322 DECEMBER. 



never used one ; but, with her arms crossed 



under her cloak, she proceeds at the same feeble 



pace that she has been accustomed to move 



about her cottage. It seems impossible that she 



should ever accomplish her undertaking. My 



imagination beholds her as she crosses a vast 



moor. On and on she goes with such an almost 



imperceptible motion, that the very width of the 



moor appears itself a day's labour for her. Yet 



she shall go forward, day by day, and, unlike 



the deserted wife, she shuns no salutations ; nay, 



to such accommodating persons as are willing to 



slacken their speed and lend a patient ear, she 



can find many things in her mother's heart to 



say. Her troubles, like the fire-damp, are only 



dangerous when they are confined, — give them 



air, and they will dilute themselves till they 



become almost innocuous. Life has long ceased 



to appear desirable in her eyes ; and, if that her 



son but find acceptance with God, it is all that 



she desires. Nay, if she be permitted to reach 



him while alive, and to know that he departs 



with " a sure and joyful hope," she will tread 



back her weary way with a comparatively happy 



heart, and sit down again, for a little time, by 



her cottage-fire in peace and thankfulness. 



God be with her ! 



When to these we add the weary wanderers 

 the world over ; — the shipwrecked crew, inak- 



