LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 259 send you my special request to pray for Japan in­tensely, fervently. My heart burns for her and I cannot check it. Mr. Neesima became deeply interested in the Wal­densians at Florence, where he visited their theologi­cal school, and remained over a month at Torre Pel­lico, studying their history, institutions, and manner of life. The following thoughts are from his journal of this period. Most of them were written from his bed, to which he was confined by a fever contracted on an excursion when, overtaken by a storm, he was com­pelled to pass the night in a shed on the mountains. " Silence. Silence is one of the virtues. There is much safety in silence. Wise men never talk much. As the tongue was given us to use for good purposes, use it for such. Vain and senseless talking often in­jures our reputation and causes us to lose our man­hood. I often noticed uneasiness and a chaff-like element in vain and talkative men. There is some­thing noble and serene in silence. It does not imply concealment, for the wicked often conceal their deeds with words. Silence is a manly forbearance. A man of silence is a blessing to a family and to society. It ought by no means to be accompanied by a bitter countenance, but rather with a cheerful one. Vain talking disturbs, but silence soothes and heals. We can easily weigh a man of vain talk, but Gannot easily measure the depths of mind of a wisely silent man. But do not keep silence if by speaking we can do good or bear witness for the truth. 0, how large a portion of our talk we spend upon the vain things of the world, and how little for the truth l When a

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