y, if ever, opened a page
of Scripture without finding some promise applicable to thee and
thine. I do not believe that I was looking for them, but they
presented themselves unsought, and gave me comfort and confidence.
Do not suppose, dear friend, that I am not fully aware of the
peculiar bitterness and suffering which attends this trial in thy
situation to thy own individual feeling; but, then, how precious
and how cheering to thee must be the evidence it has called forth,
of the love and respect of those who are near and dear to thee, and
of the public at large. Adversity is indeed the time to try the
hearts of our friends; and it must be now, or will be in future, a
cordial to thee to remember that thou hast proved how truly and
generally thou art beloved and reverenced.

Mrs. Fry's health failed very much during the dreary months which
followed. Nor was this all, for trials, mental and spiritual, seemed to
crowd around her. It was indeed, though on a scale fitted to her
capacity, "the hour and power of darkness." She says in her journal,
that her soul was bowed down within her, and her eyes were red with
weeping. Yet she rallied again. After spending some months with their
eldest son, William, at Mildred's Court, Mr. and Mrs. Fry removed to a
small but convenient villa in Upton Lane, nearly adjoining the house and
grounds of her brother, Samuel Gurney. This house was not only to be a
place of refuge in the dark and cloudy days of calamity, but to become,
in its turn, famous for the visits of princes and nobles, who thus
sought to do honor to her who dwelt in it. Writing in her journal, on
June 10th, 1829, Mrs. Fry said:--

We are now nearly settled in this, our new abode; and I may say,
although the house and garden are small, yet it is pleasant and
convenient and I am fully satisfied, and, I hope, thankful for such
a home. I have at times been favored to feel great peace, and I may
say joy in the Lord--a sort of seal to the important step taken;
though at others the extreme disorder into which our things have
been brought by all these changes, the pain of leaving Plashet, the
difficulty of making new arrangements, has harassed and tried me.
But I trust it will please a kind Providence to bless my endeavor
to have and to keep my house in order. Place is a matter of small
importance, if that peace whic