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gentle rays of the sun. But unfortunately this was not possible at that time, when self-examination was carried to an extreme that was calculated to drive a nervous and sensitive mind well-nigh distracted.
First, even her sister Catherine was afraid that there might be something wrong in the case of a lamb that had come into the fold without being first chased all over the lot by the shepherd; great stress being laid, in those days, on what was called “being under conviction.”
Then also the pastor of the
First Church in
Hartford, a bosom friend of
Dr. Beecher, looked with melancholy and suspicious eyes on this unusual and doubtful path to heaven,--but more of this hereafter.
Harriet's conversion took place in the summer of 1825, when she was fourteen, and the following year, April, 1826,
Dr. Beecher resigned his pastorate in
Litchfield to accept a call to the
Hanover Street Church,
Boston, Mass. In a letter to her grandmother
Foote at
Guilford, dated
Hartford, March 4, 1826, Harriet writes:--
You have probably heard that our home in Litchfield is broken up. Papa has received a call to Boston, and concluded to accept, because he could not support his family in Litchfield.
He was dismissed last week Tuesday, and will be here (Hartford) next Tuesday with mamma and Isabel.
Aunt Esther will take Charles and Thomas to her house for the present.
Papa's salary is to be $2,000 and $500 settlement.
I attend school constantly and am making some progress in my studies.
I devote most of my attention to Latin and to arithmetic, and hope soon to prepare myself to assist Catherine in the school.
This breaking up of the Litchfield home led Harriet,
