"O the joy of that hour; its savor remains on my heart to this moment. For five days and nights I had been little off my knees: it was my ordinary posture at his bedside, and in all that time I had but _once_ requested life. Surely the spirit of prayer and supplication was poured out. The Spirit helped mine infirmities with groanings which could not be uttered, leading me to pray for that which God had determined to bestow; making intercession for my husband, according to the will of God. "O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation. His righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." Psalm 98. "FRIDAY, December. "Sermon from John 4:10: 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water,' "This is part of my provision laid in for my passage through Jordan. Christ is the gift of God. Christ is the water of life; he is this living water, and the bread of life _given_; given by God, received by the sinner. Life and comfort are experienced, and fruit produced is the evidence; but first of all, this gift must be known, and the soul's need must be known; Christ, the anointed prophet, taught this woman both, and no other could. 'Search me, O Lord, and try me.' Hast thou not taught my soul its miserable and ruined state by nature; its helplessness as well as misery? Hast thou not also brought me to this living, life-giving water? Oh, hast thou not given me faith to come, faith to drink; and have I not experienced its solacing quality? Has it not satisfied my soul, and in some degree allayed my thirst for carnal delights? Blessed Spirit, the gift of the Father and of the Son, pour into my soul repeated draughts of this living water; yea, be in me, according to my Redeemer's promise, a well of water springing up to eternal life, and cause me to bring forth fruit to the glory of the Father. "'Other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, Christ Jesus.' "Do I, O my God, seek for or desire any other foundation? Are not all my hopes for time and eternity built on this foundation? Is not Christ all my salvation and all my desire? Do I not embrace thy covenant just as it is, believing that thou givest unto me eternal life, and that this life is in thy Son, whom thou hast given 'to be a covenant of the people.' Iniquities prevail against me; but thou wilt not only purge them away, but wilt subdue them. Sin shall not have dominion over me, for I am not tinder the law, but under grace." To Miss Walker, Edinburgh.