Set down at the back of the household book, after the reckonings.
12 March 1840
Kept a candle on last night after the others were gone up, as I was mending by the table and had not finished the seam. The weather was close and the fire did not give as it ought.
I forgot it when I shut the book and cleared the table.
There was no fire. I thank God for His mercy in that. The cloth was not marked, nor the table, and the holder stood as it had been set. The wick was bent over by morning and cold.
I do not know when it went out.
It had burned more than was right.
Not to the end, but further than it should have done, given the length of the night and the draught in that room. I thought at first the tallow must have been cut thin, though I do not remember doing it so, nor when I last looked to it. My hands were steady that day and the fat well tried.
The room was set cold, though the fire had been laid proper and the door kept. Old houses take the air into themselves. That is known.
I said a prayer and put the candle away. I did not throw it out. There was no call for waste. I finished it in its turn, but I did not leave another burning once I had gone from the room.
Light is for use and keeping. It is not a thing to be left to itself.
Order is given us to mind, and when we are careless with it, correction follows soon enough, whether we have marked the fault or no. It is best not to make trial of it.
We still keep candles, as is needful.
Only now they are put out when the work is done.