full fruition, to-day hath nothing left of it but a sad remembrance, it was mine! the more I call to mind the joys 1 had, the more sensible I am of the misery I have. My sun is set, my glory is darkened, and not one star appears in the firmament of my little world: he, from whose loins I came, is taken from me : he, to whose bosom I returned, is taken from me: my blessings in the one, my comforts in the other, are taken from me : and what is left to me, but a poor third part of myself, to bewail the loss of the other two. I, that was owned by the tender name of a child, am now known by the off-cast title of an orphan; I, that was respected by the honourable title of a wife, am now rejected by the despisable name of a widow: I, that flourished like a fruitful vine upon the house top, am now neglected and trodden underfoot: he, that like a strong wall supported my tender branches, is fallen, and left my clusters to the spoil of ravenous swine: the spring-tides of my plenty are spent, and I am gravelled on the low ebbs of

all wants the sonnets of my mirth are turned to elegies of mourning: my glory is put out, and my honour grovels on the dust: I call to my friends, and they neglect me: I spread forth my hands, and there is none to help me : my beauty is departed from me, and all my joys are swallowed up.

"Bur stay, my soul, plunge not too far; shall not He take, that gave? Cannot He that took, restore? The Lord is thy portion, who saith,

I will be an husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless. Psal. lxviii. 5. Exod. xxii. 22, 23, 24. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear

their cry.

And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

Mal. iii. v.

I will be a swift witness against those that oppress the widow and the fatherless. James i. 27.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction.

Her Soliloquy.

How hath the sunshine of truth discovered what appeared not by the candlelight of nature! How many atoms in thy soul hath this light descried, which, in thy natural twilight, were not visible ! Excessive sadness for so great a loss, can want no arguments from flesh and blood; which arguments can want no weight, if weighed in the partial balance of nature. A husband is thyself, divided: thy children thyself, multiplied; for whom, (when snatched away) God allows some grains to thy affection: but when they exceed the allowance, they will not pass in Heaven's account, but must be coined again. Couldst thou so often offend thy God, without a tear? and cannot he, my

soul,displease thee once without so many? Doth the want of spiritual grace not trouble thee, and shall a temporal loss so much torment thee? Is thy husband taken away, and art thou cast down? Hath thy God promised to be thy husband, and art thou not comforted? True symptoms of more flesh than spirit; thy husband was the gift, thy God, the giver; and wilt thou more despise the Giver than the gift? Be wise, my soul, if thou hast lost a man, thou hast found a God ; having, therefore, wet thy wings in nature's shower, go and dry them in the God of nature's sunshine.

Her Prayer.

“O GOD, in the knowledge of whom is the perfection of all joy, at whose right hand pleasures are evermore; that makest the comforts of this life momentary, that we may not overprize them, and yet hast made them requisite, that we may not undervalue them: I, a late sharer in this worldly happiness, but a sad witness of its vanity, do here address myself to thee,

the only crown of all my joys, in whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of change. Lord, thou didst give me what my unthankfulness hath taken from me, but thou hast taken from me, what thy goodness hath promised to supply: thou hast given, and thou hast taken, blessed be thy name for ever! Thou then, O God, who art not less able to perform, than willing to promise, whose mercy is more ready to bestow, than my misery is to beg― strengthen my faith, that' I may believe thy promise: encourage my hopes, that I may expect thy performance. Quicken my affections, that I may love the Promiser. Be thou all in all to me, that am nothing at all without thee. Sweeten my misery with the sense of thy mercy, and lighten my darkness with the sun of thy glory. Seal in my heart the assurance of adoption, that I may with boldness call thee my Father! Sanctify my actions. with the spirit of meekness, that my conversation may testify, that I am thy child. Wean my heart from worldly sorrow, lest I mourn like them that have no hope. K k

VOL. 11.