the ignoring of the fact that he was guilty.... Temptations come
sometimes in swarms, like bees, and running away does no good, and
fighting only exasperates them. The only help must come from Him who
understands and can control the whole swarm.

You ask for my prayers, and I ask for yours. I long ago formed the habit
of praying at night individually, if possible, for all who had come to
me through the day, or whom I had visited; but you contrive to get a
much larger share than that. I love to think of your future holiness and
usefulness as even in the very least linked to my prayers. Oh, I ought
to know how to pray a great deal better than I do, for forty years ago,
save one, I this day publicly dedicated myself to Christ. I write to you
because I like to do so, recognising no difference between writing and
talking. When no better work comes to me, I am glad to give the little
pleasure I can, in notes and letters. He who knows how poor we are, how
little we have to give, does not disdain even a note like this, since it
is written in love to Him and to one of His own dear ones.

_May 23d._--Your last letter was like a fragrant breath of country air,
redolent of flowers, and all that makes rural scenes so sweet. But
better still, it was fragrant with love to Him who is the bond between
us, in whose name and for whose sake we are friends. I wish I loved Him
better and were more like Him; perhaps that is about as far as we get in
this world, for no matter how far we advance, we are never satisfied;
there is always something ahead; I doubt if any one ever said, even in a
whisper and to himself, "Now I love my Saviour as much as a human soul
can."

You speak of my having given you "counsels." Have I had the presumption
to do that? Two-thirds of the time I feel as if I wanted somebody to
counsel me; the only thing I really know that you do not, is what it is
to be beaten with persistent, ceaseless stripes, year after year, year
after year, with scarcely breathing time between. I don't know whether
this is most an argument against me, or for God; on the whole it is most
for Him, who was so good and kind as never to spare me for my writhing
and groaning. Truly as I value this discipline, I want you to give
yourself to Him so unreservedly that you will not need such sharp
treatment. I am not going to keep writing and getting you in debt. All I
ask is if you ever feel a little under the weather and want a specially
loving or c