“A great general, in ancient times, in search of glory, landed his troops on the hostile coast, and then burnt all his ships:  they must conquer, or die.  You have, ladies, already embarked in this design; there is no remaining neuter now; your name and undertaking are in every mouth; you must press forward and justify your cause:  and justified it shall be, if you persevere; it cannot be otherwise.  The benevolence you contemplate is as superior to that already in operation, as the interest of the soul is to that of the body; and it is your own—­the very scheme originated in a young mind in this company.  The society were contemplating mercenary agents, schools for pay, and one is already established.

“But this labor of love; who could have hoped for it?  A society of young ladies, in rank the first in the city, in the very bloom of life, and full of its prospects, engaged in those pleasures and amusements which generally engross the mind, and shut out every idea unconnected with self, coming forward and offering—­what? not their purses, that were trash; but their own personal services to instruct the ignorant, and become the saviors of many of their sex.  It is indeed a new thing, and more strange in this age of dissipation than that institution from which it sprung.  May this too become the darling of Providence.  May God put his seal upon this also.  May he bless and prosper you in this undertaking, bless you, and make you a blessing.”

We next have her wrestling supplications for the revival of God’s work in the church with which she was connected.

“FEBRUARY 21, 1804.

“O Thou, who art Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, who holdest the seven stars in thy right hand, and walkest in the midst of the seven golden candle-sticks, who livest and was dead, and art alive for evermore.  Amen.  And hast the keys of hell and of death.  Out of thy mouth goeth a sharp twoedged sword, by which thou reachest the hearts of the most hardened.  O write with power, speak with power, in the heart of the angel of this church.  Hast thou not in former days had thy dwelling among them? in days of trouble didst thou not work in them the fruits of labor and patience, so that for thy name’s sake they labored and fainted not?  Thou blessedst them and gave them peace, and they rejoiced in the light of thy countenance; thou multipliedst them also, so that from a handful they became two bands.  Alas, Lord, we have, Jeshurun-like, ‘waxed fat and kicked;’ we have left our first love; we have not watched and prayed, as thou gavest commandment, and thou hast left us to enter into temptation; we have forsaken the counsel of our old men, and given heed to flatterers; we have forgotten our dependence on thee, and said, ’Ashur shall save us, we will ride upon horses.’  We have set up our idols in our hearts, and put the stumbling-block of our iniquity before our eyes; we have taken counsel, but not of thee, and covered ourselves with a covering, but not of thy Spirit; we have gloried in our own wisdom, and strengthened ourselves in our own strength.