Sept. 28th we left Teignmouth for Plymouth, being taken by the
love of a brother from Teignmouth to Newton Bushel in his own little
carriage. At Plymouth we found again a kind brother waiting at the
coach office, to receive us. He took us to his house and lodged us
till our departure, on Oct. 6th. During my stay at Plymouth, I was
stirred up afresh to early rising, a blessing, the results of which I
have not lost since. That which led me to it was the example of the
brother in whose house I was staying, and a remark which he made in
speaking on the sacrifices in Leviticus, "That as not the refuse of
the animals was to be offered up, so the best part of our time should
be especially given to communion with the Lord." I had been, on the
whole, rather an early riser during former years. But since the
nerves of my head had been so weak, I thought, that, as the day was
long enough for my strength, it would be best for me not to rise
early, in order that thus the nerves of my head might have the longer
quiet. On this account I rose only between six and seven, and
sometimes after seven. For the same reason also I brought myself
purposely into the habit of sleeping a quarter of an hour, or half an
hour, after dinner: as I thought I found benefit from it, in quieting
the nerves of my head. In this way, however, my soul had suffered
more or less every day, and sometimes considerably, as now and then
unavoidable work came upon me before I had had sufficient time for
prayer and reading the Word. After I had heard the remark to which I
have alluded, I determined, that whatever my body might suffer, I
would no longer let the most precious part of the day pass away while
I was in bed. By the grace of God I was enabled to begin the very
next day to rise earlier, and have continued to rise early since that
time. I allow myself now about seven hours' sleep, which, though I am
far from being strong, and have much to tire me mentally, I find is
quite sufficient to refresh me. In addition to this I gave up the
sleeping after dinner. The result has been that I have thus been able
to procure long and precious seasons for prayer and meditation before
breakfast; and, as to my body, and the state of the nervous system in
particular, I have been much better since. Indeed I believe that the
very worst thing I could have done for my weak nerves was, to have
lain an hour or more longer in bed than I used to do before my
illness; for it was the very