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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Genuine Letter
A GENUINE LETTER
FROM A YOUNG LADY ON HER DEATH-BED TO HER SISTER . ¦ , -1 urnir > r » iTniwinim » . — -in * M "' . i ,., i -, j
DEAR SISTER , BEFORE this can possibly reach you , the unchanging flat will pass , and I shall be either happy or miserable for ever . None about me pretend to flatter me with the hopes of seeing another morning . — Short space to accomplish the mighty work of eternal salvation ! yet cannot 1 leave the world without admonishing , without conjuring you to be more early in preparing , for that dreadful hour you are sure not to escape , and know not how shortly it may arrive .
We have had the same education , have lived in the same manner , and , though accounted very much alike , have resembled each other more in our follies than our faces . Oh , what a waste of time have we not been guilty of ! To dress well has been our only study ; parade , equipage , and admiration , our ambition ; pleasure our avocation ; and the mode our god . Plow often , alas ! have I profaned in idle chat that sacred name b y
whose merits alone I now have hopes to be forgiven ! Flow often , alas ! have I sat and heard his miracles and sufferings ridiculed by the false wits of the age , without feeling uneasy motions at the blasphemy ! Nay , how often have I myself , because I heard others do so , called in question that futurity I now go to prove , and am already convinced of .
One moment methinks 1 see the blissful seats of Paradise unveiled ; I hear ten thousand myriads of celestial existences tuning their golden harps to songs of praise to the unutterable name . The next a scene all black and gloomy spreads itself before me , whence issue nought but sobs , and groans , and horrid shrieks ; my fluctuating imagination varies the prospect , and involves me in a sad uncertainty of my eternal doom ; on one hand beckoning angels smile on mewhile on
, the other the furies stand prepared to seize my fleeting soul . I dare not hope , nor will my reverend friend suffer me absolutel y to despair . He comforts me with promises in holy writ , which , to my shame , I was unacquainted with before , but now 1 feel them as balm to my tormented conscience . I must bid you adieu eternally . I have discharged my duty in
giving you this warning . Oh ! may my death , which you will shortly hear of , g ive it that weight I wish and pray for : you are the last object of my earthly cares : I have now done with all below , shall retire into myself , and devote the few moments allowed me to that penitence which alone can recommend me to a glorious immortality . I die - Plampstead , Your affectionate sister , i d Jan , 1794 , **** ***** ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Genuine Letter
A GENUINE LETTER
FROM A YOUNG LADY ON HER DEATH-BED TO HER SISTER . ¦ , -1 urnir > r » iTniwinim » . — -in * M "' . i ,., i -, j
DEAR SISTER , BEFORE this can possibly reach you , the unchanging flat will pass , and I shall be either happy or miserable for ever . None about me pretend to flatter me with the hopes of seeing another morning . — Short space to accomplish the mighty work of eternal salvation ! yet cannot 1 leave the world without admonishing , without conjuring you to be more early in preparing , for that dreadful hour you are sure not to escape , and know not how shortly it may arrive .
We have had the same education , have lived in the same manner , and , though accounted very much alike , have resembled each other more in our follies than our faces . Oh , what a waste of time have we not been guilty of ! To dress well has been our only study ; parade , equipage , and admiration , our ambition ; pleasure our avocation ; and the mode our god . Plow often , alas ! have I profaned in idle chat that sacred name b y
whose merits alone I now have hopes to be forgiven ! Flow often , alas ! have I sat and heard his miracles and sufferings ridiculed by the false wits of the age , without feeling uneasy motions at the blasphemy ! Nay , how often have I myself , because I heard others do so , called in question that futurity I now go to prove , and am already convinced of .
One moment methinks 1 see the blissful seats of Paradise unveiled ; I hear ten thousand myriads of celestial existences tuning their golden harps to songs of praise to the unutterable name . The next a scene all black and gloomy spreads itself before me , whence issue nought but sobs , and groans , and horrid shrieks ; my fluctuating imagination varies the prospect , and involves me in a sad uncertainty of my eternal doom ; on one hand beckoning angels smile on mewhile on
, the other the furies stand prepared to seize my fleeting soul . I dare not hope , nor will my reverend friend suffer me absolutel y to despair . He comforts me with promises in holy writ , which , to my shame , I was unacquainted with before , but now 1 feel them as balm to my tormented conscience . I must bid you adieu eternally . I have discharged my duty in
giving you this warning . Oh ! may my death , which you will shortly hear of , g ive it that weight I wish and pray for : you are the last object of my earthly cares : I have now done with all below , shall retire into myself , and devote the few moments allowed me to that penitence which alone can recommend me to a glorious immortality . I die - Plampstead , Your affectionate sister , i d Jan , 1794 , **** ***** ,