Page:Letters of Life.djvu/276

264 reminiscences, I transcribe for you a few aspirations, bearing date with the earliest light of my wedding morning—June 16th—and written on the little white deal table in the front chamber of my father's house in Norwich, where from childhood the intercourse of thought and pen had been pursued.

"Almighty God! deign to look down and strengthen me on this the most fearfully important era of my life. Divine Saviour! touched with the feeling of our infirmities—Lamb of God! who takest away the sins of the world—I beseech Thee to hear me. Holy Spirit! sustain, cheer, animate me; breathe into my soul the calmness of self-possession, the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

"Blessed Trinity! endue me with such virtues and graces as my lot may require. May I move in the untried sphere that awaits me with the humility of a Christian and the benevolence of an angel. Heavenly Father! remember my forsaken parents. Known unto Thee is the loneliness of their hearts. Thou alone hast the power to comfort them. Bless him whom Thy providence has appointed as my guide, companion, and counsellor until death. Bless our children, and prepare them early to walk in Thy truth. Thou hast called their mother unto the perfect rest of heaven. Fill my heart with her love toward them, and grant me