to fall; but now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it touches thee, and thou art troubled!_ May we never behave, as if _the Consolations of GOD_ were _small_[d]; lest it should be _as when a Standard-Bearer fainteth_[e], and whole Companies of Soldiers are thrown into Confusion and Distress! MY Friends, you are Witnesses for me, that I have not stood by as an unconcerned Spectator amidst the Desolations of your respective Families, when GOD's awful Hand hath been lopping off those tender Branches from them, which were once our common Hope and Delight. I have often put my Soul in the stead of yours, and endeavour'd to give such a Turn to my publick as well as my private Discourses, as might be a means of composing and chearing your Minds, and forming you to a submissive Temper, that you might _be subject to the Father of Spirits, and live_[f]. In this View I have, at different Times, largely insisted on the Example of _Aaron, who held his peace_[g], when his two eldest Sons were struck dead in a Moment by Fire from the Lord, which destroyed them in the very Act of their Sin; and I have also represented that of _Job,_ who, when the Death of ten Children by one Blow was added to the Spoil of his great Possessions, could say, _The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord_[h]. The Instance which is here before us, is not indeed so memorable as these; but to present Circumstances it is, in many Respects, more suitable: And it may the rather deserve our Notice, as it shews us the Wisdom, Composure, and Piety of one of the weaker and tenderer Sex, on an Occasion of such aggravated Distress, that had _Aaron_ or _Job_ behaved just as she did, we must have acknowledged, that they had not sunk beneath the Dignity of their Character, nor appear'd unworthy of our Applause, and our Imitation.