I was so very glad to hear from you again & would have sent you the answer to the enclosed next day, but business prevented my writing till now. You will see what my husband advises, I thought it better he should write to you first, & hear what the Lady decides on, before calling on any one, as you said it was confidential, & he might call on some one the Lady would not wish to know anything about the matter - Mr. Hankey’s letter is that of a most kind and true friend, & I hope she will show her appreciation of his kindness, & desire to be guided by himp2by requesting my husband to state her wishes in the matter to him, & leave it to Maurice to do the best he can for her - But there must be perfect confidence between the three, nothing concealed if any good is to be done. From Mr. Hankey’s letter I should suspect that either she or her husband have been very improvident, & that he has kindly come to her assistance probably not for the first time, & if they do not act very openly, & honourably now they will lose their best & perhaps only friend? You no doubt know all about them, & can advise them - And you will know how much of her history it is necessary for her to tell, for I do not wish to pain her by repeating more than necessaryp3to strangers - When after consulting with you she decides what to do, she had better herself write her wishes to my husband how to act, if she wishes him to take any steps for her[2] Do not in your charity, forget the first of the Cardinal virtues Prudence, & write or do anything that may cause yourself trouble, -
I am sorry you seem so suffering in body & mind! You say I do not speak of any troubles, so you hope all goes well - I did not speak. for I would not trouble you with my pains & sorrows,- As a very little child I always had the habit of turning to the Infant Jesus, in all little contradictions & trials, this feeling has grown with my growth, & strengthened with my years - And if I speak to you now it is only because I see you are sufferingp4& sometimes sympathy with others, alleviates the burden that oppresses ones own heart, if it is a generous one, & that I am sure yours is - I have never been without many heavy crosses since last I saw you. Trials arising from unkindness of friends & relatives, near relatives, trials of a pecuniary nature, trials of all kinds! Sometimes the load has seemed so great I felt it would indeed be a blessing to die - But Our dear Lord carries me on, I often wonder how I exist through so many fresh blows - Certainly not through any merits of my own - through the goodness of my God, who has become so completely, a part of myself - I can explain it no other way - that my every action, thought, breath, existance, seems all in God, & for God - I live on thep5constant thought of God. He is never out of mind. Yet my actions are all the common actions of life, & I am full of faults & failings, I seem to be always trying to do right, & constantly failing. I cannot explain this I am a mystery to myself. Therefore I do not attempt to understand more, than that all that is bad in me, is mine, & all good the work of God, whom I so love - that the hope I shall one day see Him cheers me on. That will be my bright day.
A fresh trouble is just now upon me, I know not if I ought on account of my husband & children[3] to go to Law or not - I pray God guide me to do what is right, do you join your good prayers. - I told you all my blessings in my last letter, & now my goodp6friend in Our Lord, may you receive all spiritual consolation in your trials - I truly sympathise with you But the world is so wicked! it is good of God to afflict those who love Him, that our weak unstable nature may not be led away, by the fearful temptations that surround us on every side - What a beautiful book “Le chretien Interieure” is, I read a portion of it daily. it is my present spiritual reading book. -
So you are at Courtrai - remember who to come to when you are allowed a change - We shall all be glad to give you a welcome.
your sincere child in Xt Christ