my refuge and comfort. Surrounded by temptations, the
applause of men is often too fascinating, and my treacherous heart
dresses things in false colours. But, bless God, in his goodness
and mercy he recalls my wandering steps, and invites me to dwell in
safety under the shadow of his wing.

_Oct. 11th._--No graces are of more importance than patience and
perseverance. They give consistency and dignity to character. We
may possess the most sparkling talents and the most interesting
qualities, but without these graces, the former lose their lustre,
and the latter their charms. In religion their influence is more
important, as they form the character, by enabling us to surmount
difficulties and remove obstacles. I am far from thinking them
constitutional virtues, with a little additional cultivation, but I
consider them the gift of heaven, less common than is generally
imagined, though sometimes faintly counterfeited. They differ from
natural or moral excellence in this being the proper and consistent
exercise of those virtues.

_Oct. 12th._--It is two weeks to-day since I first wrote home. A
week ago I received a kind letter from my brother George, but was
too ill with fever to read it, or to write in reply until to-day. I
said: "I feel truly thankful to you for the tender concern and warm
interest which you express in your letter. Tell my dear Mother that
I share with her her afflictions, and that I am daily more forcibly
convinced that every earthly comfort and advantage is transient and
unsatisfactory, that this is not our home, but that our highest
happiness amidst these fluctuating scenes, is to insure the favour
and protection of him who alone can raise us above afflictions and
calamities."

_November 20th._--More than a month has elapsed since I recorded my
religious feelings and enjoyments on paper. During this period, I
have sometimes realized all the pleasures of health; at other
times, borne down with pain and sickness, the spirit would be cast
down. At such seasons of depression, religion would come in as my
only comfort, and with the Psalmist I would exclaim, "Hope thou in
God, for I shall yet praise him who is the light of my countenance,
and my God." Thus I find from blessed experience, that in every
state and condition, union a