trust in Him, how precious _time_ is here below. The following
is what our dear friend wrote upon this subject.

"_January 1st_, 1844--Nearly eighteen centuries, and a half
have passed away, since our Saviour took upon himself the form of
human flesh for our salvation. Those years seemed long as they
succeeded each other, but now that they are gone, they appear as
nothing.

"Families, and nations, and the mighty generations of mankind,
which, in times gone by, peopled the earth, have all passed away.
Nothing remains of them here below!

"But such is not the case in heaven,--I should rather say,--in
eternity. There, all these nations still exist, no man can be absent,
but must appear before the Sovereign Judge, to answer for the use
which he has made of his time.

"How short that time is! Where are the years that David lived, and
where are those which Methuselah passed in this world? their whole
duration seems, at this distance, in the words of St. James, 'Even as
a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.'

"It will therefore be the same with me. I know not how long I shall
live here below, perhaps I shall see but a portion of this year, and
shall enter into glory before it is concluded; or perhaps I shall yet
see many more years. This the Lord knows, and I ought not to consider
that such knowledge would be of any importance to me, since that
which constitutes my _life_, is not its length or duration, but
the use which is made of it.