ce
of some danger; but this danger was without a distinct form in our
imagination, and scarcely ruffled our tranquillity.

Time passed, and my sister did not arrive. Her house is at some distance
from mine, and though her arrangements had been made with a view of
residing with us, it was possible that through forgetfulness, or the
occurrence of unforeseen emergencies, she had returned to her
own dwelling.

Hence it was conceived proper that I should ascertain the truth by going
thither. I went. On my way my mind was full of those ideas which related
to my intellectual condition. In the torrent of fervid conceptions I
lost sight of my purpose. Sometimes I stood still; sometimes I wandered
from my path, and experienced some difficulty, on recovering from my fit
of musing, to regain it.

The series of my thoughts is easily traced. At first every vein beat
with raptures known only to the man whose parental and conjugal love is
without limits, and the cup of whose desires, immense as it is,
overflows with gratification. I know not why emotions that were
perpetual visitants should now have recurred with unusual energy. The
transition was not new from sensations of joy to a consciousness of
gratitude. The Author of my being was likewise the dispenser of every
gift with which that being was embellished. The service to which a
benefactor like this was entitled could not be circumscribed. My social
sentiments were indebted to their alliance with devotion for all their
value. All passions are base, all joys feeble, all energies malignant,
which are not drawn from this source.

For a time my contemplations soared above earth and its inhabitants. I
stretched forth my hands; I lifted my eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh, that I
might be admitted to thy presence! that mine were the supreme delight of
knowing Thy will and of performing it!--the blissful privilege of direct
communication with Thee, and of listening to the audible enunciation of
Thy pleasure!

"What task would I not undertake, what privation would I not cheerfully
endure, to testify my love of Thee? Alas! Thou hidest Thyself from my
view; glimpses only of Thy excellence and beauty are afforded me. Would
that a momentary emanation from Thy glory would visit me! that some
unambiguous token of Thy presence would salute my senses!"

In this mood I entered the house of my sister. It was vacant. Scarcely
had I regained recollection of the purpose that brought me hither.
Thought