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Untitled Article
She endeavoured , to repay herself for this forced and painful silence , by the copiousness and fervour of her private devotions : but the endeavour failed . In vain she hastened to her apartment when the family assembled to read the bible of Luther ; in vain , when they repaired to their church , she congratulated herself on being beyond the reach of disturbance . Her thoughts wandered
as she repeated her prayers ; her heart was cold , her intellect was dull , her whole spirit was troubled . She wept , but she could not pray as formerly . In the midst of her self-reproach , she sought for reasons . At first she supposed it was the novelty of place and circumstance which disturbed her , for she could not wholly escape the murmurs of a busy city . Then she thought it must be the
lack of opportunity of confession , which imposed a heavy weight on her spirit ; and at times a feeling of horror came over her as she imagined that she might be dwelling in an atmosphere tainted by the Evil One , who had so many disciples at hand . One thing only she was sure of , —that she was wretched in her loneliness of soul .
All endeavours to induce her to leave the house had failed . It was not that she did not love free air and sunshine as well as Helena herself , but her more confirmed convent habits had occasioned a timidity and indolence which she had no motive at present strong enough to overcome . Besides , she could not yet think of changing her monastic dress , and to appear in it in the streets of Nuremberg would have been to provoke insult . The
only object she could have in going out , she said , was to see Helena ; who , she hoped , would spare her the effort by coming first . Helena came not , however . Liese waited patiently , saying to herself how natural it was that her young sister should be engrossed by objects whose revived interest must be so strong . She remembered how she sprang from her horse into the arms of her
old nurse , and what transport was in her eyes when she waved her hand from the door to the departing escort . l It is but natural and just , ' thought Liese , that I should give way for a time to older friends . I will wait . ' When she was well nigh tired of waiting , tidings came that Helena was ill , and had long been so . Here was a rousing motive . Liese changed her dress , and went
out with her cousin Laura , avoiding every eye as she walked , and shrinking at the approach of every casual passenger . When they reached the fields and were alone , she looked up , she looked round , and a thrill of joy , such as she had long ceased to feel , ran through her frame . Fragrance from beneath her feet , beauty around , the music of the woods from afar , —all came at once to
touch the springs of her loftiest sensibilities , and she was in a moment satisfied that her devotional feelings , however repressed , had not been destroyed . Now was the time , as Laura perceived , to invite their first religious sympathy , and the occasion , was not lost , A few words from Luther ' s bible , which Liese had . nowhere
Untitled Article
160 Liese ; or , the Progress of Worships
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1832, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1808/page/16/
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