Dear Mr. McQuesten,

I am very sorry to have been so long in writing to thank you for your two kind letters and for the little book which has been quite a help to me already. Do you think it is possible to live in the world and to feel the presence of God always--all the time? How different life would be if we could. "His greatest business did not divert him from God." "Seeking Him only–not even his gifts." "I shall never do otherwise, if Thou leavest me to myself; 'tis Thou must hinder my following."

I was impressed also by the statement that He desired the visits only of those who wished to serve God, and have wondered a little whether this is entirely a right attitude. You will notice that I have read only the first two conversations. I did read the book a few years ago, and perhaps it will be more helpful this time to go a step at a time. I am very glad to have it--and will say this that I was feeling very blue and wretched around Christmas time and for a couple of weeks afterwards and it was the little book which served to bring the sunshine back.

It did seem lonesome to be so far away at Christmas time. Fate seems to have been against me in writing to you, it is now Feb. 1. I did write a long letter on New Year's Eve, and then your lovely long letter came on New Year's Day, Mon. before mine was mailed. I took a whim that my letter was a foolish one to send to one who had studied the Bible so much and who knew so much more than I did. Also it was written hurriedly and the thoughts are badly arranged. It is now Feb. 3^rd. It has been so impossible to write another letter that it must be that I was intended to send the first one. I have rescued it and shall send it.

But first I wish to add a few lines here to thank you for the splendid paper, The British Weekly, which is coming to me again this year. It is lovely of you to send it and I do enjoy having it. Yet I feel that it is too much for you to be sending it to me every year, and that I'll have to think up some way to scold you for it before next year comes. In the meantime I am thanking you very greatly for your kindness and for your wisdom in choosing so helpful a gift.

What do you think of this paper 1804 style? It was one of my Christmas gifts. Indeed Santa Claus was very kind to me, and I appreciated your letter coming before Christmas with the pretty card. Then it was such a delightful surprise to get another long letter and the book for New Year.

Please forgive the jumbled way in which my enclosed pages are written. I was not going to send it, at least not like that.

[Marie Laird]¹

¹ The clue to the writer of this letter is in the correlation between this letter W7868 which is unsigned but dated, and W7252 which is undated but signed. It is likely that both letters were in the same envelope, but became separated before the Whitehern Calendar was compiled. In paragraph three of this letter W7868, the writer states that she wrote a letter on "New Year's Eve," that it contains Biblical material, and that she did not send it but is sending it now. Letter W7252 begins: "It is now New Year's Eve" and contains many Biblical references. Also there is a strong correlation between the handwriting of both letters on the microfiche.