That all by works and moral worth we gain
Is to perceive our care and labour vain;
That still the more we pay, our debts the more remain;
That he who feels not the mysterious call,
Lies bound in sin, still grov’ling from the fall.
My husband felt not: - our persuasion, prayer,
And our best reason, darken’d his despair;
His very nature changed; he now reviled
My former conduct, - he reproach’d my child:
He talked of bastard slips, and cursed his bed,