state of her mind and heart previous to leaving Edinburgh.


"EDINBURGH, March, 1789.

"Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and
let thy widows trust in me,' Jer. 49: 11; the Lord's promise, which he
made to me in the days of my widowhood, and which I have made the
subject of my prayers from day to day, taking the words in a spiritual
sense. The Lord has done wonders for me and mine since the day I was
left a widow with three orphans, and the fourth not born, in a strange
land, without money, at a distance from friends; or rather, without
friends. Hitherto he has supplied all my wants, and laid to hand every
necessary and many comforts; supporting character and credit, making a
way for me through the wilderness, pointing out my path, and settling
the bounds of my habitation.

"For all these blessings I desire to be grateful to the God of
providence, whose is the earth and the fulness thereof; but these I
cannot take as the substance of the promise; neither have they been
the chief matter of my prayers. The salvation and the life I have
wrestled for, is that which Christ died to purchase, and lives to
bestow--even spiritual life, and salvation from sin. My God knows I
have held fast this view of the words, seeking first the kingdom of
God for my children, leaving temporals to be given or withheld, as may
best suit with the conversion and sanctification of their souls. I
have not asked for them health, beauty, riches, honor, or temporal
life: God knows what share of these consists with their better
interests; let him give or withhold accordingly. One thing I have
asked of the Lord, one thing only, and will persist in asking, trust