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128 He fed his thoughts on the rich pathos of the Letters by Rutherford the Scotch mediaeval divine, which gave him the consolation they had already given to several generations.

When Maynie completes the second decade of her young life, he writes: —

'The completion of a decade, and that the most important of all, when the child springs into the woman ... Youth with its golden opportunities, its rich advantages, its precious seed-time, has passed away; henceforward we must look for the fruit of the seed that has been sown. The impress we have ourselves received must be communicated to others.'

After some sentences in the same strain, he defines his own convictions, thus: —

'God the Father is ready to look down upon us in tenderness and love. God the Son presents His imputed righteousness as a sufficient safeguard from all evil. God the Holy Ghost is at hand to cleanse and sanctify us — with this threefold assurance we may walk confidently forward, immeasurably strong even in our weakness.'

These sentences of his own composition afford a fair idea of his didactic style, which may be thought to have some beauty as well as simplicity. The fact of such a record being made by such a man, amidst avocations so distracting as his, attests the power of religion over mundane influences.

He would be the more anxious to display the practical effect of Christianity on human conduct,