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54 JACOB HODGES.
timate acquaintance with his more private
habits of reflection and religious duties,
will at once remove this surprise and re¬
veal the secret of his eminent holines3
and uniform stability of Christian deport¬
ment.
Although he had often informed me
of his difficulties and conversed freely as
to his religious experience, I have retained
nothing that so fully reveals his more se¬
cret history as the following communica¬
tion from the Rev. Mr. Dwight, corres
ponding secretary of the Prison Discipline
Society. Mr. Dwight had been deeply
interested in his history and character.
He had visited him frequently while in
prison at Auburn, and from his own lips
had written down the exercises of his mind
in passing that eventful crisis in his reli¬
gious history which we have already re¬
corded. He had also repeatedly visited
him while he resided in Canandaigua, and
drew from him, at each interview, a de¬
tailed account of his religious experience,
which he carefully preserveu