"I did expect affliction long before it came, and my presumptuous heart calculated upon the fruit being the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and to take away sin; but still I held my way, gadding about, drinking the waters of Sihor and the rivers of Syria, and eating the worldling's dainties. Oh, Oh, at last it came; yes, it came. Thou didst cut off the desire of my eyes with a stroke, and with that made the world a blank to me. But O the stately steps of thy providential mercy previous to that trying hour. O my God, I must ever wonder and stand amazed at thy exuberant grace. In consistence with thy covenant, thou mightest have struck me among these worldlings, in that dry and barren land, where not one tongue could speak the language of Canaan, nor bring forth from thy precious Bible the words of consolation to my wounded and bereaved spirit; richly had I merited this; but never, no, never hast thou dealt with me as I sinned. Through the whole of my life, from the time that the Lord called me out of darkness into his marvellous light--from the time that he first led me to the Saviour, and enabled me to take hold of his covenant, wanderer, backslider, transgressor, rebel, idolater, ingrate, and if there be any name more expressively _vile_ and _abominable_, that is mine. And from the hour of my birth, through the whole of this refractory perverse life, 'the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,' has been, and now is, thy name to me. "No, ye strong-built walls, ye grated windows, ye gloomy cells, ye confine no such sinner as I. And did the Lord take vengeance on my inventions? O no, _mercy_ preceded, _mercy_ accompanied judgment; yea, it was all mercy, not vengeance. He brought me and my idol out of that barren land, placed us under the breath of prayer, among a dear little society of Methodists; he laid us upon their spirits, and when the messenger Death was sent for my beloved, the breath of prayer ascended from his bedside, from their little meeting, and I believe from their families and closets. The God of mercy prepared their hearts to pray, and his ear to hear, and the answer did not tarry. Behold, my husband prayeth; confesses sin; applies to the Saviour; pleads for forgiveness for his sake; receives comfort; blesses God for Jesus Christ, and dies with these words on his tongue, 'I hold fast by the Saviour,' Behold another wonder; the idolatress in an ecstasy of joy. She who never could realize a separation for one single minute during his life, now resigns her heart's treasure with praise and thanksgiving.