joy was not that which breaks in the bursting
bubble of the champagne glass, or that which is thrown out with the
orange-peelings of a midnight bacchanalia, but the joy which, planted by a
Saviour's pardoning grace, mounts up higher and higher, till it breaks
forth in the acclaim of the hundred and forty and four thousand who have
broken their last chain and wept their last sorrow. Oh! mighty God! How
deep, how wide, how high the joy Thou kindles" in the heart of the
believer!

"Again: We behold in our father the beauty of a Christian faith.

"Let not the account of this cheerfulness give you the idea that he never
had any trouble. But few men have so serious and overwhelming a life
struggle. He went out into the world without means, and with no educational
opportunity, save that which was afforded him in the winter months, in an
old, dilapidated school-house, from instructors whose chief work was to
collect their own salary. Instead of postponing the marriage relation, as
modern society compels a young man to postpone it, until he can earn a
fortune, and be able, at commencement of the conjugal relation, to keep a
companion like the lilies of the field, that toil not nor spin, though
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these--he chose an
early alliance with one, who would not only be able to enjoy the success of
his life, but who would with her own willing hands help achieve it. And so
while father plowed the fields, and threshed the wheat, and broke the flax,
and husked the corn, my mother stood for Solomon's portraiture, when he
said, 'She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her
household. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the
distaff. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her
household are clothed with scarlet. Her children arise up and call her
blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done
virtuously, but thou excellest them all.' So that the limited estate of
the New Jersey farmer never foundered on millinery establishments and
confectionery shops. And though we were some years of age before we heard
the trill of a piano, we knew well about the song of 'The Spinning-wheel.'
There were no lords, or baronets, or princes in our ancestral line. None
wore stars, cockade, or crest. There was once a family coat of arms, but
we were none of us wise enough to tell its meaning. Do our best, we cannot
find anything about o