d siftings!

_To G. S. P. October, 1869._

I always thought George McDonald a little audacious, though I like him
in the main. There is a fallacy in this cavil, you may depend. Some
years ago, when I was a little befogged by plausible talk, Dr. Skinner
came to our house, got into one of his best moods, and preached a
regular sermon on the glory of God, that set me all right again. I am
not skilled in argument, but my heart sides with God in everything, and
my conception of His character is such a beautiful one that I feel that
He can not err. I do not like the expression, "He's aye thinking about
his own glory" (I quote from memory); it belittles the real fact, and
almost puts the Supreme Being on a level with us poor mortals. The more
time we spend upon our knees, in real communion with God, the better
we shall comprehend His wonderful nature, and how impossible it is to
submit that nature to the rules by which we judge human beings. Every
turn in life brings me back to this--_more prayer_.... I shall go with
much pleasure to see Mrs. G. and may God give me some good word to say
to her. I almost envy you your sphere of usefulness, but unless I give
up mine, can not get fully into it. I want you to know that next to
being with my Saviour, I love to be with His sufferers; so that you can
be sure to remember me, when you have any on your heart.... P. S. I have
hunted up Mrs. G. and had such an interesting talk with her that she has
hardly been out of my mind since. It is a very unusual case, and the
fact that her husband is a Jew, and loves her with such real romance, is
an obstacle in her way to Christ. When you can get a little spare time
I wish you would run in and let us talk her case over. I'm ever so glad
that I'm growing old every day, and so becoming better fitted to be the
dear and loving friend to young people I want to be.

I wish we both loved our Saviour better, and could do more for Him. The
days in which I do nothing specifically for Him seem such meagre, such
lost days. You seemed to think, the last time I saw you, that you were
not so near Him as you were last year. I think we can't always know our
own state. It does not follow that a season of severe conflict is a sign
of estrangement from God. Perhaps we are never dearer to Him than when
we hate ourselves most, and fancy ourselves intolerable in His sight.
_Conflict isn't sin._

_To Miss E. A. Warner, New York, October 11, 1869._

I hear with great