When I have a moment, what occupies me now is the sealing of the Spirit, and His coming down here—not anything new, but brethren were becoming muddy about it, part of the general decline; it has an importance in my mind it never had. Indeed, I am sometimes afraid the importance of the great facts of Christianity almost sets aside the thought of souls. This would be want of love, a central, vital point of Christian truth, and of the state of our hearts. I always feel that I fail in it. Christ is everything to me; that I know; there my heart is at rest. Though my affections are poor, the link is there; but I feel that my heart does not go out enough to those He loves. Well, He will be perfectly glorified in every one of us; that is a comfort. Though I feel my want of energy in love, He guides us in what we do. Patience and perseverance I understand, at least, in a general way.
November, 1880.
To the same.]