134 THE iieart's-ease. 



have tribulation ;" and D. experienced it, in a de- 

 gree little suspected by those who watched the ex- 

 pression of his happy countenance. There are 

 insects that, in the darkness of the night, steal forth 

 to prey upon the gentle flower that typifies D. ; 

 but though they souictitues rend its petals, they 

 cannot iDar the lovely bloom of what remains : and 

 thus had he his undiscovered enemies — cares that 

 he revealed to none but his heavenly father, and 

 disapointiTients blighting the dearest projects of an 

 afl'ectioriatc heart. lie felt their gnawing progress, 

 but he knew the wise purpose for which they 

 were sent; and though, in thoughts and visions of 

 the night, his spirit was often sorely harrassed, yet 

 the morning sun beheld him bright and cheerful as 

 ever, through the freshening of that early dew that 

 never failed to visit liis prayerful chamber. Occa- 

 sionally he has admitted to me that so it was; for 

 he well knew that a fellowship in suffering would 

 add power to his ready consolations; and when he 

 found me so much absorbed in mv own griefs, then 

 — only then — it was that he would impart to me a 

 portion of his secret sorrow, just sufficient to rouse 

 my interest, to excite my sympathy that he might 

 immediately turn the discourse to the sweet sola- 

 cingsof ihc Divine Comforter, which he described as 

 being so effectual, as to make him, Hhronghthe grace 

 of God,' more thankful for a little tribulation than 

 he should have been for a vast abundance of pros- 



