ever recall them?

The vision that follows is that of my _early piety_, simple and full of
faith, which was as some good angel o'ershadowing me with its snowy wings,
and showing me GOD everywhere, in all, and with all.

The good GOD, Who each day provides my daily bread!

The GOD, Who spared my mother in sickness, and relieved her when she
suffered--GOD, Who shielded me from harm when I did right!

The GOD, Who sees all, knows all, and is Omnipotent, Whom I loved with all
my heart.

Alas! faithful, simple piety, thou art dead; in innocence alone couldst
thou live!

Next comes _the love of my earliest years_. Love in childhood, love in
youth, so full of true, simple joy, that initiated me in the sweet
pleasure of devotion, that taught me self-denial in order to give
pleasure, that destroyed all egotism, by showing me the happiness of
living for others.

Love of my childhood, love of my youth, so pure, so holy, on which I
always reckoned when they spoke to me of trouble, loneliness, depression
... thou also art dead.

An involuntary coolness, an unfounded suspicion never cleared, an
ill-natured story ... all these have destroyed that child of Heaven. I
knew it was tender, and I cherished it, but I could not believe it to be
so frail.

I could make a long list of all the dead enshrined in my heart! Oh, you
who are still young, upon whom GOD has lavished all the gifts that are
lost to me,--candor, simplicity, innocence, love, devotion ... guard, oh,
guard these treasures, and that they may never die, place them beneath the
shelter of _Prayer_.

IV.

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

What a sweet life is that! The maintaining, strengthening it, has a
softening influence; and it is a labor that never wearies, never deceives,
but gives each day fresh cause for joy.

In the language of devotion, it is called the _interior life_; and it is
our purpose to point out minutely its nature, excellence, means, and
hindrances.

Let no one think the interior life is incompatible with the life domestic
and social, which is often so engrossing; just as the action of the heart
maintained by the constant flow of blood in no way affects the outward
movements, so is it with the life of the soul, which consists chiefly in
the action of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT within, that never hinders our social
duties, but on the contrary is a help towards fulfilling them more calmly,
more perfectly.

* * * * *

NATURE OF T