Yet, of his eleven
or twelve children, seven are valued and useful Christians, and there is
every reason to anticipate that the rest, as they grow up, will follow
in the same course. Now, solve me this difficulty, that the careless
professor should be so blessed in his family, while the godly man mourns
an entire absence of converting grace, especially as both households are
as nearly equal as may be in their social position, their educational
facilities, and their means of grace?"
"Let me know all the facts," said the pastor's friend, "before I give my
opinion. Have you ever considered the character of the _mothers_,
respectively?"
At once the pastor clasped his hands and said, "I have it; the secret is
out. It is strange I never thought of it before. The elder's wife,
although, as I trust, a good woman, is far from being an active
Christian. She never seems to take any pleasure in religious
conversation, but whenever it is introduced, either is silent or
speedily diverts it to some worldly subject. She is one of those persons
with whom you might live in the same house for weeks and months, and yet
never discover that she was a disciple of Christ. The other lady, on the
contrary, is as eminent for godliness as her husband is for
inconsistency. Her heart is in the cause; she prays with and for her
children, and whatever example they have in their father, in her they
have a fine model of active, fervent, humble piety, seated in the heart
and flowing out into the life.
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