After dismissing the
dependants of the establishment, supported by the arm of his son, he had
withdrawn into an inner apartment, and there, surrounded only by those who
had the nearest claims on his affections, the old man again raised his
voice to laud the Being, who, in the midst of so much general grief, had
deigned to look upon his particular race with the eyes of remembrance and
of favor. He spoke of his recovered grand-child by name, and he dealt with
the whole subject of her captivity among the heathen, and her restoration
to the foot of the altar, with the fervor of one who saw the wise decrees
of Providence in the event, and with a tenderness of sentiment that age
was far from having extinguished. It was at the close of this private and
peculiar worship, that we return into the presence of the family.
The spirit of reform had driven those, who so violently felt its
influence, into many usages that, to say the least, were quite as
ungracious to the imagination, as the customs they termed idolatrous were
obnoxious to the attacks of their own unaccommodating theories.
Pages:
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616