“Miss Swain was ready in season and out of season,” said one of her friends.  “One Sunday evening when a company of us were together having a sing, she turned to a young man near her and bluntly asked, ‘Why are you not a Christian?’ Taken by surprise, the young man had no answer ready and they both went on singing.”  The Rev. Mr. Hibbard was pastor of the Methodist Church in Canandaigua and Miss Swain and her friend very much enjoyed an occasional visit to the parsonage, where they were always warmly welcomed.

TRAINING IN THE SANITARIUM

Notwithstanding her love for children, Miss Swain did not find teaching altogether a delight.  The inattention of the children and the daily routine made her feel irritable, she said, but she kept steadily on, hoping in time to carry out a purpose which she had in mind of some day becoming a doctor.  When an opportunity offered for her to take a position in the Castile Sanitarium under Dr. Cordelia A. Greene, she gladly gave up teaching and entered upon a course of training which, though sometimes irksome, proved more congenial than her former occupation.

All the way along, her strong will had availed to overcome obstacles, and here, during many weary hours, she comforted herself with the thought that she was nearing the goal of her ambition.  She could not have had a more satisfactory opportunity for the training that she needed; for though Dr. Greene exacted thoroughness in every line of work, she was so sympathetic and so ready to give a word of commendation and encouragement, that her pupil could not do otherwise than accede to all the requirements of her position.  It was not long before doctor and pupil became fast friends and the congenial companionship was a life-long pleasure to both.  “I owe much to Dr. Cordelia,” she said many times in after life.

AT THE MEDICAL COLLEGE

After three years of study and practice in the Sanitarium she applied for admission to the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia, from which she was graduated in the spring of 1869.  She often spoke of the pleasure she had in lingering in the park after class hours, on her way to her boarding-place, and of the occasional free and intimate talks with certain of her instructors.

She enjoyed the Sabbath services and had many opportunities of hearing some of the celebrated preachers of the day.  The Rev. Dana Boardman seems to have been a favorite with her and she took notes of several of his sermons.  “Bishop Simpson’s Christmas sermon (1868) on Luke 2:13, 14, filled my heart with peace and good-will to (all) men,” she notes.  A sermon by Dr. Willett in November, 1868, on “What do ye more than others?”—­Matt. 5:47, and one by Dr. McGowan on Mark 10:21, “One thing thou lackest,” led to much heart-searching.  A short time before leaving Philadelphia she heard Phillips Brooks preach from Malachi 4:2.  “A wonderful sermon,” she termed it, and she greatly enjoyed a talk by him on tithing, which she determined to act upon.