general government, for some recompense for his great losses; but he never did more than to make an estimate of them, which, if I correctly remember, amounted to twelve thousand dollars. At his decease, I found that the portion of his estate which had been devised to me was involved beyond its value, under a heavy mortgage. But, with a firm persuasion, that by industry I should be able to redeem it, I commenced the work of repair, and erected suitable buildings for the accommodation of my increasing family. But, as this was composed entirely of females, my agricultural concerns were managed with difficulty. In addition to this, we have experienced a long scene of affliction, in the protracted illness of three amiable daughters; one of whom, for a long time, has been, and still is, deprived of her reason,—another, for more than ten years, has been, by a series of complicated disorders, confined helpless to her bed,—and a third, who more than three years since, on the day after the funeral obsequies of another sister, was seized with sudden illness, has also been confined from that time until the last few weeks. Thus, by an accumulation of misfortunes, I have been compelled to relinquish my property to my indulgent creditors; excepting a sufficiency for procuring a small tenement for my suffering family. But, what abundant reason have I to pour out my soul in grateful acknowledgment to the Author of all good, that in the midst of judgment he hath remembered mercy; that he has taken my feet from the miry clay, and placed them on the rock Christ Jesus.
In June, 1804, I united in Christian fellowship with the Second Baptist Church in Newport; and in September, 1809, was chosen by an unanimous vote to the office of deacon. As an additional motive to call on my soul to bless God's holy name, I have abundant reason to hope and firmly believe,
