victorious sweetness of that great multitude who have come out of great
tribulation, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. In her eyes there was that nameless depth that one sees
with awe in the Sistine Madonna,--eyes that have measured infinite
sorrow and looked through it to an infinite peace.

"My dear Madam," said the Doctor to Mrs. Scudder, "I cannot but think
that there must be some uncommonly gracious exercises passing in the
mind of your daughter; for I observe, that, though she is not inclined
to conversation, she seems to be much in prayer; and I have, of late,
felt the sense of a Divine Presence with her in a most unusual degree.
Has she opened her mind to you?"

"Mary was always a silent girl," said Mrs. Scudder, "and not given to
speaking of her own feelings; indeed, until she gave you an account of
her spiritual state, on joining the church, I never knew what her
exercises were. Hers is a most singular case. I never knew the time when
she did not seem to love God more than anything else. It has disturbed
me sometimes,--because I did not know but it might be mere natural
sensibility, instead of gracious affection."

"Do not disturb yourself, Madam," said the Doctor. "The Spirit worketh
when, where, and how He will; and, undoubtedly, there have been cases
where His operations commence exceedingly early. Mr. Edwards relates a
case of a young person who experienced a marked conversion when three
years of age; and Jeremiah was called from the womb. (Jeremiah, i. 5.)
In all cases we must test the quality of the evidence without relation
to the time of its commencement. I do not generally lay much stress on
our impressions, which are often uncertain and delusive; yet I have had
an impression that the Lord would be pleased to make some singular