INTRODUCTION. ΤΟ J. W. B. My dear little Nephew, you lately said to me, "Aunt, will you write a small book, that I can understand, and let it be about my Papa." It is my greatest happiness, my child, to write books that I think you may understand, and from which you may receive instruction; and to write about your Papa I am as much inclined, as you can be to hear of him. He was so very dear to me, that when the Lord, in that awful dispensation, spoke to us, as to the prophet Ezekiel, "Behold, I take away the desire of thine eyes at a stroke," my soul fainted within me, and I said, I shall go mourning all my days. And now, when I look upon your black dress, and reflect upon him whom you have lost, I can only turn to the Lord, pleading His gracious promises, and saying, "In thee the fatherless findeth mercy." Hear how the mighty God of heaven invites you: He says, "Wilt thou not from this father thou art the guide of my youth?" Jer. iii. 4. time cry unto ME, my You are fond of reading the little book called "The Boat," which I wrote for you, and your sister, and brother. dearly I loved your young children. You may there see how Papa, when he and I were It pleased the Lord to make me the means of saving him from drowning, when he was six years old. The Lord could have preserved him again, when the same danger overtook him last June. He could have commanded deliverance, and plucked your dear Papa from the water, but such was not His will; and His will be done! It must be done; "for He doeth according to His will in the army of, heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou?" Dan. iv. 35. But, He, by |