rominent exposure and
calamity, if they suffered public duties to interfere with that first,
great ordinance of God, family religion.

The horses were now coming to the door. Farewells and good wishes were
intermingled, the joyous laugh at some pleasantry or sally of wit made
the house and yard alive for some time, the pastors had arranged their
exchanges for several months to come, visits and excursions were planned
and agreed upon, till one by one the vehicles departed, leaving the
parsonage silent, while its occupants sat down to rest a while, and talk
over the events of the day, in their pleasant window under the
honeysuckle.

Chapter Eleventh.

BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN.

In having all things, and not Thee, what have I?
Not having Thee, what have my labors got?
Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I?
And having Thee alone, what have I not?
I wish nor sea, nor land; nor would I be
Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee.

QUARLES.--"_Emblems._"

He whom God chooseth, out of doubt doth well.
What they that choose their God do, who can tell?

LORD BROOKE (London, 1633).--"_Mustapha._"

A lady with whom we spent a summer at a watering-place, and who was then
an invalid, and with whom we had formed an intimate acquaintance, was
now very sick, with cancerous affections, which threatened to end her
life at no distant period.

She had become established in the Christian faith, during her illness,
and, being a woman of great intelligence and cultivation, it was
instructive to be in her company. Many a lesson had I learned from her,
in the freshness and ardor of her new discoveries as a Christian, the
old themes of religious experience being translated by her renewed
heart, and discriminating mind, into forms that made them almost new,
because they were so vivid. She was fast ripening for heaven; she had
looked in, and her face shone as she turned to speak with us.

A lady, a friend of hers from a distance, was visiting us, and, knowing
that she was sick, requested me to call with her upon the invalid.
Hearing that I was in the parlor, she sent for me to come up and sit
with her and my friend, after they had seen each other a little while.
She was in her easy-chair, able to converse, and was calm and happy.

The door opened suddenly, as we were talking, and in rushed a little boy
of about six years, his cap in his hand, a pretty green cloth sac