If Miss J. had waited till she would receive the answer to a letter which she wrote on Tuesday she might have been satisfied with the reasons of the Duke for the Marks of Disrespect of which Miss J. complained.
The Duke has to add that since his return here, he has found upon His Table, a plain seal which it is probable was used by accident. He apologizes for having used it. At the same time he assures Miss J. that he could not have intended to be disrespectful.
The Duke requests that Miss J. will be so kind as to have a parcel made of the Letters from the Duke; that she will direct it to Him in Piccadilly; and have it booked at Hampstead and sent by any Coach to London.
Miss J. resolved to lose no time in returning the Duke's letters, and went so far as to put them up in a parcel preparatory to sending them off by coach. She thus comments:—
"In returning the parcel I send away 60 letters, received in less than 12 months.
"Saturday, Sept. 19, 1835. I have been to the Post Office with my last letter to the Duke and leave the result thereof with the Lord, 'Whose ways are in the deep waters and whose footsteps are unknown'. I have acknowledged myself thankful for the strength still imparted—thus fulfilling that gracious promise made to me when on my knees before I came to this place 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' I have just risen from my knees, after spreading the Duke's letters before the Lord, beseeching Him to do under present circumstances whatever seemeth good in His sight for Christ's sake. And I feel, as a prayer-hearing God He will—causing even this unkindness to work together for good, since 'His ways are not our ways' but as high above such as the heavens are above the earth—That He moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform, who can doubt that watches His divine finger in this great work? And since His purposes must stand, all I have to say is, Let them be whatever they may, I desire His Holy Will alone to be done!
"My feelings will not allow me to copy this letter of the Duke's; it is so unkind; but as those words were powerfully applied at the commencement of my correspondence, 'The haughtiness of man shall be brought low etc. and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.'"
Apparently it was not the will of "The Lord" that the letters should be returned, for Providence interposed in the shape of Miss J.'s friend, Mrs. L. Miss J. writes:—
"Saturday Night. Just as my day had been filled with all the duties my God had graciously permitted and I was about to take a walk, dear Mrs. L. arrived, and on my telling her all strongly advised my not returning the Duke his letters—which struck me forcibly, as I had asked the Lord to put it into her heart to advise me agreeably to His will.
"On my return home I found a note from the Duke addressed to me in the third person, like the last, but thanking me for the trouble I had taken respecting his Men's Book Bill. Thank God my feelings are so subdued as to be resigned to His divine Will concerning seeing or hearing from him, and I heartily pray to be directed in every single particular, knowing if left to myself I cannot stand a moment in safety.