What, save a life spent in the faith and fear of God, could furnish such a picture? What, save the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, could be sufficient for such things?
And these must have been sought by prayer, and God’s blessing on the study of His Word.
I have said much to you, dear girl friends, of my own happy married life. Shall I tell you what made it so?
It was the being of one heart and one mind in the highest and best things. We knelt, prayed, worshipped, and worked as one, and love, trust, and true respect were the foundation of our union which grew ever closer and dearer with the years we spent together.
Of all the precious memories I retain of my wedded life, one stands out beyond the rest.
It was on the last day of it that he bade me lie down by his side. Drawing me close to him, he held me in those dear, worn arms, as if he could not bear to loose the clasp, kissing me tenderly and repeatedly. Then, when he could no longer hold me for very weakness, he said, “Oh, my darling, my darling! Even you do not know how much I have loved you.”
Have I done right in drawing aside the veil, and showing to you, my dear girl friends, this picture of what was truly his farewell?
I hope it will not have been done in vain. People may talk as they will about the first whispered words of love and their sweetness. I can recall such to mind.
Think you that any or all of them are worth naming in comparison with those precious last words from dying lips, after so many years of wedded life and happiness together?
(To be continued.)