116 THE VINE. 



ther's face in the flesh, which heretofore had beer*, 

 but dimly pourtrayed by uncertain imaginations ! 

 Our converse was unavoidably restrained, by the 

 presence of those whose absence neither of us 

 could have desired : but every time that her sweet, 

 quiet, yet animated eye met mine, it told me that 

 she read my thoughts, that her soul ascended in 

 prayer for the attainment of' that which mine so 

 fervently longed after : and it spoke, in the smiling 

 encouragement of her cheerful aspect, " fear not : 

 only believe, and thou shalt see the glory of God." 

 It was, to me, a clear token for good, that her 

 very heart seemed drawn out towards my brother, 

 who having long sojourned in a land of gross dark 

 ness — such as might be felt — had recently return- 

 ed, not only ignorant of the truth as it is in Jesus, 

 but impressed with the most absurd prejudices 

 against those whose spiritual earnestness he had 

 been taught to consider as paroxysms of fanatical 

 derangement. He had never been brought into 

 contact with an open professor of serious religion, 

 and very terrible to his joyous spirit was the 

 phantom of melancholy moroseness conjured up 

 by the enemy of his soul, to deter him from enter- 

 ing into such society. His love for me, the de- 

 light that he had ever found in promoting my 

 gratification, impelled him to venture into what he 

 expected to find the counterpart of La Trappe. 

 This he had expressed to me on the road, remark- 



