our aunt, with pens, ink, and paper, like other committees, with the various rules our aunt and I had drawn up, and the Countess Boehlem had translated into German, and which she read to the assembly.  After that my aunt gave a concise account of the societies in England, commencing every fresh sentence with “If the Prince and Princesses will permit.”  When business was over, my aunt mentioned some texts, which she asked leave to read.  A German Bible was handed to Count Groeben, the text in Isaiah having been pointed out that our good aunt had wished for, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen,” etc.  The Count read it, after which our aunt said, “Will the Prince and Princesses allow a short time for prayer?” They all bowed assent and stood, while she knelt down and offered one of her touching, heart-felt prayers for them—­that a blessing might rest on the whole place, from the King on his throne to the poor prisoner in the dungeon; and she prayed especially for the royal family; then for the ladies, that the works of their hands might be prospered in what they had undertaken to perform.  Many of the ladies now withdrew, and we were soon left with the royal family.  They all invited us to see them again, before we left Berlin, and took leave of us in the kindest manner.

One result of the reception accorded Mrs. Fry by royalty was the amelioration of the condition of the Lutherans.  It came about in this way:  in the course of her inquiries and intercourse among the people of the Prussian dominions, she discovered that adherents to the Lutheran Church were subject to much petty persecution on behalf of their faith.  True they were not dealt with so cruelly as in former times, but frequently, at that very day, they were imprisoned, or suffered the loss of property because of their religious opinions.  The matter lay heavily on Mrs. Fry’s benevolent heart, and, seizing the opportunity, she spoke to the Crown Prince at the meeting just described, on the behalf of the persecuted Christians.  The Crown Prince listened most attentively, and advised her to lay the matter before the King in any way she deemed proper.  A petition was therefore drawn up by William Allen, translated into German, and with much fear and trembling presented to His Majesty.  The following day the King’s chaplain was sent bearing the “delightful intelligence” that the petition had been received; further, the King had said that “he thought the Spirit of God must have helped them to express themselves as they had done.”

About this time we find the following entry in her journal:  “I have been poorly enough to have the end of life brought closely before me, and to stimulate me in faith to do quickly what my Lord may require me.”  Accordingly, engagements and undertakings multiplied, and 1841 witnessed another brief visit to the continent of Europe.  She seemed more and more to get the conviction that she must lose no time while about her Master’s business, and such her prison, asylum and hospital labors most assuredly were.  The shadows of life’s evening were gathering around her, and heart and flesh beginning to fail, but no efforts of charity or mercy might be found lacking.