LETTERS. 279 



TO HIS BROTHER JAMES. 



St Jolin's, November 1805. 

 My dear James, 



You do not know how anxious I am to hear how you 

 go on in ail things ; and whether you still persist in 

 steadfastness and seriousness. I know, my dear lad, 

 that your heart is too good to run into actual vice, yet I 

 fear the example of gay and wicked persons may lead 

 you to think lightly of religion, and then who knows 

 where it may end ? Neville, however, will always be 

 your director, and I trust you conceal none, even of your 

 very thoughts, from him. Continue, James, to solicit 

 the fatherly superintendence of your Maker night and 

 morning. I shall not fear for you while I am assured 

 you do this fervently, and not in a hurried or slovenly 

 manner. Vf ith constant prayer, we have nothing to fear 

 from the tempiations of the world, the flesh, and the 

 devil : God will bring us through it, and will save us in 

 the midst of peril. If we consider the common condition 

 of man's life, and the evils and misfortune to which we 

 are daily exposed, we have need to bless God every mo- 

 ment for sparing us, and to beg of him that when the day 

 of misfortune comes (and come it must, sooner or later, 

 to all), we may be prepared with Christian fortitude to 

 endure the shock. What a treasure does the religious 

 man possess in this, that when everything else fails, he 

 has God for his refuge ; and can look to a world where 

 he is sure, through Christ Jesus, that he will not be dis- 

 appointed ! 



I do not much heed to what place of worship you may 

 go, so as you are but a serious and regular attendant. 

 Permit me, however, to explain the true nature of the 

 question with regard to the church liturgy, in order that 

 you may be the better able to judge. 



You know, from the Epistles of St Paul, that soon 

 after the death of Jesus Christ, there were regular 

 churches established in various places, as at Corinth, 



