"But, my dear mother, I must not write any more, as this is nearly eight pages. Pray, and ask the girls to pray, that we four may be kept full and kept resting. Adieu, with much love to all, I remain as I always have been, thy very affectionate son,

"FRANK."

In my reply to this precious letter, I wrote:

"I feel inexpressibly thankful, my darling boy, for the Lord's tender and loving dealings with thy soul, and am indeed truly rejoiced that thee has been enabled to give thyself up so completely to thy dear Saviour. Now, darling Frank, thee will be a happy Christian, as well as a useful one; and I am sure thee will continually learn more and more of the simplicity of the life of faith, so as to be able to look away from thyself, and to have thy eyes fixed on Jesus. The soul can never be discouraged that looks at Him, never! For He is only love, and tenderness, and forgiving mercy. But when we look at ourselves, then there is nothing but discouragement. Do not expect ever to find any good in thyself, for thee never will; and if thee could, it would be a very bad sign. Our goodness, our strength, our everything, in short, is in Jesus. We are poor sinners, and nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is our all in all !

"Father sends his dear love, and says thy precious letter has rejoiced his heart. Darling son, I feel as if I never could be thankful enough for thy early dedication. It is so sweet to be the Lord's altogether, and His only. How perfectly peaceful and free from care we are, when we know that the Lord

has taken us into His dear keeping, and that His Arms are round about us and beneath us. Oh! I feel like singing Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!'

"And now, dear Frank, do not let any sudden failure, if it should come upon thee, make thee feel that the whole thing is spoiled. It often happens, in the beginning of this life of faith, that there are temporary failures, and that the feet do sometimes stumble. But this need not discourage thee. Sanctification is not a thing once done, and done forever; it is a life, a walk, and if we stumble we can get up again. It is a life of trust, moment by moment; and if for one moment we fail, that is no reason why we should not trust the next moment. But remember, dear Frank, the very moment thee discovers thy failure, to go at once to Jesus, and have it all washed away in His precious blood. For His promise is, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' He does both: He forgives, and then He cleanses and makes us just as pure as before; and He does it at once, as soon as we confess, so that we need not be hindered a moment.

Farewell, my own precious boy, doubly precious now that thee belongs wholly to the Lord! Oh, may He fill thee with all the fulness of God!"

CHAPTER VII.

ROM this time onward our dear Frank's will was given up to the Lord. There were

some variations in his life, and now and then failures in action; but in the very centre of his soul his will was from henceforth on the Lord's side, and was never taken back again; and he proved during the remainder of his young life very fully the blessedness of a heart thus given up to the Lord, finding religion's ways to be to him, indeed, ways of pleasantness, and all her paths, paths of peace. By this step of consecration and of faith, our boy had been brought into the place of liberty, where his soul could "dwell at ease," and where, in the truest sense, he inherited all the good things of the earth.

On the 9th he wrote, after having given one of the Bible lessons he had sent for, in their First-day evening class:

"We have just had an exceedingly interesting Bible class. First I read the texts, telling what are the present possessions of the believer, and got each one to make a list, as thee suggested. interesting; but no one would talk.

It was very So I began on

the believers' names. Then they got to talking, and the fellows said they had never been to so interesting a lesson up there. told me the last lesson on the Assurance of Faith interested him very much, and he hoped I'd continue. So thee sees, thy lessons are doing some good. The privileges of the believer as shown in these texts has set me to thinking a great deal, and I feel more than ever that I must be a whole-hearted Christian. For, as I told Minnie in my last letter, there is no use in being half-way; either be one, or the other.

"Would it be wrong for me to study on First-day? I have so much to do, in order to enter another college; and I could study so much then. Be sure and answer this."

My reply to this question was as follows:

"As to studying on First-day, dear Frank, I would not do it. It seems to be a Divine law somehow, that any secular business done on that day does not prosper, and it has been proved beyond question that no one can work at the same things seven days in the week straight on, without losing his health. Lawyers say that they can really accomplish more by working six days, and resting one, than they can by working seven. I think the Heavenly Father has provided that day for us to be able, with an easy conscience and an undivided heart, to read and meditate and be occupied about heavenly things."

Frank was very anxious to get a thorough education, and in a letter, dated April 9th, he wrote:

"I have a great passion and desire for the best education the country affords. I am exceedingly fond of literature, of classics, and of mathematics. If I could have my choice in life, and if I had the ability, nothing could give me greater pleasure than to be a professor, that I might study. I would a thousand times rather read a good piece of literature than a novel, a thousand times; and for a little while a day I would rather translate Virgil than do either. But, laying all prospect of being a professor aside as impracticable, I do want a good thorough education. And now about the college. I may as well blurt it out. I want to go to don't tear this letter up, but think about it."

Now,

In reference to this letter, he says, in his Diary:

"Wrote home; said I want now to go to Said I'd like to be a professor, and said a whole lot of funny things. Wonder what answer I'll get."

When the answer came, he makes another entry:

on

"Letter from home. Say I can't go to account of the Unitarian influences. But I can go through Princeton, and then most likely to a German university. That will suit me almost as well

as

About this time he wrote to one of his young friends, who had lately been converted:

"I was very glad to hear that thee had become a Christian, and I do sincerely hope that thee will be a better and more faithful one than I have ever been.