e reached the second station in the first class, a
point of elevation which "flattered his pride not a little." At this
time he appeared in the eye of the world most amiable and commendable,
outwardly moral, unwearied in application, and exhibited marks of no
ordinary talent. One exception to this statement is to be found in an
irritability of temper arising perhaps from the treatment he had
received at school. On one occasion in sudden anger, he threw a knife
at the head of another boy, which providentially missed him and was
left trembling in the wall; but it was a narrow escape, and might have
proved fatal. Though not a Christian at this time, he was under two
strong influences for good, one from his religious friend in college,
the other from his sister in Cornwall, a Christian of a meek, heavenly
and affectionate spirit. He paid a visit to his home in the summer of
1799, carrying with him no small degree of academical honor. It may be
well supposed that to a sister such as we have described, her
brother's spiritual welfare would be a most serious and anxious
concern; and that she often conversed with him on the subject of
religion we know from his own declaration. The first result of her
tender exhortations and earnest endeavors was very discouraging; a
violent conflict took place in her brother's mind between his
conviction of the truth of what she urged, and his love of the world;
and for the present, the latter prevailed. Yet, sisters similarly
circumstanced may learn from this case, not merely their duty, but
also, from the final result, the success they may anticipate in the
faithful discharge of it.

"At the examination at Christmas, 1799," he writes: "I was first, and
the account of it pleased my father prodigiously, who, I was told, was
in great health and spirits. What, then, was my consternation when in
January I received an account of his death!" Most poignant were his
sufferings under this affliction, which led him to God for comfort in
prayer and Bible study. He says: "I began with the Acts, and found
myself insensibly led to inquire more attentively into the doctrines
of the Apostles." Writing to his sister, having announced shortly and
with much simplicity that his name stood first upon the list at the
college examination of the summer of 1800, he says: "What a blessing
it is for me that I have such a sister as you, my dear S., who have
been so instrumental in keeping me in the right way. After the d