3. Renew one's self in this disposition whenever one is
/ Elizabeth Prentiss 3. Renew one's self in this disposition whenever one is alone, in order to be better prepared to remember it when in company.
4. Whenever one surprises ones selfin too great a wastefulness, or in speaking too freely of his neighbor, let him collect himselfand offer to God all the rest of the conversation.
5. Toflee, with confidence, to God, to act according to His will, when one enters company, or engages in some occupation which may cause one tofall into temptation. The sight of danger ought to warn of the need there is to lift the heart toward Him by one who may be preserved from it!'
We both thanked her as she finished reading, and I begged her to lend me the volume that I might make the above copy.
I hope I have gained some valuable hints from this letter, and that I shall see more plainly than ever that it is a religion of principle that God wants from us, not one of mere feeling.
Helen remarked that she was most struck by the assertion that one cannot forestall the graces that belong to a more advanced period. She said she had assumed that she ought to experience all that the most mature Christian did, and that it comforted her to think of God as doing this work for her, making repentance, for instance, a free gift, not a conquest to be won for ones self.
Miss Clifford said that the whole idea of giving one's self to God in such little daily acts as visiting, shopping, and the like, was entirely new to her.