Have not the hours we have spent
together, conversing upon the things that pertain to the kingdom of
God, and the moral and spiritual improvement of our children, been to
us like the oasis in the desert to the weary traveller? and may we not
look back upon them as the spots where we rested beneath the shadow of
the Almighty, and drank from the healing waters of salvation. And my
sisters, though we may not see the immediate results of our labors,
let us rely upon the rich promises of God, that in due time the
seed shall spring up and bear fruit, some ten, twenty, thirty,
sixty--perchance some an hundred fold. Then let us be encouraged to do
with all our might what our hands find to do.
As we see the vacancies the past year has made, we can but feel, with
Job, "that when a few more years are come, I shall go the way whence
I shall not return." And truly we may adopt the language of Paul,
"Seeing these things are so, what manner of persons ought we to be, in
all holy conversation and godliness."
My dear sisters, it now devolves upon me to resign the office
necessity rather than choice compelled me to accept, and I feel that
in so doing, I shall best promote the interests of the Association.
I thank you for your kind forbearance toward my short comings, which
have been many. I regret that I have served you so inefficiently, and
hope the better offices of the succeeding year may tend to the greater
promotion of the holy objects of your Association.
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