Her German master at Obercassel, Pastor Schulze-Berge, thus wrote of her:  “She showed from the first such application, such rare talent, such depth of comprehension, that I can only speak of her progress as extraordinary.  She acquired such a knowledge of our most celebrated authors in a short time as even German ladies attain only after much longer study.”

She returned to England with her parents in December, 1853.  On July 17, 1854, she was confirmed in Worcester Cathedral.  In her case this public profession was a very real act.  When asked by the bishop the solemn question to which all have audibly to answer, “I do,” the reply of her heart was, “Lord, I cannot without Thee; but oh, with Thy almighty help, I do.”  In the cathedral she composed the lines with which this sketch begins.  She always kept very solemnly the anniversary of this day.

She continued her German, French and English studies, and wrote many small pieces of poetry, the proceeds of which she gave to the Church Missionary Society.  In the summer of 1856 she studied Hebrew very diligently; her knowledge and remembrance of the words of Scripture were very remarkable; she learnt the whole of the Gospels, Epistles, Revelation, the Psalms, and Isaiah, and later she added the Minor Prophets to the list.

While she thus grew in knowledge she grew also in grace.  In August, 1859, she wrote:  “I have lost that weary bondage of doubt and almost despair which chained me for so many years.  I have the same sins and temptation as before, and I do not strive against them more than before, and it is often just as hard work.  But whereas I could not see why I should be saved, I now cannot see why I should not be saved if Christ died for all.  On that word I take my stand, and rest there.  I still wait for the hour when I believe He will reveal Himself to me more directly; but it is the quiet waiting of present trust, not the restless waiting of anxiety and danger.”  That hour, in God’s good time, did come.

In 1860 Canon Havergal resigned the rectory of St. Nicholas, Worcester, and Frances had to give up a class of unruly lads which she had taught with much success, one of the class becoming a minister of the Church of England, and another a Scripture-reader.  The family removed to the country parish of Shareshill.

In 1861 Frances K. Havergal made her home at Oakhampton, the residence of her sister, and undertook the instruction of her two nieces.  Her aim in teaching them was to fit them for eternity, but she did not fail to throw herself into their amusements and recreations, which she took up with her accustomed earnestness.

In the winter of 1865-66 F.R.  Havergal visited her friends in Germany, and spent some time with her parents at Bonn.  In 1806 her nieces went to school, and Frances left Oakhampton to reside at home.