134 The Love of God.

young and wear away life long before its natural
period, fell upon her :—and now, nothing remained
to him, who had hoped to have her as his compa-
nion through life, but the Bible fhe had ufed
during her ficknefs, and which was found on the
table by her couch after her death, open and
marked at the very place I have told you about ;
together with the faded primrofe which he had
gathered for her on the laft morning of her life.

This was a very fad event for thofe who were
left behind to lament the lofs of one whom they
had loved fo dearly. The Mother indeed, who
had known other trials of life, bent her head fub-
miffively to this one, and cherifhing fweet recol-
lections of her daughter’s piety and goodnefs,
looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier
world. But the poor young man, whofe name
was Theodore, never having known a care or a
forrow before, was ftupified and overpowered by
this fudden deftruction of all his hopes and happi-
nefs. Seeing, however, that her laft thought had
been the mercy and goodnefs of God, he tried to
make it his thought too; and he would fit for
hours looking at the verfe which fhe had marked
in the Bible.

But unfortunately he made no effort befides,
and having no kind relatives or friends near him
to roufe him from his melancholy ftupor to fome
of the active duties of life, he {pent many many
weeks in liftlefs forrow, not caring much what
became either of himfelf, his dependents, or his