fe; of
which I felt the influence, if I caught none of its spirit.

In a letter from him, dated that fall, soon after our removal to
his mother's, he says: "The scenery of the Mississippi, from the rapids
north, is very beautiful. The frost having changed the color of part
of the leaves, the forest presents an endless variety of colors; and
the great number of farms and villages add much to the beauty of the
landscape. But everywhere I find the people complaining, and many
suffering from actual want. Although Providence has provided a most
bountiful harvest, many, who have been accustomed to have every
comfort, and many luxuries, around them, are now almost destitute. It
makes me feel more resigned to our losses and poverty, seeing we are so
much better off than thousands who are more deserving than we. They,
it seems, are resigned, and submit most cheerfully to all the
dispensations of their Heavenly Father. Let us, dear Charlotte,
hereafter endeavor to show, in our lives, greater devotedness to Him
who has done so much for us, and who promises to be our support and
stay in every hour of need; who will never desert any who put their
trust in Him.

"Let us, therefore, exhort one another, and provoke each other to
well-doing, in the service of our God. Let us love each other more and
more, and make Jesus the great object of our praise and prayer. I hope
and pray that the chastenings of our blessed Lord, in depriving us of
our worldly possessions, may be sanctified to us, and lead us, more
earnestly and undoubtingly, to seek for possessions in that Kingdom
where all is joy, and peace, and love. Oh! That we may be enabled,
with all our dear kith and kin, and kind friends, to attain unto this
glorious and happy state, to dwell forever in the presence of our God,
and enjoy Him throughout eternity. Dear C., are not these things worth
our most strenuous efforts? And yet how little do we do! How poor our
best attempts to serve Him who has done everything for us."

With these earnest desires for closer communion with God, and for
those treasures which fade not away, he necessarily had a hard struggle
to prosecute his worldly affairs, under circumstances so
disadvantageous as that of carrying on a large business without the
necessary capital, greatly weakened, in fact, by pecuniary losses, and
more still by the misfortune of being compelled to "suspend payment,"
and the consequent exposure of the internal difficulti