Letter 75. To the Abbess Angelique Arnaud

OF Port Royal.

I HOPE that God will strengthen you more and more, and that the thought, or rather temptation, of de- ^ndency as to your fervour will not last When it arises, answer resolutely that you know those who trust in God will never be confounded, and that spiritually, as well as in all temporal things, you have cast your care upon the Lord, confident that He will sustain you. Let us serve God diligently to-day, and He will provide for to-morrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Take no thought for the morrow; the Same God Who disposes of events to-day will dispose of them to-morrow....

Beware, my dear daughter, of calling men fools; remember our Lord’s words, ‘‘Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca," &c Learn by degrees to tame your eager spirit, and bring it into the subjection of patience, gentleness, and kindliness amid the follies, childishness, and feminine imperfections of your Sisters, who are a little self-indulgent, and apt to worry their Mother. Do not take so much delight in the affection of an earthly father; seek above all the Heavenly Father Who loves you, and gave His Son for you.

Sleep well; by degrees you can return to six hours sleep only, if you wish it But to eat little, to work a great deal amid considerable mental anxiety, and then to refuse sufficient sleep to the poor body, is neither more nor less than to expect a worn-out horse to work without his food.... I wish you had not ridiculed and laughed at those people, but that you had rather edified them by your modest simplicity and kindliness, as our Lord has taught us to do.... Farewell: study to win humility and a kindly spirit... Abide in God.

1 am,

C480O LXXVIII.