"In a word, like Enoch, she walked with God; like Abraham, she staggered not at his promise through unbelief; like Jacob, she wrestled with the angel and prevailed; like Moses, endured as seeing Him who is invisible; like Paul, finished her course with joy. Blessed were the eyes of the preacher, for they saw the victory of her faith; and his ears, for they heard her song of salvation. 'You can say with the apostle, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him?' 'O yes, but I cannot say the
other, I have fought a good fight; I must say, I have fought a poor fight, I have run a poor race; but Christ fought for me. Christ ran with me, and through Christ I hope to win,' 'But you have no fear, no doubts, about your going to be with Christ?' 'O no, not a doubt; I am as sure of that as if I were already in my Saviour's arms.' It was her final conversation with children of the dust. The next day, when her flesh and her heart had so far failed that she was incapable of uttering a sentence, she still proved her God to be the strength of her heart, and knew him to be her portion for ever. I said to her, 'It is peace,' She opened her eyes, smiled, closed them again, bowed her dying head, and breathed out, 'Peace,' It was her last word on this side heaven. The attending spirits caught it from her lips, and brought to her the next day permission to sleep in Jesus.
"From this review allow me to urge the value of private exertions in promoting general good.
"In pursuing his gratifications, man is apt to look upon himself as a being of great importance; in fulfilling his duties, to account himself as nothing. Both are extravagances which it will be his wisdom and happiness to correct. He is neither supreme in worth nor useless in action. Let him not say, 'I am but one; my voice will be drowned in the universal din; my weight is lighter than a feather in the public scale. It is better for me to mind my own affairs, and leave these higher attempts to more competent hands.' This is the language, not of reason and modesty, but of sloth, of selfishness, and of pride. The amount of it is, 'I cannot do every thing, therefore I will do nothing,' But you can do much. Act well your part
according to your faculties, your station, and your means. The result will be honorable to yourself, delightful to your friends, and beneficial to the world. I advise not to gigantic aims, to enormous enterprise. The world has seen but one Newton, and one Howard. Nothing is required of you but to make the most of the opportunities within your reach.
"Recall the example of Mrs. Graham. Here was a woman, a widow, a stranger in a strange land, without fortune, with no friends but such as her letters of introduction and her worth should acquire, and with a family of daughters dependent upon her for their subsistence. Surely if any one has a clear title of immunity from the obligation to carry her cares beyond the domestic circle, it is this widow, it is this stranger. Yet within a few years this stranger, this widow, with no means but her excellent sense, her benevolent heart, and her persevering will to do good, awakens the charities of a populous city, and gives to them an impulse, a direction, and an efficacy unknown before.
"What might not be done by men — by men of talent, of standing, of wealth, of leisure? How speedily, under their well-directed beneficence, might a whole country change its physical, intellectual, and moral aspect; and assume, comparatively speaking, the face of another Eden, a second garden of God. Why then do they not diffuse thus extensively the seeds of knowledge, of virtue, and of bliss? I ask not for their pretences; they are as old as the lust of lucre, and are refuted by the example which we have been contemplating: I ask for the true reason, for the inspiring principle of their conduct. It is this — let them look to it when God shall call them to account
for the abuse of their time, their talents, their station, their 'unrighteous mammon' — it is this: they believe not 'the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.' They labor under no want but one, they want the heart. The bountiful God add this to the other gifts which he has bestowed upon them. I turn to the other sex.
"That venerable mother in Israel who has exchanged the service of God on earth for his service in heaven, has left a legacy to her sisters: she has left the example of her faith and patience; she has left her prayers; she has left the monument of her Christian deeds; and by these she being dead, yet speaketh. Matrons, has she left her mantle also? Are there none among you to hear her voice from the tomb, Go and do thou likewise? None whom affluence permits, endowments qualify, and piety prompts, to aim at her distinction by treading in her steps? Maidens, are there none among you who would wish to array yourselves hereafter in the honors of this virtuous woman? Your hearts have dismissed their wonted warmth and generosity, if they do not throb as the revered vision rises before you. Then prepare yourselves now, by seeking and serving the God of her youth. You cannot be too early adorned with the robes of righteousness and the garments of salvation in which she was wedded, in her morning of life, to Jesus the King of glory. That same grace which threw its radiance around her, shall make you also to shine in the beauty of holiness; and the fragrance of those virtues which it shall create, develope, and ennoble, will be 'as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.'
"Yea, let me press upon all the transcendent