1.It was Saturday night,and the widow of the Pine Cottage sat by her blazing fagots1,with her five tattered children at her side,endeavoring by listening tthe artlessness of their prattle2 tdissipate3 the heavy gloom that pressed upon her mind. For a year,her own feeble hand had provided for her helpless family,for she had nsupporter: she thought of nfriend in all the wide,unfriendly world around.
2.But that mysterious Providence,the wisdom of whose ways is above human comprehension,had visited her with wasting sickness,and her little means had become exhausted. It was now,too,midwinter,and the snow lay heavy and deep through all the surrounding forests,while storms still seemed gathering in the heavens,and the driving wind roared amid the neighboring pines,and rocked her puny4 mansion.
3.The last herring smoked upon the coals before her;it was the only article of food she possessed,and nwonder her forlorn,desolate state brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother when she looked upon her children: and nwonder,forlorn as she was,if she suffered the heart swellings of despair trise,even though she knew that He,whose promise is tthe widow and tthe orphan,can not forget his word.
1Fagots. bundles of sticks used for fuel. 2 Prattle,trifling talk.
3Dissipate,tscatter.
4Puny,small and weak.
4.Providence had many years before taken from her her eldest son,whwent from his forest home ttry his fortune on the high seas,since which she had heard ntidings of him;and in her latter time had,by the hand of death,deprived her of the companion and staff of her earthly pilgrimage1,in the person of her husband. Yet tthis hour she had upborne;she had not only been able tprovide for her little flock,but had never lost an opportunity of ministering tthe wants of the miserable and destitute.
5.The indolent may well bear with poverty while the ability tgain sustenance2 remains. The individual whhas but his own wants tsupply may suffer with fortitude3 the winter of want;his affections are not wounded,his heart is not wrung. The most desolate in populous cities may hope,for charity has not quite closed her hand and heart,and shut her eyes on misery.
6.But the industrious mother of helpless and depending children,far from the reach of human charity,has none of these tconsole her. And such a one was the widow of the Pine Cottage;but as she bent over the fire,and took up the last scanty remnant of food tspread before her children,her spirits seemed tbrighten up,as by some sudden and mysterious impulse,and Cowper's beautiful lines came uncalled across her mind:
"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.
But trust him for his grace;Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."
7.The smoked herring was scarcely laid upon the table,when a gentle rap at the door,and the loud barking of a dog,attracted the attention of the family. The children flew topen it,and a weary1Pilgrimage,a journey.
2Sustenance,that which supports life. 3Fortitude,resolute endurance.
traveler,in tattered garments and in apparently indifferent1 health;entered,and begged a lodging and a mouthful of food. Said he: "It is now twenty-four hour's since I tasted bread." The widow's heart bled anew,as under a fresh complication2 of distresses;for her sympathies3 lingered not around her fireside. She hesitated not even now;rest,and a share of all she had,she proffered4 tthe stranger. "We shall not be forsaken," said she,"or suffer deeper for an act of charity."
8.The traveler drew near the board,but when he saw the scanty fare,he raised his eyes toward heaven with astonishment: "And is this all your store?" said he;"and a share of this dyou offer tone you know not? then never saw I charity before! But,madam," said he,continuing,"dyou not wrong your children by giving a part of your last mouthful ta stranger?"
9."Ah," said the poor widow-and the tear-drops gushed inther eyes as she said it-"I have a boy,a darling son,somewhere on the face of the wide world,unless Heaven has taken him away,and I only act toward you as I would that others should act toward him. God,whsent manna5 from heaven,can provide for us as he did for Israel;and how should I this night offend him,if my son should be a wanderer,destitute as you,and he should have provided for him a home,even poor as this,were I tturn you unrelieved away!"
10.The widow ended,and the stranger,springing from his seat,clasped her in his arms. "God indeed has provided your son a home,and has given him wealth treward the goodness of his benefactress: my mother! oh,my mother!" It was her long lost son,returned ther bosom from the Indies. He had chosen that disguise that he might the more completely surprise his family;and never was surprise more perfect,or followed by a sweeter cup of joy.
1Indifferent,neither very good nor very bad. 2Complication,entanglement.
3Sympathies,compassion.
4Proffered,offered tgive.
5Manna,food miraculously provided by God for the Israelites.