withdrawn; yet by faith I still resolved to hang upon the Saviour.  I did not long remain in doubt, my peace of mind returned; and in the evening, while engaged in prayer (Eliza being with me), the divine influence sweetly overwhelmed my soul, and not mine only, my Eliza felt its power.  Glory be to God.—­I took tea with Mrs. E., the person with whom I lodged during my affliction.  A sense of gratitude for past mercies stirred my heart to praise; and the time, which might otherwise have been spent in conversation to no profit, was spent in prayer.—­I daily need the sprinkled blood, and the clear assurance of the perfect love which ‘casteth out fear.’  I dare not doubt that I possess, in a measure, its blessed fruits; but I long to rise higher, that no scruple may remain.”

VIII.

PASSING CLOUDS.

  “CAN ANY UNDERSTAND THE SPREADINGS OF THE CLOUDS.”—­Job xxxvi. 29.

Who can explain the involuntary emotions of human mind?  How strange, that often, on the eve of some great misfortune, a sensible cloud should spread over the spirit; but whence it comes, or why, we cannot tell!  To say it is a coincidence is only an acknowledgment of ignorance.  Ought we not rather to refer it to the secret agency of the spirit-world by which we are surrounded; but of which we know so little?  Perhaps God would thus timely warn us to seek refuge under the shadow of his wing, just as we seek shelter from the storm, which the cloud, that spreads itself upon the face of heaven, tells us is at hand.  At least, it cannot be without advantage, when such monitions occur, to betake ourselves to more earnest prayer; then, come what may, we shall find a safe asylum in Him, to whom belongeth everlasting strength.—­One of the first entries of the year 1824, is

  THE CLOUD WILL SOON BLOW OVER.

  Though far, and wide above my head,
  The dull portentous cloud is spread;
  With many a dark and massive fold,
  Love decks it with a rim of gold. 
  The sun is shining still behind,
  The promise of a purpose kind;
  And, soon unveiled again, will dart
  His cheering rays upon my heart. 
  Far brighter will His face appear,
  Than if no cloud had gathered near. 
  Then, till the cloud is overpast,
  My anchor, hope, on God I’ll cast;
  Assured while He is throned above,
  The cloud is only sent in love.

About a fortnight after penning these lines, her father, whose continued life she had, every spring, hailed with a new song of gratitude, was suddenly seized with a fit of paralysis, which in a few days terminated his earthly career.  A premonitory attack had occurred in the preceding autumn, which at the time affected his speech, but on recovering a little, he expressed his confidence in God in these remarkable words:  “It is rolled up; it is rolled up.  I am satisfied; I am quite satisfied.  I am ready; when the Lord pleases, I am ready.  The Lord hath