THE HOMEWARD PATH. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE BEGINNING AND GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, OR THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER." Charlotte Maria Haven. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." DIVINITY SCHOOL LIBRARY HARVARD UNIVERSITY BOSTON: CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY, 111 WASHINGTON STREET. 1856. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by CROSBY, NICHOLS, & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: LETTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THE interest I have long felt in you, my young friend, has led me to form the purpose of addressing to you a series of letters, relative to your inward life, your spiritual needs, and your Christian growth and progress. Novelty of thought or illustration will not be my aim, but to aid you in the attainment of that secret life which is "hid with Christ in God." From my acquaintance with the influences that immediately surround you, I have thought there might be times when you earnestly longed to express your feelings and wants to some heart in which you could place confidence, and find the sympathy and help you secretly crave. Either repressed by personal diffidence, or repulsed by the reserve or coldness of others, or by a secret consciousness that your deepest wants and spiritual difficulties would not be understood by those around you, you have passed on from month to month, sometimes feeling that you had gained a little in the true |