* * * * *

III.

“Holiness and Usefulness go hand-in-hand.”  No two Souls dealt with exactly alike.  Visits to a stricken Home.  Another Side of her Life.  Visit to a Hospital.  Christian Friendship.  Letters to a bereaved Mother.  Submission not inconsistent with Suffering.  Thoughts at the Funeral of a little “Wee Davie.”  Assurance of Faith.  Funeral of Prof.  Hopkins.  His Character.

She entered the new year with weary steps, but with a heart full of tenderness and sympathy.  A circle of young friends, living in different parts of the country, looked eagerly to her at this time for counsel, and she was deeply interested in their spiritual progress.  She wrote to one of them, January 6, 1872: 

Your letter has filled my heart with joy.  What a Friend and Saviour we have, and how He comes to meet us on the sea, if we attempt to walk there in faith!  I trust your path now will be the ever brightening one that shall shine more and more unto the perfect day.  Holiness and usefulness go hand in hand, and you will have new work to do for the Lord; praying work especially. Pray for me, for one thing; I need a great deal of grace and strength just now.  And pray for all the souls that are struggling toward the light.  O that everybody lived only for Christ!

A few weeks later, writing to the same friend, she thus refers to the “fiery trials” through which she was passing: 

This season of temptation came right on the heels, if I may use such an expression, of great spiritual illumination.  Of all the years of my life, 1869-70 was the brightest, and it seems as if Satan could not endure the sight of so much love and joy, and so took me in hand.  I have not liked to say much about this to young people, lest it should discourage them; but I hope you will not allow it to affect you in that way, for you must remember that no two souls are dealt with exactly alike, and that the fact that many are looking up to me may have made it necessary for our dear Lord to let Satan harass and trouble me as he has done.  No, let us not be discouraged, either you or I, but rejoice that we are called of our God and Saviour to give Him all we have and all we are....  If we spent more time in thanking God for what He has done for us, He would do more.

Malignant scarlet fever and other diseases, had invaded and isolated the household mentioned in the following letter.  Their gratitude to Mrs. Prentiss was most touching; it was as if she had been to them an angel from heaven.  The story of her visits and loving sympathy became a part of their family history.

To Mrs. Humphrey, New York, Jan. 26, 1872.