t we may make no mistake, but go or
stay as the Lord would have us. We have found our little home a nice
refuge for us in the storm; Mr. P. says he should have gone distracted
in a boarding-house. I do not envy you the Conway crowd. But I fancy it
is a good region for collecting mosses and like treasures. I think the
prettiest thing in our house is a flattish bracket, fastened to the wall
and filled with flowers; it looks like a graceful, meandering letter
S and is one of the idols I bow down to.... I have "Holiness through
Faith"; the first time I read it at Mr. R----'s request, I said I
believed every word of it, but this summer, reading it in a different
mood, it puzzles me. The idea is plausible; if God tells us to be holy,
as He certainly does, is it not for Him to provide the way for our being
so, and is it likely He needs our whole lives before He can accomplish
His own design? I talked with Mr. Prentiss about it, and at first he
rejected the thought of holiness through faith, but last night we got
upon the subject again and he was interested in some sentences I read to
him and said he must examine the book. When are you coming to spend that
week in Dorset? Love to each and all.

_To a young Friend, Kauinfels, Sept. 9, 1871._

I have had many letters to write to-day, for to-day our fate is sealed,
and we are to go. But I must say a few words to you before going to bed,
for I want to tell you how very glad I am that you have been enabled
to take a step [7] which will, I am sure, lead the way to other steps,
increase your holiness, your usefulness, and your happiness. May God
bless you in this attempt to honor Him, and open out before you new
fields wherein to glorify and please Him. This has not been a sorrowful
day to me. I hope I am offering to a "patient God a patient heart." I do
not want to make the worst of the sacrifice He requires, or to fancy I
am only to be happy on my own conditions. He has been most of the time
for years "the spring of all my joys, the life of my delights." Where
He is, I want to be; where He bids me go, I want to go, and to go in
courage and faith. Anything is better than too strong cleaving to this
world. As I was situated in New York, I lacked not a single earthly
blessing. I had a delightful home, freedom from care, and a circle of
friends whom I loved with all my heart, and who loved me in a way to
satisfy even my rapacity. Only one thing was wanting to my perfect
felicity--a hea