The Power of Faith | Page 6

few miles of you, I should be
happy for life; and were it not for this hope, which my heart is set upon,
I could not be so, with all I have told you.
"We find the newspapers full of preparations for war; may the Lord
dispose all hearts to peace, for I hate the sound, though it is the wish of
the greatest number about me. There is no prospect of our leaving this
place for a year yet. For my part I have only two reasons for wishing it.
The first is, I should like to be in some Christian society; the other, that
I might do something towards getting home. To return to the gay world,
again I have no ambition. My family here, and my friends at home,
engross all my attention; and when I see the one, and hear of the other
being well, I am happy. Time never hangs heavy on my hand; I can

always find employment, and amusement too, without the assistance of
what go under the name of diversions.
"We have lately had several visits from a great family. The chief of the
Seneca nation having a daughter not well, brought her to the doctor to
see what could be done for her; he, his squaw or lady, and daughters
breakfasted with us several times. I was kind, and made all the court to
them I could, though we could not converse but by an interpreter. I
made the daughters some little presents, and the doctor would not be
feed. Who knows but these little services may one day save our scalps?
There have been several threatenings of an Indian war; thank God, it
seems to be quite hushed again.
"War with civilized nations is nothing to war with Indians. They have
no mercy, nor give any quarter to man, woman, or child: all meet the
same fate, except where they take a liking to particular persons; those
they adopt as their children, and use them as such.
"The doctor joins in affectionate respects to my dear father, and you,
the boys, and all our dear friends. I am as much as ever, and will be to
my latest breath, my dear mamma, your affectionate daughter,
"I. GRAHAM."
Mrs. Graham always considered the time she passed at Niagara as the
happiest of her days, considered in a temporal view. The officers of the
regiment were amiable men, attached to each other, and the ladies were
united in the ties of friendship. The society there, secluded from the
world, exempt from the collision of individual and separate interests,
which often create so much discord in large communities, and studious
to promote the happiness of each other, enjoyed that tranquillity and
contentment which ever accompany a disinterested interchange of
friendly offices. But this fort being detached from other settlements, the
garrison were deprived of ordinances and the public means of grace,
and the life of religion in the soul of Mrs. Graham sunk to a low ebb. A
conscientious observance of the Sabbath, which throughout life she
maintained, proved to her at Niagara as a remembrance and revival of
devotional exercises. She wandered on those sacred days into the

woods around Niagara, searched her Bible, communed with God and
herself, and poured out her soul in prayer to her covenant Lord.
Throughout the week, the attentions to her friends, her domestic
comfort and employments, and the amusements pursued in the garrison,
she used to confess, occupied too much of her time and of her
affections.
Here we behold a little society enjoying much comfort and happiness in
each other, yet falling short of that preëminent duty and superior
blessedness of glorifying, as they ought to have done, the God of
heaven, who fed them by his bounty, and offered them a full and free
salvation in the gospel of his Son. No enjoyments nor possessions,
however ample and acceptable, can crown the soul with peace and true
felicity, unless accompanied with the fear and favor of Him who can
speak pardon to the transgressor, and shed abroad his love in the hearts
of his children; thus giving an earnest of spiritual and eternal
blessedness along with temporal good.
The commencement of the revolutionary struggle in America rendered
it necessary, in the estimation of the British government, to order to
another and very diverse scene of action the sixtieth regiment,
composed in a great measure of Americans.
Their destination was the island of Antigua: Dr. and Mrs. Graham and
their family, consisting of three infant daughters and two young Indian
girls, sailed from Niagara to Oswego, and from thence, by a path
through the woods, reached the Mohawk, which river they descended
in batteaux to Schenectady. Here Dr. Graham left his family, and went
to New