10 mo. 8.—­I returned yesterday evening from Minden, with a thankful heart, to come again to my quiet and romantic habitation in Peacedale.  The strong fortifications which are made, and now making, around Minden, give it an appearance of gloom and oppression which is scarcely to be borne.  O, how uncomfortable do I feel when within its walls; but in its neighborhood there are a few friends to whom I am tenderly united in spirit.

He concludes this entry with an allusion to the homely and even hard manner of life to which many of these were accustomed.

To some of our Friends in England who are dissatisfied with their outward situation, I would say, Come and see how these live on the Continent.

The 29th of the Tenth Month was the anniversary of his wife’s death.  His diary for this day is an affecting transcript of his feelings on the occasion.

The shock which my earthly happiness received this day twelvemonths has been, this evening, piercingly renewed in the recollection of almost every minute transaction which accompanied the awful event of the closing moments of my precious lamb.  For truly like a lamb she lived, and was well prepared to become an angel-spirit.  O, happy spirit, thou art at rest; then why should I mourn thy loss?  Surely He who knows the weakness of our frame will forgive, for he himself gave us the example in weeping over those he loved.  The Almighty has been very good to me; he has put it in the hearts of those with whom I reside to care for me with an affectionate interest.  O, for greater diligence, that the day’s work may keep pace with the day.  What shall I do, but pray for more strength to be made able to do all that may be required of me.  I never saw the advice of our dear Saviour more necessary for myself than at the present time, “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

Soon after this he had a return, of his complaint in the stomach, which caused him to exclaim—­

We are indeed but dust and ashes; how quickly the slender thread may be cut, and reduce this frail tabernacle to that state of earthly composition from which it was formed.  But the spiritual part in us must have an abiding somewhere for ever; this is the awful consideration which ought continually to affect our hearts.  Is it not a strange infatuation to rank the moments of affliction among the evil events of our lives, when these may prove the very means of bringing back our wandering feet to the path which leads to everlasting life?

He then reviews his own situation, his calling and his work.