wouldn't let me make change. 'Confound it all, Miss Prissy,' says he, 'I
wouldn't stitch as you do from morning to night for double that money.'
Now I know we can't do anything to recommend ourselves to the Lord, but
then I can't help feeling some sorts of folks must be by nature more
pleasing to Him than others. David was a man after God's own heart, and
he was a generous, whole-souled fellow, like Jim Marvyn, though he did
get carried away by his spirits sometimes and do wrong things; and so I
hope the Lord saw fit to make Jim one of the elect. We don't ever know
what God's grace has done for folks. I think a great many are converted
when we know nothing about it, as Miss Twitchel told poor old Miss
Tyrel, who was mourning about her son, a dreadful wild boy, who was
killed falling from mast-head; she says, that from the mast-head to the
deck was time enough for divine grace to do the work."

"I have always had a trembling hope for poor James," said Mrs.
Scudder,--"not on account of any of his good deeds or amiable traits,
because election is without foresight of any good works,--but I felt he
was a child of the covenant, at least by the father's side, and I hope
the Lord has heard his prayer. These are dark providences; the world is
full of them; and all we can do is to have faith that the Lord will
bring infinite good out of finite evil, and make everything better than
if the evil had not happened. That's what our good Doctor is always
repeating; and we must try to rejoice, in view of the happiness of the
universe, without considering whether we or our friends are to be
included in it or not."

"Well, dear me!" said Miss Prissy, "I hope, if that is necessary, it
will please the Lord to give it to me; for I don't seem to find any
powers in me to get up to it. But all's for the best, at any rate,--and
that's a comfort."