She cultivated a taste for reading and
reflection; and although the natural vivacity of her disposition was
a constant snare in her path, she never lost sight of the purpose
she had formed of living for God. In secret she communed with her
own heart, and, the better to secure her growth in grace, commenced
a diary, which, with two or three short intermissions, occasioned
by sickness, was continued until within a week of her death.
Unfortunately a considerable portion of these manuscripts, including
a period of several years just preceding and following her marriage,
were destroyed by her own hands. What remains, is however no small
proof of her diligence and perseverance, as they extend to twenty
quarto volumes containing about 5,000 pages. They contain, besides
the record of her inner and outer life, copious summaries of the
discourses she heard; numerous extracts from books, especially of
passages calculated to impress the heart or direct the life; and an
extraordinary amount of original verse; for from the first she appears
to have adopted the practice of putting her thoughts into rhyme,--a
practice which when unaccompanied by true genius is generally a
profitless waste of time; but which in her case was made a valuable
means of personal edification, as well as of administering counsel,
consolation or admonition to others. Few events of public or private
interest, in her own family or in the circle of her acquaintance,
could pass without provoking her ready pen.
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