12 chapters
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Selected Chapters
12 chapters
A MEMORIAL OF MRS. MARGARET BRECKINRIDGE.
A MEMORIAL OF MRS. MARGARET BRECKINRIDGE.
IN TWO PARTS. Part I. Memoir, and Funeral Sermon. Part II. Letters to her surviving Children. PHILADELPHIA: WILLIAM S. MARTIEN. 1839. Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, in the office of the Clerk of the District Court, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A MEMOIR OF MRS. MARGARET BRECKINRIDGE. "Jesus wept."...
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
More than a year has now passed since Mrs. Margaret Breckinridge , the beloved subject of the following brief notices, was taken from us into the saints' everlasting rest. By that event, the little family of which she was the joy and crown, was dissolved. The surviving parent felt that God had committed to him the interesting but mournful duty of preserving the memory of so inestimable a friend. But it is long after such an event, before the mind is sufficiently tranquil to utter our thoughts an
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MEMOIR.
MEMOIR.
A narrative of the life of our departed friends, bears some resemblance to the representation, on canvass, of their persons and features; it serves to restore and collect our scattered thoughts, and revive our affections; and prevents the hand of time from obliterating entirely, their peculiar mental and moral lineaments. It was in consequence of the necessity of this help to our natural infirmities, that our Lord gave to his people the bread and wine, as a symbol of his body and blood, and said
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SERMON.
SERMON.
Psalm xlvi. 10. "Be still, and know that I am God." Omitting all critical discussion of the true import of the text, I will consider the words as addressed by Jehovah to his own people, when suffering affliction under the strokes of his mighty hand. It may be considered as the language of authority; or of consolation. According to the first view, it is as if the Almighty had said, "Be still, and neither repine, nor rebel, for your affliction comes not from the dust, but from me, your rightful So
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LETTER I. INTRODUCTORY.
LETTER I. INTRODUCTORY.
My Dear Grandchildren :—The decease of your beloved and lamented Mother, has placed both you and me in circumstances of great solemnity and responsibility. To be deprived of a mother's care and counsel at the tender age at which she left you, is indeed a loss which no human arithmetic can estimate; especially to be deprived of such a mother, one so well qualified by strength of intellect, by sincere piety, and by peculiar loveliness of character, to be a blessing to you, for time and eternity, i
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LETTER II. HUMAN NATURE.
LETTER II. HUMAN NATURE.
Dear Children :—On all important subjects there are certain great facts which must be regarded as fundamental; as lying at the foundation of all truth, and all duty. I feel that this is peculiarly the case in regard to the counsels which I am about to give you concerning your course in life. Among these fundamental facts are the depravity, the misery, and the numberless temptations of the world in which you live; the depravity of your own nature, ever ready to be attracted by the allurements and
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LETTER III. THE WAY OF SALVATION.
LETTER III. THE WAY OF SALVATION.
Dear Children :—Salvation is a word often on your lips, and on the lips of many around you. The truly pious look forward to it with humble, joyful hope. And those who have no piety, and even the profane and profligate often speak of it as something which they desire and anticipate. But what is SALVATION ? The very expression presupposes that we are all by nature in a state from which we need to be delivered or saved . We never apply this term to any but those who are in danger of being lost . Wh
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LETTER IV. THE BIBLE.
LETTER IV. THE BIBLE.
Dear Children :—If you were walking, in a dark night, along a road full of sloughs, and pits, and snares, and dangers of every kind, what would you do for safety? You would naturally, if you could obtain it, take a light in your hands. You would also, if possible, engage a guide , strong and faithful, well acquainted with the road, and qualified to conduct and defend you. And, besides all this, you would vigilantly look around you at every step, and eagerly mark and avoid every spot that had a s
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LETTER V. PRAYER.
LETTER V. PRAYER.
Dear Children :—"Prayer is the offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." This is the definition given in a Catechism with which you are familiar, and a more complete and perfect one could scarcely be conceived. It is the offering up of our sincere desires ; for unless it be sincere , it is but solemn mockery. It is to be addressed to God alone ; for prayer addressed to any
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LETTER VI. CULTIVATION OF THE MIND.
LETTER VI. CULTIVATION OF THE MIND.
Dear Children :—That every human being is bound to cultivate, in the best manner, the intellectual powers which God has given him, I hope you will take for granted, anterior to all argument; and, although the moral aspects of education are the most vitally important, yet as no one can be a moral agent without some degree of intellect; so it may be said, that the wisest and best culture even of our moral powers, depends more on the discipline, the enlargement, and the furniture of the intellect,
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LETTER VII. CULTIVATION OF THE HEART, AND THE MORAL HABITS.
LETTER VII. CULTIVATION OF THE HEART, AND THE MORAL HABITS.
Dear Children :—By the heart , I mean the moral feelings, dispositions, and affections. And by cultivating the heart, I mean directing much attention to restraining, regulating, and purifying all its exercises. This may be said to lie at the foundation of all duty and all happiness. Were your intellectual powers cultivated with all possible care and success, and your moral faculties neglected, you might be polished and elegant demons; but would be miserable yourselves, and a curse to society. Wh
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LETTER VIII. MANNERS.
LETTER VIII. MANNERS.
Dear Children :—I wish it were in my power to give you a perfect and vivid representation of the manners of your lamented Mother. There was in them a sweetness, a gracefulness, and an attraction truly rare. Wherever she went, they at once gained her friends. I am sure if you had been old enough at her decease to appreciate them; or, if I could now depict them to the life, you would have a deeper impression of the importance of happy manners; of their value to their possessor; of their benign inf
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