any thing    
unless it comes in the shape of a       
striking story4 ,if any one wishes a    
pious tract to be read1 he must         
construct it in the form of a thrilling 
fictitious narrative4 ,every dish  must 
be highly seasoned2 every draught must  
be a dram4 ,is it any wonder  that1 in  
such a condition of the public taste1   
all old methods of doing  good should be
 despised1 and the ,church as well as   
the world filled with  new opinions1 new
 estimates of things1 and new measures8 
,be assured1 when your mind is brought1 
by any means1 whether by an  insatiable 
love of fictitious narrative1 or by any 
other form of  exciting composition1 to 
relish nothing conveyed in the old form 

of  solid1 didactic1 direct instruction1
 it is high time to examine whether  you
 are not acquiring habits unfriendly to 
sober thought1 to the best  mental      
culture1 and to the acquirement of the  
most valuable knowledge4  ,how often    
have ,i met with young people1 of both  
sexes1 who could talk  fluently1 and    
with apparent intelligence1 of the      
volumes of ,miss ,burney1  ,mrs4        
,radcliffe1 ,madame ,de ,stael1 ,miss   
,edgeworth1 and ,scott1 and ,cooper1    
and ,bulwer1 and even of the depraved   
and infamous ,byron2--but1 who were     
struck dumb if you spoke to them of     
,shakspeare2 of ,bacon2 of ,milton2 of  
,addison2 of ,thompson2 of ,young2 of   
,dryden2 of ,pope1 and ,johnson1 and    
,robertson1 and ,junius1 and ,cowper1   
and other ,english classics1 of whom1   
if they had ever heard1 they seemed to  
know nothing6 ,is this the way to       
cultivate the mind8 ,does this speak for
 or against the devourer of  novels8    
,the sum of my counsel1 then1 under this

 head1 is1 that if you wish  really to  
cultivate your minds1 and to prepare    
them for healthful and  useful action1  
let your studies be solid1 diligent1 and
 persevering4 ,let  your reading be such
 as will fill your minds with the       
knowledge of  facts1 principles1 and    
sentiments of the enriching and         
elevating kind4  ,let your first and    
most intimate acquaintance be with those
 authors  whose works will tend to fit  
you for answering the great purpose for 
which you were sent into the world4     
,carefully avoid every species of       
reading which tends to turn away your   
minds from sober1 practical views  of   
life and duty4 ,and remember that1 for  
every book you read1 and for  every     
mental influence which you invite1 you  
have to render a solemn  account4       
,there is one more counsel1 dear        
children1 with which ,i will close this 
letter4 ,it is1 that whatever subject   
you study--whatever book you read1  you 
do it faithfully and thoroughly4 ,leave 

nothing until you  understand it        
well2--until you have1 as far as        
possible1 gone to the  bottom of it4    
,you may rely upon it that no solid     
knowledge is to be  gained without      
patient1 unwearied labour4 ,be not in   
haste1 then1 to pass  on to another     
subject or lesson1 until you have       
completely mastered that  in which you  
may be engaged4 ,be not contented with  
merely enabling  yourselves to recite a 
lesson with plausible fluency4 ,be sure 
that you  thoroughly comprehend1 not    
only its obvious meaning1 but also its  
elementary principles4 ,despise the     
indolence of those1 who1 in learning    
languages1 are constantly using the     
miserable crutches of  translations1    
instead of walking with the use of their
 own limbs2 and  who1 whenever a        
difficulty occurs in mathematics1 or any
 other subject1  instead of delving it  
out themselves1 ignobly ask help from   
some wiser  and better scholar4 ,this is
 cheating yourselves4 ,that which is    

gained  by your own efforts1 and with   
considerable labour1 will be better     
understood1 and more firmly lodged in   
the mind1 than that which is  imparted  
gratuitously by others1 without any     
vigorous mental exercise on  your part4 
,the fact is1 the pursuit of knowledge  
may be compared to the task of one  who 
is called to cross a high and craggy    
mountain4 ,if he is willing to  forego  
his own best interests1 both as to      
bodily and mental health1 he  may employ
 some sturdy1 athletic assistant to take
 him up in his arms1  and bear him over 
the steep ascent1 and deposit him in    
safety on the  other side1 without the  
use of a muscle of his own4 ,but what   
would he be  the better for it1 at the  
end of his journey8 ,his limbs would not
 be  braced4 ,his chest would not be    
expanded4 ,he would miss a thousand     
interesting objects of attention which  
the use of his own feet would  have     
brought to his view4 ,after a thousand  
such boasted expeditions1 he  might live

 and die the same feeble1 nervous       
dyspeptic1 that he was when  he set out4
 ,whereas1 he who resolves to climb the 
same mountain by his  own efforts2 who  
addresses himself to the task with      
patient persevering  labour2 who takes  
step after step1 slowly1 but wisely and 
firmly2 may  not gain the ascent quite  
as speedily as his weaker contemporary2 
but he  will gain it much more to his   
own profit and comfort1 and1 in the end1
  find every power invigorated by the   
enterprise4 ,o1 if children and  young  
people could feel how foolish it is to  
procure themselves to be  borne up the  
mountain of knowledge by others1 instead
 of climbing it  themselves1 they would 
despise all the labour-saving machinery 
to  which many of them are so fond of   
resorting2 and would remember that  what
 is gained by their own intellectual    
efforts1 is more solid1 wears  better1  
digests better1 and is productive of    
richer fruit1 both to  themselves and   
others4    ,it is a law impressed by our

 ,maker on the intellectual1 as well as 
the  physical man1 that if any will not 
work1 neither shall he eat4 ,it is a    
real blessing1 if we did but know it1 to
 have labour connected with all  our    
attainments4 ,thus do we best answer the
 great end of our being2 thus  do we    
invigorate every power1 and become      
prepared most effectually to  serve our 
generation by the will of ,god4         
,,letter ,,vii4    ,,cultivation ,,of   
,,the ,,heart1 ,,and ,,the ,,moral      
,,habits4    ,,dear ,,children3--,by the
 heart1 ,i mean the moral feelings1     
dispositions1  and affections4 ,and by  
cultivating the heart1 ,i mean directing
 much  attention to restraining1        
regulating1 and purifying all its       
exercises4  ,this may be said to lie at 
the foundation of all duty and all      
happiness4  ,were your intellectual     
powers cultivated with all possible care
 and  success1 and your moral faculties 
neglected1 you might be polished and    
elegant demons2 but would be miserable  

yourselves1 and a curse to  society4    
,whether1 therefore1 you regard your own
 present enjoyment1 and  everlasting    
welfare1 or the happiness of those      
around you1 you cannot  too early       
remember the great purpose for which you
 were sent into the  world1 and the     
relations which you sustain as rational1
 social1 and  immortal creatures4 ,you  
cannot too early or too diligently learn
 to  restrain your passions2 to deny    
yourselves2 and to cultivate those      
benevolent1 meek1 humble1 and amiable   
habits1 which are indispensable to      
tranquillity and peace of mind1 and     
which alone can prepare you to adorn    
and bless the social circles with which 
you may be connected4 ,i draw  your     
attention the more earnestly to this    
great subject because ,i see so  many   
young people who appear never to think  
of the importance1 or even  utility of  
this part of their education4    ,if you
 have not learned1 dear children1 that  
you are by nature prone to  be proud1   

vain1 selfish1 envious1 irascible1      
sensual1 malignant1 and1 in  a word1 to 
indulge the various appetites and       
passions which tend to  destroy your own
 peace1 and to invade the comfort of    
those around you2  if you have not      
discovered that this is the tendency of 
your nature1 and  that resisting it will
 call for much self-denial1 and         
continual1 and  sometimes for agonizing 
effort1 you have attended less to your  
own  feelings1 and habits1 and less to  
the character of your friends and       
associates than ,i am willing to        
suppose4    ,perhaps you will ask--,does
 not religion cover all this ground8    
,where  the power of ,christian         
principle reigns in the heart1 will not 
every  thing intended to be included in 
this letter follow as a matter of       
course8 ,if the plan of salvation1      
treated in a former letter1 be  received
 and obeyed1 will not all the objects   
contemplated in the  present letter1 be 
included and secured8 ,whence1 then1 the

 necessity1 or  even the propriety1 of  
making it matter of separate            
consideration8 ,i  answer1 the religion 
of ,christ1 in its spirit and power1    
does indeed  embrace all moral          
excellence4 ,it does1 in fact1 where it 
bears  appropriate and entire sway1     
include every moral feeling1 affection1 
and  habit1 which can adorn and elevate 
human nature4 ,and yet it is to be      
lamented that many who cherish the      
,christian hope1 are not as much aware  
of this fact as they ought to be2 and   
are not so careful to exhibit all  the  
loveliness1 as well as the purity of    
example which become them1  as is       
desirable4 ,and1 besides1 ,i have always
 found that there is a great  advantage 
in pursuing rather more into detail the 
various branches of  the ,christian     
temper1 than is commonly done even in   
the best treatises  on religious        
character and duty4 ,the ,french have a 
phrase which  expresses more exactly    
than any ,english one which ,i can      

recollect1 my  meaning in the title of  
this letter4 ,the phrase ,i refer to1 is
 ,les  petites morales2 by which they   
appear to understand those moral        
delicacies of feeling1 temper1 and      
intercourse1 which1 though not  always  
found actually shining in every         
professing1 or even every real          
,christian1 do really belong to the     
,christian code of ethics1 and are      
indispensable to a complete and         
exemplary character4    ,the duties     
which grow out of our relations to ,god1
 are generally  acknowledged by all     
professors of religion4 ,however        
defective their  obedience1 their       
obligations are seldom disputed4 ,but if
 it be the law  of ,god1 not only that  
we should love ,him with all our heart  
and soul  and strength and mind1 but    
also that we should love our neighbours 
as  ourselves1 then the duties growing  
out of this great law are more          
multiplied1 tender1 delicate and        
important than most of those who are    

called religious people recognise in    
practice1 or even in theory4    ,it is  
true1 the root of all sound morality is 
religion4 ,and it is  equally true1 that
 the deeper sense any one has of the    
constraining love  of ,christ1 and of   
the holiness1 majesty1 omniscience1 and 
omnipresence  of ,god1 the more faithful
 he will be in the discharge of all     
moral  duties1 both in private and in   
public4 ,labour then1 day by day1 to    
gain  a deeper impression of the claims 
of your ,creator and ,redeemer upon you4
  ,meditate much on the ,divine glory4  
,cultivate a devout spirit4 ,study to   
walk with ,god in the exercise of faith1
 and love1 and prayer4 ,and  endeavour  
to keep constantly before your minds his
 all seeing eye1 his  infinite holiness1
 his judgment seat1 and those righteous 
retributions  which he has in store for 
all his creatures1 whether they be good1
 or  whether they be evil8 ,this is     
cultivating the heart in the most       
essential and radical sense4 ,this is   

going to the root of the matter4  ,that 
morality1 and that alone1 which is      
grafted upon this sanctified  stock1    
will be regarded with approbation by the
 ,searcher of hearts1 and  stand the    
test of the great day4    ,but while you
 labour with your hearts1 that they may 
be habitually laid  open1 with all the  
softness and tenderness of spiritual    
sensibility1 to  the claims of your     
,creator and ,redeemer2 study with no   
less diligence to  cherish a deep sense 
of all the duties which you owe to your 
beloved  relatives1 to your friends1 to 
your neighbours1 and to all with whom   
you  have intercourse4 ,to perceive the 
theory of these duties1 is the  province
 of the understanding2 to enter into    
them1 as a practical  matter1 and under 
a solemn sense of obligation1 is an     
affair of the  heart2 and the more      
deeply your hearts are schooled both in 
the  principles and practice of these   
duties1 the more they may be said to    
partake of that culture which ,i am now 

recommending4    ,when ,i imagine to    
myself what an influence your precious  
,mother might  have had in cultivating  
your moral feelings and habits1 if it   
had  pleased ,god to spare her to you2  
when ,i think of the happy power which  
her delicate1 forming hand1 might1 by   
the divine blessing1 have exerted  over 
the heart of each of you2--the heart--as
 ,mrs4 ,hannah ,more expresses  it--that
 seat of evil propensities--that little 
troublesome empire of  the passions2--,i
 could sit down and weep afresh that you
 are never to  enjoy that culture4 ,but1
 happily1 there is a source of          
infinitely better  culture4 ,try to lay 
to heart your weakness and your wants1  
and implore  without ceasing the        
enlightening1 subduing1 and sanctifying 
power of the  ,holy ,spirit1 and you    
will find his grace sufficient for you4 
,there are special duties which you owe 
to your beloved surviving ,parent1  and 
to all your domestic relatives1 of the  
most peculiar and tender  kind2 duties  

which it is equally your privilege and  
your honour to  discharge4 ,these are   
veneration1 love1 gratitude1 and a      
dutiful respect  to all their feelings1 
as well as their interests4 ,here       
children are  extremely apt to fail4    
,affection is generally found to descend
 from  parents to their offspring1 and  
in general from elder to younger        
relatives1 in great strength2 but from  
children to parents1 or from the  young 
to the old1 it seldom rises with equal  
vigour4 ,let not this be  said of you4  
,constantly cherish toward your beloved 
,father1 and all your  elder relatives1 
not merely an outward respect1 and      
dutifulness of  deportment1 but a       
cordial and ardent affection2 a sincere 
and lively  gratitude for all those     
anxious cares and labours on their part 
for your  benefit1 for which you have   
been indebted ever since you were born1 
and  for which you can never make an    
adequate return4 ,try to please them by 
the constant manifestation of love1     

confidence1 and grateful veneration2    
and let them see that you treasure up1  
to your profit1 all their  instruction1 
reproofs1 and warnings4 ,when the heart1
 as well as the  outward conduct1 is    
conformed to these sentiments1 ,o1 how  
endearing and  happy is the intercourse 
between parents and children6 ,what a   
charm is  diffused over the whole aspect
 of domestic society6    ,let me entreat
 you1 also1 early to learn the duty and 
the pleasure of  living in affectionate 
harmony among yourselves4 ,i can        
scarcely  express to you the pain which 
,i have sometimes felt when ,i have     
perceived any thing like a spirit of    
strife and acrimony rising between  you1
 and leading to the exchange of angry   
looks and passionate language4  ,surely 
three motherless children ought to feel 
more closely bound  together than to    
indulge in such a temper and conduct4   
,if you do not  love one another1 who   
can you expect will love you8 ,be       
careful1 then1  continually to cultivate

 a spirit of brotherly and sisterly     
affection  toward each other4 ,let      
nothing interrupt this4 ,when any       
contest arises1  let the only strife be1
 which shall be the first to yield1     
rather than  contend4 ,on no account    
allow yourselves to employ harsh1 much  
less  violent language toward each      
other4 ,and if any contest arises which 
you  cannot settle between yourselves   
without violence1 let a united appeal   
to your ,father1 if he be present1 or in
 his absence1 to your  grandparents1    
terminate the controversy4 ,seldom does 
a conflict of this  kind arise without  
there being blame on both sides4 ,and   
who so proper to  make the proper award1
 and to adjust every difficulty1 as     
those who love  you all equally and     
dearly1 and have age and experience on  
their side8    ,let me enjoin on you to 
begin1 as early as possible1 to cherish 
a spirit  of habitual benevolence--a    
desire1 wherever you go1 to promote the 
happiness of all around you4            

,selfishness is the great master-sin of 
human nature4 ,all seek their own4 ,the 
young1 especially1 are apt to  be       
swallowed up in the excessive pursuit of
 their own enjoyment1 and  that         
enjoyment is rarely sought or found in  
ministering to the wants1  and promoting
 the comfort of others4 ,but rely upon  
it1 dear children1  this is a narrow and
 altogether deceptive view of the best  
means of  happiness4 ,not only is it the
 divine command that we love our        
neighbour  as ourselves1 but it is      
equally certain that obedience to this  
great  law tends as directly to make    
ourselves happy1 as it does to promote  
the  comfort of the objects of our      
benevolent attention4 ,if you wish to be
  happy yourselves1 study continually to
 make all around you so too4 ,the       
luxury of doing good is the richest     
luxury of which we are capable4 ,it  is 
the very spirit of ,christ1 who went    
about doing good2 and the more  closely 
we commune with him in the exercise of  

the same spirit1 the more  we secure    
true and rational enjoyment4 ,wherever  
you are1 then1 cultivate  a spirit of   
sympathy with the afflicted1 and the    
habit of flying  spontaneously to the   
relief of suffering4 ,you cannot begin  
too early to  feed the hungry1 to clothe
 the naked1 to minister to the wants of 
the  sick and dying1 to relieve distress
 of every kind1 and to please every  one
 for his good to edification3--not by   
flattery1 which is too  commonly the    
method of pleasing adopted2 but by      
letting it be seen that  you seek1 as   
much as in you lies1 to make all around 
you truly happy4  ,never promote mirth  
at the expense of others4 ,never allow  
yourselves to  set others by the ears as
 it is sometimes expressed1 for the sake
 of  derision4 ,carefully avoid all     
those tricks1 which so many of the young
  delight in1 and by which so much      
suffering1 and sometimes even           
ultimately the loss of life1 have been  
incurred4 ,in a word1  conscientiously  

cherish the principle and the habit of  
never giving a  moment's pain to a human
 being1 or even to a brute beast1 unless
 it be  necessary for their real good2  
and wherever you see pain1 by whomsoever
  inflicted1 do all in your power1      
consistent with other obligations1 to   
relieve it1 and to give rational        
pleasure4 ,there is nothing1 be assured1
  dear children1 in all the splendour of
 fashionable display1 in all the        
gratifications of sense1 in all the     
delirious joys of giddy dissipation1    
once to be compared with the hallowed   
pleasure of habitually doing good  to   
all within your reach4 ,yes1 make doing 
good your ruling passion1  and you will 
be among the happiest of mortals4       
,let me beseech you to watch over your  
temper with studious care4 ,few  things 
are more unhappy in a young person of   
either sex1 than an  irritable1         
irascible temper4 ,it betrays into a    
thousand indiscretions4  ,it poisons    
social intercourse4 ,it alienates       

friends4 ,it destroys the  comfort of   
the individual who indulges it2 and it  
interferes with the  comfort of all with
 whom he converses4 ,i have known this  
infirmity to  cast a cloud over the     
whole course of many persons who were   
otherwise  fitted to adorn and bless    
society4 ,watch and pray against it with
 the  utmost diligence4 ,he that ruleth 
his own spirit is greater than he that  
taketh a city4 ,be swift to hear1 slow  
to speak1 slow to wrath4 ,learn  by soft
 answers to turn away wrath1 both in    
yourselves and others4 ,be  not ready to
 take offence1 or to consider any one as
 an offender for a  word4 ,never regard 
an honest difference of opinion from    
yourself as a  personal affront4 ,surely
 the indulgence of such a spirit is as  
unreasonable as it is unhappy4 ,guard   
with the utmost vigilance against a     
jealous1 suspicious temper4 ,ill nature1
 peevishness1 and a disposition  to take
 every thing by an unfavourable handle1 
and to indulge in satire  and sarcasm1  

are revolting in every human being1 but 
especially in the  female sex4 ,i have  
never known such a temper to be indulged
 without  diminishing both the          
respectability and happiness of its     
possessor4 ,let  a mild1 amiable1       
conciliatory spirit reign in all your   
intercourse4 ,be  ever kind1 tender     
hearted1 and forgiving1 even as you hope
 to obtain  forgiveness from the ,god of
 all grace4 ,let the spirit of          
benevolence1  and a desire to please1   
shine in your countenances1 and be      
manifest in  your deportment in all     
companies2 at home and on journies2 in  
the public  hotel1 and in the parlour of
 a friend2 towards servants1 as well as 
towards your equals or superiors4 ,in a 
word1 in temper as well as in  conduct1 
,whatsoever ye would that others should 
do unto you1 do ye even  so to them1 for
 this is the law and the prophets4      
,in forming your moral character and    
habits1 ,i entreat you to lay great     
stress upon cultivating a sacred and    

delicate regard to truth1 in all  your  
social intercourse4 ,rely upon it1 you  
cannot pay too conscientious  a regard  
to this point4 ,a fault here is as      
dishonourable as it is  criminal4 ,i do 
not allow myself to fear that my beloved
 grandchildren1  after the training they
 have received1 will ever indulge in    
deliberate  falsehood4 ,in this there is
 a meanness as well as a sin1 which ,i  
hope  they will equally despise and     
abhor4 ,but it is to be lamented that   
there  is much in social conversation1  
in which many people deemed respectable 
are apt to indulge themselves1 and which
 ,i hope you will make conscience  of   
sacredly avoiding4 ,i mean all          
exaggeration in your descriptions2 all  
high-colouring in your statements2 all  
indulgence in fabulous  narratives1 even
 in jest1 for the amusement of company4 
,aside from the  dictates of religion in
 this matter1 which are sacred and      
conclusive1  there is something in these
 habits adapted to lower the character1 

and  to diminish the influence of those 
who indulge them1 with all  sober-minded
 people4 ,whatever may be the           
consequence1 let a regard to  the       
strictest verity1 as if you were on     
oath1 reign in all you say and  do4     
,avoid the meanness1 as well as the sin 
of the slightest departure  from        
absolute truth4 ,let all underhand      
deceptive contrivances1 all low         
cunning1 all habits of carrying your    
plans by disingenuous arts1 be  abhorred
 and avoided4 ,how gratifying would it  
be to those who love you1  to know that 
it had passed into something like a     
proverb among your  acquaintance--,the  
statement is from a ,breckinridge--and  
therefore may  be depended on6    ,let  
me farther entreat you to guard against 
all indulgence of the spirit  of pride1 
or vanity4 ,by pride1 ,i mean such an   
inordinate and  unreasonable conceit of 
our own superiority in any respect1 as  
leads us  to look down on others as     
beneath us1 and to treat them with      

haughtiness1 or contempt4 ,and by       
vanity1 ,i understand that excessive    
desire for the applause of others which 
leads to egotism1 and such a  weak      
anxiety to attract the notice1 and gain 
the approbation of those  around us1 as 
are apt to betray into little and       
unworthy arts for  gaining the object4  
,that both ought to be repudiated1 as at
 once folly  and sin1 ,i hope no formal 
argument will be necessary to convince  
you4  ,but still1 they are both         
besetting sins1 which cleave with       
deplorable  obstinacy to multitudes     
whose judgment is against them4 ,be     
assured1 dear  children1 pride is as    
foolish as it is criminal4 ,who made you
 to differ  from others8 ,and what have 
you that you have not received8 ,if you 
have  minds1 or an education1 or outward
 circumstances more favourable than     
those of many others1 who conferred them
 upon you8 ,if1 therefore1 you  have    
received all1 why should you glory as if
 you had not received them8  ,i know    

that we sometimes hear people talk of a 
laudable pride1 an  honest pride1 a     
noble pride1 c4 ,but such language is a 
grievous  abuse of terms1 and ought to  
be forever banished from the vocabulary 
of  ,christians4 ,pride was the         
condemnation and snare of the devil1 and
  is in all cases a weakness and a sin4 
,to call a proper personal dignity  and 
self-respect by this odious name1 is    
altogether incorrect and  deceptive4 ,to
 speak of a disposition to avoid a mean 
action as a noble  pride1 is a          
perversion of language1 as well as of   
moral principle4 ,be  clothed with      
humility2 for ,god resisteth the proud1 
but giveth grace to  the humble4 ,pride 
goeth before destruction1 and an haughty
 spirit  before a fall2 for when pride  
cometh1 then cometh shame1 but with the 
lowly is wisdom4 ,vanity is a passion   
still more childish and  degrading4 ,it 
exhibits a rational creature hanging on 
the smiles and the  praise of his fellow
 worms for his importance and happiness4

 ,o1 what  infatuation for miserable    
sinners1 who deserve nothing at the hand
 of  ,god but wrath1 and the overflowing
 of wrath1 and who are dependant on  his
 bounty for every breath1 to be puffed  
up with high thoughts of  themselves1   
and arrogantly to claim the incense of  
praise6 ,fly1 then1  from pride and     
vanity with the utmost vigilance4 ,study
 to be meek and  lowly in heart4 ,mind  
not high things1 but condescend to men  
of low  estate4 ,in lowliness of mind   
esteem others better than yourselves4   
,be not wise or great in your own       
conceits4 ,be not greedy of praise4     
,despise all the unworthy arts of       
seeking and fishing for it4 ,rely upon  
it1 the lower you lie in the dust of    
abasement1 the happier you will be4     
,the more you are disposed to love and  
honour all around you according to      
their real character1 the more          
infallibly you will secure their love   
and  confidence in return4 ,and the less
 anxious you are to gain the applause   

of men1 the more likely you will be to  
attain it1 if you are found  humbly and 
diligently performing your duty4 ,in    
short1 if ,i wished you to  gain the    
highest degree of esteem and honour     
among men1 ,i would say--,do  not seek  
this object anxiously1 or even directly 
at all4 ,never inquire  what others say 
or think of you4 ,speak of yourselves1  
in conversation1  as little as possible4
 ,treat your superiors with uniform     
respect1 but  not with fawning or       
flattery2 and your inferiors1 down to   
the lowest  servant or beggar1 with     
undeviating condescension and kindness2 
trying  to benefit every one1 and       
promote the happiness of every one2 and 
you  will have as much of the love and  
respect of all as you really deserve1   
and probably more4 ,if you sincerely try
 to promote the happiness of all  around
 you1 and do it with a kind and amiable 
manner1 ,i believe it is  one of the    
cases in which our ,lord's declaration  
never fails to be  fulfilled--,give1 and

 it shall be given unto you1 good       
measure pressed  down and running over  
shall men give into your bosom4         
,strive with sacred care against every  
feeling approaching to the passion  of  
envy4 ,as you are now at an age when you
 are called daily to compete  with      
school and play-mates1 you may be       
sometimes strongly tempted to  indulge  
in this passion4 ,but it is a base      
passion4 ,beware of it4 ,how            
fiend-like1 to sicken and repine at     
excellence6 ,how base1 to be  displeased
 and mortified when we contemplate the  
superior prosperity1  happiness1 or     
accomplishments of others6 ,when you    
witness such superior  attainments or   
excellence1 let the only effort be to   
excite gratitude to  ,god for its       
existence1 and a generous emulation of  
it in yourselves4    ,guard with        
vigilance against a talebearing and     
tattling spirit4 ,i  will not suppose   
you capable of deliberate slander1 or   
cruelly  circulating reports to the     

injury of others without just evidence4 
,this  is so base and mean1 that ,i     
trust you will ever abhor and despise   
it4  ,but it is the infirmity of many1  
who intend thereby no injury1 that they 
delight in circulating news concerning  
their neighbours1 and have not a  little
 of the true gossipping spirit4 ,this is
 a bad habit4 ,it degrades  the         
individual who indulges it1 in the view 
of all wise1 reflecting  people2 often  
involves in painful explanations and    
difficulties2 and is  frequently        
followed by consequences of the most    
perplexing and  disreputable kind4      
,never indulge the disposition to repeat
 idle stories  about neighbours4 ,if    
they are repeated in your presence1     
listen to them  either in silence1 or   
with a civil remark1 which cannot       
possibly  implicate you1 or be construed
 into an approval of the scandal4 ,it   
was  an excellent appeal which was once 
made by a wise and benevolent man  whom 
,i knew in early life--,why can you not 

talk more about things1  than about     
persons8    ,let me farther exhort you1 
as a point of duty1 to cultivate        
habitual  cheerfulness4 ,when ,i say    
this1 you will not understand me as     
recommending a spirit of levity and     
frivolity4 ,this is unworthy of         
rational1 accountable creatures1 and    
indicates as much of weakness as of     
sin4 ,those who spend their lives in    
gaiety and mirth1 are dead while  they  
live4 ,but by cultivating habitual      
cheerfulness1 ,i mean cherishing  a     
pleasant state of the animal spirits2 as
 opposed to constitutional  gloom1      
mental depression1 and settled1 clouded 
taciturnity1 ,i mean  habits1 not of    
light1 but of lively and affable        
conversation4 ,such a  state of mind    
does good like a medicine4 ,it          
contributes to our own  enjoyment4 ,it  
makes us more pleasant and useful to    
those with whom we  converse4 ,it may   
even operate to promote health and      
prolong life2 and in  various ways      

extend our power of doing good4         
,guard with conscientious care against  
habits of indolence4 ,a tendency  to    
this sin is one of the radical symptoms 
of the great moral disease of  our      
nature2 and you cannot begin too early  
to labour and pray for  effecting a     
cure4 ,fly from idleness as a habit     
connected with a legion  of evils4 ,make
 a point of always having something     
useful to  do--something to fill up     
every moment left vacant between the    
larger and  more important tasks of     
life4 ,i am aware that we all stand in  
need of  recreation2 but this is often  
best attained by a change of            
employment4 ,when you have finished a   
sedentary task1 which required  intense 
application of mind1 think1 for a       
moment1 whether there be not  some other
 object to which you may attend for a   
short time1 which will  require no      
mental effort1 but by attention to      
which1 you may promote  either your own 
health or comfort1 or the advantage of  

others4 ,make it  your daily study to   
redeem the time4 ,try to turn every     
moment to some  valuable account4 ,for  
this purpose1 form1 as early as         
possible1 a plan1  a systematic order in
 your daily tasks4 ,without such a plan1
 more or  less formally adopted1 you    
will inevitably lose much time in       
passing  from one engagement to another4
 ,but if you manage always to leave     
something useful with which to fill up  
every little interval2 so as  never to  
be idle1 and never to waste time with   
frivolous1 or worse than  frivolous     
employments1 you will be more happy1 and
 live more to your  own true honour1 and
 the benefit of your generation4    ,i  
have only to add on the subject of this 
letter1 a single word on the  great     
importance of maintaining strict and    
habitual temperance in all  your        
enjoyments4 ,if you wish really to enjoy
 life1 and to live out all  your days1  
you must exercise moderation and        
self-denial in eating and  drinking1 and

 in every department of indulgence4     
,temperance has been  defined--the      
moderate use of things useful1 and total
 abstinence from  those which are       
pernicious4 ,this is an excellent       
definition1 which ,i  trust you will    
ever keep in mind1 and make your daily  
and hourly rule4  ,to be thus temperate1
 is a divine command4 ,it is eminently  
conducive to  health4 ,it is highly     
advantageous to the activity and        
strength of the  powers of the mind4    
,and it is an admirable defence against 
a thousand  irregularities and mischiefs
 which cloud the faculties1 destroy     
comfort1  and lead to multiplied forms  
of disease1 and to premature graves4 ,if
 you  habitually restrain appetite1 deny
 yourselves1 and let your moderation  be
 known in all things1 and to all men1   
you will avoid many evils which         
continually beset those who act on the  
system of self-indulgence4 ,never  drink
 any thing but pure water1 when in      
health2 indulge in animal food  but once

 in each day1 and that in smaller       
quantities than most people  consider as
 temperate4 ,labourers in the open air  
may1 not only with  impunity1 but       
perhaps with profit1 eat animal food    
more than once every  day2 but ,i am    
persuaded few other persons can do it   
without disadvantage  to their health4  
,my personal experience and observation 
in regard to  this point are very       
decisive4 ,nay1 ,i would advise you to  
go one step  farther4 ,make the         
experiment of wholly abstaining from    
animal food at  least one day in each   
week1 for the purpose of giving nature a
  holyday2 of clearing the body and the 
mind from crudities2 and taking a  new  
start in refined feeling and unclogged  
activity4    ,in fine1 let it be the    
object of your unceasing study and      
prayer1 to  keep under the body2 to     
crucify the flesh with the affections   
and  lusts2 to subdue and restrain all  
irregular tempers2 if it be  possible1  
as much as lieth in you1 to live        

peaceably with all men2 to  avoid       
wounding the feelings of any one with   
whom you converse1 unless  required to  
do it by a pure sense of duty2 to       
promote the happiness of  all around    
you2 and to be continually seeking and  
improving  opportunities of doing good4 
,,letter ,,viii4    ,,manners4    ,,dear
 ,,children3--,i wish it were in my     
power to give you a perfect and  vivid  
representation of the manners of your   
lamented ,mother4 ,there was  in them a 
sweetness1 a gracefulness1 and an       
attraction truly rare4  ,wherever she   
went1 they at once gained her friends4  
,i am sure if you had  been old enough  
at her decease to appreciate them2 or1  
if ,i could now  depict them to the     
life1 you would have a deeper impression
 of the  importance of happy manners2 of
 their value to their possessor2 of     
their  benign influence on social       
intercourse1 than ,i can now hope to    
impart4  ,as it is1 ,i hope you will be 
willing to take on trust my statement of

  the fact concerning her1 and that you 
will be stimulated to seek a  similar   
accomplishment4    ,if it be true1 as   
has been often said1 that a good face is
 an open  letter of recommendation1     
wherever its possessor appears2 we may1 
with  quite as much emphasis1 say the   
same of pleasant engaging manners4 ,nay1
  we may go farther4 ,the most beautiful
 face and form that ever existed1  if   
unaccompanied by agreeable manners1 will
 soon be contemplated with              
indifference1 if not with disgust4      
,while1 on the contrary1 where there  is
 an entire absence of personal beauty1  
there may be1 and often are  found1 such
 manners as captivate and win wherever  
they are seen1 and  with a power felt by
 all1 however remote they may be from   
the possession  of such manners         
themselves4    ,i shall not tax either  
your patience or my own1 by entering    
largely into  the subject of manners4   
,on this extensive subject ,i refer you 
to a  volume on ,clerical ,manners and  

,habits which ,i published a few years  
ago1 and in which considerable          
minuteness of detail is indulged4 ,for  
although that work was intended more    
particularly for the benefit of         
clergymen1 and especially of candidates 
for the sacred office2 yet a  large     
portion of it is equally applicable to  
all classes and  professions1 and to    
both sexes4 ,i recommend the volume     
referred to1 to  your serious attention1
 and to your careful study4 ,and        
whatever may be  your situation in life1
 ,i think you will find much in it      
worthy of your  regard4 ,at any rate1 if
 it be not so1 ,i have failed of gaining
 my main  object in its publication4    
,i will not1 however1 content myself    
with merely referring you to the  volume
 in question4 ,it is my wish1 in this   
little system of affectionate  advices1 
to call your attention to a few         
particulars on this subject  which may  
be considered as more immediately       
appropriate at your present  tender age1

 and1 perhaps1 on that account1 more    
likely to dwell upon  your memory than  
the contents of a volume4    ,you will1 
perhaps1 ask me1 what ,i mean by those  
good manners which ,i  would recommend8 
,i answer1 by such manners ,i mean that 
mode of personal  address and deportment
 toward all with whom we converse which 
is  dictated by the meekness1           
benevolence1 and purity of the ,gospel4 
,in a  word1 true politeness--the most  
genuine politeness--that which ,i would 
earnestly desire those whom ,i love to  
cherish and cultivate--is the  religion 
of ,christ acted out in the whole       
temper1 conversation1 and  deportment4  
,the simple1 unembarrassed1 gentle      
expression of mingled  respect and      
kindness toward all with whom we        
converse1 from the hovel to  the palace1
 is the perfection of manners4 ,these   
are manners which become  all times1    
places1 companies1 and circumstances1   
and which will carry  their possessor   
through the world with acceptance and   

comfort4    ,perhaps1 in your           
inexperience1 you may be disposed to    
ask1 what is the  great value of such   
manners as are here recommended8 ,if you
 have any  doubt on this subject now1 ,i
 am persuaded a little more knowledge of
  the world will satisfy you that their 
value is unspeakably great4 ,few  people
 are adequate judges of those solid     
intellectual and moral  qualities which 
form a character of high excellence4    
,but of personal  manners1 all are      
judges2 at any rate1 all are capable of 
perceiving1 and  in some degree         
estimating1 their value4 ,only a small  
portion of those  with whom you converse
 are able to discern whether you are    
wise and  well informed2 but every child
 can see whether you have a sweet voice1
 a  pleasant countenance1 an amiable1   
kind and respectful mode of address1  or
 the contrary4 ,can there be1 then1 a   
more obvious dictate1 both of  policy   
and duty1 than to cultivate that which1 
to multitudes1 is more  attractive than 

real merit2 which secures to merit a    
hearing1 and an  influence which it     
would not otherwise obtain2 and which   
will be likely1  in many cases1 to open 
a door to usefulness which1 without it1 
would1 in  all probability1 have        
continued impenetrably closed8 ,in      
repeated  instances have ,i known       
persons of weak minds1 and of small     
information1  but of remarkably         
fascinating manners1 carry all before   
them in circles  of society into which  
persons of far higher qualifications1   
both  intellectual and moral1 but       
defective in the attractions of manner1 
were  scarcely able to obtain           
admittance1 and very inadequately       
esteemed when  admitted4 ,a soft1       
insinuating address has1 a thousand     
times1 rendered  its possessor every    
where acceptable and popular1 when1 on  
the score of  real merit1 he ought by no
 means to have enjoyed so much public   
favour4    ,but this is not all4        
,pleasant attractive manners not only   

have a  paramount influence with the    
superficial and unthinking2 but they    
have  more power even on the minds of   
the wise and the good than is commonly  
imagined4 ,to every human being1 that   
which is intrinsically excellent1       
appears doubly attractive when presented
 in a pleasing manner4 ,truth1  even to 
those who know it to be truth1 finds a  
more cordial welcome2 and  duty1 even   
among its most sincere and enlightened  
friends1 commands a  more ready         
obedience1 when they are clothed in an  
attractive garb1 and  speak in alluring 
accents4 ,that the very same words1     
which1 when uttered  by some1 are       
intolerably offensive2 when spoken in   
the mild1 respectful  manner of others1 
are welcome1 and even delightful--that  
the very same  action1 which1 performed 
by some1 is censured2 when performed by 
others1  of perhaps less talent or      
virtue1 is lauded to excess2 are among  
the  most notorious facts in human life2
 and that not in the circles of         

ignorance and dissipation only1 but also
 in those of the most estimable         
portions of mankind4    ,to despise or  
undervalue the cultivation of manners1  
then1 argues a  great want of practical 
wisdom4 ,it is a subject worthy of your 
constant  regard4 ,to neglect it1 is    
equally to oppose reason and experience1
 and  to set at naught some of the most 
precious means of gaining access to  the
 human heart4 ,and when ,i speak of     
cultivating good manners1 do not        
imagine that ,i mean the formal1 showy1 
pompous manners which some  commend1 and
 seem to aim at4 ,the truth is1 the     
perfection of  manners--the ultimate    
point which is the result of the very   
best  culture1 is to attain that ease1  
simplicity1 modesty1 and gentleness of  
deportment in every thing1 which has    
nothing of the artificial1 nothing  of  
display about it4 ,but to be more       
particular4    ,the first characteristic
 of manners to which ,i would direct    
your  attention1 as lying at the        

foundation of all excellence1 is        
benignity4  ,without the law of         
benevolence1 reigning in the heart1 and 
governing  the temper and the life1     
there may be much pomp and courtliness  
of  manner2 many a heartless smile1 and 
many a flattering form of address2  but 
there can be no genuine politeness4 ,the
 essence of this consists in  the spirit
 of cordial good will and kindness      
shining in the countenance2  expressing 
itself in the language and tones of     
respect and benevolent  regard2 and     
flowing through all the channels of     
human intercourse1 and  all the minuti  
of human life4 ,this is the vital       
principle of good  manners4 ,just in    
proportion as you really desire to      
increase the  happiness of all around   
you2 to consult their ease2 to          
anticipate their  wants2 and to promote 
their welfare--you will spontaneously   
manifest  these feelings in all         
situations and companies4 ,your whole   
deportment  will be pleasing1           

attractive1 and graceful1 without your  
having studied  artificial rules4 ,this 
is the foundation and the sum of all2   
but it may  not be improper to trace the
 radical principle into some of its     
minute  details4    ,in all social      
intercourse1 let respectful attention   
mark your whole  manner4 ,to turn away  
your eyes from the person who is        
addressing you2  or to manifest in any  
way that you are thinking1 or wish to be
 thinking1  of something else1 is a     
great breach of good manners2 cannot    
fail of  giving pain to those with whom 
you converse2 and must deprive you of a 
large part of the benefit of            
conversation4 ,when you look your       
companion  gently and respectfully1 but 
firmly in the face1 you manifest        
attention2  you enable yourselves to    
watch his countenance1 and mark the     
impression  which you make on his mind2 
to say nothing of the power of the eye  
in  seconding and enforcing all that is 
said4    ,cultivate affability of       

manner4 ,by this ,i mean that style of  
manners  which is distinguished by ease1
 simplicity1 and courteousness2 a       
deportment opposed to haughtiness1      
reserve1 coldness1 or taciturnity2 in   
short1 to every thing that is adapted to
 repel1 or to prevent freedom  and      
comfort of approach4 ,i am aware that   
constitutional temperament has  much to 
do with this4 ,but still1 it is equally 
true that affability may  and ought to  
be carefully cultivated2 and that there 
are few things  better adapted to       
conciliate good will1 to inspire        
confidence1 to invite  freedom of       
communication1 and to place at ease all 
with whom we  converse4    ,study to    
exercise gentleness and mildness in all 
your deportment and  conversation4      
,guard against every thing harsh1       
severe1 rough1 abrupt1 or  in any way   
repulsive in your language1 voice1 or   
manner4 ,let the  meekness and          
gentleness of wisdom appear in every    
look1 tone1 and  expression4 ,by a mild1

 respectful address1 you may at once    
reprove  impertinence1 disarm violence1 
and put even brutality to shame4 ,give  
all  diligence1 then1 to be gentle      
toward all men4 ,learn the happy art of 
conversing with gentleness1 of giving   
your commands with gentleness1 of       
arguing with gentleness1 of contending  
with gentleness1 and of even  reproving 
with gentleness4 ,both commands and     
reproofs1 as well as  arguments1 when   
dispensed in this manner1 have not only 
more dignity1  but also more weight than
 when invested with an opposite         
character4    ,few things are more      
opposed to good breeding than a loud1   
boisterous  manner in social            
intercourse4 ,whether this be indulged  
in laughter1 or  in conversation1 it is 
equally exceptionable as an offence     
against both  delicacy and dignity4     
,with regard to females1 an offence     
against this  rule1 is peculiarly       
revolting4 ,it is a sure sign of        
vulgarity1 and ought  to be carefully   

avoided4 ,but1 in either sex1 it is a   
blemish which well  bred people never   
fail to notice4    ,closely allied to   
this is the habit of rude familiarity   
which some  affect1 and to which they   
give the name of social pleasantry4     
,this is  undignified1 and1 to all      
delicate people1 offensive4 ,mutual     
dignity and  respect are indispensable  
to the continued existence of ,christian
  intercourse1 in its most pure1        
delicate1 and profitable form4 ,if you  
wish to maintain such intercourse1 be   
free and unconstrained2 but never       
indulge in coarse familiarity4 ,those   
who are worthy of your love will        
certainly be repelled rather than       
attracted by it4    ,remember1 too1 that
 all interruption of any one with whom  
you are  conversing1 or blunt           
contradiction of his statements1 is an  
offence  against delicate manners4      
,however erroneous he may be1 hear him  
out2 and  however certain you may be    
that his representations are false1     

rectify  his mistake1 not bluntly1 but  
with kindness and respect4    ,guard    
against talking too much in company4 ,he
 who is very talkative  incurs          
disadvantages of a very serious kind4   
,he cheapens himself2 tires  his        
hearers2 and must1 of course1 diminish  
his usefulness4 ,however rich  and      
instructive any one's talk may be1 yet1 
if there be too much of it1  both his   
dignity and his influence cannot fail of
 being impaired4 ,a  fool's voice1 says 
,solomon1 is known by the multitude of  
his words4  ,in the multitude of words1 
says the same inspired teacher1 there   
wanteth not sin2 but he that refraineth 
his lips is wise4 ,and again1  ,he that 
hath knowledge1 spareth his words4      
,but another extreme in social          
intercourse1 is that of excessive       
reserve and taciturnity4 ,some from     
physical temperament2 others from       
abstraction or absence of mind2 and a   
third class1 perhaps1 from still  more  
exceptionable causes1 wrap themselves up

 in a chilling reserve in               
company--never speaking but when        
addressed2 and then answering as        
briefly as possible1 and relapsing into 
silence again4 ,this is surely  unhappy 
in a social being1 and ought to be      
carefully avoided4 ,while you  avoid    
garrulity1 then1 sink not down into     
obstinate silence4 ,if you find         
yourselves1 from any cause1 prone to    
this1 it is abundantly worth while  to  
take pains to counteract it1 and to     
labour to have something ready to  say  
that shall be at once acceptable and    
instructive4    ,in regard to uncleanly 
and vulgar personal habits1 ,i will not 
suppose  you capable of them3 and1      
therefore1 shall not dwell upon them4   
,all  spitting on floors1 lounging in   
your seats1 putting up your feet on     
chairs or stools1 leaning with your     
elbows on tables--these1 and all        
similar habits1 ,i hope1 after the      
training you have had1 you will avoid   
with instinctive repugnance4 ,but there 

is one habit which ,i would  earnestly  
recommend1 as favourable not merely to  
good manners1 but also  to health4      
,learn to sit erect1 not only in        
company1 but even in your  most private 
apartment4 ,reading or writing in a     
half-sunken or reclining  posture is    
unfriendly to a graceful carriage2 is   
apt to betray unwarily  into similar    
postures in company2 prepares the way   
for the sinking1  half-bent postures    
which disfigure so many of the feeble   
and aged2 and  really tends to bring on 
premature decrepitude4    ,do not affect
 wit or punning in conversation4 ,so    
many of those who  try to make          
themselves acceptable by such attempts1 
not only fail1 but  often render        
themselves a laughing stock by it1 that 
there is little  probability of your    
succeeding as wits or punsters4 ,but    
even with  respect to those whose       
talents in this way are ever so great1  
there is  so much danger of their       
indulging those talents unseasonably and

  imprudently1 so as to offend and      
alienate friends1 that such powers      
ought to be deprecated rather than      
desired1 and their exercise1 if         
possessed1 subjected to the severest    
restriction4 ,i never knew more than    
one person of wit who was strictly      
discreet and delicate in its use4 ,but  
,i have known thousands who1 by their   
miserable attempts to display what  they
 possessed either not at all1 or in a   
very small degree1 succeeded  only in   
exposing themselves to ridicule4 ,and ,i
 have known many real  wits1 who almost 
every day wounded feelings1 and         
alienated friends by  their reckless    
effusions4    ,do not indulge the habit 
in conversation of talking of           
yourselves4  ,hardly any quality is more
 apt to appear in social intercourse    
than  personal vanity4 ,this leads to   
egotism1 so that the idea of self       
appears to be ever present to the       
imagination4 ,hence we perpetually find 
people talking of themselves2 what they 

have done2 what they have said2  what   
others have said and done to their      
honour2 in short1 bringing into  view   
something to their own advantage1 or    
that of their family or  relatives4     
,rely upon it1 if you have real worth1  
the less you say  about it the better2  
and if you have it not1 every claim of  
it1 direct  or indirect1 can only sink  
you lower in the estimation of those    
with  whom you converse4    ,carefully  
form the habit of adverting to all the  
properties of time1  place and          
circumstances in conversation4 ,when you
 are about1 in  company1 to make a      
remark1 or to introduce a new topic of  
conversation1  look round on the circle1
 and ask yourself1 whether there is any 
one  present whose feelings would be    
likely to be hurt by what you are about 
to say1 or who would be placed by it in 
embarrassing circumstances4 ,be  very   
sure for example1 when about to make1 in
 company1 an unfavourable  remark on an 
absent person1 that no relative or      

special friend of that  person is among 
your hearers4 ,for1 although you ought  
never to make a  remark on any one which
 the ,christian spirit cannot justify2  
yet in  certain circumstances1 a remark 
perfectly proper in itself1 may be      
unseasonable1 and peculiarly painful to 
some who hear it4 ,guard against  the   
possibility of such an occurrence4 ,this
 is a dictate of sound  worldly policy4 
,a departure from it is a gross         
violation of true  politeness4 ,but it  
may be said1 still more emphatically1 to
 be a  departure from the principles of 
,christian benevolence4    ,avoid the   
too frequent use of superlatives in     
conversation4 ,the habit  of many1 when 
they wish to express either approbation 
or censure1 is to  employ the very      
strongest terms which the ,english      
language affords4 ,if  they think       
favourably of the talents or the        
performance of any one1 they  are apt to
 speak of them as noble1 admirable1 as  
of the first order2  or in some terms   

expressive of the very highest          
excellence4 ,and1 on the  other hand1 if
 they undertake to express              
disapprobation1 the terms  mean1        
execrable1 detestable1 are the softest  
that they think of  employing4 ,this is 
a bad habit4 ,it renders both the praise
 and censure  of those who indulge it of
 less value in the estimation of all    
sober-minded and discriminating judges4 
,if you wish your judgment to  pass for 
any thing in the view of the wise and   
reflecting1 you must  learn to express  
opinions in that guarded and moderate   
manner which  indicates intellectual    
discrimination rather than              
undistinguishing  emotion4 ,you know    
where it is said ,fools admire1 where   
men of sense  approve4    ,carefully    
avoid giving unnecessary trouble        
wherever you are4 ,the  difference      
between different persons in this       
respect is very  conspicuous4 ,some1    
when in the houses of their friends1    
have so many  little wants1 so many     

errands to perform1 and are so absorbed 
in their  own affairs1 that1 if         
permitted1 they would keep several      
servants and  others constantly employed
 in waiting upon them4 ,you may rely    
upon it  you can never be1 long         
together1 welcome visitants in families 
which you  subject to so much trouble4  
,make as few demands as possible on the 
time  and attention of those whose      
hospitality you are enjoying4 ,never    
call  upon their servants to wait upon  
you when it is practicable to avoid it4 
,never allow the occupations or order of
 any family to be set aside or          
disarranged on your account1 where it is
 possible to prevent it4 ,in  short1 act
 universally on the principle of doing  
every thing that you  can for           
yourselves1 and making as few demands as
 possible on the time  and labour of    
those around you4    ,in calling on     
friends consult their convenience1 as   
well as your own2  and in some cases in 
preference to your own4 ,many make their

 calls at  such hours1 and sit so       
inordinately long1 as to throw a whole  
family  into disorder1 and inflict very 
serious pain4 ,never sit long in your   
social calls at any time2 but when you  
make them at times which may1 by        
possibility interfere with domestic     
meals1 let them be very short2 be  on   
the watch for every symptom of          
engagement or uneasiness on the part  of
 those whom you visit1 and on the       
appearance of any thing of the kind1    
instantly take your leave4              
,constantly maintain the habit of early 
rising4 ,few things are more  conducive 
to health and activity both of body and 
mind4 ,a disposition  to lie long in bed
 in the morning1 is1 at once1 a symptom 
and a cause of  feeble digestion1 of    
nervous debility1 and of general        
languor4 ,go early  to bed4 ,avoid much 
night study4 ,quit your beds by dawn of 
day1 and1 in  winter1 before the dawn1  
and thus secure several hours of        
unbroken time1  for devotion1 for study1

 and for gentle exercise in the open    
air1 before  breakfast1 and before the  
interruptions of the earliest visitors  
commence4    ,cultivate habits of       
moderation in dress4 ,you are never     
likely to be  able to indulge in very   
inordinate expense in bodily adorning2  
and ,i  will venture to say1 this       
inability1 wherever it exists1 is a     
great  blessing4 ,few things evince more
 weakness of mind1 and absence of       
,christian principle1 than extravagance 
and splendor in dress4 ,in young  men it
 is a sad evidence of dandyism and      
folly2 and even in young  females1 an   
excessive indulgence in fashion1 in     
finery1 and the extreme  of devotion to 
bodily adorning1 never fails to depress 
their character  in the estimation of   
the wise and good4 ,try to set an       
example of sober1  dignified moderation 
in regard to this whole subject4 ,always
 guard  against negligence of dress4    
,conscientiously avoid exposing         
yourselves  to the charge of careless1  

slatternly habits4 ,but never make dress
 an  idol4 ,reject every thing dazzling1
 or what is commonly called dashing1  in
 outward ornament4 ,be not seen aping   
the extreme of fashion2 and ever        
remember how unworthy it is of          
,christians to be worshippers of        
external  adorning2 and how peculiarly  
disreputable for the children of        
clergymen to bear such a character4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,thus1 dear children1 ,i have           
endeavoured1 with brevity1 to give you a
 few  paternal counsels1 which1 ,i would
 fondly hope1 may1 by the grace of ,god1
  be made to promote your benefit1 when 
the hand which penned them shall  be    
sleeping in the dust4 ,you will perceive
 from the order in which ,i  have placed
 my counsels1 that ,i consider real     
heart religion as the most              
indispensable and precious of all       
attainments2 that my first and highest  
wish concerning you is1 that you may    
love your ,father's and ,mother's  ,god1

 and make it your daily aim to follow   
her to that world of bliss and  glory to
 which1 as we trust1 she has gone before
 us4 ,next to seeing you  real          
,christians1 my desire is to see you    
enlightened1 polished1  benevolent1     
amiable1 attractive members of society1 
respected and  beloved by all who know  
you4    ,remember1 ,i beseech you1 that 
the friends of your ,parents will expect
  much from you4 ,the advantages which  
you have enjoyed1 and are daily         
enjoying1 impose upon you a solemn      
responsibility in the sight both of     
,god and man4 ,many prayers have        
ascended to heaven on your behalf4 ,pray
  without ceasing for yourselves1 that  
you may be preserved from the  paths of 
sin and folly1 and led in the ways of   
heavenly wisdom4    ,i have no doubt    
that the counsels ,i have given you will
 commend  themselves to your judgment1  
and that you will promptly form the     
resolution to make them your constant   
guide4 ,but you cannot rely upon  your  

own wisdom or strength to do this4 ,such
 are your own infirmities1  and so      
multiplied the temptations and          
allurements which surround you1  that   
you will need at every step1 guidance   
and help from above4 ,happy  will it be 
for you if you habitually bear this in  
mind1 and acknowledge  ,god in all your 
ways1 that he may direct your steps4    
,and now1 dear children1 ,i bid you     
farewell4 ,when ,i look forward1 and    
imagine to myself what may be your      
course in life--when ,i think of the    
corruptions and perils with which you   
are surrounded1 and what may be  the    
result of them1 ,i hardly know how to   
express my anxieties and fears3  but    
when ,i recollect the love and          
faithfulness of that ,god who blessed   
your ,parents1 ,i feel willing to commit
 you into his hands1 and to trust  his  
grace for your temporal and eternal     
welfare4 ,may he guide you by his       
counsel6 ,may he guard you amidst all   
the dangers of youth and of riper       

years2 and finally1 present you         
faultless before the presence of his    
glory with exceeding great joy6 ,o how  
unutterably precious the thought  of    
meeting you all at last--with those of  
our beloved family who have  already    
gone before us1 and those who are yet to
 follow--around the  throne of our      
covenant ,god1 and rejoicing forever in 
his presence and  glory6 ,such will be  
the prayer until his last breath1 of    
your           ,affectionate            
,grandfather1                 ,,samuel  
,,miller4      ,,princeton1 ,july #aj1  
#ahci4      ,,the ,,end4