are with Him; and the greatest pleasures will be, without Him, a cruel
punishment to us. May He be blessed for all. Amen.

Accustom yourself, then, by degrees thus to worship Him, to beg His
grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time in the midst of your
business, even every moment, if you can. Do not always scrupulously
confine yourself to certain rules, or particular forms of devotion,
but act with a general confidence in GOD, with love and humility. You
may assure ---- of my poor prayers, and that I am their servant, and
particularly

Yours in our LORD, &c.



EIGHTH LETTER.


_(Concerning wandering thoughts in Prayer.)_

You tell me nothing new; you are not the only one that is troubled
with wandering thoughts. Our mind is extremely roving; but, as the
will is mistress of all our faculties, she must recall them, and carry
them to GOD as their last end.

When the mind, for want of being sufficiently reduced by recollection
at our first engaging in devotion, has contracted certain bad habits
of wandering and dissipation, they are difficult to overcome, and
commonly draw us, even against our wills, to the things of the earth.