rder to seize than those connected with spiritual conflict
and temptation. They belong largely to that _terra incognita_, the dark
back-ground of human consciousness, where are the primal forces of
the soul and the mustering-place of good and evil. A certain mystery
enshrouds all profound religious emotion; whether of the peace of
God that passeth all understanding, or of the anguish that comes of
spiritual desertion. Those who are in the midst of the battle, or bear
its scars, will instantly recognise an experience like their own; to all
others it must needs remain inexplicable. Even in the natural life our
deepest joys and sorrows are mostly inarticulate; the great poets come
nearest to giving them utterance; but how much the reality always
surpasses the descriptions of the poet's pen, even though it be the pen
of a Shakespeare, or a Goethe!

Mrs. Prentiss never afterward referred to this "fiery trial" without
strong emotion. It terrified her to think of anyone she loved as exposed
to it; and--not to speak of other classes--she seemed to regard those as
specially exposed to it, who had just passed, or were passing, through
an unusually rich and happy religious experience. One of her last
letters, addressed to a dear Christian friend, related to this very
point. Here are a few sentences from it:

I want to give you EMPHATIC warning that you were never in such danger
in your life. This is the language of bitter, bitter experience and is
not mine alone. Leighton says the great Pirate lets the empty ships go
by and robs the full ones. [1] ... I do hope you will go on your way
rejoicing, unto the perfect day. Hold on to Christ with your teeth [2]
if your hands get crippled; He, alone, is stronger than Satan; He,
alone, knows _all_ "sore temptations" mean.

This, certainly, is strong language and will sound very strange and
extravagant in many ears; and yet is it really stronger language than
that often used by inspired prophets and apostles? or than that of
Augustine, Bernard, Luther, Hooker, Fenelon, Bunyan, and of many saintly
women, whose names adorn the annals of piety? Strong as it is, it will
find an echo in hearts that have been assailed by the "fiery darts of
the adversary," and have learned to cry unto God out of the depths
of mental anguish and gloom; while others still in the midst of the
conflict, will, perhaps, be helped and comforted to read of the manner
in which Mrs. Prentiss passed through it. Nothing in