and wisdom brought her many inquirers after the truth, and demands upon her
conversational powers were many and imperative. Yet those busy, provident
hands, long acquainted with needles, seemed to make them fly and click in
about even race, with the mind and the tongue, "Diligence in business,"
"singing with grace in the heart," and "conversation seasoned with grace"
mingled in her methods of "redeeming the time."




PART III.

_RETIREMENT_.

* * * * *




CHAPTER I.


HOMES OF EARLY METHODISTS.

From the earthly point of observation how sad is the breaking up of
Christian homes! The genuinely hospitable homes of the early Methodists
were peculiar. There were elements in their hospitality which do not quite
find their equal in our day. The old circuit system set everything in
motion. Not only were the "circuit riders" circulating everywhere, but
quarterly meetings, "two days' meetings," and even regular circuit