children. I _can_ and _do_ trust them to Him; feeling sure He will
more than supply the place of the only parent left them; but, oh, my
dear sir, convinced, as I am, of all this, it is, nevertheless, hard
to leave them; may He forgive my weakness; but human nature is such,
that--" here she paused from exhaustion.

"It is, my dear madam, meant that we should do so; and trial would
lose the object for which it is sent, did we not feel its bitterness;
but you must try, and rejoice that you are allowed to manifest both
faith and hope, under so severe and trying a dispensation. Let me
entreat you to remember the many instances recorded in scripture,
where answer has been given from on high to the prayers of those who
can faithfully cling to them." But while the worthy man strove to lead
the sufferer beyond this sublunary sphere, his heart bled for the poor
children she was leaving. The first blow she received, was the sudden
news of her husband's death in the Crimea, which came to her ears so
abruptly, that her nerves received a shock, from which she did not
rally for months. This was followed by a letter, informing her that
some property which had been left to her a few months previous to
Captain Willoughby's departure, had been claimed by a distant branch
of the family, as heir at law, the testamentary document being found
invalid. These circumstances, joined to delicate health, following
each other so quickly, proved too much for feeble nature, and she sunk
under them.

Her excellent daughter, whose fragile form seemed little calculated to
breast the storms of adversity that now threatened her, was unwearied
in attention to her dying parent. She saw there were heavy trials
before her, and knew they could not be averted, though she could not
tell how she was to meet them; but there was a trusting feeling in her