It was scarcely less affecting when superstitious
grandmothers, worldly mothers, and giddy sisters were prayed with
and entreated to come to Christ.
The audible prayers of the pupils may trouble some readers, but not
more than they troubled their teacher. She desired more silent
devotion; but Mr. Stoddard, himself in the habit of praying aloud,
looked on it with more favor, and feared to have it checked. Soon
after his own conversion, a friend remarked to him, "I think you had
better not pray quite so loud;" and for days after it he could not
pray at all. He had never thought of others while communing with
God, and he was troubled that others should think of him. Even to
the last he continued the practice of praying audibly.
Miss Fiske sometimes spoke to her pupils on the subject. There was
one who spent hours daily in her closet, but her teacher heard all
she said. So, on a fitting opportunity, she suggested to her, in a
gentle way, that she might modify the practice. "I will try to pray
in a lower voice," was the reply; "but I never thought of anybody's
hearing me." That night her voice was more subdued, but her prayer
was very short; and soon after midnight her teacher was awakened by
the voice of prayer out on the roof.
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