To this Louise objected, saying she would quickly have a fire made in the spare chamber, and there would be ample time to have it thoroughly heated; and if she did not choose to lodge alone, she would offer her a charming young lady to sleep in the room with her.  The choice was again referred by Joseph to his mother.  Louise now expostulated with her husband.  She said, as she was not strong, she needed his assistance a part of the night, as usual, in the care of the infant.  But still, without any regard for her feelings and her wishes to the contrary, Joseph insisted that his mother should make a choice; and, strange to say, she chose to lodge with Louise.

This unaccountable preference, unless it was because it was proffered by her son, it would seem, must have produced unhappiness and discomfort, on her part, on witnessing this daughter the livelong night restlessly turning from side to side, and her child restless and crying.  But not one expression of regret was manifested the next day by either mother or son.

The day after the incident referred to above occurred, a kind friend whispered in Joseph’s ear a truth, which, perhaps, till then had been entirely overlooked by him.  This friend reminded him that when he plighted his vows to his young wife at the altar, he did most solemnly promise, agreeably to God’s ordinance, “that he would forsake father and mother, and all others, and he would cleave to his wife, and to her alone; that he would take her for better or for worse.”

We may laud the conduct of Naomi and Ruth in their beautiful attachment to each other, at the point of history where they are first introduced to us.  But their love to each other was doubtless greatly modified by the circumstances into which they were now brought.  They had a remarkable sympathy and fellow-feeling for each other in their sufferings.  That son and husband, the bond of this tender and happy union, and the occasion had there been any strife between them when this loved object was living, was now forever removed from them, and not a trace of any thing to blame or to regret was still remembered by them.

I can never be sufficiently grateful for the oft-reiterated advice of my father to his children.  “Never,” he would say, “act a selfish part.”  In all your plans and purposes in life, do not have an exclusive regard to self-interest.  If you do, you will find many competitors.  But if you strive to render others happy, you will always find a large and open field of enterprise; and let me assure you that this is the best way to promote your own happiness for time and for eternity.

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Original.

ONE-SIDED CHRISTIANS.