INWARD DISSATISFACTION AND UNEASINESS. 7

have not yet begun to fathom, a sense in which he is the Saviour of man of which as yet I know nothing.

"Sometimes I have tried to dissipate these thoughts by outward excitement, sometimes by a more stringent performance of duty; but in a few days I have yielded to old habits and delinquencies, feeling how mechanical was such a routine.

"I make resolves to govern my passions, to curb my wayward temper, to be more faithful to my daily duties and my obligations to others; but again and again do I break them, and I am weary of striving. The ground I think I have gained, in a few days of relaxed watchfulness and of discontent is entirely lost, and the same resolves are made, week after week, only to meet with the same results.

"I look to the pure and noble examples of some whom I reverence and love, and as I know their calmness, nay, even joy of spirit, amid trial and sorrow, their peace of mind amid the petty vexations of daily life, I feel that theirs is a hidden source of strength and repose which, as yet, I have not found. Often, too, when I strive to pray, there seems no reality in the service. God seems afar off, and retribution and immortality and heaven mere dreams. I repeat the Saviour's own words, but his being and presence are too often vague and shadowy; I do not feel my

personal relationship to him, nor my indebtedness to him, and his commands possess little abiding control over my inward being. I am dissatisfied and inwardly restless. I am conscious of yearning desires that are not satisfied, of aspirations that are not filled. The future often looks to me uncertain, mysterious, and dark, and there are moments when, with all that to the world's eye seems bright and fair, life appears to me scarcely desirable.

"Is there indeed a reality in the Christian faith, a peace and a hope which the world gives not, and cannot take away? Are these thoughts and questionings, these vague surmises, these anxious longings and desires, these hours of dissatisfaction and self-reproach, mere fanciful chimeras ? And if not, how am I to meet them, -how find light and peace for the soul?"

No, my young friend; thoughts and questionings like these are no mere fancies, no vain delusions of the soul, but the voice of the Spirit pleading with you, striving with you, to turn you from the fading glitter of earthly trifles and passing pursuits, from vain attempts at self-excitation and mere self-culture, and to repose your weary, restless heart on the bosom of Infinite Pity and Love. God would have you to be wholly his, and to find your true peace only through the mediation and love of Christ. And so he would teach you by all this inward

INWARD DISSATISFACTION AND UNEASINESS. 9

dissatisfaction and uneasiness that the earth is not your abiding-place, nor this world your home; that there is but one path in which you are to walk, the path of humble self-consecration and devotion to his service; that there is but one guide whom you are to follow, - even Him who is the very manifestation of the Father.

Thank God that in any measure you have begun to feel your spiritual necessities; that the voice of the Spirit has been heard within your soul; that, however dim the inward light, you yet do long, and long earnestly at times, for a deeper faith, a warmer love, and a better life.

Cherish these feelings, I entreat you, cherish them more than the most costly of jewels, for they are the strivings of your immortal nature, the voice of that within which cannot die, the pleadings of that Holy Spirit which, in times past, you have so often grieved away by your thoughtlessness or passion or frivolity, or by your undue absorption in the outward, transient pursuits of life.

Pray, too, however dim your faith, however unrealizing to your soul may be the being and the presence of God. Pray through Christ, that you may be taught how to pray. Neglect not this exercise, unless you would lose at once all higher aspirations and aims; neglect it not, however little present help or comfort you may seem to derive from it; neglect it not, at the

peril of your own soul. however feebly, however will draw nigh to you." find."

"Draw nigh to God," imperfectly, and "he "Seek, and ye shall

In your present state of mind, everything depends upon your fidelity to this duty. Neglect it, and indifference, worldliness, and carelessness will again roll back their dark and heavy waves over your soul, and perhaps never again will you hear, as now, that heavenly voice which says to you," Arise, and depart, for this is not your rest." Neglect it, and perchance the solemn realities of an opening eternity shall first again awaken you from your deathlike slumber of cold indifference.

"Return, O wanderer, now return,

And seek thy Father's face;

Those new desires which in thee burn
Were kindled by his grace.

"Return, O wanderer, now return,
And wipe the falling tear;
The Spirit calls, -no longer mourn,
"T is Love invites thee near."

LETTER III.

ALIENATION FROM GOD.

THE first step, my young friend, which you need to take, is to understand more clearly your true state of mind, and the causes of your present dissatisfaction and anxieties. Let me, then, say distinctly and emphatically, that all of your spiritual troubles and mental difficulties proceed from one fruitful source of uneasiness and disquiet, — the alienation of your soul from God, — the evil and the sin that is within. I do not now undertake to discuss the cause of this unhappy state, or to inquire what is the true origin of it. Theories on this subject are as numerous as leaves in the forest, and to discuss them or theorize concerning them here would be of no avail, even were it possible for the age-long question to be settled; for peace rarely, if ever, comes through a mere intellectual conviction. Enough that you feel the want within, that you know. the sin to be there, that you are conscious of this bitter sense of alienation from your God and Father, that you long, in your better moments, for light, faith, reconciliation.