The Power of Faith Part 17

"Here, O Lord, I take my stand; here I lay my foundation, and on this thy covenant I build; or rather, here thou thyself hast laid my foundation, and on this rock hast thou set my soul and built my hopes, thou subduing my enmity. I acquiesce. I will now 'remember the years of thy hand,' look back to thy dealings with thine own nation, whom thou didst choose and set apart from all other nations, though of the same blood with all those that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

"They, like us, destroyed themselves, but in thee was their help.

They also sinned, committed iniquity, and did wickedly; they remembered not thy mercy, but provoked thee at the Red sea, after the great deliverance thou hadst wrought for them, and the wonders thou madest to pa.s.s before them in the land of Egypt. Nevertheless thou savedst them for thy name's sake, that thou mightest make thy mighty power known; thou didst repeat thy wonders, and didst dry up the sea before them. He fed them with corn from heaven; they did eat angel's food. He clave the rock in the wilderness, and caused waters to run down like a river. After all, they forsook the G.o.d of their mercies; they believed not his promises, nor trusted in his salvation; they l.u.s.ted, and they murmured, and desired to turn back to Egypt. Thou didst chasten them sore for their sin, and didst bring down their heart with grief.

"When thou didst slay them, they sought thee, and remembered that G.o.d was their rock, and the most high G.o.d their Redeemer.

Nevertheless they did flatter with their mouth and lied unto thee with their tongue, for their heart was not right with thee, neither were they steadfast in thy covenant. But thou being full of compa.s.sion, forgavest their iniquity and destroyedst them not; yea, many a time turnedst thou away thine anger, and didst not stir up all thy wrath.

"O how many times did they turn back, tempted G.o.d, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Yet did he fulfil all his promises, and by wonders in the sea, wonders in the desert, wonders in Zoan's field, and in the camps of their enemies, he led them safely to the border of his sanctuary, to the mountain which his right hand had purchased. He cast out the heathen before them, and gave them rest in the land of promise. Even there they provoked the Most High, provoked him to jealousy with their graven images.

"Again thou didst chasten them sore, let loose the corruptions of men upon them, and suffer them to fall before their enemies. Thou deliveredst thy strength into captivity, and thy glory into the hands of their enemies.

"Yet, O Lord, again didst thou deliver them, and sentest provision for them by thine own covenant. Thou didst choose David thy servant, and take him from the sheep-folds. Thou broughtest him to feed Jacob thy people, and Israel thine inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

"Such are the people with whom thou hast still to do. Such, O G.o.d of infinite mercy, such the G.o.d with whom we sinners have to do, even 'the Lord G.o.d, merciful and gracious, keeping mercy for thou sands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty.' O what could man or angel have done with this last character of thy name? Thy covenant makes provision. In Christ Jesus, our blessed subst.i.tute, all is reconciled. Thy name is one; the just G.o.d, and the justifier of the unG.o.dly who believe in Jesus; This G.o.d is our G.o.d; we will make mention of his righteousness, and his only.

By his own covenant, in his own time, and by means of his own providing, he will revive us. Amen."

"APRIL, 1804

"All my desire is before thee, and it is all contained in thy well-ordered covenant. Many years of vanity, of idolatry, of backsliding, wandering, and folly have pa.s.sed over my head since I first took hold of thy covenant. How fickle, false, and deceitful have I proved; yet thou knowest, thine own Spirit through all my wanderings testified in my heart, that out of the channel of this covenant there could be neither safety nor comfort; and never, so far as I can remember, have I deliberately chosen to be dealt with by any other.

Its corrections and chastis.e.m.e.nts have reached the deepest sensibilities of my heart. Thine arrows stuck fast in me, thy hand pressed me sore; there was no soundness in my flesh, neither rest in my bones, because of my sin; mine iniquities went over my head, were a burden too heavy to bear. I was feeble and sore broken, and roared by reason of the disquiet of my heart. My lovers and friends stood aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stood afar off. I was ready to halt, and my sorrow was continually before me; yet even in my darkest, deepest afflictions, when deep called to deep, and thy waves and billows were pa.s.sing over me; when my soul seemed sinking in the mire where there was no standing, I groped in the dark; my heart panted, my strength failed, and the light of mine eyes seemed gone out. I was weak with my groaning; in the night I made my bed to swim with my tears; yet even then, by that same covenant by which I was suffering, light sprang out of darkness, glimmering hope in the midst of despair. I remembered the years of thy right hand; in the mult.i.tude of my thoughts within me--the provision made in this covenant--thy comforts delighted my soul.

"I was furnished with a plea which would condemn, by every covenant but thine: Pardon my iniquities, for they are great. Thou, even thou, art he who blottest out transgressions as a cloud, and iniquity as a thick cloud. Verily thou art a G.o.d that pardoneth, though thou takest vengeance on the inventions of thy rebellious children. 'Vengeance!' not the vengeance of the curse; no, that, O thou blessed Covenant, thou blessed Surety, that fell on thy devoted head. Thou by this covenant wast 'made a curse for us.' Thou didst tread the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none to help thee. Thou didst expend the last drop of that cup of vengeance. Every cup put into our hand, though a cup of trembling, is a cup of blessing. I this day take a fresh hold of thy covenant, for myself, for my children, and for my children's children, to the latest generation. For my brother and sister, for their children, and children's children; for the near concerns of our dear D. B----; and for all whom I carry on my mind to thy throne of grace. This is the sum and substance of my prayers. Bring them into the bond of this covenant, and deal with them according to the order of it, and the provision made for them in it, in all possible circ.u.mstances. Amen.

"O G.o.d, in the mult.i.tude of thy mercies hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Truth of thy salvation! thou only knowest the truth of thy salvation. How little do we know of thy work. Many of those providences which appear to us dark and dismal, are wheels turning round 'the truth of thy salvation;' opening our blinded eyes to the issues of sin, and also delivering from the snares of the devil. Deal not, O Lord, with me, and mine, as our iniquities deserve; this has never been thy way with us; but according to thy former loving-kindness, and to all the long-suffering, patience, and pardoning mercy which thy aged servant has experienced through her sinful guilty pilgrimage. Thou hast forgiven me all the way from Egypt. Leave me not now, when I am old and grey-headed; but when strength and heart fail, be thou the strength of my heart and portion for ever. Amen."

The winter of 1804-5 was unusually severe: the river Hudson was shut by frost as early as November; fuel was consequently scarce and dear, and the poor suffered greatly. Mrs. Graham visited those parts of the city where the poorer cla.s.s of sufferers dwelt;* in upwards of two hundred families she either found a Bible their property, or gave them one; praying with them in their affliction. She requested a friend to write, first one religious tract and then another, suited to the peculiar situation of those afflicted people. One was called, "A Donation to Poor Widows with Small Children;" the other, "A Second Visit to Poor Widows with Small Children." And lest it might be said it was cheap to give advice, she usually gave a small sum of money along with the tracts she distributed. There was at this time neither a Bible nor Tract Society in New York. Mrs. Hoffman accompanied her in many of her excursions. In the course of their visits, they discovered a French family from St. Domingo in such extremity of distress as made them judge it necessary to report their case to the Honorable Dewitt Clinton, then mayor of the city. The situation of this family being made public, three hundred dollars were voluntarily contributed for their relief. Roused by this incident, a public meeting was called at the Tontine Coffee-house, and committees from the different wards were appointed to aid the corporation in ascertaining and supplying the immediate wants of the suffering poor. The zeal of Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Hoffman paved the way for this public-spirited exertion, which probably was the means of saving the lives of some of the dest.i.tute and friendless.

*The following notice of these scenes appeared in one of the periodical publications of the day:

"When sorrow shrunk before the piercing wind, And famine, shelterless, in suffering pined; When sickness drooped in solitary pain, Mid varying misery's relentless reign; Oh, then tumultuous rose the plaints of grief, And loud and strong the clamors for relief!

Then active charity, with boundless care, From gloomy faces chased the fiend Despair, Dispelled the horrors of the wintry day, And none that asked went unrelieved away.

"Yet there are some who sorrow's vigils keep, Unknown that languish, undistinguished weep; Behold yon ruined building's shattered walls, Where drifting snow through many a crevice falls; Whose smokeless vent no blazing fuel knows, But drear and cold the widow's mansion shows; Her fragile form, by sickness deeply riven, Too weak to face the driving blasts of heaven, Her voice too faint to reach some pitying ear, Her s.h.i.+vering babes command her anguished tear: Their feeble cries in vain a.s.sistance crave, And expectation 'points but to the grave.'

"But lo, with hasty step a female form Glides through the wind and braves the chilling storm, With eager hand now shakes the tottering door, Now rushes breathless o'er the snow-clad floor.

Her tongue soft comfort to the mourner speaks, Her silver voice with soft emotion breaks; Round the drear hovel roves her moistened eye, Her graceful bosom heaves the lengthened sigh.

"I know thee now--I know that angel frame-- O that the muse might dare to breathe thy name: Nor thine alone, but all that sister-band Who scatter gladness o'er a weeping land; Who comfort to the infant sufferer bring, And 'teach with joy the widow's heart to sing.'

"For this, no noisy honors fame shall give, In your own b.r.e.a.s.t.s your gentle virtues live; No sounding numbers shall your names reveal, But your own hearts the rich reward shall feel.

"ALBERT."

In the month of August, 1805, Mrs. Graham paid another visit to her friends in Boston, of whom she spoke with much affection and esteem. She used to mention, with peculiar approbation, a society of pious ladies there, who met once in every week for prayer and mutual edification.

On returning to New York, she again wrote to her friend Mrs.

C----, renewing her endeavors for her consolation and establishment in the faith of Christ; and soon after informed her of the dangerous illness of two of her grandchildren, one of whom, in the righteous dispensations of an unerring Providence, was taken, and the other left.

To Mrs. C----, Boston.

"GREENWICH, N.Y., Sept. 26, 1805.

"MY DEAR FRIEND--I arrived here on Monday. I found my children in health, but much affected with the death of the amiable youth M----, and the melancholy situation of his bereaved parents.

"The epidemic spreads over the city in every direction among the few remaining in it. All the public offices are here; crowds of the citizens, and houses and stores spring up in a day; all is bustle and confusion, and all seem mad on business.

"Parting with my dear friend was most painful, so painful that nothing could alleviate it but the presence of my own children, who, could there have been room from deeper sorrows, would have shared it with me. O that I could put my G.o.d in my place in your heart. What are earthly friends? How few are steady against all change of circ.u.mstances; of these, fewer still have it in their power to supply every link of friends.h.i.+p's chain; a thousand unforeseen incidents disappoint their wishes and frustrate their hopes, rendering abortive their greatest exertions. But there is a Friend, everywhere present, thoroughly acquainted with every circ.u.mstance of the heart and of the life; all-powerful to relieve; whose love is invariable, and ever the most tender when every other friend stands aloof; a friend in adversity, 'a friend who sticketh closer than a brother,' whose love surpa.s.seth the love of women. This Friend receiveth sinners--casts out none who come to him. He was never known to disappoint the hopes of any poor sinner. He receives them into his heart; he takes all their burdens and cares on himself, pays all their debts, answers all demands against them, and is every way surety for them; they become his own, no one has any thing to say to them but himself. He knows them--how apt to err, to wander, yea, to forget him, and prove ungrateful; all this he knows, but he has made provision for all. He has a rod, and he will subdue their iniquities. He will heal their backslidings, he will bring back and restore his wanderers. He will in due time perfect what concerns them, and present them to his Father purified, without spot or wrinkle.

"In the meantime he requires them to confide in him; to go up through this wilderness leaning upon him; to tell him all their complaints and griefs, and to comfort themselves: and he will impress the comfort by means of his great and precious promises, scattered like so many pearls through his sacred Bible, tabled there on purpose for us to ground our prayers upon, and delight ourselves in. This is your friend's Friend, and of ten thousand besides. This was the wicked Magdalene's Friend; this, the persecuting Paul's Friend, wicked Mana.s.seh's Friend; the adulterous, murdering David's Friend. And he is your Friend, though your eyes are holden that you see him not. He is leading you by a way that you know not. This is one of his characters, 'I will bring the blind by a way that they know not.'

"I was happy to find your niece was to return with Mr. C----; but, my dear, a painful dread has a.s.saulted my peace, lest Satan get the advantage by means of a stranger in the family, and undo what has been begun. The world may have peace without G.o.d; but you shall not.

You have, however feebly, taken hold of his covenant, and he will keep you to your choice. 'If his children forsake his laws and go astray,'

etc. Psalm 79:30."

"NOVEMBER, 1805.

"MY DEAR FRIEND--This is not our rest; through much tribulation all Christ's disciples must follow him. There is a rest prepared for the people of G.o.d: as far as tasted in this world--and in this world it is tasted--it consists in a mind resigned to the will of G.o.d in proportion as it can say, 'Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.' Christ himself was made perfect through suffering, and all his followers shall be so in their appointed measure. What is our cup to his? O my dear friend, we are ransomed, we are redeemed, and we are fitting and preparing for the purchased inheritance, that perfect rest prepared for the people of G.o.d when their warfare is finished. Let him do all his pleasure with us here; let him subdue our iniquities in his own way; let him glorify his name by our sufferings--his glory is ever connected with his people's best interests. We shall one day acknowledge that he has done all things well, and that not one word of all that he has promised has failed.

"It has pleased the Lord to take from us our dear sweet Rebecca; young as she was, through much tribulation she entered in: I have scarcely seen severer suffering, nor a harder dismission. It is well; the Lord will answer his own ends by it for the good of all concerned, as well as for his own glory. Our dear G---- was ill at the same time, and all hope was lost as to him also; for a whole week we looked upon him as dying, A bold measure was taken with him, which succeeded; the Lord had commanded life; it was not thought of for her. G.o.d had appointed to her entrance into life eternal. It is all well. Blessed, blessed be his name; for her he has taken and him he has restored, both equally. I.G. S---- was confined at the same time with a broken arm; N. B---- with the fever and pleurisy. Deep have been the wounds in this aged heart, not yet weaned from earth, but tremblingly alive to every thing that concerns my children. Yet I do give up. I have asked but one thing with importunity, and by that I abide. I did not ask for temporal life, but the life which Christ died to purchase, and lives to bestow; let him answer my pet.i.tion by means of his own appointing: by health or by sickness, by riches or by poverty, by long life or early deaths--only let all mine by the ties of nature, be his by regeneration of his Spirit."

Having felt the trials and the responsibilities of widowhood, she wrote to her brother's widow, Mrs. Marshall, in 1805:

"You are now, my dear sister, the only head of your family. Will you take Joshua's determination? 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.' Take hold of G.o.d's covenant for your orphan children as for yourself, and consider them as his, to be brought up for him.

Be a priestess in your own house, and keep up the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d daily in your family, and confess your Lord and Master before angels, men, and devils. Those who thus honor G.o.d, he will honor.

"You are indeed, my dear, arrived at an important stage of your journey through this great wilderness. You are now the head of the family, and are to G.o.d immediately answerable. No earthly consideration must make you give up the government of it, nor the prerogative which he hath given you, to counsel, and even beseech your household to serve the Lord. You cannot give grace; you cannot give life; and where there is no life there can be no spiritual exercise: but you may use means, although there is much prudence to be observed to avoid disgust.

"Be faithful, then, my dear sister, to your important trust. See that your household remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy; your children, of course, will accompany you to the house of G.o.d, but let not your servants absent themselves from his ordinances, and endeavor, on your return home, to explain and bring home the word that may have been spoken to their consciences. Above all, let it be your constant aim to set before them a G.o.dly, consistent example, and be much engaged in prayer for them--I mean for your servants as well as for your children, and G.o.d will, in all probability, make you a mother in Israel, the mother of many spiritual children, and turn your captivity into rejoicing, and fill your mouth with songs of praise; or should you not have this comfort, should the night of adversity last to the very valley of the shadow of death, the morning of eternal rest shall then beam forth upon your own soul, and your prayers may be answered for others, when the eyes that wept and the breast that heaved are at rest in the dust. O, then, my sister, possess your soul in patience, and seek to make daily advances in holiness."

CHAPTER IX.

ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY--FOREIGN MISSIONARIES--LETTERS.

On the 15th of March, 1806, the female subscribers to proposals for providing an asylum for orphan children met at the City Hotel; Mrs. Graham was called to the chair, a society organized, and a board of direction chosen, Mrs. Hoffman was elected the first directress of the Orphan Asylum Society. Mrs. Graham continued in the office of first directress of the Widows' Society, but took a deep interest in the success of the Orphan Asylum also; she, or one of her family, taught the orphans daily, until the funds of the inst.i.tution were sufficient to provide a teacher and superintendent. She was a trustee at the time of her decease. The wish to establish this new society was occasioned by the pain which it gave the ladies of the Widows' Society to behold a family of orphans driven, on the decease of a widow, to seek refuge in the almshouse; no melting heart to feel, no redeeming hand to rescue them from a situation so unpromising for mental and moral improvement.

"Among the afflicted of our suffering race," thus speaks the const.i.tution of the society, "none makes a stronger or more impressive appeal to humanity than the _dest.i.tute orphan_. Crime has not been the cause of its misery, and future usefulness may yet be the result of its protection; the reverse is often the case of more aged objects. G.o.d himself has marked the fatherless as the peculiar subjects of his divine compa.s.sion. 'A Father of the fatherless is G.o.d in his holy habitation,' 'When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.' To be the blessed instrument of, divine Providence in making good the promise of G.o.d, is a privilege equally desirable and honorable to the benevolent heart.'"

And truly G.o.d has made good his promise towards this benevolent inst.i.tution. He has crowned the undertaking with his remarkable blessing. It was begun by his disciples in faith, and he has acknowledged them in it. Having for fourteen months occupied a hired house for an asylum, the ladies entertained the bold idea of building an asylum on account of the society. They had then about three hundred and fifty dollars as the commencement of a fund for the building; they purchased four lots of ground in the village of Greenwich, on a healthful, elevated site, possessing a fine prospect. The corner-stone was laid on the 7th of July, 1807. They erected a building fifty feet square; from time to time they proceeded to finish the interior of the building, and to purchase additional ground as their funds would permit; and such was the liberality of the legislature and of the public, that the society soon possessed a handsome building and nearly an acre of ground, all of which must have cost them little short of twenty-five thousand dollars. In that house Mrs. Graham and Mrs.

Hoffman spent much of their time; there they trained for eternity the children of those whose widowed dying mothers they had cheered with the hope that when they should be taken away, G.o.d would fulfil his gracious promise and preserve their fatherless children alive.

Mrs. Hoffman survived Mrs. Graham seven years. Her end, like that of her friend, was peace. But though G.o.d removed those mothers in Israel, their prayers are still before him, and the inst.i.tution continues to prosper. In 1836, the city having extended to where the asylum was situated, and the property at the same time increased in value, the society became desirous to remove where the children would enjoy purer air, and have greater convenience for a garden and pasture for cows. With the advice of their patrons, they sold the property for about thirty-nine thousand dollars; purchased nearly ten acres of ground at Bloomingdale, and on the 9th of June the same year laid the foundation-stone of their present beautiful building.