For many days I lay there, feeling very listless, not caring to look beyond the river, nor even to look on this side. I was just in the condition to listen to the voice of the tempter, when he whispered: "Why stay here any longer? the Lord delays his coming; He might have come sooner; it is very cruel to be lying in this dreary, loathsome place so long." And again, with shame I must confess, that after all the visions of glory I had seen, and all of my Father's goodness to me, I listened to his wily whispering, till I became almost enraged, and began to cast about me this way and that, for a way of deliverance. At one moment I would feel like going back into the wilderness, in all its filth and quagmires, and the next I would feel like rushing headlong, uncalled for, into the river; any way, it seemed to me, to get out of this murky, deathly atmosphere. For several days I was thus tempted. Oh! those were dreadful days to me! I sat in sullen silence, and would not look toward my Father's house; I would not see the light that was beaming across; would not see my Father's gracious smile; nor would I see His loving hand reached out to help me. My telescope lay beside me, but I would not take it up. But, oh! the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Blessed be His Holy Name. He would not leave me, nor suffer His loving kindness to be removed from me; but in the midst of deserved wrath He remembered mercy toward me. On looking up I saw my guide coming near, saying: "Dost thou well to be angry. Hast thou not received good from the hands of the Lord, and shalt thou not receive the evil? And if thou doest well, shalt thou not dwell in the land of the living forever? For the mercy of the Lord is round about them that put their trust in Him. Though clouds and darkness may be round about Him, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne." At these words the tempter left me, and Patience again resumed her seat, and commenced to soothe and tranquilize my spirit, saying: "Return unto thy rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. Ye, that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord, for He is your help and your shield. O! forget not all His mercies." At this I felt very much humbled and sinsick; and I longed to be free from the power of sin and temptation, and earnestly I prayed the Father: "Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from all evil!" And with the apostle I could exclaim: "Oh! wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! Then I would fly away and be at rest." "But then," said Patience, "as you cannot go yet, you had better take your telescope and look again beyond the river." So I took it up and began to look around; first on this side, but here, as usual, I could find no rest or abiding place; nothing but filth and stench that sickened me; but as soon as I turned my gaze toward my