Page:An address delivered by the Hon. Mrs. Welby to the married women of Newton on the first Thursday in Lent, 1872.djvu/13

9 She has only reaped what she has sown; no woman has any right to count on a man's honour who has not shown him she considers her own the most precious thing she has; given to her by her Father in Heaven to keep like a priceless jewel, against the day when she will be called to praise Him with the holy angels, who, pure as they are, nevertheless veil their faces before Him, the God of purity. Or what if the man dies suddenly, without having had time to marry her, or what if she dies with this wilful sin on her soul, perhaps unrepented of? My dear friends, to count on a tardy marriage, to make things right, as it is called, is to tempt God in the most presumptuous manner: it does not undo one atom of the past, nor can it avert the displeasure of God. It is too late for any of us to destroy the past; we cannot call back the days that are gone, but the future is before us still, thank God! We can all work together, whatever our station may be, towards the blessed end which I have set before you; and we may rest assured that if we will only try our