Page:An address delivered by the Hon. Mrs. Welby to the married women of Newton on the first Thursday in Lent, 1872.djvu/14

10 best, and determine to do His will, God will help us, and make our labours successful.

I must remind you once more that I am only speaking to you as one woman may speak to another, on a subject about which a woman can speak to women better than a man could do, and that I know well that except for the mercy of God in surrounding me with loving care and good example in my own girlhood, I might have been no better than those of whom I have been speaking. This is why I felt I must speak to you; I could keep silence no longer without injury to my own conscience; and I pray God with my whole heart that in His mercy He may sow the good seed in all our hearts and cause it to grow and bring forth fruit.

Think of how much good we might do if it came to be said that in this village you might be sure that a girl was "steady" as it is called. "Ah, she comes from Newton, then we can trust her, she'll not let the lads run after her or get into trouble," people would say; but this happy result, which we might hope would soon spread