material from the ,google ,print project47 ,illustration ,,miss ,,ellis',s ,,mission4 ,,by ,,mary ,p4 ,w4 ,,smith4 ,,boston3 ,,american ,,unitarian ,,association4 #ahhf4 ,copyright1 #ahhf1 ,,by ,,american ,,unitarian ,,association4 ,university ,press3 ,,john ,,wilson ,,and ,,son1 ,,cambridge4 ,,to ,,post-,,office ,,mission ,,workers1 ,,west ,,and ,,east1 ,,and ,,to ,,earnest ,,people ,,everywhere4 ,it was a very contemptible barley-loaf she had to offer1 compared with your fine1 white1 wheaten cake of youth and riches and strength and learning2 but remember she offered her best freely1 willingly1 faithfully2 and when once a thing is offered1 it is no longer the little barley-loaf in the lad's hand1 but the miraculous satisfying ,bread of ,heaven in the hand of the ,lord of the ,harvest1 more than sufficient for the hungry multitude4 99 99 99 99 99 ',and so there is an end of poor ,miss ,toosey and her ,mission6'444 ,wait a bit6 ,there is no waste in nature1 science teaches us2 neither is there any in grace1 says faith4 ,we cannot always see the results1 but they are there as surely in grace as in nature4 ,,miss ,,toosey',s ,,mission4 ,,miss ,,ellis',s ,,mission4 ,this little sketch of ,miss ,ellis's life and work owes its first suggestion to ,rev4 ,j4 ,ll4 ,jones1 of ,chicago1 who soon after her death wrote3 ,why not try for a little memorial of her1 to be accompanied with some of the most touching and searching extracts from the letters both received and written by her1 and make it into a little booklet for the instruction of ,post ,office ,mission ,workers8444 ,can you not make it something as touching as ',miss ,toosey1' and far more practical1--that is1 for our own little household of faith8444 ,we do not want it primarily as a missionary tool1 but as a wee fragment of the spiritual history of the world1--something that will lift and touch the soul of everybody4444 ,in short1 give us an enlightened ,miss ,toosey2 her mission being as much stronger as ,sallie ,ellis was more rational and mature than the original ',miss ,toosey'6 ,no one knowing ,miss ,ellis could read the touching little story of ,miss ,toosey's ,mission without being struck by a resemblance in the characters1 though a resemblance with a marked difference4 ,as one said1 ,i never saw her going up the church aisle ,sundays1 with her audiphone1 her little satchel1 her bundle of books and papers1 and her hymn-book1 without thinking of ,miss ,toosey4 ,in both lives a seemingly powerless and insignificant personality1 through the force of a great yearning to do a bit of ,god's work in the world1 achieved its longing far beyond its fondest dreams4 ,as ,i read the many letters from all over the country that have come since ,miss ,ellis's death1 as ,i realize how the spiritual force that burned in the soul of this small1 feeble1 seemingly helpless woman reached out afar and touched many lives for their enduring ennoblement1 her life1 so meagre and cramped in its outward aspect1 so vivid and intense within and on paper1 seems to me not without a touch of romance4 ,to perpetuate a little longer the influence of that life is the object of this sketch4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,sallie ,,ellis was born in ,cincinnati1 ,march #ac1 #ahce4 ,the old-fashioned name ,sallie1 at that time popular in the ,south and ,west1 was given her in honor of an aunt4 ,she disliked sailing under the false colors of ,sarah4 ,in letters she usually signed herself ,s4 ,ellis1 because1 as she explained to one correspondent1 ,i do not know myself as ,sarah1 and ,sallie is not dignified enough in writing to strangers2 so ,i usually prefer plain ,s4 ,late in life1 however1 for reasons of dignity1 she sometimes felt forced to adopt ,sarah as what she called her official signature4 ,her father1 ,mr4 ,rowland ,ellis1 was born in ,boston1 but while yet young removed to ,cincinnati1 where he still lives in a vigorous and honored old age4 ,although his mother1 in all her later years at least1 was a devoted attendant upon ,theodore ,parker's services1 ,mr4 ,ellis in early life was a ,baptist4 ,but when the ,unitarian ,church was founded at ,cincinnati1 in #ahcj1 his name appears among the organizers1 of whom he is almost the sole survivor4 ,of that church he has always been a devoted supporter and constant attendant4 ,he was a leading banker of the ,west1 and ,sallie was born into one of the most elegant and luxurious homes in ,cincinnati4 ,the ,ellises kept open house1 exercised the most generous hospitality1 and made1 as one says who knew them well then1 such a beautiful use of their money4 ,the ,ellises were just the people who ought to have money4 ,mrs4 ,ellis is described as a woman of unusual loveliness of character4 ,out of the eight children1 ,sallie was thought to be the mother's favorite1 because1 it was supposed1 she was always puny1 shy1 and delicate4 ,sallie shall always have what she wants1 said the mother1 because she wants so little4 ,but mothers know1 and undoubtedly the mother saw deeper than others into the rare spiritual quality concealed from the world under her delicate child's quiet1 reserved exterior4 ,her older sister remembers of ,sallie's childhood3 ,as a very young child she exhibited strongly marked peculiarities of character4 ,her affection1 conscientiousness1 piety1 and love of duty made her different from the rest of us as children4 ,i remember well that at home or at school there were never any rebukes for ,sallie4 ,though very social by nature1 as young as at five and six years of age she loved to be alone1 and would sit in the corner of her mother's room1 with face turned to the corner1 musing1 and talking in a low tone to her doll4 ,when our father and mother would take the children to entertainments of various descriptions1 such as children enjoy1 ,sallie would invariably express her preference to remain at home4 ,if she thought her parents wanted her to go1 she went4 ,for some years ,sallie attended the private school of ,mrs4 ,anne ,ryland1 an ,english ,unitarian 7a former parishioner1 ,i think1 of ,rev4 ,laut ,carpenter1 and connected by marriage with ,rev4 ,brooke ,herford71 a lady of noble character1 and a teacher whose culture and methods were in advance of her age4 ,in a volume of poetry presented ,sallie by this teacher1 is this inscription1 whose old-fashioned quaintness of phrase pictures for us the ,sallie ,ellis of thirteen1 then1 as always1 faithful to duty4 ,mrs4 ,ryland has been much gratified by the general deportment of ,miss ,sallie ,ellis since she has been under her charge4 ,miss ,ellis has evinced an evident desire to please1 by a strict observance of the rules of the school1 and by assiduous and persevering attention to all her studies4 ,she has made improvement in them all fully commensurate with her laudable endeavors1 in ,grammar1 ,geography1 and ,orthography particularly4 ,it is with unfeigned regret that ,mrs4 ,ryland has to add1 to the foregoing expression of her approval of her dear pupil's conduct1 the last word1--,farewell4 ,later1 she attended the private school of ,rev4 ,william ,silsbee1 who says of her1 ,she was always studious and well-behaved1 one of the most faithful of all my pupils4 ,mr4 ,m4 ,hazen ,white1 for so many years superintendent of the ,unitarian ,sunday school1 was also one of her teachers4 ,when seventeen1 she was sent to ,mrs4 ,charles ,sedgwick's school1 in ,lenox1 ,mass4 ,a schoolmate describes her then as a quite pretty1 black-eyed girl1 of delicate physique1 a good and studious but not brilliant scholar1 very quiet and retiring1 and almost morbidly reserved4 ,the few friends she made here1 however1 were life-long1 and she corresponded with some of the ,lenox schoolmates until her death4 ,she was a perfect dancer1 says the schoolmate4 ,treasured among ,miss ,ellis's papers were found some pages of a schoolgirl's album1 marked1 ,at ,mrs4 ,sedgwick's ,school1 ,lenox1 ,mass41 ,march1 #aheb4 ,it contains verses descriptive of each pupil1 written apparently by ,mrs4 ,sedgwick4 ,the little pen-picture of the schoolgirl paints well the woman of later years4 ,,sallie ,,ellis4 ,if device for an old ,latin motto were asked1 ,no invention would need to be very much tasked2 ,for the multum in parvo you safely might stand1 ,with book1 needle1 or pen1 ever found in your hand4 ,a little1 wee body with strong1 earnest will1 ,that steadily works with the force of a mill2 ,a mind quite untiring1 whatever it do1 ,its manifold ends with good heed to pursue3 ,hands busy and strong play deftly their part1 ,and these all controlled by a good1 honest heart4 ,bright indeed looked ,sallie's future in those days4 ,a year or two more at school1 then a return to the loved mother and the beautiful home1 and a coming out into the brilliant world with all the advantages attending wealth and position4 ,but the clouds were already gathering which in coming years were to darken for her in quick succession the sunshine of earthly prosperity4 ,she was called home from school by the illness of her mother4 ,the mother died1 leaving ,sallie the oldest daughter at home1 to fill her place as best she might to five little brothers and sisters4 ,her sister says3 ,our dear mother's death was the turning-point in ,sallie's life4 ,she was so shrinking1 sensitive1 and tender by nature1 no one could fully understand her but a mother who had watched the hidden beauties of her character expand from infancy to girlhood4 ,the mother's memory was fondly cherished1 her loss deeply mourned1 all ,miss ,ellis's life4 ,over the dying bed of the worn and weary woman of fifty smiled down the radiant face of the mother1 painted when a young1 blooming girl4 ,among ,miss ,ellis's papers was found a manuscript volume of eighty-one pages of selections1 copied in her clear1 firm handwriting1 index of the spirit's strength4 ,it is headed1 ,crumbs of ,comfort for the ,afflicted4 ,the selections are from the ,bible1 sermons1 hymns1 and poems1--all breathing of religious trust and help in grief1--a beautiful and touching collection4 ,the first page reads1-- ,begun in ,nov4 #ahgj4 ,these selections are made in memory of my dear mother1 who was called away many years since1 and through whose death ,i was led to think of a higher life1--the true life of the soul4 ',oh1 ,i believe there is no away2 that no love1 no life1 goes ever from us2 it goes as ,he went1 that it may come again1 deeper and closer and surer1 and be with us always1 even unto the end of the world' 7,patience ,strong's ,outings74 ,one of the selections is an anonymous poem1 ,the ,strength of the ,lonely4 ,on one page ,miss ,ellis had written 7signed ,s4 ,e471 ,i can but believe that ,god allows a mother still to watch over and care for her family when he takes her from this world1 and in our affliction that he draws us to himself1 and to ,jesus as our guide to him1 through her spiritual influence1 just as1 while upon earth1 he permitted her to be his instrument to lead and guide us in all that is good4 ,all children too1 even the youngest1 are ,god's instruments for good1 and their ministries cease not with their earthly life4 ,the departed are with us everywhere1 through our daily duties1-- ,in the loneliest hour1 in the crowd1 they are nigh us4 ,a year or two after the mother's death ,sallie joined the ,unitarian ,church1 being baptized by ,rev4 ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore1 of whom she writes in a letter3 ,rev4 ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore was settled here from the time ,i was fourteen to twenty-one1 and he formed my religious character4 ,fitting indeed was it that he who has trained so many young men for the ministry should dedicate to ,god's service this young woman1 also destined to be his minister to many souls4 ,an old lady in the church remembers seeing ,sallie go up to be baptized1 leading a little brother by each hand1 all the little children being baptized at the same time4 ,to one of her nature1 the vows then taken were a most sacred1 real consecration of her whole self to ,god1--vows to be nobly fulfilled in the life4 ,mr4 ,livermore writes of her3-- ,during my pastorate of the ,unitarian ,church in ,cincinnati1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,rowland ,ellis were valued parishioners of mine1 and their children were all baptized by me4 ,it was a lovely group of little folks1 and the spirit of that consecration has gone largely through all their lives1 and given them1 ,i believe1 the ,christian flavor4 ,they have1 too1 been very warmly united as a family1 and in health and sickness1 in life and death1 they have borne strong testimony to the blessed anchorage of a positive religious faith4 ,they were also diligent attendants on the ,sunday school in the basement of the old church4 ,sallie's bright face and upright attitude was to be seen in her place as sure as the ,sunday came4 ,after ,i left ,cincinnati ,i saw her but seldom1 but on those occasions she always spoke of the earlier times in the church and the ,sunday school with a warmth and glow of memory that showed that they had been real points of life to her mind and character4 ,and especially after her deafness became a chastening hand laid upon her character1 and family sorrows and bereavements followed in the train1 it was plain that she found her religious trust the one thing needful4 ,within another year business reverses swept away ,mr4 ,ellis's entire fortune4 ,as he had meantime married a lady who proved a most capable and devoted mother to the younger children1 ,sallie1 released from domestic cares1 felt that she ought to do something to assist her father4 ,she was so modest1 says a friend1 ,i don't think it ever occurred to her that she could teach school4 ,but she said there was one thing she knew she could do1 and do well1 and that was1 to dance4 ,so ,miss ,sallie became a dancing-teacher1 having classes of children in their mothers' parlors4 ,another friend 7whose boys1 now stalwart men in the church1 were among ,miss ,ellis's pupils7 says of her3 ,she was a lovely dancing-teacher4 ,she not only taught the children to dance well1 but she taught them such gentle1 lovely manners4 ,indeed1 the significant thing in ,miss ,ellis's life1 to me1 was her faithfulness4 ,whatever her hand found to do1 she did1 and did well4 ,because she had been so faithful at dancing-school1 she was able to be so successful a teacher4 ,because1 when taught sewing1 she tried so hard to do her best1 she became such a beautiful sewer1 and was able to teach sewing2 for a sewing-class was another expedient of those days4 ,her father moved to ,chicago in #ahea1 where he resided three years4 ,there ,miss ,ellis attended ,mr4 ,shippen's church1 taught a ,sunday-school class1 and had a class of newsboys evenings4 ,after the return to ,cincinnati1 while ,miss ,ellis was at the sea-shore1 she began to experience a painful roaring in the ears4 ,hearing1 never quite perfect1 was soon almost totally gone4 ,the following years are little1 to outward sight1 but a record of invalidism1 of trying this or that doctor1 but still ever decreasing health and strength4 ,many dyspeptics1 from ,carlyle to lesser folk1 have felt their disease1 like charity1 a cover for a multitude of sins4 ,miss ,ellis suffered from chronic dyspepsia of aggravated type1 from catarrhal and other troubles which finally wore away the always frail thread of life in consumptive decline4#a ,footnote #a3 ,the death of two brothers1 of a dear little niece1 and of a fondly loved sister1--a woman beloved by all who knew her1 who died only about a year before ,miss ,ellis1 leaving five motherless girls--were among the trials of her maturer years4 ,but through all these hard years ,miss ,ellis was doing what she could1 and longing to do more4 ,until deafness prevented1 she always taught in ,sunday school4 ,she was a devoted attendant on all church services1 and worker in all church causes4 ,the perfection of her handiwork made it in great demand4 ,knowing now ,miss ,ellis's possibilities1 one almost grudges the ,unitarian children1 and the innumerable but beloved little nephews and nieces1 the years of ,aunt ,sallie's life that went into dainty embroidery and perfect mittens for their wearing4 ,the church fairs were always liberally aided by her willing hands4 ,indeed1 it is difficult1 without seeming exaggeration1 to express her passion of devotion to her church4 ,it was literally her life4 ,outside her family1 to which she was warmly attached1 everything centred for her there1 and for many years one of her heaviest crosses was her inability to render the service she desired to her church and denomination4 ,the portrait prefacing this book was taken in #ahga1 when ,miss ,ellis was thirty-six years old1--perhaps the saddest period in her life4 ,youth1 health1 fortune1 hearing1 dear friends1 had gone one after another4 ,the future looked dark indeed4 ,she felt within herself capacities for which there seemed no earthly opportunity4 ,the face wears a sadder expression than that characterizing it in later life1 when at last she had found her real work4#b ,footnote #b3 ,the kindness of ,mr4 ,frank ,r4 ,ellis1 of ,cincinnati1 ,miss ,ellis's youngest brother1 enables us to place the portrait in this book4 ,rev4 ,charles ,noyes was settled as ,unitarian pastor in ,cincinnati in #ahgb4 ,to him ,miss ,ellis always attributed her first missionary impulse4 ,in a letter to ,rev4 ,w4 ,c4 ,gannett1 ,july #bh1 #ahhe1 she said3-- ,yes1 it is a great source of comfort to have started the 'good seed1' and now to see so many stronger people taking up the work and doing so much better than ,i4 ,a great deal is due to dear ,mr4 ,charles ,noyes4 ,he won me by his kind heart while here1 and was so kind in lending me his manuscripts always1 and books1 that he kept me along with the religion of the day4 ,then ,mr4 ,weudte furthered the matter by putting me on the ,missionary ,committee1 and finally started me out with the ',pamphlet ,mission4' ,you know the rest4 ,in her diary was a copy of a letter written ,mr4 ,noyes on his departure from ,cincinnati1 dated ,june #bc1 #ahge1 a portion of which is here given4 ,i cannot say 'so be it' to your departure without returning thanks for the many pleasant hours you have afforded me through your manuscripts1 the books and papers you have so kindly lent me from time to time4 ,you have given me something to think about for a long time1 so ,i can do without any sermons for a while4 ,i do not expect to find so kind a pastor very soon4 ,from your first text1 ',the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon me4 ,take heed1 therefore1 how ye hear1' ,i accepted you as a teacher learning more from ,god than from man4 ,i have followed you from beginning to the end1 and ,i have worked with you and for you to the best of my ability1 my strength1 and my means4 ,would ,i had been a more efficient worker6 ,i have taken heed as to how ,i have heard4 ,you have not changed my views so much as brought out more clearly what was already in my own mind4 ,the best lesson ,i have learned from you is a firmer trust in ,god4 ,you have brought me to the ',source of all ,truth1 whence ,jesus drew his life4' ,here you leave me4 ,an essential point to have reached1 in my view2 a firm rock on which to rest1 and one that can never be taken from me4 ,some people are not satisfied with a faith so simple4 ,they need more to rest on2 as if there could be a stronger1 better support than the 'voice in the soul4' ,from loss of hearing1 the 'voice within' has spoken more clearly to me perhaps4444 ,it is a very great disappointment to me to part with you and your family1 for ,i have become very much attached to you all2 for even little ,g---- has learned to look upon me as a friend4 ,it is not every one who wins me2 and when one does1 it is all the harder to separate from him4 ,still1 we are often compelled to give up our preferences1 as ,i have learned before now4444 ,the benediction ,i ask is the one you have so often asked for us 7,mary----ears to me1 and a reliable authority73 ',may the ,heavenly ,father bless1 preserve1 and guide you all4 ,may he give you wisdom to know and strength to do his holy will forevermore4' ,mr4 ,noyes1 being asked for his recollections of ,miss ,ellis1 writes3-- ,sallie had a very true1 deep1 strong religious nature1 and a leaning to religious1 not to say theological1 studies4 ,alone in ,cincinnati when ,i first went there1 ,i was often a guest at ,mr4 ,ellis's ,sunday table4 ,sallie borrowed my sermons4 ,she liked to talk over the subject of the sermon1 and this led to my recommending to her many books for her reading1 and loaning to her what ,i had in my library4 ,she became familiar with the writings of most of our ,unitarian writers1--with ,channing1 ,clarke1 ,hedge1 ,dewey1 ,norton1 ,furness1 and many others4 ,she was no careless reader1 but a student of the writer's thought4444 ,she had great breadth of mental outlook1 and a great heart of charity and love for all4 ,she admired the diversity of opinion in our body1 and had faith in the unity of the ,spirit that would fuse us into one4444 ,if ,sallie ever expressed wonder and surprise1 it was that ,unitarianism did not grow as fast as it ought1 and that those who accepted its teachings did not identify themselves with it4 ,we had our ,mission ,school of about three hundred pupils1 and our ,sewing ,school4444 ,the time had not come for the ,pamphlet ,mission or the ,post ,office2 yet ,miss ,ellis was making the best preparation possible for her after-work1 and in due time the door of best usefulness stood wide open4 ,you know1 as we all know1 how well she filled her office4444 ,her letters were sermons1--tracts in themselves1 best adapted to her correspondents1 and1 ,i am persuaded1 did a grand work of their own4 ,she heard with difficulty1 she was not an easy talker1 but she wrote with great clearness4444 ,more than the books she sent out1 she was to many a one the blessed missionary of our faith4444 ,in her early studies the miracle question was a stumbling-block to ,sallie4 ,the old-time interpretation of miracle she could not accept2 neither could she take up with the mythical theory of ,strauss4 ,miracle must be in harmony with law4 ,jesus must be to her the natural flower of human nature1 the perfect blossom of human development4 ,nature and the supernatural must be in harmony4 ,hence the delight she took in ,dr4 ,furness's works4 ,his works helped her1 as they have so many others1 out of her difficulties about the supernatural4 ,and more than that1 they fed her religious life1 pure and simple1 and let her into the heart of ,christ4 ,she often alluded to her debt to ,dr4 ,furness1 whom she admired and loved4 ,miss ,ellis little expected or would have desired to figure as a ,unitarian saint4 ,her estimate of herself was lowly4 ,whatever her faults and limitations1 however1 they were only those natural to a strong nature driven in upon itself1 beating in vain against the stern walls that everywhere surrounded it4 ,bravely did she strive to resist what she clearly perceived to be the natural tendencies of her peculiar troubles1 and bravely did she succeed4 ,the prayers1 the tears1 the struggles of those lonely1 baffled years are known only to ,god1 and are only hinted at here and there in the diary kept during a large part of her life4 ,an unique diary it is1 showing1 as nothing else could1 the passion of religious devotion which burned in her soul4 ,each day's record1 no matter how brief1 ends with passages of ,scripture1 or sometimes a hymn1 appropriate to the day's mood or experience4 ,in reading it1 one realizes afresh the richness of the ,bible in comfort and strength4 ,the diary furnishes a complete history of the ,unitarian ,church of ,cincinnati for many years4 ,all the individual joys and sorrows of its members1 their birthdays and their death-days1 are here recorded with loving sympathy4 ,also1 a complete record of every ,sunday's service for many years is given1 with always a full abstract of the sermon1 sometimes filling several pages of fine1 close writing4 ,occasionally it happened that the minister failed to hand ,miss ,sallie his sermon after delivery1--a grievous disappointment1 almost too great to bear1 as the diary testifies4 ,each year the personal matter grows less1 the religious meditations and quotations consume more and more space1 until of the journal in the last years her sister writes3 ,it seems to have been kept mainly to give vent to her pure1 spiritual nature1 which was ever longing for some expression of itself4 ,a very few extracts are here given from the diary1--a glimpse only of the struggles and longings that unconsciously to herself were all fitting her for her work4 ,,diary4 #ahgc4 ,i have been too indolent for a few years4 ,now ,i must be up and doing1 with a heart for anything1 and remember that these clouds that overshadow us all are meant to make us look beyond for the sunshine4 ,no cross1 no crown4 ,i have a project in my head that ,i wish very much to carry out4 ,i am tired of my selfish life2 and all that reconciles me to it is1 that ,i accept it as a necessary discipline for my restless spirit1 to teach me submission1 and help me to say1 ,thy will1 not mine1 be done4 ,my idea of a true ,christian is to be working for others always1 and not thinking of self4 ,my desire is1 to start a sewing-class from the ,mission ,school1 to be kept up during the summer1 if ,i can only get the means of carrying out my plan1 and find some one who is willing to take charge of it in case ,i am not able to be there4 ,i would gladly make the sacrifice of personal comfort4 ,the sewing-class was started1 and ,miss ,ellis became one of its most devoted teachers1 though working often in great feebleness and pain4 ,feel bluer1 but ,i believe my deafness is bringing me truer faith1 and resignation4444 ,another very warm day1 but ,i have managed to get through the day cheerfully1 thinking of heavenly things4444 ,i cannot understand what makes me so ugly sometimes4 ,i pray that my evil spirit may be subdued some day4444 ,do not know of anything ,i have done to benefit others to-day1 only ,i have been cheerful4444 ,i have felt pretty well1 and this day went rightly with me1 though ,i do not know as ,i have advanced the cause of life very much4444 ,how ,i do long to live a perfectly unselfish life1 and to be a blessing to those around me1 as my life was intended for6444 ,am reading ,old ,kensington1 by ,miss ,thackeray1--a real love-story2 and it makes me sad1 as usual4444 ,still in the house1 and feel poorly4 ,feel a little dull this evening1 and on thinking over my life1 think that ,i have had more than most people of my age to endure1 and wonder that ,i keep up my spirits as well as ,i have2 and it is only that ,i feel that all is the necessary discipline for me4 ,let us but be genuine1 honest1 and true in everything1 even in the smallest thing1 and we have in that the sign and the pledge of entire consecration of heart and life to ,god 7,j4 ,f4 ,clarke74 ,be faithful unto death1 and ,i will give you a crown of life 7,rev4 ii4 #aj74444 ,gave up to a terrible fit of the blues this afternoon and evening4 ,am so tired of suffering all the time1 that ,i gave way under my cross to-day4 ,it seems as if ,i can't struggle to live longer4 ,sunday4 ,a bright day2 ,i was not able to go out1 but felt that it was good to remain at home to think over my blessings4444 ,attended ,bible-class this evening4 ,i came home in rather a despondent mood4 ,i find my cross hard to bear1 but must pray for more strength4 #ahgd4 ,sent my old ,bible to be bound to-day1 which ,i have used twenty-three years4444 ,i have felt extremely favored to-day1 in that ,i was able to attend the ,sewing ,school1 which ,i feared all the week ,i might be disappointed in4 ,we closed the school to-day1 after twenty-four weeks' work4 ,it has been time well spent1 and ,i feel particularly thankful to my heavenly ,father in having heard my prayer for health1 strength1 and good weather4 ,one strong desire of my life has been vouchsafed me1 and ,i feel overpowered with joy to-night4444 ,i have felt to-day how much ,i need the assistance of ,christ1 and may his religion help me to be victorious in the end4 ,quoting an extract from ,miss ,sedgwick's diary on the unmarried life1 which ends1 ,though not first to any1 ,i am1 like ,themistocles1 second to a great many3 my sisters are all kind and affectionate to me1 my brothers generous and invariably kind2 their children all love me1 ,miss ,ellis adds3 ,these very words ,i can repeat as my experience4444 ,if ,i can only add a few drops of happiness to his life a brother's1 ,i shall be too happy4 #ahge4 ,mr4 ,noyes called ,monday to bring me his sermon1 and it made me very resigned4 ,the text was from #b ,cor4 xii4 #aj1--,when ,i am weak1 then am ,i strong4 ,paul's thorn in the flesh was the topic of the discourse1 and several pages of extracts are copied in the journal4 ,it is one of the trials of my life not to assist in the church as ,i desire to4 ,i presume it must be because ,i neglect other duties1 and see but one thing before me1 and that is1 to give up the idol of my life1 and do the duty that is nearest to me2 but it is a sore trial to me4444 ,this has been an eventful week to me1 for last ,sunday ,mr4 ,noyes closed his ministry with us4444 ,now they have really gone1 it makes me feel rather despondent1 though ,i know they have left many blessings to me behind them4 ,i am beginning some fancy work1 in hopes of brightening my life somewhat4 ,i am not reconciled to the hardships of life4444 ,am anxious to learn wood-carving4444 ,i try to have the faith of ,jesus more than that about him4 444 ,went to see about trumpets yesterday1 and came home greatly disheartened1 and shall have to submit with a good grace to the cross4444 ,mr4 ,wendte lectures on the ,new ,testament this evening4 ,i should be glad to hear him1 but believe all is best as it is4 #ahgg4 ,we had a beautiful sermon to-day1 which ,i took especially to myself1 on ,the ,lonely ,hours of ,life4 444 ,am feeling better to-day1 and the sermon 7on ,be ,strong1 and of a ,good ,courage7 roused my better nature1 ready to go on courageously4444 ,lecture this evening on ,funeral ,customs4 ,i did not attend1 for the sermon to-day 7on ,prayer7 so exalted me that ,i didn't feel like listening to things of the world4444 ,wakened feeling disconsolate this morning1 but resolved to bear the cross of life as trustfully and cheerfully as possible1 and lay up treasures during the summer ready to give out when all return in the winter4 ,impressed two little pieces on my mind1--one by ,spitta1 in ,day unto ,day1-- ,glad with thy light and glowing with thy love1 ,so let me ever think and speak and move4 ,the other by ,whittier1-- ,lord1 help me strive 'gainst each besetting sin4 ,went to ,madame ,wendte's4 ,brought home1 ,ten ,great ,religions1 ,reason in ,religion1 and ,evolution in ,religion4 ,thus did ,miss ,ellis fortify herself for the summer vacation of the church4 ,emerson's ,society and ,solitude was another book read this vacation4 ,have not lived up to my ideal the past week1 and particularly to-day4 ,however1 may the good ,father pardon my shortcomings and aid me to do better4444 ,i feel that ,i have added something to my life for the benefit of others by the rest and reading of this summer4 ,i hope to study up ,german a little1 among my busy hours this winter4 ,i can retain so little in my head1 it is discouraging to read4 ,i must work the harder1 and believe all is for the best1 and pray1 in faith1 for patience4444 ,mr4 ,wendte's first sermon--subject1 ,after ,vacation--made me feel somewhat depressed1 for ,i feel so anxious to do for every one1 and have not the means or strength4 ,she resolves to do my little part and not discourage the minister1--do my part more by showing an interest than by the amount of work ,i do4444 ,i am miserable1 dyspeptic1 and disappointed4444 ,i have felt heartily discouraged this week in every way1 but the church did me good this morning4 ,mr4 ,noyes was succeeded as pastor at ,cincinnati by ,rev4 ,charles ,w4 ,wendte in the fall of #ahge4 ,the idea of preaching1 of carrying to others the blessed ,unitarian faith which had been her joy and strength1 now filled ,miss ,ellis's soul4 ,she discussed various schemes to this end with friends who respected her and her earnestness too much to laugh at the 7in worldly eyes7 utter absurdity of her hopes1 as futile as ,miss ,toosey's desire to go as a missionary to ,nawaub4 ,could she not go out into ,ohio villages and hold lay services1 reading the printed prayers and sermons of our ,unitarian ministers8 ,great must have been the yearning for the ministry consuming her soul1 to tempt the reserved1 feeble little woman1 with her deafness and dyspepsia1 her incessant cough1 her love of her own room and things1 her exactness and exquisite nicety of habit1 seriously to contemplate such a career4 ,yet1 but for absolute physical incapacity1 and the dissuasions 7on that account7 of her family1 she would certainly have made the experiment4 ,or might she not open a reading-room in the church1 to be kept open all the week1 where the treasures of ,unitarian literature could be dispensed8 ,even in her last years she seriously meditated going to the church every ,sunday morning during the vacation to open her library and meet those who might want books1 papers1 or advice4 ,the summer vacation was always a grief to her4 ,she wished the church might be open every day4 ,nov4 #i1 #ahgf1 a rough draft of the following letter to ,mr4 ,wendte appears in her diary3-- ,i cannot resist returning special thanks for your sermon of last ,sunday1 ',to what end is your life8' ,i do not know when a sermon has so fully aroused the will of my youth4444 ,at twenty years of age1 'the object of my toil' was to live for the earthly comfort of the family1 for the good of society in general1 so far as in my power1 at the same time keeping an eye to the higher interests of life by working in and for the church4444 ',the goal of my ambition' in middle life is to labor for the spiritual welfare of those about me2 but ,i find myself without means to assist others4444 ,my preference is decidedly to labor for the higher natures of others as well as for myself2 therefore1 remembering your kind offer in your letter to me during the summer1 ,i ask1 can you suggest anything for me to engage in1 in the spreading of ,christianity8 ,she wishes to devote the remainder of my life to the highest and best ,i know4 ,if you can put me in the way of assisting others as well as myself in the highest and holiest way1 ,i shall be ever indebted to you4 ,i shall be glad to so live that when ,i lay down my life ,i shall in some measure have returned the many kindnesses of parents1 sisters1 brothers1 and friends1 repaid the efforts of teachers and pastors in my behalf1 and proved myself a worthy child to ,him who gave me being4 ,at the end1 however1 she writes3 ,didn't send it4 ,concluded it was better to talk with him4 ,the same ideas in another form appear again in the diary as a letter to ,mr4 ,wendte4 ,one of the burdens on ,mr4 ,wendte's heart in those days was to find something for ,miss ,ellis to do4 ,partly to this end he devised ,sunday-school lessons in manuscript1 which ,miss ,ellis copied each week for all the teachers4 ,in #ahgg he appointed a ,missionary ,society with a formidable list of names1 the significant one among whom events proved to be ,miss ,sallie ,ellis1 ,treasurer1--she being1 indeed1 the society4 ,the little programme says3-- ,the object of the ,missionary ,society is to spread the knowledge and increase the influence of ,liberal religious ideas throughout the city and ,state by publications1 correspondence1 and such other means as may seem to it suitable and best4 ,during the winter of #ahgg-gh ,miss ,ellis1 aided by ,mr4 ,wendte1 distributed #a1hdf tracts and #baa ,pamphlet ,missions 7as baby ,unity was called7 in twenty-six ,states4 ,miss ,ellis was always scrupulously systematic1 methodical1 and exact in all she did1 and a huge pile of closely written blank books gives every minutia connected with the business details of her work4 ,in her diary was a copy of this letter to ,mr4 ,wendte1 dated ,feb4 #ba1 #ahgh3-- ,why not have a ',mission ,sunday' sometime soon8 ,do not announce it previously1 however2 for some might feel inclined to remain at home2 but catch as many together as possible1 and make them listen to a rousing address from you1--a report of what you have done and the letters you have received4 ,it might not be as social or interesting as a concert or something else2 but it would not hurt the people to listen to it1 and would make the missionary work more a reality to them1 and ,i believe in the end an appeal from you would bring in more money than anything else4 ,i have one request to make of you1 however2 and that is1 that you do not bring my name out in the pulpit1 unless you have occasion to mention the names of the ,missionary ,society4 ,it is merely necessary to mention you have been assisted by one of the ',missionary ,committee1' not saying ',treasurer1' man or woman4 ,i have no objection if any one asks you privately who has done the work1 to have you tell them4 ,i love to do good work1 but wish no other praise than to know that the recipient of the act has been benefited thereby4 ,i act from the mere pleasure of doing good to others and believing it to be right1 therefore deserve no credit4444 ,the winter's work has brought out the desire of younger days1 when a ,presbyterian friend used to tell me1 ',you ought to go as a missionary to ,china4' ,i then had five little brothers and sisters to help care for1 and considered that 'mission' enough4 ,since they are grown my health has been too poor to undertake anything1 but now ,i should like a work in life4 ,if ,i have a 'taste' or 'talent' for anything1 it is for the study and the spread of religion4444 ,all the family are only too kind to me1 which only makes me the more anxious to use my one talent to the utmost extent4 ,if you know of any work ,i could assist in1 in our denomination1 ,east or ,west1 ,i would be much obliged to you if you would let me know4 ,the first mentions in the journal of missionary work are ,nov4 #be1 #ahgg1 ,mr4 ,wendte came to me with missionary work to do1--five hundred tracts to distribute2 and ,dec4 #i1 #ahgg1 ,feel that ,i am doing good in lending books and papers and distributing tracts4 ,sept4 #e1 #ahhj1 while visiting her sister in ,philadelphia she opens a new volume of the journal as follows3-- ,too warm to venture to church4 ,the church in ,cincinnati opens to-day4 ,would ,i might be one of the congregation6 ,i am1 in spirit6 ,in opening this book on ,sunday ,i would dedicate it to a high use1 and open it with ascription of praise to the ,giver of all good4 ,pray for us unto the ,lord thy ,god1 444 that the ,lord thy ,god may show us the way wherein we may walk 7,jer4 xlii4 #b1 #c74 ,quicken thou me in thy way 7,psalms cxix4 #cg74 ,the following prayers are then copied3-- ,my ,father1 may ,i ever humbly follow in thy way2 may ,i ever trust1 with the full assurance of faith1 that it does lead to thy heavenly kingdom4 ,it is often narrow and perplexed1 and ,i cannot see where it is leading me2 yet1 though the guiding light of thy holy word may be half obscured by the mists of the valley1 if ,i fix my eyes steadily upon it1 it will become brighter and brighter2 ,i shall see my way clearly in this seemingly intricate road1 and discern1 even at the end of it1 the entrance to thy heavenly mansion4 ,o ,god1 may our souls be full of life4 ,save us from an inanimate and sluggish life4444 ,inspire our sensibility to good2 may we see more and more its loveliness and beauty4 ,and may all the varied experience of life draw us nearer to thee 7,channing74 ,then follows an abstract from ,channing's ,memoirs1 showing how1 by self-scrutiny1 his character was formed1 by many trials and denials4 ,she then copies eighteen pages from ,channing's ,rules for ,self-,discipline1 at the end writing1 ,all these pages from ,channing are written from memory1 not copied4 ,the second rule copied is1 ,let me not talk of pains1 sicknesses1 complaints1 etc4 ,following the rules is a poem copied from the ,christian ,register of ,sept4 #d1 #ahhj4 ,,what ,,of ,,that8 ,tired8 ,well1 what of that8 ,didst fancy life was spent on beds of ease1 ,fluttering the rose-leaves scattered by the breeze8 ,come1 rouse thee6 work while it is called day6 ,coward1 arise6 ,go forth upon thy way4 ,lonely8 ,and what of that8 ,some must be lonely2 'tis not given to all ,to feel a heart responsive rise and fall1 ,to blend another life into its own4 ,work may be done in loneliness4 ,work on6 ,dark8 ,well1 what of that8 ,didst fondly dream the sun would never set8 ,dost fear to lose thy way8 ,take courage yet6 ,learn thou to walk by faith1 and not by sight2 ,thy steps will guided be1 and guided right4 ,hard8 ,well1 what of that8 ,didst fancy life one summer holiday1 ,with lessons none to learn1 and nought but play8 ,go1 get thee to thy task6 ,conquer or die6 ,it must be learned6 ,learn it1 then1 patiently4 ,no help8 ,nay1 'tis not so6 ,though human help is far1 thy ,god is nigh2 ,who feeds the ravens1 hears his children's cry4 ,he's near thee wheresoe'er thy footsteps roam1 ,and he will guide thee1 light thee1 help thee home4 ,then follows a selection from ,emerson3-- ,the scholar must be a solitary1 laborious1 modest1 and charitable soul4 ,he must embrace solitude as a bride4 ,he must have his glees and his glooms alone4 ,go1 scholar1 cherish your soul2 expel companions2 set your habits to a life of solitude2 then will the faculties rise fair and full within1 like forest trees1 field flowers2 you will have results1 which1 when you meet your fellow men1 you can communicate and they will gladly receive4 ,it is the noble1 manly1 just thought which is the superiority demanded of you2 and not crowds1 but solitude1 confers this elevation4 ,next follows a page of ,paragraphs for ,preachers4 ,evidently this year sees the dying of the first hope to be a preacher1 and the gradual dawn of her life's real mission4 ,seven pages follow of ,prayers altered and rearranged for my own use1 from ',dairy ,praise and ,prayer4' ,three or four appropriate prayers are united in one1 headed1 ,first evening1 ,first ,morning1 ,second ,evening1 etc4 ,these were apparently prepared for the lay services she had dreamed of holding4 ,a page or two more1 and this entry1 ,october #ag1 marks the dawning of the new hope3 ,last week received a very kind letter from ,mr4 ,wendte1 in which he stated1 ',we have made you chairman of a ,book and ,tract ,table in the church2 'therefore ,i feel bound to return to attend to it4 ,further extracts from the diary are3-- ,saturday evening1 ,j---- accidentally broke my audiphone4 ,i felt lost then1 but wouldn't let them know how badly ,i felt about it1 and even went to church without it1 for fear they would feel hurt about it4 ,it came home mended1 this evening4 ,october #ca4 ,finished ,g----'s afghan1 also completed the embroidery of fourth skirt for ,mrs4 ----1 and first of baby ,c----'s mittens4 ,was quite interested in a letter of ,mrs4 ---- in ,register of last week on ,the ,woman's ,auxiliary ,conference4 ,hope she will succeed in establishing a ,woman's ,club for discussion and debate in ,cincinnati4 ,miss ,f4 ,le ,baron1 whose friendship with ,miss ,ellis dates back to the latter's residence in ,chicago1 writes that she has several letters from ,miss ,ellis setting forth her desire to preach1 but unfortunately they are in a totally inaccessible place4 ,this allusion1 in the diary1 evidently points to the final renunciation of ,miss ,ellis's first missionary impulse3-- ,november #g4 ,a letter from ,miss ,le ,baron1 of ,chicago1 in regard to my engaging in missionary work in the ,west4 ,she finally closed with the idea that ,i had come to myself4 ,in a letter from ,a---- this week she says to me1 ,our lot in life appears to be that of patience and submission1 which brings to my mind quite a sermon1 in other's words1 which ,i hope to write out to-day4 ,it is time to prepare for church4444 ,the thought suggested by ,a----'s letter with regard to submission to our lot called to mind the passage ,william ,ellery ,channing wrote to his friend ,francis4 ,you seem to go upon the supposition that our circumstances are determined by ,providence4 ,i believe they are determined by ourselves4 ,man is the artificer of his own fortunes4 ,by exertion he can enlarge his sphere of usefulness4 ,by activity he can 'multiply himself4' ,it is mind that gives him the ascendency in society2 it is mind that gives him power and ability4 ,it depends upon himself to call forth the energies of mind1 to strengthen the intellect1 to form benevolence into a habit of the soul4 ,the consequence ,i draw from these principles is that ,heaven1 by placing me in particular circumstances1 has not assigned me a determinate sphere of usefulness 7as you seem to think71 but that it is in my power1 and of course my duty1 to spread the 'beams of my light' wider into the 'night of adversity4' ,miss ,ellis continues1 apparently partly in her own words3-- ,with this idea1 then1 that we largely fashion our own lives1 that1 working with ,god1 and for him1 our lives can know no true failure1 but all things shall contribute to our soul's true success1 let us take up our cross1 and then we shall find ,the burden light1 ,the path made straight1 the way all bright1 ,our warfare cease2 ,so shall we win the crown1 ,at last our life lay down ,in perfect peace4 ,two pages more on the same topic1 of original and selected matter skilfully blended 7perhaps the whole a bit of one of the sermons never to be preached71 end with the hymn1 copied in full1-- ,i ask not wealth1 but power to take ,and use the things ,i have aright2 and ,miss ,ellis finally sums all up1 ,true submission1 then1 consists in working out our own salvation1 looking to ,god for strength wherewith to work4 ,the only entry for the next day is part of the hymn1-- ,but ,god1 through ways they have not known1 ,will lead his own4 ,november #aa she returned home4 ,november #ad4 ,attended fair1 and met many friends4 ,mr4 ,wendte kindly set me to work at a ,book and ,tract ,table1 and ,i sold two books and distributed a quantity of free matter4 ,december #e4 ,am thoroughly on the road to the ,book and ,tract ,table in the church4 ,hope it may prove a good thing1 and that ,i shall do it faithfully4 ,december #ab4 ,have been miserable all the week1 and quite sick two and a half hours ,thursday4 ,couldn't raise my head1 and had to pretty much give up all day4 ,had sociable this week1 and ,i was on hand to urge the book trade1 and hoped to have a supply to-day1 but was disappointed in it4 ,it was one of the unsatisfactory days to me1 for ,i have had such a tremendous noise in my head that ,i couldn't hear at all4 ,december #ai4 ,held a meeting at ,mrs4 ----'s on ,friday1 with regard to the ,woman's ,auxiliary ,missionary work4 ,it has been decided that ,i am to take charge of distribution of ,liberal publications1 also to canvass for the ,register4 ,had ,mr4 ,mayo to preach for us to-day4 ,i was astonished to hear how well ,i heard him1 and how natural it seemed4 ,it made my cross all the heavier in contrast4 ,the sonnet1 ,strength for the ,day1 by ,rachel ,g4 ,alsop1 is copied to close this day's record4 ,feb4 #aj1 #ahha4 ,began committing ,a ,statement of ,unitarian ,belief in ,bible ,language4 ,february #ac4 ,i have felt rather depressed this week1 and needed the church to-day1 which did do me good1 as ,i heard more of the sermon than ,i have heard for thirteen years4 ,february #bj4 ,sermon to-day on ,are ye good ,hearers8 ,i think my remark to ,mr4 ,wendte last ,sunday must have called it forth4444 ,mr4 ,wendte made the following beautiful tribute to the deaf4444 ,i heard just enough to overcome me1 and thought two or three times that ,i should break down4 ,have cried and laughed over the sermon4 ,a long extract is copied into the journal1 of which this is a portion3-- ,blindness only separates a man from ,nature1 but the loss of hearing also isolates him1 more or less1 from human companionship4 ,as a natural consequence1 the deaf are apt to lose interest in the social life around them1 and to grow discontented1 suspicious1 and morose4 ,you and ,i know beautiful examples to the contrary1--persons so patient1 brave1 and uncomplaining amidst their heavy tribulation1 so sunny of temper and full of human kindness1 that they are a constant inspiration and joy to us4 ,yet theirs is a hard struggle1 to remain true and sweet and ,christian with such fearful odds against them in the journey of life4 ,february #bg4 ,am becoming quite interested in missionary work in ,ravenna1 ,ohio4 ,we scatter seeds with careless hand1 ,and dream we ne'er shall see them more2 ,but for a thousand years ,their fruit appears1 ,in weeds that mar the land1 ,or healthful store4 ,march #ac4 ,to-day is my forty-sixth birthday1 and ,i am about ready1 or rather have resolved1 to open a ,circulating ,library in the church1 as quite a number are in favor of it4 ,we organized our ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference last ,tuesday1 of a rainy day3 ,mrs4 ,fayette ,smith1 ,president2 ,mrs4 ,alice ,williams ,brotherton1 ,vice-president2 ,fannie ,field1 ,treasurer and ,recording ,secretary2 ,miss ,ellis1 ,corresponding ,secretary2 ,executive ,committee 7with the above71 ,mrs4 ,davies ,wilson1 ,miss ,elizabeth ,d4 ,allen4 ,the foundation of the ,circulating ,library was ,miss ,ellis's own collection of religious books4 ,book lovers know what this sacrifice would have been to a less generous nature1 one less intent on helping others4 ,additions were made by gifts from individuals and authors1 and by ,miss ,ellis's occasional purchase of some book whose need she felt1 until the library now numbers over one hundred and thirty volumes4 ,these books were loaned at church1 and by mail all over the country4 ,a letter to ,rev4 ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore reveals the brisk1 happy1 and business-like ,miss ,ellis of the later years1 with her hands at last full of work for her denomination4 ,it also records the advent of her first correspondent1 ,mr4 ,julius ,woodruff4 ,,march #aj1 #ahha4 ,i have been better in health this winter than for many years1--for a severe winter is all the better for me1--and have been able to keep very busy4 ,mr4 ,wendte has made me chairman of a ,book and ,tract ,table in the church1 which has kept me very busy2 and in addition1 the ,unity ,club made me ,corresponding ,secretary of their ,sunday ,afternoon ,lecture ,committee1 which involved distributing the tickets 7one thousand7 and then collecting the money on them4444 ,in the mean time1 too1 ,i was agent here for the ,register1 had that to attend to1 besides attending to sale of books1 paying for them1 and sending new orders1 also ,unity subscribers coming in1 and hunting up members for the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 and receiving their money4 ,now1 do you not think for one who has always been more spiritually inclined1 that ,i have taken quite too much to money matters8 ,well1 in distributing ,registers through the ,state ,i have come across a very interesting1 appreciative young man of twenty-one1 in ,ravenna1 ,ohio1 and ,i have reason to think we have created quite a stir in the little town4 ,mr4 ,woodruff1 my correspondent1 writes a very good letter1 and is quite enthusiastic on the subject of ,unitarianism1 and is willing to do missionary work1 distributing widely the documents ,i send him1 and has recommended a young man1 formerly a student of theology1 an intelligent1 thinking man1 who is much interested in our views4 ,he now works on a farm and teaches school1 in order to gain an education4 ,on ,wednesday last we organized our ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 at which ,i read ,mr4 ,woodruff's letters1 and the ladies at once moved that we should propose ,meadville to our young friend1 whose name is ----4 ,i am to write and ask whether he would like to go to the college at ,meadville1 and in the mean time am to find out through you the conditions on which he could be admitted4 ,i should be only too happy if ,i prove the means of assisting one young man to the ministry1 and shall feel that all these many years of interest in the church have not been lost1 if we only succeed in doing this much good4 ,besides all this other work1 ,i find the ladies are much in favor of a ,circulating ,library in the church1 so ,i am going to found my library soon4 ,the journal1 ,march #bj1 shows the indomitable will that ruled the feeble body3-- ,yesterday ,saturday ,i was at the church all day to get the library in order4 ,was taken with vertigo1 and for over an hour and a half couldn't walk straight4 ,j---- ,s---- happened to be at the church at choir-meeting1 and brought me home4 ,by bedtime could walk alone1 and to-day have been attending to duties at church4 ,succeeded in getting the ,library settled to my satisfaction1 and was glad there was no one there4 ,opened my library ,march #ai4 ,mr4 ,w----announced me ,miss ,sarah ,ellis in the papers4 ,march #bh4 ,have felt quite encouraged this week by applications for documents4 ,have just mailed to ,rev4 ----1 ,statement of ,unitarian ,belief in ,bible ,language4 ,this applicant is now in a ,unitarian pulpit4 ,april #c4 ,a beautiful sermon in ,register to-day--,life's ,shadows--by ,rev4 ,j4 ,ll4 ,jones4 ,she copies two pages4 ,may #a4 ,feel deeply interested in a correspondent we have in ,springfield1 444 who confesses himself something of an atheist1 and ,i am hunting up all the convincing articles upon the subject of ,god and ,immortality that ,i can find1 and came across a ,unitarian ,review1 of ,june1 #ahgf1 which seems to have been written for his very case4444 ,hope these will be convincing to the ,springfield ,club1 which was formed last ,sunday1 with ten members to begin with4 ,june #b4 ,am now quite interested in trying to manage it so as to keep the church open two hours ,sundays during the vacation1 for persons to come and read and take home books4 ,hope ,i may succeed4 ,june #ab4 ,have felt tired to-day1 but enjoyed the day1 for ,mr4 ,wendte and mother dined here4 ,he tells me ,i may run the church during the vacation1 which will make me very happy4 ,june #bi4 ,the hottest day of the month for ten years1 and the hottest of the season so far4 ,intense4 ,one hundred in the shade at noon4 ,have been reading ,w4 ,r4 ,alger's ,school of ,life1 from which the following abstract4444 ,then follow three pages of the abstract1 in a close1 minute handwriting1 ending this volume of the journal1--the last submitted to the writer's inspection1 because1 as has been previously said1 there was almost no personal matter in the diaries of the remaining years4 ,miss ,ellis's ardent desire to keep the church open during the summer vacation had to be abandoned1 owing to the reluctance of her family to have one so feeble at the church alone2 and she went ,saturday afternoons instead1 when the sexton was there4 ,the ,cincinnati branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 on its organization in ,march1 #ahha1 looking about for work to do1 remembered occasional letters received by ,mr4 ,wendte in response to the documents sent out by him and ,miss ,ellis4 ,these letters seemed to hint at a possible opportunity awaiting this ,unitarian church1 standing so isolated in the heart of the great rich ,west1 where the multitude of ,ingersoll and ,liberal clubs1 and of intelligent people outside all churches1 seemed to indicate a want that the evangelical denominations did not meet4 ,it was therefore resolved to attempt extending the work begun by ,mr4 ,wendte1 by advertising in the daily papers ,unitarian literature for free distribution1--an experiment never before tried4 ,miss ,ellis entered upon her duties as ,corresponding ,secretary without money and without price 7though later a small annual salary of one hundred dollars was raised for her71 but with an immense zeal4 ,the advertisement's line or two of fine print1 almost lost1 apparently1 on the broad side of the daily paper1 inserted only once a week1 nevertheless soon began to bring ,miss ,ellis letters that equally surprised and delighted us1 showing that we had not over-estimated the demand for ,unitarian literature in the ,west4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,ll4 ,jones being in ,cincinnati1 the first bundle of letters was read to him1 and his opinion1 as an experienced ,western missionary1 anxiously awaited4 ,it was given in these words3-- ,i think you ,cincinnati women have got hold of the little end of a big thing1 and if ,miss ,ellis's health and your enthusiasm hold out1 something is bound to come of it4 ,go on1 by all means4 ,he added1 ,i wish ,i knew that ,miss ,ellis had ten years more to live4 ,four years and a half1 however1 was the short term of service allowed her in her mission1 found at last after years of longing and groping towards it vainly4 ,but now it was seen that all these years of suffering had not been in vain4 ,she who had endured so much was quick to sympathize with others4 ,the religious studies undertaken for her own consolation enabled her wisely to direct the reading of her correspondents4 ,even her deafness seemed specially to fit her for her work4 ,shut apart from the din and bustle of modern life in a quiet world of her own1 from its peaceful communings she sent out light and strength to others4 ,the poor1 denied life1 like a plant severely pruned by the careful gardener to insure a late1 full bloom1 now reached out and touched many lives with a wonderful uplifting power4 ,her records of this four and a half years' work show that she received #a1fgb letters and postals1 wrote #b1eda1 distributed at church and by mail #bb1jdb tracts1 papers1 etc42 sold #bhf books1 loaned #beh books1 and obtained about sixty subscribers to religious papers4#c ,mere figures1 however1 but poorly tell the story4 ,several young men have entered or will enter the ministry1 as one result of her efforts4 ,many souls wrestling in utter loneliness with doubts they dared not confide to their nearest friends1 received1 from her wise sympathy and counsel1 restoration to religious faith1 and strength to bear heavy burdens with renewed courage1 animated by trust in a loving ,father hitherto concealed from them behind the outgrown phraseology of antiquated creeds1--creeds which their reason rejected4 ,many1 indeed most of these correspondents1 overjoyed with their new faith1 hastened to share it with friends1 and many a little missionary centre began to grow in localities far from any ,unitarian church1 fostered by people who had never heard a ,unitarian sermon4 ,so the ground was being prepared for the ,state missionary4 ,her work1 too1 opened the eyes of her denomination to its opportunities1 and did much to promote that missionary activity in which lies our brightest hope for the future4 ,she is the acknowledged pioneer of the ,post ,office ,mission4 ,footnote #c3 ,besides this1 much reading matter was sent to the ,city ,workhouse1 to the ,old ,men and ,women's ,home1 and other institutions4 ,as her work began to attract attention1 many letters came from those desiring to undertake like work1 both ,east and ,west1 asking advice1 full and explicit accounts of her methods1 etc42 and many long letters were written in reply4 ,a ,unitarian ,club formed among the soldiers in the ,columbus barracks was one of her interests1 until its dissolution by the ordering of its members to other posts4 ,she supplied much reading matter to1 and corresponded occasionally with1 soldiers at the ,dayton ,soldiers' ,home4 ,a soldier in ,wyoming ,territory was for a long time a most grateful recipient of reading from her1 which he shared with his company4 ,small clubs in several localities were supplied by her with matter for discussion and study during their existence4 ,wherever she had two or three correspondents1 she always urged the formation of reading or ,unity clubs4 ,for some months she had an interesting correspondence with a young man of more than usual intelligence in our ,city ,workhouse1 loaning him such books as ,channing's ,life and ,works1 ,dewey's ,human ,nature1 and ,merriam's ,way of ,life4 ,she never heard from him after he left the workhouse1 but always had faith that he was somewhere living up to1 or towards1 the good resolves so often expressed to her4 ,through him1 and ,mr4 ,beach1 of ,joliet1 ,ill41 our attention was called to the need of supplying prisoners with good reading matter1 both religious and secular4 ,correspondence was opened with the warden and chaplain at the ,state ,penitentiary1 ,frankfort1 ,ky41 which led to the sending of their ,registers there regularly by two ,boston ladies1 and eventually to the sending of many barrels of reading matter both to ,joliet and ,kentucky by the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference of ,boston4 ,a great pleasure of her last years was attending the ,western ,conference at ,chicago in ,may1 #ahhc4 ,published accounts of her work had made her well known in the denomination2 so that1 as the ,cincinnati party reported on their return home1 ,miss ,ellis was decidedly the belle of the ,conference4 ,every one wanted to see and talk with her1 ask her advice1 etc4 ,it was an immense satisfaction to her to meet personally1 to see and hear 7for she almost seemed to hear through the eager eyes71 men and women whose fame and writings were so familiar to her4 ,every session of the ,conference saw ,miss ,ellis seated in the front pew1 audiphone in hand1 eagerly intent on the exercises4 ,social beguilements might make other people late at the morning devotions1 but never ,miss ,ellis1 who took her conferences1 like all else1 conscientiously4 ,in ,may1 #ahhe1 she again attended the ,western ,conference at ,st4 ,louis1 though in great feebleness of body4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,c4 ,gannett1 in ,unity1 thus speaks of her3-- ,a last summer's letter from the little mother of the ,post ,office ,mission1 who has just died in ,cincinnati1 will be of interest now4 ,some who were present at the last ,may ,conference in ,st4 ,louis may remember the pathos of the quiet figure sitting in the front pews and trying on her echo-fan to catch the patter of the words said round her4 ,the wee1 sick1 deafened body in which she did her work so strong-heartedly makes that work all the more an example and an inspiration4 ,strange enough should it prove that this bit of a lady1 almost caged from the world by cripplings1 had opened the most effective channel yet made for carrying our liberal faith to the world4 ,perhaps it takes a thorn in the flesh to make a missionary4 ,she certainly has done more than many a stout son of the ,gospel to keep her name remembered in our ,western churches4 ,this letter hints her pluck and her joy in the work1 and the struggle of it4 ,she had been urged to go into the country for a short rest1 but replied3-- ,the country is not the place for me to stay in any time4 ,the morning and evening air keep my head roaring so1 and increase catarrh4 ,i have learned that to stay home during the summer1 make no special effort1 and work on slowly1 is the better plan4 ,if ,i go away1 there is constantly an effort over something4 ,i return tired1 work has accumulated4 ,i have to work doubly hard1 and soon use up the little gained4 ,i am too weak in summer to wish to come in contact with people to whom ,i have to be agreeable4 ,another difficulty1--the country is too quiet for me4 ,i am inclined to be a hermit1 and when ,i do go out1 which ,i do daily1 even now ,i am so sick1 ,i need the stir1 bustle1 commotion1 and the stores to change the thoughts4 ,i loved the country before ,i was so deaf1--now city life is better for me2 but ,i love to refresh myself by a ride into the country in the street cars1 where ,i can study human nature on the way4444 ,i work on principle1 and for the real love of working4 ,i am not happy unless at work1 and can't bear to tear myself away from my little congregation1 my papers1 books1 etc4 ,they suffer for it4 ,the family do not wish me to keep so busy1 but ,i am better for it1 and my physician is on my side4 ,keep up6 ,the next few sentences have already been given1 in reference to ,mr4 ,noyes4 ,don't give me undue credit for my appearance at the ,st4 ,louis ,conference4 ,i tried to kill three birds with one stone 7,i don't wear bird's wings in my hat1 however71--to attend the ,conference1 visit a brother1 and gain strength4 ,the last ,i failed in4444 ,i have written this long letter in two sittings4 ,i have improved decidedly within the past few days1 and with pleasant rides and good food and care shall soon be better4 ,most sincerely and cordially your friend1 ,,sallie ,,ellis4 ,,cincinnati1 ,july #bh1ahhe4 ,strangely enough1 one's first thought of ,miss ,ellis was never as an invalid4 ,she so ignored the poor1 weak body that she made you forget it too4 ,she was always so alive1 so full of interest and joy in her work4 ,with what delight would she say1 ,this new tract is exactly the thing to send ----1 or announce1 such a good letter from ----4 ,even during the last months1 when the ravages of disease could no longer be concealed1 she would not be sick4 ,she set aside your sympathy4 ,she was always better1 only my limbs are so weak to-day1 or my breath is so short1 or it always makes me cough to walk1 as if these were mere casual incidents quite unworthy of notice4 ,the last of her life1 it was pitiful to see her still clinging to her work1 still persisting in caring for her own room1 declining all offers of help4 ,she often rose at five o'clock ,sundays1 because obliged by weakness to work slowly1 that she might reach church early1 to prepare her ,tract ,table before the congregation arrived4 ,when no longer able to remain to the services1 she still came and ministered to her own special congregation at the ,tract ,table1 though obliged by weakness to sit4 ,when she no longer had strength to arrange her hair1 she quietly cut it off4 ,but she went on with her work4 ,to one offering help she said1 ,when ,i cannot do my work1 ,i don't want to live4 ,again1 she said1 ,there are many who need me1 and they keep me alive4 ,to the last she declined being considered an invalid1--did not wish any one to walk out with her1 although the family were very uneasy to have one so weak and so deaf on the street alone4 ,she walked out every day1 until the last time she was forced to lean against the door-post and gain breath and strength to take the final step up into the house4 ,all this time she was writing letters of cheer and strength1 seldom intimating that all was not well with her4 ,when finally obliged to keep her bed1 she faded away rapidly1 only living about two weeks4 ,the last postal card to a correspondent was begun in bed1 in a trembling hand1 ending abruptly1 ,too sick to write1 and it was finished for her4 ,although at times she had a little of the consumptive's feeling that she might possibly rally1 and even recover strength to work again1 yet she perceived1 as she said to her mother1 that the sands are running out fast1 and made all her preparations for death in the quiet spirit of one merely going on a journey into a familiar country4 ,one who watched with her one of the last nights spoke of a beautiful prayer she offered in the middle of the night4 ,she was unable to turn herself in bed1 and said to this friend with a smile1 ,this body wants turning so4 ,poor body6 not much longer had she to endure its weaknesses4 ,her religion was too habitual1 too much a part of her very soul1 for many outward words or professions4 ,it was her life1 her self4 ,why should she talk about it8 ,mr4 ,thayer had always given her a list of the hymns and the full order of service1 and the sermon to read4 ,the ,sunday before her death the sermon was returned1 with the message that ,miss ,ellis was unable to read it1 but had asked her mother to copy the text for her4 ,a week before her death a friend1 finding that in her excessive conscientiousness she was letting business details of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference trouble her lest she should forget some item1 went over all the books1 wrote business letters1 and settled accounts1 at her dictation4 ,speaking of her work1 she expressed faith that ,god will raise up some one to do it4 ,she said earnestly1 ,i have always wanted to do something for my denomination4 ,it had evidently been a little of a struggle for her to leave the work she loved1 just as it began to be so successful in many places1 to die and be forgotten4 ,in her modesty1 she had no foregleam of the afterglow of praise and public testimony to her worth that was to follow the setting of her sun4 ,speaking once1 near the end1 with great pleasure1 of ,mrs4 ,paine's successful work in ,newport and ,new ,york1 she added1 sadly1 ,they must increase1 but ,i must decrease4 ,but at last she was ready not to do1 able to give all up and repose in perfect peace upon the ,father4 ,she had always thought much of ,christmas1 always remembered her friends' birthdays4 ,her skilful fingers and untiring industry made the slender means go a long way in devising innumerable tasteful presents on these days for a large circle of friends4 ,she loved children1 and loved to make them happy1 and her little friends were always remembered4 ,this year1 a day or two before ,christmas1 when so weak that only by the closest attention could the feeble1 broken utterance be understood1 she directed ,christmas gifts1 prepared long before1 sent to all her friends4 ,to one whom she knew needed it1 went ,daily ,strength for ,daily ,needs2 to one1 a teacher1 the little ,seed ,thoughts from ,browning4 ,i thought it might help her in her work1 tell her4 ,even her washerwoman and her little girl1 and the postman1--he has brought me a great many letters1 she said1--were not forgotten4 ,a friend took her a ,christmas card sent by a little girl4 ,her feeble vision could barely discern the design4 ,birds and flowers1 she said2 what could be more beautiful8 ,it cheers me so4 ,yet ,i hardly need that4 ,i am very happy and cheerful4 ,i feel that everything is right4 ,afterwards she spoke of the ,happy1 happy ,christmas-tide1 saying1 ,we must try to make it bright for the young4 ,to the last1 her thoughts were of others4 ,having closed all her earthly affairs1 she lay awaiting the end in great peace4 ,sunday1 ,dec4 #bg1 #ahhe1 in the evening of the peaceful day she always loved1 just as her little clock was striking seven1 she passed gently away in sleep4 ,well may we believe that hers was a joyful wakening into a bright ,new ,year4 ,her funeral was attended in the ,unitarian ,church1 ,december #cj1--;a service of rare beauty and appropriateness4 ,a thoughtful friend had covered the ,tract ,table in the vestibule with moss1 ferns1 and flowers1 among which were placed a few tracts4 ,in the church1 wreathed with ,christmas evergreens1 a large concourse of friends assembled4 ,to the strains of the ,beethoven ,funeral ,march1 the coffin1 nearly concealed beneath emblematic palm branches and lilies1 was borne by the brothers whose loving-kindness had brightened all the life now ended1 to its resting-place beneath the pulpit1 close to the front seat where1 for so many years1 ,miss ,ellis's familiar form had never been missing4 ,the choir1 composed of young friends of hers in the church1 sang the first three verses of ,nearer1 my ,god1 to ,thee1 and ,whittier's appropriate hymn1 ,another hand is beckoning us4 ,from the text1 ,she is not dead1 but sleepeth1 ,rev4 ,george ,a4 ,thayer paid a just and beautiful tribute to the spirit passed from our midst4 ,to few1 he said1 could these words of ,jesus be so fittingly applied4 ,though seemingly dead1 she would live in ever-increasing power in the influence she had exerted over other lives4 ,if1 from cities and villages far away1 from lonely farm-houses1 all could to-day be assembled within these walls who had received help and strength from her1 large indeed would be the concourse4 ,more truly of her than of most might it be said that she had joined the choir invisible ,of those immortal dead who live again ,in minds made better by their presence4 ,it would be well could we all imitate her example in cultivating a love of religious reading1 and that habit of religious meditation and communion which was the source of her strength4 ,her leading characteristic was conscience1 an all-dominating power of conscience4 ,whatever she felt it her duty to do1 that she did1 at all costs4 ,he closed by reading ,bryant's ,,the ,,conqueror',s ,,grave4 ,within this lowly grave a ,conqueror lies1 ,and yet the monument proclaims it not1 ,nor round the sleeper's name hath chisel wrought ,the emblems of a fame that never dies1-- ,ivy and amaranth1 in a graceful sheaf1 ,twined with the laurel's fair1 imperial leaf4 ,a simple name alone1 ,to the great world unknown1 ,is graven here1 and wild-flowers1 rising round1 ,meek meadow-sweet and violets of the ground1 ,lean lovingly against the humble stone4 ,here1 in the quiet earth1 they laid apart ,no man of iron mould and bloody hands1 ,who sought to wreak upon the cowering lands ,the passions that consumed his restless heart2 ,but one of tender spirit and delicate frame1 ,gentlest in mien and mind1 ,of gentle womankind ,timidly shrinking from the breath of blame3 ,one in whose eyes the smile of kindness made ,its haunt1 like flowers by sunny brooks in ,may1 ,yet1 at the thought of others' pain1 a shade ,of sweeter sadness chased the smile away4 ,nor deem that when the hand that moulders here ,was raised in menace1 realms were chilled with fear ,and armies mustered at the sign1 as when ,clouds rise on clouds before the rainy ,east-- ,gray captains leading bands of veteran men ,and fiery youths to be the vulture's feast4 ,not thus were waged the mighty wars that gave ,the victory to her who fills this grave4 ,alone her task was wrought1 ,alone the battle fought2 ,through that long strife her constant hope was stayed ,on ,god alone1 nor looked for other aid4 ,she met the hosts of sorrow with a look ,that altered not beneath the frown they wore1 ,and soon the lowering brood were tamed1 and took1 ,meekly1 her gentle rule1 and frowned no more4 ,her soft hand put aside the assaults of wrath1 ,and calmly broke in twain ,the fiery shafts of pain1 ,and rent the nets of passion from her path4 ,by that victorious hand despair was slain2 ,with love she vanquished hate1 and overcame ,evil with good1 in her ,great ,master's name4 ,her glory is not of this shadowy state1 ,glory that with the fleeting season dies2 ,but when she entered at the sapphire gate1 ,what joy was radiant in celestial eyes6 ,how ,heaven's bright depths with sounding welcomes rung1 ,and flowers of ,heaven by shining hands were flung6 ,and ,he who1 long before1 ,pain1 scorn1 and sorrow bore1 ,the ,mighty ,sufferer1 with aspect sweet1 ,smiled on the timid stranger from his seat2 ,he who returning1 glorious1 from the grave1 ,dragged ,death1 disarmed1 in chains1 a crouching slave4 ,see1 as ,i linger here1 the sun grows low2 ,cool airs are murmuring that the night is near4 ,o gentle sleeper1 from thy grave ,i go ,consoled though sad1 in hope and yet in fear4 ,brief is the time1 ,i know1 ,the warfare scarce begun1-- ,yet all may win the triumphs thou hast won4 ,still flows the fount whose waters strengthened thee1 ,the victors' names are yet too few to fill ,heaven's mighty roll2 the glorious armory1 ,that ministered to thee1 is open still4 ,on the pleasant slope of a lovely hillside in ,spring ,grove1 where everything around breathes of ,nature's peace and repose1 among graves very dear to her1 the worn body was laid to rest1 while the gentle winter rain fell not unkindly into the open grave4 ,much seemed to have gone out of the world when the echoing clods covered that which was ,miss ,ellis4 ,the ,sunday after her death1 as some of her friends were sadly trying to replace the tracts in the table drawer just as she would have liked them arranged1 a white dove flew down and rested on the window-sill outside4 ,only a coincidence1 but one that touched us1 nevertheless4 ,if the spirits of the departed ever revisit earth1 surely ,miss ,ellis would return to the church she loved so much2 and possibly it is not wholly fancy that still feels her in her old-time seat under the pulpit4 ,as soon as possible after ,miss ,ellis's death the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference of ,cincinnati prepared a four-page leaflet1 containing a brief sketch of her life and death1 and sent it to all her correspondents1 many of whom were ignorant that she was even in ill health4 ,the little memorial's first page reads3-- ,in ,memoriam4 ,,sallie ,,ellis4 ,,december #bg1 #ahhe4 ,so many worlds1 so much to do1 ,so little done1 such things to be1 ,how know ,i what had need of thee1 ,for thou wert strong as thou wert true4 ,,tennyson4 ,it reprinted from ,unity1 ,jan4 #i1 #ahhf1 this tender tribute from a personal friend and a member of the ,women's ,auxiliary3-- ,,sallie ,,ellis4 ,she only did what lay at hand1-- ,work that her own hand found to do3 ,with no thought of a mission grand1 ,yet1 bit by bit1 her mission grew4 ,she did--what others left undone2 ,she gleaned behind the harvesters3 ,the scattered ears of grain let stand ,by careless ones1--all these were hers4 ,patient1 unresting1 still she wrought1 ,though life beat fainter and more faint3 ,and only as her soul took flight1 ,we saw--the aureole of the ,saint4 ,,alice ,,williams ,,brotherton4 ,,cincinnati1 ,,ohio4 ,the memorial closed as follows3-- ,at the regular monthly meeting of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference of ,cincinnati1 ,jan4 #ab1 #ahhf1 the programme for this meeting was omitted1 and the afternoon devoted to tender recollection of the dear friend and valued secretary so recently taken from us1 to the reading of many letters from ,east and ,west containing loving tribute to her worth and sympathy for our loss1 and to devising such plans for continuing our work in future as should be our friend's best commemoration1 the tribute she would chiefly have desired4 ,mrs4 ,george ,a4 ,thayer offered the following expression of the feeling of our ,society1 for entry on our records3-- ',it is fitting that we should place upon the records of this ,association some words of grateful remembrance of our late fellow-worker and ,secretary1 ,sallie ,ellis1 who went up higher on ,sunday1 ,dec4 #bg1 #ahhe4 ',she was called to her office four years and a half ago1 and took up its work from the beginning as one who felt its consecration1 and saw the opportunity it offered of being a ministry of the highest things to many souls yearning for a word of religion both reasonable and spiritual4 ',her long and loving study of ,unitarian principles gave her a rare fitness for teaching others the thought of our church4 ,her personal faith in the deep things of ,god enabled her to speak ever the needed word to inquirers of the religion of our church4 ,and her sacred sense of duty1 not only illustrated in every act of her life1 but shining always through her written words1 made her an admirable exemplar of the moral quality of our church4 ,so she was all that we could ask as our missionary leader1 for she not only taught the stranger from afar of the surpassing beauty and greatness of our ,liberal ,christianity1 but she quickened in us at home new love for its truths1 and a deeper sense of our privilege and obligations in being of its disciples4 ',in her life she guided and inspired us1 and being dead she abides with us1 ever a constant presence1 to make us humble that we do so little for our great work1 and to stir in us desire to be more faithful to our task in the ,master's vineyard4' ,the following extract from a letter of directions left by ,miss ,ellis in the event of her death was then read3-- ',all the books in the loan library ,i bequeath to the use of the church1 and when not so used1 my family shall have the disposal of them4' ,this library comprises over one hundred and thirty religious books1 chiefly by ,unitarian authors4 ,it was voted that this library 'shall always be known as ,the ,sallie ,ellis ,loan ,library4' ,mrs4 ,m4 ,e4 ,hunert1 #agg ,betts ,street1 ,cincinnati1 was appointed ,corresponding ,secretary4 ,all communications may hereafter be addressed to her4 ,she will continue the free distribution of ,unitarian papers1 tracts1 and sermons1 to any names furnished her of persons desiring them4 ,she will also receive subscriptions for ,unitarian publications and sell books1 when desired1 and will loan the books of the ,sallie ,ellis ,loan ,library1 the borrower paying the postage only4 ,it is earnestly wished to continue ,miss ,ellis's work in her spirit1 and it is hoped correspondents and friends will co-operate with us in this effort4 ,though saddened and greatly bereft1 the ,cincinnati ,auxiliary would still strive to 'look forward and not back1' working on in the spirit of ,whittier's poem1 ,,our ,,saints4 ,from the eternal silence rounding ,all unsure and starlight here1 ,voices of our lost ones sounding1 ,bid us be of heart and cheer1 ,through the silence1 down the spaces1 ,falling on the inward ear4 ,let us draw their mantles o'er us1 ,which have fallen in our way3 ,let us do the work before us ,calmly1 bravely1 while we may1 ,ere the long night-silence cometh1 ,and with us it is not day6 ,the ,in ,memoriam called out letters of deep regret--the regret of those who mourn a personal friend--from every correspondent4 ,a few of these letters appear in the correspondence1 selected from many of similar tenor4 ,,correspondence4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the letters of ,miss ,ellis's correspondents here given are selected from an immense number of like purport and interest4 ,she had kept all the significant letters neatly filed in bundles1 each correspondent by himself4 ,it has been a disappointment to receive so few1 comparatively1 of her own letters4 ,our busy age is not given to saving its letters4 ,it is therefore all the more touching to know that so many of her correspondents have treasured even every postal card from her hand4 ,her letters given here1 however1 well illustrate her spirit and ideas on many topics1 also her method of work1 and reveal something of the secret of her success4 ,literary style and fine effects were the last things aimed at in her letters4 ,their characteristics are plainness1 directness1 intense earnestness to convince and impress1 and a warm sympathy with people of all kinds and degrees4 ,strongly conservative in her own theology1 she yet did not set up her views as a fixed standard for others1 or assume to hold all truth4 ,some of her warmest friends were among our younger1 more radical ministers1 whose purity and sincerity of life and faith quite offset in her eyes their theological vagaries4 ,the letters first given are to fellow-workers who had asked about her methods1 materials1 etc4 ,in an article which ,mr4 ,gannett had asked her to write1 and which appeared in ,unity1 ,march #a1 #ahhd1 she wrote3-- ,we keep a standing weekly advertisement in two of our chief daily papers1--those which have the widest circulation1 one ,saturday morning1 and the other ,sunday1 under the head of ',religious ,notices4' ,one of these papers advertises free for us4#d ,footnote #d3 ,the advertisement read thus3 ,unitarian papers1 tracts1 etc41 sent free to any one addressing ,miss ,sallie ,ellis1 ,auburn ,ave4 ,on receiving an application we respond1 being guided somewhat by the style and character of the application1 by sending one or two tracts1 with a copy of the ',christian ,register' or ',unity4' ,many people of the church1 after reading their religious papers1 handed them to ,miss ,ellis for distribution4 ,after sending the papers and various tracts for several weeks1 we write a postal of inquiry as to whether ,unitarian literature is satisfactory2 and if the person cares to subscribe to either of the papers1 which he or she prefers2 which tracts have given the most satisfaction2 and whether they care to borrow any books by mail1 paying the postage on them4 ,frequently we receive no reply in which case the name was dropped1 but mostly the answer is gratifying4 ,if the person cannot subscribe for the papers1 but enjoys them1 we continue to send them4444 ,in sending tracts1 we begin with ',unitarian ,principles and ,doctrines1' by ,rev4 ,c4 ,a4 ,brigham1 the ',new ,hampshire ,statement of ,belief1' and ',what ,do ,unitarians ,believe8' by ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte1--because we wish to show what our faith has grown from1 and what it is now4 ,these we think fairly represent the denomination2 and we have found that they all give general satisfaction4 ,next1 ',why ,am ,i a ,unitarian8' by ,james ,f4 ,clarke1 ,d4,d41 which is also well liked1 and ',discourse on ,distinguishing ,opinions of ,unitarians1' by ,william ,e4 ,channing1 ,d4,d41 as creating a thirst for his ',works4' ,then we branch off from this into whatever we think best4444 ,promptness in replying and regularity in sending papers1 etc41 will do more towards showing our deep interest in the work1 and bring the individual seeking into vital connection with the church sending the literature4 ,a little at a time frequently1 to insure careful and thorough reading4 ,recommend books extensively4444 ,we believe in loaning the books of the early ministers of our denomination as a good stepping-stone to the ,unitarianism now taught in our pulpits4 ,in a letter to ,miss ,f4 ,l4 ,roberts1 of ,chicago1 then ,secretary of ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conference1 ,march #ad1 #ahhd1 she wrote3-- ,i agree with you that no one tract or sermon will satisfy the questions of inquirers4 ,they have to 'grow into the light1' as we all have done and still are doing4 ,did any one thing settle our doubts or questionings8 ,i think not4 ',what is our aim in the ,post ,office ,mission ,work8' ,it occurs to me it should be to give inquirers the fairest statement of our teachings1 from ,channing up to the present time4 ,not the thought of any one man or woman1 but that of the greatest number of our best minds in the several eras of our denomination4 ,in many cases 444 people have not the slightest idea what ,unitarianism is1 farther than that we do not believe ,christ was ,god4 ,they not only do not know what we believe1 but think us a kind of 'outcasts4' ,it almost seems like being in the ,dark ,ages of the world to hear of such ignorance as we know exists with regard to our doctrines4 ,therefore we are talking1 as it were1 to children4 ,let us then begin at first principles1 and send fair1 clear statements4 ,after alluding to several of her correspondents who were thinking of entering the ,unitarian ministry1 she adds3-- ,it seems to me the ,a4 ,u4 ,a4 tracts1 and the books1 papers1 etc41 sent with them1 have produced good results2 have made deep1 earnest thinkers4 ,it is through these very things our own ministers have been made to think1 and they have gone beyond these same things2 and so will our correspondents in time4 ,but at present few of them have access to books1 or come in contact with people who can converse on all these points with them2 therefore it is well to intersperse with our tracts on doctrines1 good practical sermons1 and the newer tracts occasionally1 leading them up gradually to ,unitarian ideas1 and showing them especially that while we have doctrines in our church1 character is the most important to us4 ,there is no one book that has done more effective work than ,rev4 ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke's ',orthodoxy1' etc41 which proves that we need good1 clear1 strong doctrine4 ,the ,post ,office ,mission1 she adds is only a larger church1 and we want to bring these people into vital connection with us1--making not ,unitarians of them1 or merely intellectual men and women1 but practical ,christians working with us and for humanity4 ,rev4 ---- is the prophet of his age4 ,we shall all grow up to his ideal some day1 and bring our ,post ,office ,mission members with us4 ,hope he will be willing to wait4 ',it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait' 7,lam4 iii4 #bf74 ,a bit from another letter to ,miss ,roberts is interesting as showing the untiring industry which enabled ,miss ,ellis to accomplish so much3-- 444 ,next week we hold our fair1 and ,i shall be very busy all the week4 ,have had so many orders for mittens1 that ,i am a perfect knitting machine4 ,i can knit and read1 however1 and therefore have looked over many sermons for distribution in the mean time4 ,am tired1 and thankful for the blessed ,saturday night followed by the quiet of ,sunday4 ,in answer to a letter of inquiry from ,miss ,f4 ,le ,baron when that lady first entered on her work as ,secretary of the ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conference at ,chicago1 ,dec4 #b1 #ahhd1 ,miss ,ellis wrote3-- ',how much time do you give to all this work8' ,doing it at home1 ,i cannot calculate exactly1 for there are many moments thrown in that ,i cannot well count2 but this much ,i can say4 ,i begin about #i ,a4,m4 ,monday to collect my materials about me1 and usually by dinner-time 7#a ,p4 ,m47 ,i have put away all papers1 etc41 and have ready my week's papers1 etc41 for the postman to take4 ,nearly every evening ,i write an hour or more1 excepting ,sunday1 when ,i won't write business letters4 ,this is all the work ,i can calculate2 but there are many moments spent reading my letters1 assorting papers1 tying up books1 setting down items1 making purchases1 etc41 besides the time spent ,sunday and on ,wednesday at the church1 over the library1 etc4 ,however1 ,i am very systematic in everything1 and accomplish more in that way4444 ,of course1 new applicants ,i reply to at once2 but every new applicant is then added to my ,monday list4 ,being at an office1 you have more interruptions2 and then deafness has its reward1 and one can pursue her work in peace many times1 whereas another would be disturbed4 ,in answer to another letter from ,miss ,le ,baron1 full of warm congratulations on her success1 she writes1 ,dec4 #aa1 #ahhd3-- ,i am very much obliged for your high opinion of me4 ,i read it to a dear friend1 who always sends me to the ,conference at ,chicago1 and she said1 ',it's all true1 but ,i hope you won't get so far above me in the next world4' ,i never have stopped to 'understand' what ,i am doing1 or the 'name' ,i am making4 ,to do the good comes from my heart1 and ,i leave the results to the ,good ,father1 and know if ,i merit a reward it will be given me4 ,it is a pleasure in this world1 to feel ,i am giving satisfaction to so many in the denomination4 ,i am a thorough ,unitarian1 and have read our denominational works more than anything else1 which has prepared me for this very work4 ,i am an ignoramus in literature outside of ,unitarianism1 only that you cannot be a ,unitarian and not come1 more or less1 in contact with general literature4444 ,by the way1 ,i always read tracts1 and ,m4 ,j4 ,savage's and ,chadwick's and ,clarke's weekly sermons1 going to and from the city ,miss ,ellis was living at this time in ,avondale1 three miles from the city1 and carry big packages of papers home on ,sunday4 ,think the conductors must know ,i am a missionary4 ,rev4 ,joseph ,may1 ,rev4 ,charles ,allen1 and ,rev4 ,f4 ,l4 ,hosmer sent ,miss ,ellis many of their printed sermons for distribution1 which did good service4 ,rev4 ,william ,c4 ,gannett early saw the possibilities of this work1 and has done much to systematize and further it in many ways4 ,he christened it the ,post ,office ,mission1 and1 seeing the need of more fresh material for distribution1 devised and edited the ,church ,door ,pulpit series of sermons1 and has also been the chief promoter of the ,unity ,mission series of tracts4 ,the following extracts are from ,miss ,ellis's letters to him4 ,,september #ab1 #ahhb4 ,received to-day1 from ----1 your letter of ,september #e1 asking about our ,missionary ,work by ,letter4 444 ,i will very gladly afford you my assistance in that respect4 ,however1 ,i am rather more conservative than yourself1--rather of the ,e4 ,s4 ,gannett type1--still have visited ,omaha1 where ,i have had brothers settled1 and know some little of the style of religion which is requisite in the ,northwest4444 ,will give you a list of the tracts ,i have used most profitably4 ,most people state1 when they ask for literature1 ,want something that teaches the doctrines of the ,unitarian ,church4 ,thereupon ,i have forwarded1 from time to time1 ,unitarian ,doctrines and ,principles 7,brigham72 ,word of ,god and ,the ,rising ,star of the ,liberal ,faith 7,w4 ,p4 ,tilden72 ,new ,hampshire ,statement of ,belief2 ,unitarian ,belief in ,bible ,language2 ,why ,am ,i a ,unitarian8 ,inspiration of ,new ,testament1 ,revivals 7,clarke72 ,our ,common ,christianity 7,a4 ,p4 ,stanley72 ,mission of ,unitarianism 7,heber ,newton72 ,spiritual ,christianity4 7,starr ,king72 and ,what ,do ,unitarians ,believe8 7,c4 ,w4 ,wendte74444 ,the serial sermons of ,chadwick1 ,clarke1 ,hale1 and ,savage always gladly received4444 ,but do not be afraid of a little doctrine1 ,mr4 ,gannett1 for there are some people in ,orthodox churches who are hungering and thirsting for just our doctrines4 ,they cannot do without doctrine just yet1 but want something better than they have known1 and think it a great blessing to find it4 ,i try my congregation to see what each requires1 and lead them on and up4 ,my church is composed of a very mixed set4444 ,i am deeply interested in this work1 and know we have done much good4444 ,we keep books to loan1 and also recommend books from time to time1 and ask our correspondents to subscribe to the periodicals4444 ,dr4 ,dewey's sermons on ,human ,nature and ,human ,life1 and his ,two ,great ,commandments benefit some people very much4 99 99 99 99 99 ,march #aa1 #ahhc4 ,i never omit the ,pulpit column of the ,register1 and read ,wrestling and ,blessing with much interest4444 ,i set each difficulty down as just suited for some one1 or two1 or three of my correspondents4 ,of course1 ,i don't apply sermons to myself any more4 ,it is a beautiful sermon2 and this brings me to the point we are all so interested in1--the wider circulation of the fresh thoughts of all the pulpits4 ,i surely think1 with you1 that it will help the work to give it name4 ,am glad you are stirring them all up4 ,i do not1 as you say1 feel the need of it so much1 but occasionally do4444 ,a new case in ,tennessee1 who never knew anything of the ,liberal ,church1 till we sent him papers4 ,is much pleased1 and wants to read till he knows still more about us4 ,he writes1 ,not one per cent of the people here know there is such a church4 ,tell me1 do the majority of ,unitarian ministers believe in the resurrection of ,jesus2 that he healed the leper1 cast out devils1 and raised ,lazarus8 ,i ask for information1 and hope you will reply at some future time4 ,he is evidently in a benighted region4 ,says he has heard nothing outside the ,cumberland ,presbyterian1 ,baptist1 and ,methodist ,churches1 and am none of these2 and ,i presume is very little of anything yet1 and is longing for a nobler life than he has known1 or sees about him4 ,the longer ,i go on1 the more need ,i see of getting this work fully and well organized4 ,it will be brought about ere long4 ,even reading over papers is beneficial4 ,the publication of our hymns1 the most inspiring1 will do a great deal of good4 ,in several cases ,i have copied them1 and to good purpose4 ,jan4 #bj1 #ahhe1 in answer to the question1 what twenty names she would prefer in the ,church ,door ,pulpit series the coming year1 she wrote3-- ,revs4 ,grindall ,reynolds1 ,rush ,r4 ,shippen1 ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke1 ,e4 ,e4 ,hale1 ,joseph ,may1 ,dr4 ,william ,furness1 ,h4 ,w4 ,bellows1 ,t4 ,starr ,king1 ,j4 ,ll4 ,jones1 ,j4 ,t4 ,sunderland1 ,george ,bachelor1 ,william ,c4 ,gannett1 ,f4 ,l4 ,hosmer1 ,david ,utter1 ,george ,a4 ,thayer1 ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte1 ,s4 ,j4 ,barrows1 ,albert ,walkley1 ,j4 ,c4 ,learned1 ,james ,martineau4 ,am afraid ,i haven't left any room for those who do not bear the ',unitarian' name1 but feel that ,unitarianism is so little known1 that ,i would first make our own best writers known1 and then branch out and take in others4 ,all of the above names ,i should like to see in ',church ,door ,pulpit' for #ahhe-ahhf4444 ,i think generally people wish to become acquainted with the ,unitarian pulpit4 ',what do ,unitarians preach8' is the cry4 ',i want to hear a ,unitarian2' 'those who have been educated in that denomination4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,february #bj1 #ahhe4 ,your article in ,unity1 ,february #af1 on ,a ,blessing on the ,day1 pleased me very much4444 ,we haven't quite the right book yet1 and with you ,i say1 about twelve verses from the ,bible well knitted around some central thought1 as we principally want to become acquainted with the ,bible as the ,book of man4 ,think something more like ,daily ,praise and ,prayer1 with different ,scripture selections1 perhaps1 and omitting most of the prayers4 ,i would only have a prayer to lead to a prayer of one's own1--that is1 to inspire one to pray in their own words4 ,have often thought ,i should like to compile a book of ,daily ,worship from the ,scriptures1 our ,hymn ,books1 ,daily ,praise and ,prayer1 ,day unto ,day1 ,helps to ,devout ,living1 and the ,responsive ,service1 and now1 from ,daily ,strength for ,daily ,needs1 ,aspirations of the ,world1 and ,spiritual ,life in the ,register1 but principally ,scripture selections4444 ,daily ,praise and ,prayer is doing much good in a very troublesome family of one of my correspondents4 ,i remembered to have sent the lady ,wrestling and ,blessing1 and wrote a short time since to call her attention to the ,inherited ,burden1 asking if she still had the tract4 ,this morning received a reply1 in which she wrote1 ,yes6 ,i still have ',wrestling and ,blessing1' for it did me so much good when ,i first read it that ,i felt as if ,i could not part with it4 ,many1 many homes need ,a ,blessing on the ,day to create the true feeling4 ,to ,miss ,holmes1 of the ,davenport1 ,iowa1 ,post ,office ,mission1 ,miss ,ellis wrote3-- ,august #bj1 #ahhd4 444 ,yes1 ,i do use the ,a4 ,u4 ,a4 tracts freely1 and more than any others1 those marked on our list herein enclosed1 and also ,word of ,god1 ,the ,doctrine of ,prayer1 and ,wrestling and ,blessing1--the latter to those who need encouragement particularly4 ,i find generally that people want to get at the first principles1--the ,a ,b ,c of ,unitarianism4 ,we do not use ,higginson's ,sympathy of ,religion at all4 ,our aim is to make practical ,unitarians1 and let doctrines and theory gradually fall into the secondary place4 ,therefore ,i object to ,mr4 ----'s list of books1 because they are more historical and theoretical4 ,they do well where one wants to study religion2 but where one wants a ,christianity to live by1 ,i think something that comes down to practical life1 or that is more simple1 better adapted to the generality of people4 ,as knowledge of ,unitarianism spreads1 they will naturally seek deeper works4 ,but at present1 something as clear and concise as possible1 with the ,christian ,register1 ,unity1 and the ,dayspring1 which further illustrate our principles1 we find very popular4 ,the difficulty is to get a large enough supply and variety enough4 ,the ,a4 ,u4 ,a4 tracts only answer as an explanation1 and we must have the sermons1 and papers1 and books enough in addition4 ,as ,i have been at the work for three years1 it is hard work to find sufficient supplies for between thirty and forty every week1 and these extending the papers and tracts elsewhere4 ,i cannot think1 with ,mr4 ,judy1 that it is the best method to divide the work4 ,it seems to me that causes confusion4 ,it seems a much better way that the person who sends the tracts and papers should distribute the books too1 as being better able to advise the books to read2 for he or she learns the bent of mind of the seeker4 ,so many different persons at work causes confusion and mistakes4 ,i mail papers1 tracts1 etc41 attend to all the correspondence1 to loaning and mailing the books1 to all printed matter received1 to all the advertising orders of every kind1 to money received and expended1--consulting the ,president frequently1 and the details are brought up before our monthly meetings4 ,i do not believe the work can be so well done as by one person2 but of course no one could devote so much time to it unless they have some compensation for it4 ,i took up the work at first voluntarily1 but soon found there was a great deal in it1 and therefore wished to give it earnest attention1 and the ladies felt me particularly fitted for it1 and preferred to give me a small salary4 ,it never is irksome to me1 but a work of real love to me4 ,i have always been a missionary1--distributing all the papers and tracts which contained anything of a practical nature or of a pure ,christianity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to ,miss ,holmes4 ,,august #bi1 #ahhd4 ,have just been re-reading ,a ,little ,pilgrim4 ,to tell you the plain truth1 the ideas are beautiful1 but ,i do not like prying into the next world4 ,no one really knows anything concerning it4 ,i am willing to rest where ,jesus left us4 ,he told us little of it1 but enough for the health of our souls4 ,in our ,father's house are many mansions4 ,i go to prepare a place for you2 and ,i believe when our friends leave us they go to another division of ,god's kingdom and prepare a place for us1 in that through their deaths we are naturally drawn heavenward1 and our lives are different from ever before4 ,i am not so much interested as to what the future world is4 ,it is enough to me1 to know that it is1 and that ,i am doing the best ,i can while ,i am living here4 ,the future world will be made plain to me when my time comes to go there2 and if ,i have only lived rightly here1 there will be nothing to fear4 ,i can trust in ,god4 ,still such books seem to be necessary to some persons1 but ,i do not consider them healthy reading4 ,when you have finished such a book the query comes1 ,is it fact8 ,who can say it is8 ,i feel that my friends are in the hands of a loving ,father as they were while on earth1 and that he will still do for them what is best1 and their spirit and affection remain with us to comfort and guide us4 ,i never lose them4 ,they are only gone before4 99 99 99 99 99 ,miss ,ellis to ,rev4 ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore4 ,,june #b1 #ahhj4 ,,my ,,dear ,,friend1--,many thanks for your kind letter of ,mar4 #bith1 though ,i never saw the ,p4 ,s4--which1 as usual with all postscripts1 contained the best part of the letter--till a month afterwards1 when in house-cleaning ,i was assorting letters received1 ,i noticed the last page of your letter1 which was like receiving a new letter1 and came in very opportune2 for we have had so much to depress us of late1 that ,i was glad to have my attention called to ,philippians1 which contains so much that is cheering4 ,there has been a good deal to occupy my time and thoughts since your very kind letter reached me2 but ,i will not allow your college term to close without sending you my kind word1 though ,i cannot be personally present at the ,ohio ,conference and ,meadville exercises4 ,may you have charming weather1 and a satisfactory gathering1 is my sincere wish4 ,rev4 ,william ,h4 ,channing's visit here was highly appreciated by his old friends and the early members of the church1 and we all particularly enjoyed the ,communion4 ,it was truly a communion with the departed1 and very beautiful to us4 ,i did not have the pleasure of meeting ,mr4 ,channing excepting a few moments at ,mrs4 ,ryland's1 which ,i regretted exceedingly2 but it was a disappointment ,i could not alter4 ---- and wife moved to ,mt4 ,auburn to-day1 there to make a bright1 beautiful home for themselves1 which is as it should be2 but we who are left at home feel rather sad4 ,the last of my dear mother's five little children has gone from me1 and it is not so easy to enter into their homes and have my brothers and sisters what they were to me in our own family circle4 ,still all is right and best as it is2 and though clouds gather over our heads1 the sunshine will at length make itself seen1 for all things work together for good4 ,i am going to be gay and spend the summer with ---- in ,philadelphia2 and as we have not met for eight years1 we shall enjoy a quiet summer together4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,october #a1 #ahhd4 444 ,thanks for your kind sympathy for us in our sorrow4 ,thanks to you for the solid foundation you laid when our dear mother died1 which has given me a firm faith in the hour of trial4 ,i firmly believe that all things work together for good1 and that dear ,c----'s long sickness prepared her family1 herself1 and all of us for her death4 ,there was much in her sickness and death that was beautiful and comforting4 ,it was pleasant after so many days of suffering to see her at rest2 and we feel it must have been a happy release to her too1 for her face in death bore no trace of the pain she had endured1 of which we were glad1 for she looked so natural and sweetly that we could allow her two youngest children to look at mamma asleep1 to wake up an angel in heaven4 ,c---- never wanted her children to have a horror of death1 and her desire has been granted4 ,they have no other idea than that the ,good ,father released their dear mother from pain and she is an angel in heaven4 ,an ,episcopalian minister officiated at the funeral1 as ,c---- always preferred that service4 ,he was a personal friend of hers and my brother ,e----'s4 ,my brother's widow came from ----to attend the funeral1 and she requested that ,i select a piece to be read in case they found no one to lead in a hymn4 ,i selected your hymn1--,a holy air is breathing round4 ,it was read in the middle of the service1 very impressively1 and was particularly comforting to ,n----'s widow and myself1 as you had officiated at our mother's funeral and had baptized ,c---- and ,n----4 7,do you remember the day you baptized me and my three brothers and ,c---- at the ,masonic ,hall87 ,the children scattered flowers over the graves2 ,a----1 ten years old1 said on returning from the cemetery1 ,papa1 it was all beautiful1 no dread or gloom about it4 ,it was just as mamma would have had it4 ,and so it was4 ,the children will always feel the life hereafter a reality4 ,more homelike is the vast unknown1 since their mamma is there4 ,the piece ,at noontide1 in last week's ,register1 applies to dear ,c----'s death as well as if written for her4 ,it is beautiful4 ,i want it in a leaflet to distribute1 as ,i have opportunity frequently for just such words4 ,yes6 ,i help on ,unity1 the ,register1 and ,our ,best ,words4444 ,hope ,i am making ,christians1 and not merely ,liberals or merely ,unitarians4 ,think we are gaining ground with many2 but the literature must be distributed with great care1 ,i feel with you4444 ,we are glad to have the ,thayers home again1 and will probably begin to work earnestly next week4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,january #d1 #ahhe4 444 ,thanksgiving and ,christmas were rather sad days to us this year1 without our dear ,c----1 who always did so much to make the days bright for all about her4 ,pa1 mother1 and myself dined both days with ,c----'s family4 ,christmas was made a happy day for the children by all our kind friends1 and we could but feel their mother was looking upon them1 with a bright and happy face1 in gratitude to all those who had endeavored to make her dear ones so happy4 ,i have been very busy this winter1 for the correspondents still claim my time4 ,young ---- still appears interested1 and ,i hope he may be able to enter college this year1 for he appears to feel his isolation there much4 ,no sympathetic person about him nearer than ,mr4 ,barnes of ,montreal4444 ,unity ,club flourishes1 so does the ,day ,nursery and ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference4 ,the fair was a pleasant occasion1 and now we are all feeling cheered in having ,mrs4 ,t---- better again4 ,i always see ,a---- at the window as ,i pass there on my way to church4 ,he is a lovely little boy4 ,he looks as if he wanted to know ,miss ,ellis2 but ,i doubt if he does1 without his mother to call attention to her4 ,hope you all passed pleasant holidays at ,meadville4 ,i must close to write to ,aunt ----1 who always looks for a ,sunday letter from me4 ,this was an aged blind aunt4 ,miss ,ellis's first ,post ,office ,mission correspondent was a young man in ,ravenna1 ,ohio1 ,mr4 ,julius ,woodruff4 ,his first letter to her said3 ,thank you for your kindness in sending me the ',christian ,register4' ,i am much pleased with the paper1 and may become a subscriber at no distant day4 ,i received copies of ,mr4 ,wendte's sermon1 ',what do ,unitarians ,believe8' ,i have distributed them where ,i thought they would do the most good1 and have reason to think that good was accomplished4 ,before long ,i will send to you for more books2 and if ,i can help you in obtaining subscribers to the ',register' ,i will gladly do so4 ,i am not a member of any church1 and stand almost alone in the church ,i attend ,methodist1 in my views4 ,our people seem to be almost entirely divided into three classes2 namely1 the strictly ,orthodox1 the wholly indifferent or non-thinking class1 and the ultra ,liberal4 ,i am in sympathy with neither2 and ,i know of only a few1 all young boys like myself1 who occupy middle ground4 ,i can almost fully indorse the views expressed by ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte in the sermon to which ,i have referred2 and believing his views to be right1 ,i take pleasure in giving them as wide a circulation as ,i can4 ,in many respects ,i admire ,ingersoll2 but ,i have no sympathy with the so-called ',liberal ,league' with which he is connected1 and which has an auxiliary league in this county4 444 ,if ,i understand the theory and purpose of your church1 ,i shall be glad to render the cause any service in my power2 and if ,i can be of any service as an auxiliary to your ,missionary ,society1 ,i have only to be instructed in the ways thereof4 ,as such auxiliary he acted1 distributing tracts1 papers1 etc41 with a zeal that might well shame some life-long ,unitarians4 ,in later letters he wrote3-- ,outside of all churches there is quite a number of men1 mostly young1 intelligent men1 who have cultivated an intense hatred of certain doctrines and religious observances1 and who have gradually come to denounce and seek the overthrow of our whole religious system4 ,these are banded together as an auxiliary to the ',liberal ,league' of ,america4 ,in addition to these are a number of young men1 sons of ,orthodox parents1 who dissent from the religious views and peculiar creeds which have satisfied their elders1 and yet have no definite faith of their own4 ,i think that with these two classes1 as well as with those who have so far been indifferent to the claim of religion1 we have an excellent prospect of success in introducing our views and extending the influence of ,liberal ,christianity4 ,i am very friendly to the ,orthodox ,church1 recognizing the noble purpose that animates them all1 and the invaluable services that they have rendered to mankind2 and ,i have less desire to draw upon their strength than ,i have to see the ,unitarian ,church built up from material that has formerly been identified with no church organization4 ,i was a ,unitarian in theory long before ,i knew anything of the ,unitarian ,church4444 ,as a rule1 the young men of my acquaintance who are1 either in theory or practice1 liberal ,christians1 are of the most intelligent order1 ambitious1 progressive young men2 and of them what may we not hope8 ,he went into business in ,leadville1 ,colorado1 and from there wrote ,miss ,ellis 7in #ahha73-- ,sunday is almost entirely ignored in the business portion of the city1 very few men closing their places of business4 ,every saloon and theatre is open on ,sunday1 and brass bands fill the air with their inspiring music4 ,i attended the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church ,sabbath ,school last ,sunday1 and found quite a respectable crowd in attendance4 ,i thoroughly enjoyed that afternoon2 and when ,i saw rough-bearded1 grimy1 slouchy-looking men and boys from the mines and workshops taking part in the exercises of the school1 ,i thanked ,god for the influence his church and school had had upon the largest1 hardest mining-camp in the world4444 ,if you have any more of the documents referred to1 ,i wish you would send me a dozen or more1 and a few of the pamphlets on ',what ,do ,unitarians ,believe8' ,it seems to me this would be a most fruitful field in which to plant ,unitarian ideas and principles4 ,it seems to me no other church would be so popular here4 ,of the party of ten young men who board with me1 ,i do not think that any one of them has been in a church three times since he came to ,leadville4 ,in most respects1 all of them are fine young men2 but ,orthodox doctrines would never gain any ground with them1 while ,liberal ideas might win the field if the boys could be made to consider them4 ,miss ,ellis1 and all the ladies1 indeed1 of the ,cincinnati ,auxiliary1 were greatly interested in ,leadville1 and hoped to do a good work there1 aided by our enthusiastic young friend2 but the above was destined to be our last letter from him4 ,in ,september1 #ahha1 came a postal card from a hotel clerk1 saying1 ,mr4 ,woodruff wishes me to inform you that he has been unable to answer your letter on account of sickness1 but will write you as soon as able4 ,a few days later came intelligence of his death4 ,tributes to his character in the ,ravenna newspapers1 and his photograph sent ,miss ,ellis by his sister1 only confirmed our opinion of this young man's noble character1 and our sincere grief at his loss4 ,miss ,ellis at once wrote to his mother this letter3-- ,,october #ag1 #ahha4 ,i shall be compelled to address the envelope containing this note to your daughter1 not knowing your husband's name4 ,i presume you are aware that ,miss ---- informed me of your son's death1 and she1 ,i presume1 sent me so kindly the paper last week containing the obituary on him which ,i read with much interest1 as it was such an opinion as ,i and all of us had formed of your son1 ,julius1 from his interesting letters4 ,i assure you that our love and sympathy are with you in the affliction1 and would that we could soften the severe loss to you2 but that alone the good ,father in time can render less bitter4 ,true resignation consists in enduring it as ,god's will4 ,the ladies of our ,missionary ,society wish me to tell you how much all were interested in ,julius's letters1 and how deeply they feel with you1 and at my request send you a book of consolation1 ,light on the ,cloud1 as an expression of our real interest in your son4 ,it seemed to me that nothing could be so appropriate as the literature he so learned to love4 ,he being dead yet speaketh 7,heb4 xi4 #d72 and such we deem would be his words to those who were so dear to him4 ,the ,president of our society marked one piece1--,he giveth his beloved sleep1 and ,i have marked passages through the book1 particularly under the head ,death a ,blessing1 and the last poem in the book4 ,if words can cheer you1 it is our hope that this little gift may serve the purpose4 ,at least may it be a testimonial to you of our deep interest in your dear boy4444 ,our ladies are to hold the first meeting this season a week from to-morrow1 when the obituary notice of ,julius ,r4 ,woodruff's death will be read1 and listened to with interest4 ,he was my first correspondent1 and his letter from ,colorado was particularly enjoyable4 ,it grieves me to think it was the last4444 ,hoping to hear farther from you1 dear friend1 through your daughter or ,miss----1 and to have the pleasure of becoming personally acquainted with you at some future day1 with a ,god's blessing on you one and all1 far and near1 ,yours in common sorrow1 ,s4 ,,ellis4 ,the correspondence was continued with ,mr4 ,woodruff's sister as follows3-- ,,november #aa1 #ahha4 444 ,yes1 you may call me your friend1 for ,i truly feel that ,i have lost a dear and true friend in your brother1 and consequently feel interested in all of his family1 and do not wonder that your mother and the whole family are heart-broken to be called to give him up4 ,am sincerely glad that you felt free to express all your feelings to me1 for now ,i can sympathize more deeply with you4 ,you are just the age ,i was when my first sorrow came upon me1--the death of my dear mother4 ,as you say1 ,i felt that ,i must keep up1 to cheer my father1 who has ever been a domestic man1 and the loss of my mother was very hard for him to bear1 and the five little children to be cared for1 ,i the oldest daughter at home1 and had been my mother's right-hand man in the care of the children4 ,but all our sorrows and trials are good for us to bear1 and we need the crosses as well as the joys of life to fit us for the life here and for that which is to come4 ,it was hard to be reconciled to the death of one so young and so good and true as ,julius2 but we must not be selfish1 but think what is our loss is the gain of those taken1 many times4 ,he may1 through his spiritual influence1 still care for and lead you all nearer to ,god4 ,these dark hours of life bring us to know ourselves better2 they call out our sympathy for our fellow-men2 and1 what is more than all1 they bring us nearer to ,god1 and thus they are not a mere cross of agony2 therefore let us not murmur at our affliction1 but still believe that ,god is good1 and will so make our trials serve us that they may become good to us4444 ,we must trust ,god1 who doeth all things for the best1 and pray for strength and light to be given us4 ,our prayers may not always be answered as we ask1 but they are answered in another way4 ,pray1 though the gift you ask for ,may never comfort your fears1 ,may never repay your pleading2 ,yet pray1 and with hopeful tears4 ,an answer--not that you sought for1 ,but diviner--will come one day3 ,your eyes are too dim to see it2 ,yet strive1 and wait1 and pray4#e ,how shalt thou bear the cross which now ,so dread a weight appears8 ,keep quietly to ,god1 and think ,upon the ,eternal ,years4 ,bear gently1 suffer like a child1 ,nor be ashamed of tears2 ,kiss the sweet cross1 and in thy heart ,sing of the ,eternal ,years4#f ,footnote #e3 ,a4 ,a4 ,procter4 ,footnote #f3 ,faber4 ,the whole of ,whittier's ,angels of ,grief and a poem by ,ellerton are copied in addition4 ,the correspondence was continued1 occasionally1 during ,miss ,ellis's life4 ,aug4 #aa1 #ahhb1 she wrote3-- ,young women1 ,miss----1 have great influence over young men1 and ,i hope you struggle to improve all those whom you know4 ,have you ever come across ,frances ,power ,cobbe's ',duties of ,women'8 ,it is a remarkably sensible book1 and ,i feel as if every young girl ought to read it4 ,i think you would do your young friends a service by owning it and passing it around among them4 ,you can get it in paper for twenty-five cents4 ,it is not a doctrinal work at all4 ,she delivered the lectures in ,london1 to women4 ,neither is it a ,woman's ,rights book altogether1 but what any girl or young man1 come to that1 ought to do and practise4 ,are you going to resume school after vacation again1 or what do you intend to turn your attention to8 ,i have not been very strong since ,i was sick last ,august1 therefore have not done much this year4 ,i go into the city every two weeks on ,saturday ,a4,m41 to be at the church to loan books to any one who desires them4 ,was there last ,saturday1 and two strange ladies came in who proved very pleasant2 one a young girl4 ,she came after ',helps to ,devout ,living1' for a sister who has gone out to ,nebraska for her health1 and is miles away from any church and has no companionable people about her4 ,this young sister also selected for herself ',day unto ,day1' as a book of daily study in an upward path4 ,it is such pleasant work to have it within my power to loan and to recommend so many good books to those who have not read them4 ,they always enjoy them4 ,julius would have been so happy in it out at ,leadville4 ,mr4 ,woodruff's sister wrote1 ,feb4 #ae1 #ahhf3 ,some one very kindly sent us the obituary of our dear friend ,miss ,ellis4 ,we were surprised and deeply grieved to hear of her death1 as we did not know that her health was poor even4 ,she said so little about herself1 that we never thought of her as otherwise than well and strong4444 ,i enjoyed ,miss ,ellis's letters so much1 and we appreciated her kindness in writing to us after my dear brother's death4 ,he thought so much of ,miss ,ellis1 and ,i know if he had lived you would not have been disappointed in him4 ,i cannot thank you sufficiently for the little book you sent mother after ,j----'s death4 ,truly it was a ',light on the ,cloud1' and it comforted mother more than ,i can tell you4 ,it is so full of comforting words4 ,though ,miss ,ellis is gone from us1 she has left behind the influence of a life so pure1 so noble1 and so grand1 that we will all be the better for having known her4 ,as my brother once wrote in a friend's album1 ',god wisely wills that we may not know the number of our years1 and in view of the uncertainty which enshrouds each to-morrow1 let us so live that be our lives long or short1 the little home-world that surrounds us will be the better for our having lived in it4' ,can we not say that these two did not live in vain8 ,my brother had a great influence over young people and also over some who were much older than he1 and had he been spared1 ,i feel sure that he would have done a grand work for the cause of ,christianity4 ,but their life work is ended only too soon2 and why they should be taken when they were doing so much good1 and others who are a burden to themselves and others are left1 ,i suppose we shall know sometime2 and until that time we must believe that ',he doeth all things well4' ,miss ,ellis's letters frequently express her joy in a young man who had become a ,unitarian minister through her efforts4 ,he was a ,methodist minister in ,ohio1 but had grown unable longer to accept the creed of his church4 ,unhappy1 unsettled1 and adrift1 not knowing where to turn for help1 by the merest chance he picked up on a railroad car a ,cincinnati paper1 and his eye fell on the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference advertisement4 ,he wrote ,miss ,ellis a postal card1 saying3-- ,i have seen your notice in the ',commercial1' offering ,unitarian papers and tracts free to persons who may desire to read them4 ,i must confess to more ignorance in regard to ,unitarian doctrines than is seemly in a minister of the gospel1 and will be thankful indeed if you will kindly favor me with such papers and tracts as may enlighten me ever so little4 ,later he wrote3-- ,you have helped me not a little in my search for truth4 ,before ,i first wrote you for tracts1 etc41 ,i knew absolutely nothing of ,unitarianism beyond the term1 and the fact that ,unitarians did not believe ,christ to have been ,god4 ,miss ,ellis corresponded with him from that time on1 loaning many books1 etc4 ,it was never her wish or aim to unsettle persons of a fixed faith4 ,she sought rather to reach and help those who1 by reading and thinking1 had become dissatisfied with the only forms of religious faith known to them1 and were consequently drifting into scepticism4 ,mr4 ----'s own letters best tell the story4 ,after ,miss ,ellis's death1 he wrote ,feb4 #c1ahhf3 ,i had long been wondering why ,i did not hear from her1 but supposed that she found her time so engrossed with her chosen work that she must defer writing until some more convenient season4 ,she had1 it is true1 hinted at her failing health1 but ,i never dreamed it was so bad4 ,my first intimation of the real state of affairs was the notice of her death4 ,i need not say that ,i was startled1 that ,i regret our common loss2 these are but feeble expressions4 ,through all my life here at ,cambridge ,i have been anticipating the day when1 returning ,west1 ,i should meet her1 and in some degree thank her for the help and comfort she brought me in life4 ,this has become such a fixed idea with me1 that it is hard to believe1 as ,i write this1 that it can never be in this world4 ,it seems very strange that the one friend who did me such a supreme kindness in life ,i shall never meet4 ,she was the very messenger of ,god to me1 and is inseparably associated with the most trying period of my life4 ,the only conceptions of religion ,i had ever had were proving unreal and worthless1 and no one offered anything as a substitute4 ,as ,i look back1 the peril of my situation seems much greater than it did at the time4 ,i fear ,i should have become insincere1 or1 what is perhaps almost as bad1 should have fallen into a sort of despairing scepticism4 ,heaven in mercy saved me from it2 but ,i shall not forget that even ,heaven might not have found a way to do this1 had there been no ,miss ,ellis4 ,it was but a little thing1 a trifle1 a brief notice in a daily paper1 that in some way caught a careless reader's eye4 ,but my whole life is changed in consequence4 ,and so1 while you miss her in her place and in your work1 in your church and social life1 ,i1 too1 here in ,new ,england miss her4 ,i feel as if something is gone out of my life and ,i have really one less reason for returning ,west when my school work is done4 ,but ,i have if possible an additional incentive to a good life4 ,i trust ,i shall hear that your work is still going on successfully4 ,i assure you ,i shall never lose interest in your ,mission1 and shall never cease to regard it as in some sense a home into which ,i was adopted4 ,i sincerely hope ,i shall never do it any discredit4 ,in a letter to ,mrs4 ,hunert1 ,miss ,ellis's successor1 he says3-- ,accept1 please1 my hearty congratulations1 and my best wishes for your very abundant success4 ,it is a great work indeed1 one that cannot be easily over-estimated1 and in which it seems to me you can accomplish a minister's work even1 and a very successful minister's work at that4 ,i wonder how large your congregation is now2 that is1 how many persons are in communication with you and your ,mission4 ,of ,miss ,ellis ,i shall always think as one of my greatest earthly benefactors1 and it will be a life-long regret that ,i never met her4444 ,i wish you would say to ,mrs4 ,smith that ,i have by me here in ,new ,england only the letters received from ,miss ,ellis since coming to ,harvard1 and these ,i fear contain nothing she would like to make use of4 ,the really helpful letters1 those that were of most vital interest to me1 were written while ,i was a ,methodist preacher in ,ohio1 and these are back there still1 packed up among odds and ends1 and practically might almost as well be in the moon4444 ,again accept my best wishes for your success in the new calling1--a divine one in the truest sense of the word4 ,i assure you ,i shall always be glad to hear of the growth and success of your ,mission1 all the more1 perhaps1 because ,i hold to it a sort of filial relation4 ,you know that in the ,methodist ,church each young convert or young minister speaks of the minister under whose preaching he was converted1 as a spiritual father4 ,so ,i think of myself now as the spiritual child of your ,women's ,missionary ,society in ,cincinnati4 ,would that ,heaven might help me to be worthy of the home1 and justify in some sense their loving-kindness and help in time of need4 ,a gentleman in ,kentucky1 long a correspondent of ,miss ,ellis1 who had taken papers1 bought many books1 etc41 through her1 and who has recently died1 wrote of her1 ,jan4 #bb1 #ahhf3-- ,many souls will miss the modest1 unassuming1 faithful secretary1 but her silent labors will be followed by a rich reward4 ,her memorial is in the hearts and minds of those who were led through her efforts to freedom1 fellowship1 and character1 in religion4 ,this correspondent was a farmer's wife in ,ohio1 who1 after ,miss ,ellis's death1 wrote3-- ,i have had much trouble in the last two years1 and would have given up to utter despair many times1 if it had not been for her kind letters and sermons4 ,i made a confidential friend of her2 so1 knowing my situation1 she knew what sermons would serve most to strengthen me1 and sometimes she would come across sermons in papers that she would cut out and send me4 ,i have them yet1 and intend to paste them in a scrapbook4 ,i thought of calling upon her father to see if he had a picture that he would allow me to have a copy from1 so ,i am very glad her portrait will be in the book4444 ,i learned to love ,miss ,ellis1 and shall never forget her4 ,there was a little family of step-children living on a remote ,ohio farm1 in whom ,miss ,ellis took a warm personal interest1 advising as to their religious training1 sending them children's papers and books4 ,miss ,ellis came to be regarded as a dear friend by these children who never saw her4 ,march #af1 #ahhe1 she wrote to the mother3-- ,your letter was received a week since1 but ,i have been sick three weeks with a very severe cough and cold4 ,have been up and about1 but could not accomplish much of anything1 and especially writing1 and still had much of it to do4444 ,wanted to advise you about the ,sunday-school lessons4 ,order the lessons of ',home ,life' from ,chicago at present1 and then next1 if you can1 ',corner-,stones of ,character2' but do not get the ',old ,testament ,chart1' for ,i have some very good lessons on the ,old ,testament that you will like and can have immediately4444 ,am so sorry you have so much sadness to contend against4 ,however1 you must feel that all your sacrifices are known by the good ,father in heaven2 so to him turn in your hour of need4 ,there is a hymn ,mr4 ,thayer often selects for our opening on ,sunday4 ,we sang it last ,sunday1--',daily ,consecration1' by ,caroline ,mason4 ',oh ,god6 ,i thank thee for each sight ,of beauty that thy hand doth give2 ,for sunny skies1 and air1 and light1-- ,oh ,god1 ,i thank thee that ,i live6 ',that life ,i consecrate to thee2 ,and ever1 as the day is born1 ,on wings of joy my soul would flee ,to thank thee for another morn3 ',another day in which to cast ,some silent deed of love abroad1 ,which1 greatening as it journeys past1 ,may do some earnest work for ,god4 ',another day to do1 to dare2 ,to use anew my growing strength2 ,to arm my soul with faith and prayer1 ,and so win life and thee1 at length4' ,let your first thoughts be turned to ,god in the morning1 and in the day's struggles believe that you are in his presence2 and even if your earthly life is not such as you may wish1 you may rest assured that your tears are counted above4444 ,my own life is much brighter than it was4 ,my brother ---- has an only child1 three and a half years old1 who is very cunning1 and much company for us all4 ,on ,friday ,i passed my semi-centennial birthday1 which a number of my friends kindly remembered4444 ,i was not strong enough to enjoy the occasion fully2 but still on the whole it was a bright day to me1 and on ,sunday ,i was glad ,mr4 ,thayer selected the beautiful hymn1 ',daily ,consecration4' ,i am too weak to write longer4444 ,may ,god bless and strengthen you for your daily toils4 ,on the envelopes of all these letters was written1 ,from my friend ,miss ,ellis4 ,to the oldest child1 who was difficult to influence1 ,miss ,ellis addressed this letter3-- ,,my ,,dear ,m----3 ,i wonder if you ever had any one write a letter to you1 and whether you can read a letter yourself4 ,if not1 your mamma will read it to you4 ,she has told me that you are having a little ,sunday-school of your own at home1 and ,i feel quite interested in it1 and am going to have two of the lessons sent to your mamma from ,chicago1 hoping you three children will feel interested in them4 ,one is a very simple thing to learn1--,rules to make ,home ,pleasant2 and ,i hope you will all try to learn them1 and try to keep them in your daily life4444 ,if children do not learn to keep such rules1 they never can have happy homes1 for they will grow up into ill-natured1 lazy men and women4 ,the other lesson is called ,corner-,stones of ,character1 because it gives us true ideas of what all children should learn in order to grow up into good1 truthful men and women4444 ,now ,i know you are studying together ,brown's ,life of ,jesus1 and these lessons ,i am to send you will help you to understand better what ,jesus did to make himself1 with ,god's help1 become so good a man4 ,i know1 too1 that you1 ,m----1 have a copy of ,daily ,praise and ,prayer1 which is a very good book4 ,it is pleasant to me as ,i read in mine to think that ,mrs4 ---- and ,m---- are reading their lesson to-day1 and ,i wonder if they are thinking how beautiful it is1 and that ,miss ,ellis and many others are reading and asking ,god for the same goodness to-day4 ,it is so pleasant1--do you not think so8--to feel that our good ,father in heaven and all good1 kind people are thinking of us each day4 ,it helps us to be good1 to know that others are trying in the same way1--do you not think so8 ,you are the oldest of the three children1 and ,i want to hear from you1 that by studying our ,sunday-school lessons1 and reading in sensible books1 and playing with well-behaved children1 you are all becoming wiser and better1 and helping mamma and each other4 ,i will also send you some verses all the children in our ,sunday-school learned one winter4444 ,there are many things ,i could talk to you about1 but ,i must leave the rest till another day4 ,it will be sufficient for you to know that some one on earth feels interested in your life at home1 with a kind mother to lead you so well4444 ,i will say good-by now1 and hope you will learn to write to me4 ,with love to all of you1 very kindly your friend4 ,miss ,ellis corresponded frequently with a young man in ,canada 7living in a city where1 so far as known1 he is the only ,unitarian71 beginning in #ahhb1 and loaning him many books4 ,he1 too1 was in a state of religious doubt and despair1 when chance threw the little advertisement in his way4 ,he intends to enter the ,unitarian ministry1 as is shown by the following extracts from the correspondence4 ,miss ,ellis wrote him ,oct4 #ba1 #ahhb3-- ,monday afternoon ,i mailed ,religion in ,evolution to you1 and ,i have imagined you eagerly poring over the book this week in high ecstasies4444 ,to me ,james ,f4 ,clarke's views and ,dr4 ,furness's seem more just and reliable4 ,but ,dr4 ,clarke says1 ,what commends itself best to our reason1 must be the truth2 therefore ,mr4 ,savage may benefit you more4 ,if he rouses you to a deep faith and makes you truly ,christian1 that is the point to be gained4 ,should like to have you compare ,james ,f4 ,clarke with ,mr4 ,savage1 on the ,humanity of ,jesus and the ,miracles and the ,resurrection1 particularly4 ,bible for ,learners1 ,vol4 ,,iii41 takes the same view1 about1 of the ,miracles and ,resurrection1--myths and legends1 not an external fact of history1 but simply a form of belief assumed by the faith of his friends and earliest disciples4 ,james ,f4 ,clarke1 in ,truths and ,errors of ,orthodoxy1 in the chapter ,miracles1 says1 ,the resurrection may have been an example of a universal law4 ,dr4 ,furness says3 ,till men know all the laws of ,god it is rather presumptuous in them to set the resurrection aside as an impossibility4 ,these are not his exact words2 but the purport ,i have quoted from memory4 ,to return to ,dr4 ,clarke4444 ,then follows a long extract from ,clarke1 which is omitted here4 ,dr4 ,clarke's view is the most likely and rational to me2 but all the more radical men take the view of the ,german critics1 and look upon it rather as myths and legends arising from a simple faith of the disciples4 ,the only way is to read for yourself and compare1 forming an opinion of your own1 while remembering that ,christianity does not rest on a certain belief1 but on the life4 ,what doth the ,lord thy ,god require of thee1 but to do justly1 love mercy1 and walk humbly with thy ,god1 are the words of the prophet ,micah4 ,james ,f4 ,clarke believes firmly in the simple1 pure humanity of ,jesus1 best shown in ,steps of ,belief1 under the ,historical ,christ4 ,i have ,steps of ,belief1 ,truths and ,errors of ,orthodoxy1 also ,bible for ,learners and ,talks about ,jesus 7,m4 ,j4 ,savage71 to loan you4 ,you have only to say which you wish first4444 ,i am tired1 and must rise early to be in the city in time for ,sunday-school1 so ,i will tear off the paper here1 or ,i shall go on writing all night4 ,have more good sermons to send you4 ,wish you could go to ,boston1 join the ,young ,men's ,christian ,union 7,unitarian71 and be helped into what ,god means you and all to be1 by putting our faculties to the highest use we are capable of4 ,hoping to hear further from you1 ,truly your friend1 ,,sarah ,,ellis4 ,sunday ,evening4 ,our sermon to-day was on the ,effects of ,modern ,scientific ,thought upon the ,essentials of ,religion4 ,if it is published1 will send you a copy of it4444 ,i think the hymn will meet your views1 therefore copy it4 ,do you know it8 ,the hymn referred to is the one1 ,god ,ever ,near1 by ,t4 ,h4 ,gill1 beginning3-- ,what secret place1 what distant star1 ,o ,lord of all1 is thine abode8 ,miss ,ellis copies it in full4 ,in #ahhc the young man wrote ,miss ,ellis3-- ,a year ago ,i was in the dreariest stage of agnosticism4 ,i was in despair at times1 and sometimes my very soul seemed to be in agony4 ,through reading scientific literature ,i had been convinced that most of the religious teaching ,i had learned was false4 ,the flippancy and shallowness of ,ingersoll and his school disgusted me4 ,i could not find rest in materialism2 ,i considered it as far astray from the truth as ,orthodoxy4 ,i was nineteen years old1 and found myself facing the most tremendous problems of existence4 ,i tried to tell myself to wait for maturer years to solve them1 and to a great extent that satisfied me4 ,but ,i still yearned for something1--simply this3 ',my soul cried out for the living ,god6' ,alas6 ,i could not find him4 ,i looked around me for a little sympathy or a kind word even1 but ,i looked in vain4 ,every ,sunday ,i heard denunciations of such views as mine4 ,i heard a great deal of 'blatant atheists1' 'infidel scientists1' etc41 but no sympathy for a despairing agnostic1--only scorn and ridicule4 ,it pained me intensely to be misunderstood by even those dearest to me on earth1 but ,i determined to stand firm for what ,i took to be the truth4 ,oh for some men to preach a little charity for the views of others1 and to consider a man as not being necessarily worse than a criminal because he cannot accept their own views6 ,i owe you a large debt of gratitude for being the means of lifting me out of a state of misery and despair1 in which ,i had no pleasure in life1 into a state of cheerfulness1 happiness1 hope1 and peace2 not intellectual peace1--for ,i do not expect that1--but real 'soul peace1' a calm trust and a real faith in a living ,god4 ,i have been surprised to see how largely ,unitarian theology is based on science4 ,i owe it to science that my life is something more than daily drudgery4 ,the foundation of my scepticism was laid when ,i learned the rudiments of natural philosophy in school4 ,i was astonished at what ,i read of ,nature's wonders4 ,since leaving school ,i have been an ardent reader of all kinds of scientific literature4 ,by means of the ,mechanics' ,institute ,i have the use of all the magazines1 reviews1 etc41 besides a splendid library4 ,i have read a great deal that ,i did not understand1--books which are beyond my years2 but ,i have a good idea of what is occupying the minds of the world's thinkers in this nineteenth century4 ,one of the best lessons ,i have learned from the literature you have sent me is faith1--a very different kind of faith from the mere credulity ,i once knew by that name4 ,at times ,i am dazed and confounded when ,i think of the great mysteries surrounding us1 especially of the mysteries of death2 but ,i feel that a good ,god is over all1 and the main thing is to do right1 and all will be well4 ,i cannot express how much ,i owe you for the great good you have done me4 ,you have my heartfelt thanks4 ,in another letter he wrote3-- ,to say that ,i am delighted with ',the ,religion of ,evolution' is but a poor way of expressing myself4 ,you could not have sent me a more timely book4 ,i would like to get all of ,mr4 ,savage's books4 ,you 'wish ,i could go to ,boston1' etc4 ,ah6 you do not know how ,i sometimes yearn for some such thing myself4 ,i find my great pleasure and recreation in intellectual pursuits2 and of course ,i have not nearly so great advantages in a small city as ,i would have in a large one4 ,but for meditation and communion with the ,infinite1 communion with ,nature and the incomprehensible ,god1 ,i must have solitude4 ,it was a favorite dream of my childhood that ,i would be a minister4 ,but ,i have to work in another way4 ,my father died when ,i was six years of age1 and my mother therefore had a struggle to give us an education1--that inestimable blessing of a common-school education4 ,i feel that the highest work for me is to support her to the best of my ability4444 ,i value highly the sermons you send me4 ,most of our churches here offer one 'dry bones' instead of the living truth4 ,do you know of any low-priced publication which would give me a fair sketch of ,theodore ,parker's life and thought8 ,i would like to know something of him4 ,i am greatly pleased with the ',register4' ,mr4 ,savage's sermons are also a feast to me4 ,the sermons of ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke you sent me in ,june have a ring about them and a spirit in them that ,i find in few others4 ,miss ,ellis wrote him1 ,dec4 #bi1 #ahhc3-- ,am glad to hear you have gained something in the past year4 ,do not be discouraged if you are not perfection at once4 ,it takes years of struggle to become so4 ,read the lessons on ,patience1 in ,day unto ,day1 particularly ,jan4 #i--,parsons4 ,you are quite young1 remember1 and there are many years for you to improve in1 and room for improvement1 as people always say4444 ,i will not allow your want of time to keep me from writing you4 ,it is my own lack of time1 and troublesome eyes4 ,have been very busy this winter4 ,have a gentleman in ,alabama who is becoming much interested in ,unitarian theology1 and also one in ,kentucky4 ,it keeps my mind at work to send just the right thing to each one4 ,my eyes are troubling me much this evening4 ,must close1 to make some last preparations for ,sunday1 as ,i have to start early in the morning to be in time1 and must also write a postal to a young nephew in ,philadelphia1 who is very fond of me and remembered me ,christmas and always4 ,wishing you a bright1 happy1 and successful ,new ,year1 in which all the ladies join me1 with kind regards to your mother1 ,truly your friend1 ,s4 ,,ellis4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,april #ae1 #ahhc4 ,i must answer your question1 ,why no denunciation of sin 7by ,unitarians78 ,in the ,new ,hampshire ,statement of ,belief ,i first sent you1 if you still have it1 you will find3 7#d7 ,in ,human ,nature1 as not ruined1 but incomplete4 ,man is not fallen from a primitive state of holiness1 but is imperfectly developed4 ,being imperfect1 he is liable to sin4444 ,the essence of sin is the failure of the higher nature of man to rule his lower nature4 ,human nature is made sacred by the indwelling presence of ,god4 ,humanity is not tending downward1 but is divinely guided from lower to higher forms of moral and spiritual life4 ,starting from such a high ideal of man's nature1--that he is created in the image of ,god1 and as found in the first chapter of ,genesis1 ,i think1 and in ,psalms viii43 ,thou hast made him a little lower than the angels1 and hast crowned him with honor and glory1--we feel him capable of so much1 that our ministers are too busy talking concerning being and doing good to have any time left for denunciation of sin4 ,our great concern is to raise man in every way4 ,teach him to be cheerful1 looking forward all the time1 moving onward and upward1 and to find no opportunity to spend in vain regrets1--only looking at his sins long enough to learn lessons from the past1 that he may avoid them in the future4 ,our sins leave a deep stain that will affect us during our lifetime1 but the only way to overcome them is to be so engaged in right doing that we rise above them4 ,now1 do you not think this a far higher way of converting men than by dwelling on their weaknesses8 ,give the world something higher to do all the time1 and they will naturally rise to that level4 ,we start from a higher standpoint than the ,orthodox1 therefore our methods are very different4 ,we denounce sin by avoiding it whenever we come in contact with it1 or evil of any kind1 and there is no more effectual way of overcoming it4 ,do you not see why it is we have ceased to speak of it in sermons8 ,we are too busy with the good1 the true1 the beautiful1 to pay attention to the wickedness4 ,dr4 ,dewey wrote some stirring sermons1 on ,human ,nature4 ,the topic of one is1 ,on the ,wrong which ,sin does to ,human ,nature2--text from ,prov4 viii4 #cf3 ,he that sinneth against me1 wrongeth his own soul4 ,that was the former way of dealing with and denouncing sin2 but the later way is1 to take care always to place the better in people's way1 and the sins will fall behind4 ,think you not so8 99 99 99 99 99 ,,january #f1 #ahhc4 444 ,we sometimes strain at words when in reality we agree with others4 ,if we would only remember to strive to discover wherein we agree1 and not always be looking for divergence of opinion1 there would be more of practical piety in the world4 ,let us open our eyes to the fact that all denominations endeavor to make men better1 though they differ in methods2 and see to it that we ourselves are true to the highest and best as far as we know it1 and the kingdom of ,god will be hastened in everywhere4 ,do right for its own sake1 and not from fear or hope of punishment or reward4 ,let me give you a hymn we sang after the sermon last ,sunday4 ,the subject was1 ,this life3 why we are in it1 and what we have a right to expect of it4 ,the hymn is one of ,rev4 ,samuel ,longfellow's1 ,life's ,mission3-- ,go forth to life1 ,o child of earth6 ,still mindful of thy heavenly birth4 ,the whole hymn is copied 444 ,methinks if one lives up to such a mission he will be none the less ,christian than if he can accept the dogmas of churches4 ,he had consulted her about the propriety of his contributing to the support of the ,methodist church when he no longer accepted its doctrines4 ,she wrote in reply1 ,oct4 #f1 #ahhd3-- 444 ,there are two precepts which come to my mind when ,i am perplexed as to what to do1 which ,i will mention3 ',what doth the ,lord require of thee1 but to do justly1 to love mercy1 and to walk humbly with thy ,god8' 7,micah vi4 #h74 ,the other3 ',if ye have not the spirit of ,christ1 ye are none of his1'-- from the epistles1 but can't recall it just now4 ,if you conclude to contribute to the ,methodist church1 you could tell ,mr4 ,b---- what your intention had been1 and how ,i reasoned upon the subject4 ,however1 act just as you come to the conclusion4 ,the thing is to do as you believe to be just4 ,i should think the church ,i attended had the first claim upon me4 ',duty before pleasure' is true in any church4 ,am glad you think so well of ,unitarianism1 and hope you may be able to work heartily with us some day4 ,only be patient4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,june #g1 #ahhd4 ,you speak of the loneliness of the position you are taking1 and ,i felt glad to find you so firm in the step you are taking4444 ,it will be a position full of self-denial many times1 but on the other hand will bring its own rich rewards1 known only to the true minister of ,god4 ,to encourage you in the many hours of discouragement1 ,i advise ,dr4 ,furness's sermon on the ,solitude of ,christ1 in ,register of ,may #h1ahhd1 ,i think1 which ,i believe has been sent you1 but if not1 will hunt it up and send it to you2 and besides that1 the words of ,jesus3 ,he that hath put his hand to the plough and looketh back1 is not worthy of me2 therefore have firmly fixed in your mind the glorious hymn by ,rev4 ,samuel ,johnson1 ,the ,conflict of ,life4 ,the whole five verses of this hymn are then copied1 followed by the whole of ,watts's ,awake1 our souls2 away1 our fears1-- ,let every trembling thought be gone2 and ,doddridge's ,awake1 my soul1 stretch every nerve1 ,and press with vigor on6 ,miss ,ellis saying1 at the end1 ,i have copied these1 for they have more weight when written by those we know4 ,,july #e1 #ahhd4 444 ,i will permit you to unburden yourself with as many pages as you see fit1 at any time you feel disposed to do so1 and promise not to be bored4 ,i1 in my deafness1 understand what it is to feel so utterly alone1 though surrounded by dear1 old1 and tried friends4 ,this lack of one congenial person or thing no one can appreciate but those who have experienced4444 ,remember1 opinions separate us1 but kindly deeds and affection draw us close to one another2 and so pursue your studies patiently1 striving to make yourself the kind of man you think one ought to be1 and in attending church do it in the spirit of ,jesus1--with the feeling of worshipping ,god1 and cast aside all other feeling1 knowing that those around you are doing what they feel to be best4 ,leave it to the ,good ,father to judge them1 and in time to help them to see differently4 ,we are judged by living up to the highest and best we know1 and if others have not been so far enlightened as we1 or have not been moved by the ,spirit to seek higher light and truth1 we must work in patience and leave them in the hands of ,god4444 ,only be true to your own convictions1 and you will lead them by example rather than precept1 unconsciously to them4 ,work on patiently1 and ,god's promises will not fail you4 ,it is a slow process to overcome one's many failures2 but we shall come out conquerors at the last if we only will1 and are earnest in our endeavors4444 ,after two weeks our churches will close for the summer1 but my congregation will still be ministered to4 ,i go to the church during vacation every two weeks to lend books to any who desire them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,november #af1 #ahhd4 ,i feel for you greatly in your isolation2 but comfort yourself in the thought that the generality of ,unitarian ministers are cut off from all companionship with ministers of other denominations where they are settled1 and are seldom permitted to enter into charities1 where they are1 with other ministers4 ,it has been the case ever since the days of ,jesus1 that those who really hold his views are separated from others in the community4 ,but as you say1 and many more say1 if we have ,god alone1 that is enough4 ,i cannot consider myself a theist entirely1 but might call myself a ,christian theist4 ,i have come to know ,god as manifested through ,jesus1 but have as much respect for those who do as ,jesus did1 and who have as firm a trust in the ,father as ,jesus had4 ,think that is what ,jesus taught1 and labored to have no man worship him4 ,there is none good but ,one1 he said2 why callest thou me good8 ,though ,i value ,jesus1 ,i do not worship him1 or feel that he is my support in life4 ,i only look to him in difficulties and trials to show me the way to the ,father4 ,i ask to worship and to live in his spirit and so gain strength from the ,father wherewith to do4 ,you and others look more to men of later date1 who have learned from others nearer to them2 but if we trace it all back to the beginning1 we will find it is ,jesus' spirit working through them4 ,so one and all1 whoever they are1 wherever found1 who have the spirit of ,christ1 are the sons of ,god1 whether they call themselves merely theists1 or ,christian theists1 it seems to me4 ,george ,eliot was truly religious1 though perhaps not a ,christian in the common acceptation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,december #bg1 #ahhd4 ,i do not know as ,i have ever realized the depths of absolute negations1 but ,i have realized the depths of absolute solitude1 and can sympathize with you in your loneliness1 and think it a good thing to keep the ,eternal and ,infinite always in view1 and so love quiet1 solitude1 and meditation4 ,they strengthen me to do my work in life4 ,do not despair1 then1 if you are despondent at times4 ,every one is1 and it is good for us to some extent to be disgusted with ourselves2 it makes us know ourselves4 ,the dark hours of life bring us nearer to our fellow-men1 help us to know ourselves and bring us nearer to ,god4 ,god has put these questionings into you for some wise purpose4 ,be true to your highest and best self1 and work them out by degrees4 ,but remember you are young yet1 and there is time for you to solve all these mysteries in4 ,do not try to solve all the great questions of life at once4 ,be patient1 and do not brood too much4 ,meditation and solitude are good1 but try to mingle somewhat with those around you4 ,see ,god in the world about you1 as well as in the stars4 ,i would like to dwell longer upon your letter1 but perhaps ,i shall bring you out of doubt by giving you something to do4 ,she then proposes a bit of work for him to undertake4 444 ,our doubts and mysteries are solved sometimes by setting to work on things we are pondering over4 ,he wrote ,miss ,ellis1 ,aug4 #bd1 #ahhe3-- ,a shadow has come across my way of late1--a great disappointment4 ,i think ,i mentioned it to you before4 ,a doctor1 an acquaintance of mine1 has often told me that ,i studied and read too much4444 ,it is hard for me to realize this1 but he insists on a year's rest from study4 ,this will postpone my entrance to ,meadville for two years1 ,i fear4 ,i confess to great disappointment over this4 ,i will be past twenty-five when ,i get to ,meadville2 and yet there is another side4 ,i have often questioned my fitness for this great work4 ,i wish to be cautious4 ,i do believe that ,i have a noble gospel to preach4 ',to preach1'--but first to live it4 ,and1 in shame ,i confess it1 ,i have not lived it4 ,it will therefore be a good thing if in these two years ,i give myself to growth in manhood4 ,but enough of this4 ,these matters must be dealt with in the closet1--the soul's closet4444 ,after my taste of ,montreal fellowship ,i am sick with loneliness here4 ,it is fearful1 at times1 this longing for one friend even1 and finding none4 ,but it must be borne without grumbling4 ,and now ,i must stop4 ,the doctor would object to even this light piece of writing4 ,thank you kindly for sending me the ',register' and ',unity4' ,it is very good of you to look after me so much4 ,be assured that your kindness is giving great encouragement to a lonely one who1 amid much opposition and misunderstanding from his dearest ones1 is making at least a little honest effort to be true to himself and ,god4 ,i would that ,i were fully faithful2 but it is not so4 ,still ,i think your seed will yet bear fruit1 and spring up in a life devoted to the uplifting of mankind4 ,my deepest prayer is for this4 ,i trust your health will improve4 ,still more do ,i trust that you may continue to grow nearer ,god1 and help others to do so1 as you have helped me4 ,miss ,ellis replied1 ,aug4 #cj1 #ahhe3-- 444 ,i have neglected you of late1 thinking you were soon to go to ,meadville1 and that you were busy4 ,we are sorry to hear of your great disappointment4 ,it is a disappointment to us as well1 particularly to me4 ,however1 we need the reverses and crosses of life as much as the air we breathe1 to strengthen our characters4 ,you have pushed yourself so hard with business and studies the past two years1 that you have not taken time to view the life around you in the right light4 ,let the next two years be given principally to building up your character individually and socially1 and to improving your health1 as one of the first requisites of a minister is a sound mind and a healthy body4 ,be social2 take life cheerfully2 make those about you better for your company2 and mingle freely with your family and best friends1 showing them you are practising ,unitarianism4 ,yes2 make these two coming years tell as a preparation for college in another way1 and let them prove a blessing to you1 though a disappointment at first4 ,did you read ,rev4 ,e4 ,e4 ,hale's ',methods1' in ',register' a few weeks since8 ,this week's ',register' contains an excellent sermon by ,rev4 ,john ,clifford on ',spiritual ,building4' ,have a home worship of your own sometimes4 ,during the vacation1 every ,sunday ,i have had a regular worship4 ,for instance1 to-day ,i read for sermon1 ',spiritual ,building2' opening hymn1 ',come1 ,thou ,almighty1 help us to praise2' ',scriptures ,old and ,new' 7a compilation by ,mr4 ,forbush and ,mr4 ,hosmer1 from all religions1 and an excellent thing to have71 ,lesson #bg1--',the ,kingdom within us2' prayer1 followed by ,scripture lesson1 ,galatians iii41 from which is taken text2 then ,wesley's hymn1 ',the whole armor of ,god2' sermon2 closing hymn1 ,doddridge's ',awake1 my soul1 stretch every nerve1' etc4 ,have been interested during the vacation in looking over ,gannett's ',childhood of ,jesus' and ,carpenter's ',palestine when ,jesus lived4' ,also bought ',selections from the ,apocrypha1' compiled by ,mrs4 ,tileston1 who compiled ',daily ,strength4' ,readings from the ,apocrypha are so common in ,unitarian pulpits now1 that it is well to be familiar with the best portions4 ,am not able to do much reading now4 ,am physically too weak4 ,never was able to use my brain to its full extent1--feeble and nervous all my life1 but active otherwise4 ,miss ,ellis's last letter to him was written but little more than a month before her death1 when in the utmost weakness herself2 but to this she makes no allusion4 ,it was a letter of consolation in bereavement1 from which this is an extract3-- ,,november #ah1 #ahhe4 444 ,the only way to reconcile ourselves to our sorrows is to think of those who are worse off than ourselves4 ,it makes us less inclined to murmur in our own sadness4 ,it is good for us to bear the cross4 ,if things were always as we would have them1 many virtues would never be developed4 ,there are so many comforting pieces in ,sunshine in the ,soul4 ,some ,i marked for a former correspondent4 ,mr4 ,thayer read for his ,scripture lesson last ,sunday1 ,job4 iv4 #e2 and v4 #f-aa2 #ag to end4 ,i have no doubt your sister knows many comforting passages2 but the real comfort is found in keeping ourselves busy for others1 while at the same time we lean and trust in ,god to give us peace of soul4 ,we find it in time as we go on patiently doing the duty just before us1 and loving the blessings which remain to us4 ,one of ,miss ,ellis's last thoughts was for this correspondent4 ,when hardly able to speak1 she requested a special ,register sent to him4 ,it was sent1 and a postal card informing him of her condition4 ,he replied3-- ,,december #be1 #ahhe4 ,your card came to me this morning4 ,i am shocked at its sad message4 ,i was not in the least prepared for it4 ,it seems to hold out no hope4 ,though ,i have never seen ,miss ,ellis1 she has been to me for over three years a close friend4 ,and now ,i must lose her friendship1 and her kind encouraging letters6 ,but ,i am not intending to complain of loss1 but rather to be thankful for the help ,i have received from her4 ,i shall now have another motive to work on1 to be more faithful in life4 ,that motive shall be the memory of ,miss ,ellis's self-sacrificing life4 ,i have a large package of her letters which will be more valued now than ever before4 ,i do trust her work will go on2 it ought to certainly4 ,if ,i can help ,i will gladly do so4 ,later1 he wrote in reply to a letter announcing her death3-- ,,january #a1 #ahhf4 ,i was very glad to hear a little of our dear friend who spends this happy ,new ,year's ,day freed from all ills of the body4 ,i can hardly realize that she is gone4 ,she never gave me a hint that she was seriously ill1 but always spoke cheerfully4 ,it is such a short time ago that ,i wrote to her as usual1 not having the remotest thought that she would never answer my letter4 ,her last letters to me are dated ,nov4 #f and #ah1 and1 singularly enough1 are almost entirely taken up with remarks upon death and affliction4 ,not a word of herself1 however4444 ,miss ,ellis wrote me two letters full of kindness and sympathy1 and sending cheering words to my sister2 for she wrote1 ,though ,i don't know her1 ,i feel deeply for her4 ,it really is hardly possible to estimate the influence1 both direct and indirect1 which ,miss ,ellis has had upon my life4 ,it is a very long story1 this of my inquiries in religious matters4 ,i have always looked forward to the day when ,i should see our friend and speak to her of it1 and make some expression of my gratitude to her4 ,but it is not to be1--not in this life1 at least4 ,hereafter her letters shall be a source of constant encouragement to me4 ,i have them all1 and glad ,i am of it1 for through them she will yet speak to me4 ,i often wished to have a photograph of her1 and ,i am very sorry now that ,i too long hesitated to take the first step in making a mutual exchange4 ,often when weary through the day's work ,i have been cheered by her kind letters4 ,but this is only one limited instance of her influence4 ,for years ,i went to my daily work sad and heavy of heart because life was aimless1 almost dead4 ,by the printed page ,miss ,ellis showed me ,god1--,god living1 working1 right here now1 daily surrounding me and all men4 ,and lo6 life has an aim1 is full of beauty and goodness and joy4444 ,all this ,i owe to her4 ,in response to a request for letters1 he wrote3 ,,february #ad1 #ahhf4 ,in your card you speak of a book4 ,i hope the pamphlet will grow into a book4 ,i was delighted to hear that it will contain a portrait1 for that will be just what ,i wish for4 ,the letters ,i sent1 ,i had to just pick out hurriedly1 as ,i had very little time4 ,if ,i had had more time1 ,i might have made a better selection4 ,i will vouch for their quality1 however4 ,i have post cards innumerable from her4 ,then again1 once1 when ,i was having a sore mental struggle over the philosophy of prayer1 in answer to my inquiries ,miss ,ellis wrote out for me the greater part of ,mr4 ,chadwick's sermon on ,prayer1 in his ,faith of ,reason4 ,this ,i mention as one out of many instances of such work4 ,she never tired of trying to aid me4 ,i sent you the last letter ,i received from her1 never having a thought1 at the time ,i received it1 of its being the last one4 ,perhaps ,miss ,ellis is aware of all this afterglow1 as you so well call it4 ,i hope so4 ,i believe so4 ,how it must gratify her to know what she accomplished6 ,in looking over these letters ,i am very forcibly reminded of the last few years4444 ,as you may suppose1 ,miss ,ellis is much in my thoughts4 ,i looked forward to meeting her some day1 and making grateful acknowledgment of her influence for good on me4 ,i would not hide from you that ,i often regret that it is not to be so4 ,but every other thought is swallowed up in gratitude for her life and for our meeting together4 ,the following is ,miss ,ellis's first letter from a farmer's wife a dozen miles out of ,cincinnati1 who has this winter become a member of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 and wishes1 with her daughter1 to join the church3-- ,i have frequently seen the item in the ,sunday's paper offering ,unitarian reading to those who wish it1 and have as often determined to avail myself of the opportunity1 but have so far neglected it4 ,i will say that ,i have been for a long time somewhat of a ,unitarian1 without being sufficiently informed in the belief openly to declare myself one4 ,i would ask you to teach me from the beginning the doctrines1 so that ,i can understand and feel a safety in embracing them4 ,i have a daughter who will avail herself with me of your kind offer4 ,you are to be our teacher in the matter of selecting the reading1 and ,i will gladly pay postage on all books sent4 ,as such teacher ,miss ,ellis acted ever after4 ,she wrote in reply1 ,jan4 #a1 #ahhd3-- ,was very glad to receive your letter to-day1 and hope ,i may prove a successful teacher4 ,have always been a ,unitarian1 as my father was among the first subscribers to the church1 when it was established in #ahcj4444 ,have sent you by this same mail three tracts pertaining to our doctrines4 ,shall be glad to give you and your daughter a weekly ,sunday-school lesson for several weeks4 ,began with statements of doctrine and ,channing's famous ,discourse4 ,on the list sent have numbered other tracts in the order in which ,i shall send them1--leading you from ,channing to ,brigham and ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke1 showing an advance in thought up to ,mr4 ,wendte's tract1 ,what ,do ,unitarians ,believe8 which represents ,unitarianism as held by the young men of the present time2 and after you read these tracts1 if you wish more doctrine1 will mention some books we can loan you by mail4 ,with the tracts will also send the ,christian ,register1 where you will see our principles carried out4 ,it is a very interesting1 able paper4 ,perhaps after you have examined a few copies you may like to become a subscriber to it4 ,i usually spend ,mondays mailing papers to our correspondents1 though they do not all get off till about ,wednesday4 ,they will be in time for a ,sunday lesson1 however1 and ,i hope you may find some neighbors to join you in your study4 ,hoping this is a beginning of another good work for us1 and to hear from you further1 ,respectfully yours1 ,,sarah ,,ellis4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,january #bf1 #ahhd4 ,this leads me to your question1 ,what do you do with the ,immaculate ,conception8 ,why was that way employed to compel people to accept the divinity of ,christ8 ,ask as many questions as you please1 and ,i will answer them in letter1 or send some sermon or tract to throw light on the subject to you4 ,monday1 will mail to you ,the ,incarnation1 by ,rev4 ,j4 ,w4 ,chadwick1 wherein you will see that many of the doctrines of the early times were invented by the men of the day to suit some purpose of their own4 ,will shortly send you a lesson paper by ,rev4 ,william ,c4 ,gannett1 of ,st4 ,paul1 ,minn41 on ,the ,christmas ,story and the ,christmas ,fact4 ,these stories or legends concerning ,jesus were written some time after his death4 ,bible for ,learners says--,here is copied a long extract4 ,i have said enough to let you know that we do not accept these legends as literal truth2 and you will understand1 from ,the ,incarnation1 that ,jesus was not miraculously born any more than we all are4 ,jesus never claimed it for himself1 as you will find as you read what ,i send you from time to time4 ,it was a doctrine created by the ,church to suit later days4 ,i was glad to have you speak freely of yourself1 and hope that we may make religion1 the ,bible1 and ,jesus1 natural1 simple1 true1 and beautiful to you and your daughter1--something that you can take hold of and live out in your daily lives1 and be thankful that you live4 ,hoping that you may have further questions to ask1 and wish to borrow books on subjects of interest to you1 ,very truly your friend1 ,s4 ,,ellis4 ,there is a book that will throw much light on your question concerning the early view of ,christ1 ,orthodoxy and ,heresy1 by ,rev4 ,e4 ,h4 ,hall4 ,we have it to loan4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,march #ac1 #ahhd4 ,it is with pleasure ,i sit down to reply to your last letter1 and it has only been from total inability that you have had to wait so long4 ,i wanted to sit down immediately to send you a few sympathetic words1 for your life must have been very similar to my own4 ,the best comfort for us is1 to say to ourselves1 ,are not many1 many others carrying the same burdens1 disappointments1 and toils as we8 ,how do they bear them1 and where do they get their patience and strength from8 ,only from studying the words and lives of those who have had similar trials to bear2 and no one bore the cross better than ,he to whom the whole world has looked as a guide4 ,therefore though you fall and fail often1 be not in despair4 ,all you need is some one to speak with you who sympathizes with you2 and though they may not lighten your burden or change your circumstances1 they will lighten your heart and make the whole world seem different to you1 and full of work to be done1 that will take your thoughts out from beyond your own home1 and yet at the same time only make that all the more precious to you and just the place you ought to be in4 ,am not fond of the country myself4 ,have always lived in the city1 and prefer to be surrounded by people and life rather than trees and quiet of the country2 still1 ,i love to visit in the country for a short time4444 ,you ask how you can best prepare yourself to become a member of our church4 ,i sent you the church programme1 and ,mr4 ,thayer says there1 ,those who present themselves in an earnest spirit1--an earnest spirit to do all the good you can1 in every way1 at home and to the world4 ,it is character1 and not belief1 which makes the true ,christian4 ,and if our conscience is right before ,god1 let man say what he will2 if we are only sure ourselves we are doing our best according to our circumstances and our health2 if our motives are pure and our conscience clear1--we shall feel a pleasure in joining in a ,communion service1 though one can be a member of our church if not a communicant4 ,there are several books ,i wish to recommend to you4 ,the first is a great help to inward strength1 and is a gem of a book1 ,day unto ,day1 which consists of a passage or two from the ,scriptures1 a selection from poetry1 and one from writers1 for every day in the year4444 ,the whole book is full of selections which fit the needs of every day4 ,i have two copies1 and will loan you one copy with passages ,i have marked as read1 and which has benefited several of my correspondents4444 ,another great help to a good life is ,merriam's ,way of ,life4 ,theodore ,parker's ,prayers ,i can loan you too4 ,since ,i wrote you1 have had presented to our library ,sunderland's ,what is the ,bible8 shorter than ,bible for ,learners1 and on the whole better to read first4 ,i subscribed for the ,sunday-school lessons on ,the ,life of ,jesus1 so any time you are welcome to it4 ,you will understand from what ,i have written1 that to strengthen the inner man is a good preparation for anything and anywhere2 and you will find a great deal among our books1 and in our papers1 and in our religion1 to help you and make life a blessing1 though under unfavorable circumstances1 and enable you to have the spirit and faith of ,jesus1 if not so much in ,jesus1 which the ,orthodox make most emphatic4 ,the following letter was written ,june #bg1 #ahhe4 ,the unusual allusions to her own health are evidently in sympathy with the correspondent1 who had written of ill health and heavy burdens to bear4 ,i have been most useless since the middle of ,february2 but1 weak as ,i am1 ,i have insisted on staying out of bed1 waiting on myself1 and keeping my room in order1 even to sweeping it1 and keeping up my missionary work slowly4 ,i do dislike to be nursed and a care to people4 ,sometimes it seems impossible for me to get dressed for my breakfast1 and it takes me about one hour and a quarter1 ,i am so weak4 ,last ,sunday ,i could not get to church2 but ,i spent the day in resting1--spiritual rest4 ,i had a service at home1--the responsive service1 the three hymns1 the ,scripture lesson1 and read one of ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke's sermons1 which ,i sent to another who needed consoling4 ,there is a favorite hymn of mine1 which ,i will write out for you4 ,we often sing it for an opening hymn4 ,the hymn ,daily ,consecration1 by ,caroline ,mason1 is here copied in full4 ,excuse the mistakes1 for ,i have written it from memory4 ,work on1 dear friend1 just where you are1 and feel that there you are casting silent deeds of love which no one knows but the good ,father above1 but that they are none the less earnest work in his service4444 ,every other ,saturday ,a4 ,m4 ,i go to the church to do up papers for the ,workhouse4 ,was there this morning4 ,take heart1 good friend1 and feel that nothing you do is lost1 and that sometime your labor will be appreciated4 ,i must not write longer1 for ,i want to attend church to-morrow4 ,they miss me when ,i am not at my post4 ,another letter of this summer reads3-- ,,my ,,dear ,,friend1--,your letter was duly received1 and ,i wanted to answer it immediately1 but have been too weak to write comforting letters4 ,am so sorry to hear you are still sick1 and wish ,i could help you4 ,am still more sorry to hear you are dreading the summer2 but ,i do not wonder at it1 for on a farm the labor required by the women in the house must be incessant4444 ,i cannot take the burden off your shoulders2 but perhaps a word of sympathy from another1 and something from her experience1 may enable you to face the difficulties4444 ,my experience has been that when anticipating a hard time1 if ,i only accept it1 and make up my mind that it has to be my part1 half the burden is taken off1 if ,i determine to go through with it all1 giving myself up to that work and thinking of nothing beyond in the mean time4 ,take all the rest ,i can get1 instead of trying to do something else too4 ,rest will do you more good than company or books1 when you are so used up with real hard work4 ,women all try to attend to too much outside of their households1 for the sake of company and variety2 do you not think so8 ,now1 just take things as quietly as you can this summer1 and feel that in your home duties you have more than you can do1 and look forward to the time when summer will be over and you will have less care4 ,after her death1 the lady wrote3-- ,i sent my letter to her home by a messenger who reported that he understood at the door1 as he handed it to the person who answered the bell1 that ,miss ,ellis was dead4 ,i hoped that he was mistaken1 but your letter confirmed it4 ,i knew she was very feeble4 ,she wrote me some two weeks before ,christmas1 saying she was very weak2 but ,i did not think for one moment that she was in danger1 or ,i would have hurried to see her4 ,i shall miss her greatly1 and her dear letters to me1 which ,i prized so highly2 and you1 who saw more of her than ,i could possibly1 will feel her loss greatly4 ,i believe there are few persons capable of entering so entirely into sympathy with others who needed it as she was1 and of giving such consolation2 at least1 it has not been my good fortune to meet many such4 ,i will be glad to receive the memorial of which you speak4 ,i shall be very glad if your minister would write me on the subject of joining the church1 as ,i was depending on ,miss ,ellis to guide me in the matter1 which she was ready to do one year or more ago4 ,in #ahhd ,miss ,ellis received the following letter from a young man1 ,mr4 ,a4 ,j4 ,beach1 who had been one of her discouragements1 because1 after some correspondence1 she had ceased to hear from him4 ,mr4 ,beach was usher in the ,state ,penitentiary at ,joliet1 ,ill4 ,more than a year ago ,i wrote to thank you for papers which you had kindly sent me4 ,in answer1 you sent me a very kind letter1 and named several books which ,i might read with profit4 ,i procured a number of ,rev4 ,james ,freeman ,clarke's works1 which ,i read carefully1 and from which ,i gathered much of great value4 ,i also subscribed to two of the papers you named1 to which ,i have become so much attached that ,i could not possibly do without them4444 ,your letter led me to a course of reading and investigation that has proved a sun-burst to me4 ,i have been in darkness4 ,i am out of it now4 ,i am connected with the ,state ,prison 7as usher71 not the pleasantest position in the world2 but ,i have tried to show many of the poor convicts the better way of life1 and to cheer them by kind words and a showing of real interest in their unfortunate condition1 and ,i believe ,i have succeeded in making lighter many a poor friendless fellow's load4444 ,the following extracts are from others of his letters3-- ,i have read the sermons1 and have handed them to a very intelligent prisoner1 who has become greatly interested in ,unitarian teachings1 and requested him to pass the documents to others1 after reading them4 ,he will do so1 and will see that they are kept moving4 ,i am glad you are taking so much interest in our prison4 ,there is much need of genuine kindness here1 and it cannot be better shown than in a true and apparent desire to raise the unfortunates to a higher plane of thought and action4 ,these men and women are in a sense left to themselves4 ,they are not permitted to talk to each other4 ,they pass long hours in their cells either reading or thinking4 ,is it not the very time to get them started thinking in the right direction8 ,you say1 ,we shall write to the ,secretary of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference in ,boston1 444 and interest them in the ,joliet prison4 ,this is good news4 ,the ,post ,office ,mission is truly a grand mission1 and is doing more good than you may think of4 ,the next letter says3-- ,the papers and tracts you have been kind enough to send me have been given to prisoners1 and they have been passed from hand to hand until literally worn out4 ,there are a great many very intelligent men among the fifteen hundred and fifty convicts now in our prison1 and they 7or many of them1 at least7 are very glad to get such papers and tracts as you have sent me2 and ,i am only too glad to place such reading matter in their hands4 ,you asked if old ',registers' and ',unities' would do any good4 ,they would be thankfully received by many of the unfortunate men1 and would be carefully read by them4 ,reading is one of the very few privileges granted convicts4444 ,i to-day received from ,mrs4 ,thacher1 of ,boston1 a bill of lading for two barrels of papers and magazines shipped for distribution among prisoners2 also a kind and very interesting letter from ,mrs4 ,thacher1--for all of which ,i am indebted to you4 ,i am glad1 indeed1 ,unitarian people understand that convicts want and appreciate something more in reading matter than chilling tracts4 ,we are constantly receiving for distribution the strongest kind of ,orthodoxy1 but the prisoners do not seem to take kindly to it4444 ,an old colored man1 who was sent here eleven years ago under life sentence1 said to me yesterday1 ',i tell yo'1 sah1 it seems mighty ha'd to sarve in hell all yo' life in dis place1 an' den have to take it for sartin' su'ah in de nex' worl'4' ,he seemed to think that a sentence to the penitentiary was merely carrying out a part of the divine plan2 in other words1 he was foreordained to eternal suffering1 and has got eleven years on his way4444 ,we found the books and papers to be all that could be desired1 and have taken great pleasure in distributing them4444 ,could you have heard the genuine thankfulness expressed by the unfortunate prisoners as ,i passed along the galleries distributing the reading matter1 you surely would have felt amply repaid for interesting yourself in them4444 ,many said1 ',god bless the ladies who thought of us6' with an earnestness and sincerity which indicated clearly to me that they felt and appreciated the kindness and the motives of the donors4 ,my experience among convicts has convinced me that kindness shown toward them is never wasted4 ,there are in this prison several noted criminals1--men who have the reputation of being brutal desperadoes1--with whom ,i have frequently talked1 and have invariably found to be easily touched by a kind word and act4 ,last ,june ,mr4 ,beach dropped dead in a ,chicago depot while on his way home4 ,it seems proper to copy here portions of a letter written to his family by the chaplain of the prison4 ,,june #cj1 #ahhe4 444 ,as we roomed together1 ,i was with him more than any one else2 and when not otherwise engaged1 we read and talked together4444 ,we were very frank with each other1 and last ,sabbath eve we had a long talk on religion4 ,the reaction from a ,calvinistic faith had evidently left him somewhat adrift4 ,we talked of the cramping of creeds on the one hand1 and the tendency on the other hand of 7so-called7 ,liberal views to produce loose morals1 etc4 ,he dwelt on the fact that the perceptions of the mind were so much in advance of the inclinations of the heart1 that men knew better than they did2 adding1 ,oh1 ,i have often come so near to the wonderful process by which bad men are made good6 ,i reminded him that ,paul said1 ,it is nigh thee1 even in thy mouth and in thy heart1--dwelling at length on the whole argument in ,romans x4 #f to #ac inclusive4 ,i remarked that my habit of urging these views earnestly for forty-four years might have become obtrusive2 but he answered3 ,no2 if these things are worth anything1 they are worth everything4 ,if duty here affects destiny there1 these are matters of primary and not secondary consideration4 ,little did ,i think then that in twelve brief hours he would know their reality better than ,i possibly could4 ,in saying good-by the chaplain adds1 he said he would write soon1 was glad he had ever known me1 but feared he would not see me again2 then walked off feebly but cheerfully with ----1 who carried his satchel1 and to whom he was much attached--though a colored convict1 yet much of a man4 ,at #g3cj ,a4 ,m4 he went with ,mr4 ,l----1 our purchasing agent1 with whom he talked freely en route to ,chicago1 who carried his satchel1 helped him up the stairs in the depot1 and at whose feet he suddenly dropped dead4 ,a physician was called at once1 but paralysis of the heart had stopped the wheel of life4444 ,the boys here loved him much4 ,b----1 a special friend1 gave him a pretty onyx cross for his little niece4 ,i think he put it in his pocket4 ,some ,boston ladies sent him several boxes of pamphlets and books for the library1 advising him to keep certain volumes himself1 and ,i hoped he had written his name in them or set them aside2 yet ,c---- 7colored7 and ,t4 ,j4 ,d----1 who aided him in the library 7and mourn him as a brother7 think he read the volumes they recommended1 but made no further claim on them4 ,some prison employees1 like some physicians1 find their sympathies decrease by constant use4 ,he was not so2 for there was not a drop of tyranny or despotism in his blood1 and any one who used power simply to oppress another was beneath his contempt4 ,he could consistently say to the ,recording ,angel1 ,mark me as one who loves my fellow-men4 ,oh6 had ,i known all he probably meant when he said so tenderly at parting1 ,i fear we will not meet again1 ,i would have followed out the impulse of my heart1 clasped him in my arms1 and then have said 7as ,i did71 ,yes1 we will meet in heaven6 ,the following extracts are from ,miss ,ellis's letters to ,beach3-- ,,december #bc1 #ahhd4 ,your letter was received last ,saturday afternoon1 and was quite encouraging to us1 for we may do some good work in the prison with one who feels interested with us4 ,your letter was particularly welcome1 as the same morning came a letter from ,mrs4 ,j4 ,i4 ,w4 ,thacher1 ,secretary of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference of ,boston1 who responded promptly and satisfactorily to my letter1 though she was sick in bed4 ,after the hurry of ,christmas is over1 they will send you two barrels of literature1--,registers1 ,harpers1 ,centuries1 ,atlantics1 and some few other materials4 ,i feel as if this will be good news to you4 ,yes2 it is a good time to turn the minds of the men1 women1 and boys in the right direction4 ,a little kindness and good advice may help some of the poor creatures to a better life4 ,think ,orthodoxy takes a wrong starting-point in teaching one that he is totally depraved1 and that he must wait for a sudden conversion in order to become good4 ,i feel as if ,unitarianism is the better way1 upholding that we are not totally depraved1 but incompletely developed1 and that our salvation depends greatly upon individual responsibility4 ,that we have it within ourselves to become what ,god intended we should be1 and what was possible with ,jesus is with us1--that we may become sons of ,god as he was4 ,we are not to shift the responsibility off on to some one else1 as ,m4 ,j4 ,savage says4 ,these poor creatures must be taught that the sin is greatly on their own shoulders1 and they are capable of overcoming if they only will4 ,mr4 ,savage's closing sentence is fine1--,not to do wrong1 one must develop in himself the ability of magnificent self-control6 ,that is the starting-point of many of life's failures1--lack of self-control4 ,teach these poor creatures that lesson1 and some trade by which they can support themselves when they leave the prison4 ,you wrote us word you subscribed to two of our papers4 ,i take it for granted they are the ,register and ,unity4 ,if so1 will call your attention to a review of a book on ,prison ,reform1 in ,unity1 ,dec4 #af1 #ahhd4 ,i sent you yesterday a tract1 ,unitarian ,belief in ,bible ,language1 marking several passages which ,i thought might rouse some of the poor men and women and boys 7it is the young we must work on1 and see to it that we are making better men and women for the future7 to a truer view of what sin is2 also1 ,wrestling and ,blessing1 by ,rev4 ,william ,c4 ,gannett4 ,his first section1 on ,inherited ,burden1 is capital1 showing that in spite of it we may come off conquerors4 ,the whole of the tract is good4444 ,hoping we may continue to aid you in the prison work1 and with the good wishes of the season from the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference to you and all prison-workers and inmates1 ,cordially yours1 ,s4 ,,ellis4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,february #e1 #ahhe4 ,if we can only make men feel their bodies are temples of the ,holy ,spirit1 which they have of ,god1 and that they are not their own1 and that in sinning they disgrace this holy temple1 it seems to me that there would be less crime in the world4 ,it is the divine in their own souls they defile4 ,there has been a tract of ,unitarian hymns published4 ,i will send you a copy next week1 hoping that some of our beautiful hymns may cheer the poor benighted prisoners4444 ,i have had people say to me1 ,the ,unitarian faith does very well to live by daily2 but when you are in trouble1 or your friends die1 if you do not believe in the ,trinity1 what have you to comfort you8 ,my reply is1 ,we have ,god1 from whom ,jesus received his strength4 ,we have the faith of ,jesus1 and not so much faith in ,jesus4 ,we can trust ,god to help us in our hour of need2 and if we have sinned we know ,he is ready and willing to pardon us4 ,we know that to live truly in this life will secure us happiness in the world to come2 and that while we are here there is time to repent and do good1 and we would not wish to feel that it was necessary for a perfect being to die to spare us from our sins4 ,we had rather suffer on1 if we have done the wrong1 than see some one else suffer for us4 ,on receiving the news of ,mr4 ,beach's sudden death in ,july1 #ahhe1 ,miss ,ellis wrote to his sister3 444 ,i was much shocked and very sorry to hear the news your letter1 which was received this morning1 contained1 but was much obliged to you for speaking so plainly of your dear brother1 for ,i was much interested in him4 ,not only ,i1 but all of our little ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 and also the ladies of the ,auxiliary ,conference in ,boston4 ,he was a noble fellow1 and doing much good there in the ,joliet prison4 ,i hope to transfer my esteem and respect for him to his family in remembrance of him4 ,how little it ever occurred to me1 when ,i wrote the letter to him on the #bjth1 that the dear fellow was safe in his heavenly home4 ,i am sure he deserved a high place with the dear ones above1 in whatever faith he died4 ,he used to write us such good1 interesting letters1 both here and to ,boston4 ,we were always glad to get them4444 ,i never have known to what church he and his family belong1 but have imagined the ,presbyterian4444 ,what church do you attend1 and how old was ,andrew8 ,i am old enough to be his mother1 ,i suspect1 and looked upon him and some few other of my correspondents as 'my boys1' as one of my converts styles himself4 ,my hope was that ,andrew would study for the ministry some day4444 ,i know what sorrow is1 but must say yours is one of the most trying ordeals to pass through1--an only son1 and such a noble one1 to die among strangers4 ,my heart aches sorely for you1 and ,i do not wonder it seems like a 'dream' to you4 ,we do not know and cannot tell why our dear ones are taken4 ,we can only trust in ,god's love to lighten the burden for us after a time1 and accept our present trial4 ,the spirit of the dear ones will help us to be kinder and more loving to those who are left with us2 and gradually a change comes over us1 and as days roll on we find our lives are very different from what they were before1--purer and holier1 and we have been drawn nearer heaven and been with our dear one all the time4 ,i will copy a beautiful poem of ,whittier's1 ',the ,angel of ,patience1' at the close of this letter4 ',our earthly loss is our heavenly gain4' 444 ,bear as bravely as you can1 and the good ,father will send peace to your souls as the years roll on4 ',we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of heaven4' ,we shall be glad to send papers to you now4 ,i think in the ',register' you will find many things to comfort you often2 and from time to time ,i will select something especial for you4 ,let me know1 please1 by postal1 if you prefer not to have them4 ,shall be very glad to hear from you any time4 ,this letter led to a correspondence continued until ,miss ,ellis's death1 and to the sending of much literature to the family4 ,further extracts from this correspondence follow3-- ,,august #af1 #ahhe4 444 ,i do not wonder you miss the dear brother1 and feel grieved that you may not see him again4 ,i do not believe the good ,father in heaven is angry if we murmur some4 ,he cannot be so harsh as to have us cultivate family affections and friendships on earth and not have any loving feelings left4 ,no6 ,it is right to mourn1 but yet not without hope4 ,one of the most beautiful sermons ,i ever heard1 and the most comforting1 was one from our pastor1 ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte1 on ,the ,dark ,hours of ,life1 and what they bring us4 ,here she copies the closing passages of the sermon1 and also four pages of poems1--,the ,heart ,prayer1 by ,j4 ,n4 ,spriggs2 ,i am so ,weak1 ,jennie ,e4 ,mc,caine1 both from ,unity ,songs ,resung2 ,my ,dead1 by ,rev4 ,f4 ,l4 ,hosmer2 and selections from ,scriptures ,old and ,new4 ,so little did she spare the feeble remains of her strength in these last months4 ,sept4 #bg1 #ahhe1 she wrote3-- 444 ,not that ,i have so much to do1 but this changeable weather has unfitted me for work1 and ,i have a good deal of extra work lately1 that has exercised my brain considerably and required long letters4 ,i was put on a committee of three at the ,st4 ,louis ,conference last ,may1 for drawing up systematic ,post ,office ,mission methods4 ,rev4 ,arthur ,judy1 of ,davenport1 ,iowa1 is the chairman4 ,he has planned a circular letter and a book of records4 ,it has taken much of my time to read the long letters and give my opinion of them4444 ,we have to work very differently in this region4444 ,however1 in time we shall have more than one enlightened family in a place4 ,the way to overcome is to lend our papers1 tracts1 books1 etc41 that the people may see we are ,christians after all4 ,we do not want to convert them so much1 but to make more sincere ,christians of them1 and happier people in this world2 and by degrees they throw aside their old dogmas without knowing it4 ,we do have so many comforting books2 so many good ,sunday-school lessons adapted to grown people even2 devotional books1 too1 with selections which fit each day2 and also so many books containing a true account of ,unitarianism and of the ,bible1 that ,i feel every one ought to read them1 and own many2 but of course they cannot4444 ,i want to lend you a little daily book ,i have1--',day unto ,day4' ,it is in rather a dilapidated state1 because ,i have sent it by mail to a number of persons4 ,i have two copies1 but both birthday presents1 and ,i do not like to part with either4 ,the pencil-marks in it are mine1 as they have impressed me day by day4 ,you may retain it three or four months if you wish4 ,the sister wrote in reply3-- ,,october #bg1ahhf4 ,i wish to thank you especially for the loan of your book1 ,day unto ,day4 ,it was very kind in you1 and ,i have found it to be a perfect mine of beautiful gems of truth and wisdom1 and day unto day it can furnish comforting thought for all occasions4 ,i was very much interested in your statement of your work as a member of the committee you mentioned4 ,certainly1 such an amount of such elevating literature distributed so extensively must result in much good4 ,the literature that ,i receive from you we endeavor to make the very best use of1--by first thoroly reading in our own family1 and then lending to those among our neighbors and friends who will be most likely to give their attention to it4 ,on one or two occasions we have invited in1 on ,sunday afternoons1 some of our neighbors1 and made them occasions for reading to them an especially good sermon or article1 hoping to awaken sufficient interest to perhaps have frequent readings and talks4 ,in our village there are two churches only1--the ,disciples and ,presbyterian4 ,the date of ,miss ,ellis's last letter to this correspondent shows it to have been written less than a month before her death3-- ,november #cj1 #ahhe4 ,your letter was very welcome1 and ,i intended replying sooner2 but for the last three weeks have been very miserable1 though up1 out1 and at work all the time1 accomplishing little1 however4 ,we were so glad to hear you were occasionally having ,sunday readings and doing the good you can4 ,to-day ,i have mailed to you ,songs of ,faith1 ,hope1 and ,charity1 and the last ,church ,door ,pulpit ,channing1 selected by ,mr4 ,gannett1 whose father1 ,ezra ,s4 ,gannett1 was ,dr4 ,channing's colleague for many years4 ,it is an admirable compilation1 and ,i wish it were in small book form1 for it would make a very beautiful little ,christmas gift4 ,even in this form ,i shall use it for such a purpose4 ,there are three books ,i would call your and your friends' attention to as little gifts of value at this season2 namely1 ,daily ,strength for ,daily ,needs2 ,the ,thought of ,god in ,hymns and ,poems1 by ,rev4 ,f4 ,l4 ,hosmer and ,rev4 ,william ,c4 ,gannett1 just published2 then there is a pleasant story-book for boys or girls published last year1 ,the ,browns4 444 ,all this may be quite contrary to your feelings this year1 and ,i presume you cannot enter into ,thanksgiving and ,christmas with the real spirit of former days4 ,but not as you see the golden lining to all things can you give way to gloom4 ,there is always something to be grateful for4 ,how much worse might have happened to us4 ,then1 too1 we can feel thankful that we had our treasures so long1 and that they were such a pleasure to us4 ,thanksgiving naturally makes us ask1 ,what have ,i to be thankful for8 and makes us somewhat sad2 but at ,christmas we lay aside all thought of self1 and think of ,him who was all unselfishness2 and in this thought we try to forget our sorrows in order to send gladness thrilling through some other human soul1 and thus forget our loss for that day at least1 though tears may come involuntarily4 ,hope the ,thanksgiving was as pleasant as it could be2 that there was a reunion of those of you who are still living1 and that the spirit of the dear one only drew you all together in stronger bonds of love4 ,we--father1 mother1 and myself--were invited to dine with my brother----1 there to meet my dear sister's husband and five motherless children4 ,it is the one pleasure to us to pass these anniversaries together1 and to feel all our dear ones are with us in spirit1 bidding us to be of good cheer1 for they are not dead1 but with their love for us would guide us on to better things than they ever knew or could accomplish4 ,all is well with them now1 and they look down smilingly upon our feeblest efforts to do the right and be cheery4 ,the sister wrote1 ,feb4 #g1 #ahhf3-- 444 ,we were very much shocked when we heard of the death of ,miss ,ellis4 ,we had known that she was an invalid1 yet1 judging from her letters1 we had no idea of the great weakness she must have endured physically in writing to her correspondents up to so recent a date4 ,her letters to us in our great bereavement were so full of tender sympathy with us1 and were so comforting1 we feel that we have sustained a great loss1 even though we had never seen her4444 ,it will be a pleasure to us to forward to you any letters of ,miss ,ellis either to my brother or myself that will aid you in the publication of a book 444 that will extend and perpetuate the influence of so useful and good a life4 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,i4 ,w4 ,thacher wrote3-- ,,february #ag1 #ahhf4 ,you will be glad to know that we have had very grateful letters from the several stations in ,kentucky to which we have sent barrels of magazines and papers4 ,to ,eddyville and ,greenwood we have sent twice2 and ,dr4 ,r----7at the latter place7 still says1 ,send more whenever it is convenient2 so that we feel that the very miscellaneous collections have been really appreciated and enjoyed4 ,in each barrel we sent large numbers of ,registers and some good tracts1 and then filled in with miscellaneous magazines1--chiefly the illustrated ones4 ,this is hardly ,post ,office ,mission work1 but ,i don't doubt it accomplishes much good1 and ,i am always grateful to you and ,miss ,ellis for suggesting it to us4444 ,do you continue to be in communication with the ,joliet ,penitentiary1 and is any one keeping on with ,mr4 ,beach's work for the prisoners8 ,it is a constant help and inspiration1--the thought of ,miss ,ellis's devotion to her work and her faithfulness to the end6 ,a young ,englishman in ,frankfort1 ,ky41 wrote ,mrs4 ,hunert1 in answer to her card of inquiry3 ,i do take the ',register1' ',unity1' and ',unitarian2' ,i am almost entirely dependent upon what ,i read here1 as ,i can hear no ,liberal preaching1 and meet with very few who have sympathy with ,liberal religious views4 ,i did get the memorial of ,miss ,ellis1 and will prize it much1 as ,i was better acquainted with her than any one connected with the church at ,cincinnati1 and looked upon her as one of my best friends1 and a very noble lady4 ,the day on which ,i received your postal1 ,i met the chaplain of the penitentiary here1 and he told me how much the ,unitarian literature that was sent from the ,east was liked by him2 that it was all distributed1 and enjoyed very much by the inmates of the prison4 ,if ,i had another copy or two of ,miss ,ellis's memorial1 ,i would give one to the chaplain1 and another gentleman1--about the only ,unitarian ,i know here4 ,the following correspondence is with a workingman in ,northern ,ohio1--a young ,englishman1 whose letters tell his story4 ,he once rose at four o'clock to write ,miss ,ellis before going to his daily work4 ,one of his first letters to her said3-- ,,march #af1 #ahhe4 ,now1 that you may know in what walk of life ,i move1 ,i must tell you that ,i am a laborer4 ,when working by the month1 my wages never exceeded twelve dollars a month4 ,from such small wages ,i have built up a small library of #aee volumes2 have also #aef pamphlets4 ,i take unceasing delight in reading1 and now that ,i have others dependent on me1 am not able to procure all the books ,i need4 ,by some ,i have been encouraged to prepare for the ministry4 ,such also is my aspiration4 ,it may be years before ,i shall become a minister1 because my preparation is not to be accomplished very quickly4 ,oh1 how ,i wish that some one from their abundance would forward me some of the books and pamphlets they have cast aside1 having no further use for6 ,they would be of great use to me4 ,what are the qualifications necessary for the ,unitarian ministry8 ,will you please tell me8 ,if possible for you to do so1 please send me a few more sermons by ,rev4 ,g4 ,a4 ,thayer1 and ,i shall be greatly obliged4 ,miss ,ellis forwarded this letter to ,miss ,m4 ,o4 ,rogers1 ,secretary of the ,king's ,chapel branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 ,boston1 ,mass41 who had written1 offering aid in her work4 ,as a result1 the ,king's ,chapel ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference sent this young man many ,unitarian books of value1 and the ,unitarian ,review regularly1 for which his gratitude was great4 ,he loans and distributes all matter sent him1 and has procured many tracts from the ,american ,unitarian ,association for distribution4 ,a portion of ,miss ,ellis's reply to the letter given above is as follows3-- ,,march #ah1ahhe4 ,your letter was read with much interest1 and we are glad to know our little society has done good work4444 ,don't be discouraged if you cannot convert the world at once1 but wait quietly till your time comes to do more4 ,you are young yet4 ,think ,i can spare a few more of ,mr4 ,thayer's sermons4 ,he has only had four sermons on ,reasonable ,religion published4444 ,will send you the ,meadville catalogue next week1 and you can see for yourself1 and afterwards write to ,president ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore1 telling him ,i sent you the catalogue4 ,he can give you all further information4 ,he was the pastor in ,cincinnati from the time ,i was fourteen to twenty-one1 and knows us well4444 ,hope to hear further from you occasionally4 ,work on quietly1 knowing the discipline will the better fit you for ministerial labors4 ,we can't jump into the highest calling on earth in a moment1 and now-a-days a man must be something of more than ordinary ability to enter a ,unitarian pulpit4 ,it is not an easy place to fill4 ,he wrote to her1 ,june #ad1 #ahhe3-- ,believe me1 ,i am sorry to hear that you were 'too sick to more than keep up' with your work4 ,i know you must be busy at all times1 from the report of your work in the ,conference ',unity' you sent me4 ,that number of ',unity' is very valuable to me1 and will be kept for future reference4 ,the four sermons on ',reasonable ,religion1' by ,rev4 ,george ,a4 ,thayer1 have also been kept4 ,i hope soon to see them in a neat binding4 ,they are worthy of the expense4 ,of the books received from ,boston1 four have been read by me4 ,two of them were mostly read as ,i walked to my work mornings4 ,in the same manner ',meditations on the ,essence of ,christianity' was read4 ,this book is very beautiful1 its author1 ,robert ,laird ,collier4 ',channing's ,works' and ',genuineness of the ,gospels' cannot be carried about as readily1 so they are to be read and studied on lost days1 when ,i cannot work4 ,the ',reviews' received are very valuable2 ,i would not part with them for anything4 ,the ',register' is received regularly from ,philadelphia4 ,the last one is very interesting1 containing as it does an account of the ,festival4 ,it must have been good to be there4 ,to you1 and all who have aided you in your generosity to me1 ,i return my heartfelt thanks4 ,after ,miss ,ellis's death1 he wrote1 ,feb4 #ac1 #ahhf3-- 444 ,with this ,i send you the whole of her correspondence to me1 hoping that you may find something that will be of use to you4 ,i cheerfully send you the letter and postals1 knowing that my treasures will be in safe keeping4 ,since ,miss ,ellis's death they are doubly precious to me2 ,i prize them very highly1 because she who wrote them proved herself to be a very dear friend to me1--a laborer longing for more light4 ,whilst ,i live ,i shall never forget how much ,i owe to her who labored so much in my behalf4 ,it was the one wish of my heart to have met ,miss ,ellis1 and to have thanked her for all that she had done for me2 but it was to be otherwise4 ,when ,i meet her in the country of 'many mansions1' ,i shall have the opportunity to do so4 ,i believe ,i shall meet and know her there4 ,your offer of help is very kind2 my greatest drawback is lack of books by ,unitarian writers4 ,i buy when ,i can1 but being out of work--that is1 steady work--since last ,september makes it very hard work to get a book very often4 ,if you can help me in this way ,i shall be very thankful1 and if you cannot1 ,i shall be just the same1 because ,i feel that you would if you could4 ,i have much opposition to overcome1 standing alone in my belief in the truth of ,unitarianism4 ,i have great need of more books4 ,my preparation for the ministry must necessarily be slow1 because ,i can never attend ,meadville ,theological ,college4 ,but ,i am reminded that your time is precious1 and so ,i will close4 ,mrs4 ----1 will you at the next meeting of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference thank all the dear friends who have done so much for me8 ,if ,i ever amount to much in life ,i shall owe it all to the ,cincinnati branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference4 ,hoping that you will not forget me when sending out literature1 ,i remain1 etc4 ,in another letter he wrote3-- ,my object in fitting myself for the ministry is to be able to carry the message of ,unitarianism to my brother-laborers1 because ,i believe it will make better men--and women too--of them4444 ,i began to work when ,i was but a little more than eleven years old1 and since that time ,i have been my own teacher4 ,a lady in ,ohio sends her ,register regularly 7the arrangement being made through ,miss ,ellis7 to the correspondent who wrote her this letter of thanks3-- ,i have long postponed the note of thanks ,i have meant to send you4 ,but when ,i tell you that ,i am a dressmaker1 you will pardon me1 ,i am sure4 ,this is my harvest season1 and ,i am extremely busy4 ,being one of the class of work-women who put themselves into what they do1 ,i am exhausted at night1 and forced to make ,sunday a day of rest indeed4 ,the papers do come regularly1 to my great joy4 ,i assure you that the pleasure and spiritual strength ,i get from them1 if you could realize it1 would compensate you for the trouble an hundred-fold4 ,my business1 showing me so plainly the small foibles and weaknesses of human nature1 and necessarily binding one's thoughts in large measure to 'band1 gusset1 and seam1 seam1 gusset1 and band1' or their equivalents of flounces and gores1 tends to a wearisome narrowing of the mind2 a half-hour spent after work is done1 with the ',register1' opens a window1 as it were1 into heaven4 ,i live alone4 ,at times my isolation is hard to bear2 but having seen better days1 as the saying goes1 to me my deprivations are but part of the discipline that ,god saw was needful for me4 ,i am shut off1 by reason of serving the public1 from the society of my equals in education and breeding1 and for that of my equals in station ,i have no taste4 ,pardonnez-moi these personal details2 ,i give them that you may know how much good you are doing4 ,long may you be spared the power and the will to do such kindness to those who need4 ,we may never meet on earth1 but ,i trust we shall in heaven4 ,to ,miss ,ellis1 ,aug4 #bj1 #ahhe1 she wrote3-- ,i receive the papers1 and not only read and enjoy them1 but give and send them to others4 ,i am surprised to find 'unconscious' ,unitarians wherever ,i go4 ,i hope you may be well by this time4 ,do not tire yourself to write4 ,others need you more than ,i4 ,after ,miss ,ellis's death1 she wrote acknowledging the memorial3-- ,many thanks4 ,i was so glad to receive it1 and prize it as one of my treasures2 also for the welcome tracts and papers4 ,they are like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land to me1 and are given away to others4 ,a woman in a small ,indiana village wrote ,miss ,ellis3-- ,i understand you have ,liberal literature that you send gratis to hungry people who are not able to gratify their appetite in that direction4 ,it would be greatly appreciated by me1 and after reading ,i would put it where ,i thought it would do the most good4 ,later1 she wrote3-- ,i have received a paper and often something else every other week4 ,these ,i have accepted as a kind of trust2 and when there has been a favorable opportunity1 given them away to friends and acquaintances4 ,i do not press them on any one1 nor talk about it much4 ,i have not the courage of a reformer4 ,when ,i speak to friends 7that are kind every other way7 of a broader religious belief1 they meet me with coldness and distrust4 ,it chills me1 and ,i am silent4 ,yet ,i believe1 with ,helen ,williams1 if any one is brought to face a great truth1 if they accept it1 yet do not speak or act upon it1 there is retribution1 barrenness1 for them1--a plunging in the whale's belly1 as ,jonah was1--a figure so many have laughed at1 yet significant for all that4 ,i wonder now at my struggles in former years2 am happier since the tangled skein is partially straightened4 ,still ,i am not fully in accord with the ,unitarians4 ,miss ---- another correspondent in the same village spoke to me some time ago of your desiring us to form a reading circle4 ,i do not know what she said to you4 ,i will give you the situation4 ,i live in a small village of about one hundred inhabitants1 and ,miss ---- lives about two miles away4 ,i cannot call to mind a woman that would take any interest4 ,they would go to sleep over their knitting1 or want to use the time for social chat1 as they do not meet day after day at the village store1 as the men do 7,i speak of winter74 ,true1 there are a few that would enjoy the reading1 yet are so severely ,orthodox they could not comprehend a new truth outside of their church4 ,that is the dark side4 ,now ,i have often thought if we had a place of meeting1 where we could seat a small audience 7which we have not71 and a good reader 7ditto71 we could call them together ,sunday afternoons and read some of the beautiful sermons you have sent4 ,your work is grand1--the elevation of the human race4 ,the ones that will read1 will become better1 kindlier1 more patient with ignorance2 and while they yearn to give every soul a chance1 will naturally throw out a better influence and teach a broader religion4 ,as to your paper1 not now4 ,it is midwinter2 husband1 carpenter1 out of employment4 ,intend to take one of your publications after a while4 ,about two weeks after ,miss ,ellis's death she addressed this letter to her3-- ,,my ,,dear ,,friend1--,i received a ,register yesterday1 directed in a different hand4 ,are you sick8 ,i hope not4 ,i should grieve indeed if ,i knew that physical pain had stopped your work4 ,these lines come to my mind3-- ,only a woman1 and ,i could not find ,the quiet household life that women know2 ,so too1 my part where there were sheaves to bind1 ,not much1 perhaps1 but more than ,i could do4 ,my tired feet failed me in the harvest lands1 ,my ripened grain but half-way reaped across2 ,and1 where it dropped from over-wearied hands1 ,my best sheaf lies half bound for winds to toss4 ,instead1 may you continue your work till eventide4 ,who can tell1 when a mind gives up its beliefs1 where it will stop8 ,i seem to believe nothing1 unless it is in the ,supreme ,good1 whatever that is1--and my religion1 to live the best life ,i know4 ,the ,orthodox preachers say if one strays from the path1 or back-slides1 they are always uneasy and unhappy4 ,how different my experience is6 ,how glad ,i am to have escaped the little enclosure of dogma1 and to stand far indeed from being wise1 but free to learn6 ,hoping this will find you in good health and spirits1 ,i remain ,your friend ,a---- ,c---- ,after hearing of ,miss ,ellis's death1 she wrote3 ,received your postal4 ,have also received ,unitarian papers1 and ,miss ,ellis's memorial1 which last ,i will store among my treasured mementos4 ,how beautiful her life was6 ,though never having seen her1 she will be treasured in my memory as a dear friend4 ,she has sent me almost all the pamphlets1 ,i suppose1 that have been written for the purpose of distributing4 ,having a large family1 they have been read and reread1 and handed to neighbors and friends4 ,one has no idea how many they will reach1 or how much they influence2 and yet there is so much prejudice against ,unitarians among ,orthodox ,christians1 some would take it as an insult to offer them one of the pamphlets4 ,in our little village the ',united ,brethren' have been holding meetings day and night for three weeks1 and oh6 how they do preach hell1 and pray publicly for 'that lady that is leading her daughters down to hell1' simply because she does not believe as they do4 ,i have more tolerance for them than they have for me4 ,i think there are some people they will reach and do good1 as ,i presume the ,rev4 ,sam ,jones is doing in ,cincinnati4 ,the following letter to ,miss ,ellis from a poor old woman to whom she wrote1 sent papers and other aid1 for several years1 is given verbatim1 to illustrate the range of her sympathies4 ,this letter was also written after ,miss ,ellis's death3-- ,i wish ,i could come and see you1 but ,i cannot afford to go up and down on the ,trains4 ,i have to send by someone1 now ,miss ,ellis you have been a sending me good ,papers to read and now you must not think ,i mean to beg but you sent me a ,new years ,card it was a ,rose now ,i would not take anything for it ,i am as ,foolish as ,littel ,children is about ,pictures the ,rose ,i have is in my ,album and if you got any one by you to part ,with ,will you send it to me for this ,new year ,i feel more than thankful for the ,papers you have sent me4444 ,well ,i will close ,write to me soon ,i am alone day and night ,so goodbye from a ,dear ,friend to one ,i ,love4 ,a young man in a ,state ,normal ,school in ,indiana long corresponded with ,miss ,ellis4 ,he has been an enthusiastic distributor of our literature1 and instrumental in procuring ,unitarian preaching in his city4 ,extracts from his letters are here given4 ,the papers received are read by myself and others4 ,there are few here who know anything of what ,unitarians believe4 ,a second letter says3-- ,the matter sent to me is read by several persons4 ,i think of one young man now who asked me to send you his name4 ,he said he would like to read literature made by persons who are independent of creeds4 ,i gave him ,wendte's ',statement' and ,chadwick's ',art of ,life4' ,i am grateful to you for your kindness1 and shall be glad to receive what you may send4 ,i read the sermons by ,savage with interest4 ,they were the only ones of his ,i ever saw4 ,i have given and shall continue to give the matter sent me wider circulation4 ,mentioning a rebuff recently received1 he continues3 ,this little experience1 while not pleasant1 is valuable to me4 ,i see that the spirit of the ,middle ,ages is not entirely dead yet1 and that one better not be too hasty4 ,my convictions are just as strong as before4 ,another letter says3-- ,i know something of what it costs to break away from old associations4 ,i was brought up in the ,baptist ,church4 ,all my family were of that faith4444 ,my relatives all look upon me as one lost to all true belief1 because ,i cannot see my way clear to go with them in the traditions of the fathers4 ,still1 ,i feel that to be true to the light ,i have is better than to have the sanction of those who are simply following what their creed teaches1 asking no questions4 ,i do not care to argue with them1 and so follow that life that gives me the greatest comfort and satisfaction4 ,feb4 #aa1 #ahhf1 he wrote ,mrs4 ,hunert3-- ,miss ,ellis was a very dear friend 7although ,i never saw her71 and it was a great shock to learn of her decease4 ,the first intimation ,i had of her death was the article in the ',register' headed ',a ,candle of the ,lord4' ,whatever literature you may send me shall be given circulation after ,i have read it4 ,i now supply some half-dozen persons by mail with the tracts sent me4 ,as ,i know the personal peculiarities of all these parties1 ,i can adapt the matter to each4 ,you will see1 therefore1 that ,i am a sort of branch 'mission4' ,in addition to this1 ,i occasionally write a short article to a local paper in ,wayne ,county upon subjects of interest4 ,he encloses one of these articles1--subject1 ,future or ,everlasting ,punishment3 ,which8 444 ,mrs4 ,smith wrote to me in regard to ,miss ,ellis's letters4 ,i am very sorry not to have any of them4 ,during the last three years ,i have moved so frequently1 being sometimes in this ,state and sometimes in ,w4 ,virginia1 that they were lost1 and ,i am unable to find them4 ,some of them ,i carried for a long time in my pocket until they became so worn as to be scarcely recognizable4 ,the form of them has vanished1 but the kindness and sympathy they breathed is with me still4 ,the spirit of that sainted woman cannot wax old4 ,i humbly trust that ,i may be imbued with something of the calm and trust and purity which her letters always suggested4 ,there was1 too1 an enthusiasm which was untiring1 and withal a modesty that never was absent from her utterances4 ,there was ever the absence of anything like dictation in her advice4 ,it was the gentle monition of a friend1 never the pompous dictation of conscious superiority4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,t4 ,sunderland1 of ,chicago1 is to preach in our city ,march #ba4 ,i have never heard him1 and am looking to his coming with expectation4 ,a young woman who is working out a ,homestead and ,timber ,claim in ,nebraska1 and has been for several years supplied with much reading matter by ,miss ,ellis1 which she has circulated so zealously as to have become one of the branch missions1 writes3-- ,when ,i was about seventeen years old ,i joined the ,baptist ,church in ,newport1 ,ky4 7where at the time ,i was residing1 and teaching in the public school in that city72 and ,i was sincere in what ,i did1 only ,i had so many doubts about many things that they taught1 and hesitated from the beginning of the revival until the close before ,i could decide4 ,then my decision was made on this1 that there were older persons belonging to the church that said they believed the teachings and doctrine1 and ,i thought when ,i grew older and had more experience that ,i would understand1 and ,i had a delicate fear to converse with the older members about my doubts for fear of their opinions of me2 so ,i quietly stayed with them for a number of years1 when an old friend1 a good woman1 now gone from among us1 induced me to attend your church1 ,mr4 ,wendte then being the pastor4 ,the subject he was to speak about was 'the ,christ we know4' ,i remember my thoughts then were about these1--',christ they know8 ,i don't believe they know any1' and thought ,i should like to hear what he would say1 any way4 ,i well remember that sermon2 not one sentence he uttered jarred me in the least2 and1 strange to say1 they were my own thoughts on the subject2 but ,i dared not1 even if ,i could1 have expressed myself4 ,i thought over that sermon the whole week every spare moment ,i had1 and even took some that did not justly belong to me4 ,i shall never forget that week4 ,the next ,sunday his text was1 'the ,god we love4' ,for all ,i enjoyed the previous sermon1 ,i still thought1 ',they love ,god8 ,impossible6' and as my friends invited me to go over with them again1 ,i accepted the invitation4 ,i never had ,god represented to me before as now1--more like a kind father than an austere judge2 yes1 kind1 compassionate1 and loving us all alike1 condemning only our evil actions4 ,this suited me exactly2 so another week was spent in thought4 ,i would think1 ',how can ,i conscientiously be a ,baptist and believe this way8' ,yet how ,i disliked leaving the church where many things were endeared to me4 ,it seemed as if ,i was in a sea of trouble and doubt1 not knowing whether to go on or halt and turn back4 ,the next ,sunday the subject was1 'the ,bible we revere4' ,i was more than anxious to hear this one1 for it seemed to me that on this ,i would have to decide4 ,i went1 and decided4 ,i broke off gradually from my old associations1 and attended the services in the ,unitarian church from that time until ,i came ,west4 ,i never joined the church1 but it suited my views best of all churches1 and to-day ,i cannot go in any of the ,orthodox churches and feel at home4 ,now as regards this mission work that you wish me to engage in1 ,i could devote half an hour each day1 and am willing to do all ,i can for the advancement of the cause4 ,my health became very poor1 and ,i went ,west thinking it would be beneficial4 ,i must say ,i succeeded1 for ,i am not compelled to stay now for my health1 but business keeps me here4444 ,my homestead is three miles from the town1 and ,i go out quite often and stay over ,sunday4 ,my house is a very small dug-out4 ,i raised about ten bushels of potatoes1 some beans1 and a few squashes2 have done work ,i never thought of doing1--that is1 planting vegetables1 made my own bedstead1 put a floor in the house1 and lined it with sacking4 ,some of my lady friends assisted me when they came to see me1 and gave me ideas about my new kind of work4 ,now last1 but not least1 in regard to ,miss ,ellis4 ,i wrote to her directly after coming ,west1 and told her ,i felt isolated from church attendance1 but was pleased to find so many people with whom ,i could converse on ,liberal thought4 ,since that time she had kindly furnished me with reading matter which ,i have again sent on its errand of peace and joy4 ,i looked over a bundle of letters and can only find this postal card from her4444 ,this card ,i send you is one she sent me in reference to ,mr4 ,copeland4 ,i wrote her for his address1 which she gave me1 and ,i requested him to come to our town and speak to the people here4 ,he kindly consented to come1 and spoke on ',into the ,light4' ,the majority of the people that heard him were well pleased1 and he promised me that whenever he passed our town on his way to or from ,denver he would stop over and speak4 ,would like to have the card returned1 as ,i want it for a remembrance4 ,in her first letter written after ,miss ,ellis's death she said3-- ,imagine how ,i felt when ,i came to your letter1 and read the sad news of ,miss ,ellis's death4 ,i feared the worst when ,i did not hear from her1 for a friend had written me of her decline2 but ,miss ,ellis herself never referred to her illness but once to me4 ,she certainly must have been a patient and uncomplaining invalid1 and ,i1 with many others no doubt1 feel as if ,i had lost a dear friend1 and would be pleased to receive one of the memorials as a keepsake4444 ,i can assure you that ,i do all ,i can towards building up a religion that all could conscientiously embrace4 444 ,all the reading matter sent to me ,i distribute to the best of my ability1 and hope that as it goes on its mission good seed will be sown4 ,there are numbers of ,liberal people here who do not belong to any church2 and then ,i find a number of ,liberals belonging to ,orthodox churches4 ,i will subscribe for ,mr4 ,savage's sermons1 for ,i like his sermons best of all4 ,miss ,ellis numbered several physicians among her correspondents4 ,one living in ,alabama writes3-- ,your ,conference speaks truly when it says1 ',many of ,miss ,ellis's correspondents had come to regard her as a dear friend1 though never having seen her face4' ,i feel that ,i too may have the privilege and the honor of being enrolled among the number of her unseen friends4 ,i hope some of the good seed she sowed has fallen in good ground1 even at this distance from the kind hand that scattered them1 and that their fruit may not ',appear in weeds that mar the land1 ,but in a healthful store4' ,i am a regular subscriber to the ',christian ,register' and the ',unitarian1' all through the influence of ,miss ,ellis4 ,a man on a remote plantation in ,georgia1 who has been most zealous in spreading the new light around him1 writes3-- ,please accept thanks for papers and memorial of ,miss ,sallie ,ellis4 ,she has been a good and a kind friend to me1 has supplied me for over two years with the best of literature1 something new1 so different from what we are used to1 something that lifts me above myself and gives me new views of heaven and immortality1 makes me a better man to wife1 family1 neighbors1 stock1 and fills my heart with that new love1 the divine brotherhood of all mankind4 ,i deeply lament her loss4 ,i do wish she could have lived a little while longer1 for my sake4 ,i do feel so thankful for the papers1 and ,channing1 from ,mrs4 ----1 ,god bless her6444 ,any books or papers sent me will be used to the good of the community4 ,the ,post ,office ,mission is doing a good work4 ,a young ,german in ,tennessee to whom she sent much reading matter wrote her3-- ,i am a ,german by birth1 and received my education at ,german universities4 ,i devoted many years to the study of the chief philosophical systems1 and had in consequence of the results derived from the latter for a long time little or no connection with any church whatever4 ,but during the last four or five years ,i became more and more convinced that no school of thought possesses so glorious a light as is emanating from the life and lessons of ,jesus ,christ4 ,so when ,i became acquainted with ,channing's ,works1 seeing that it is possible to reconcile with every scientific discovery and with every logical conclusion all that is special in ,christianity1 ,i knew ,i had found what ,i want and wherein to rest4 ,from my own standpoint1 and remembering the religious indifferentism which is now general in my native country and in ,france1 ,i regard ,unitarianism as the principle which is to save the ,christian ,church from ruin1 and which will be an indestructible bulwark against ,nihilism and materialism4 ,i still believe there is a great future before the ,unitarian ,church4 ,from a lady in ,alabama to ,miss ,ellis3-- ,,dear ,,friend1--,for such you have been to me1 and it is to you ,i am indebted for the papers1 tracts1 and sermons that ,i have received and enjoyed so much4 ,i have derived genuine comfort from them1 and sincerely thank you for thinking of one so unhappy and so tossed about for a haven of rest4 ,truly yours is a heavenly mission1 answering the needs of many like myself afflicted beyond human aid4 ,the sermons of ,james ,freeman ,clarke are peculiarly comforting2 and indeed ,i have read all you sent me with the deepest interest and benefit4 ,how ,i wish ,i might in some way recompense your ,society as it deserves6 ,and you individually have my deepest gratitude1 which is so little for such thoughtfulness as yours4 ,a second letter says3-- ,your papers1 sermons1 etc41 are regularly received1 and ,i wish ,i could make you understand the great comfort they are to me1 particularly the sermons4 ,anything pertaining to the future life holds me spell-bound till the last word is read4 ,the ,unitarian ideas and beliefs1 so far as ,i know1 find echo in my heart2 and ,i always feel comforted and soothed1 as it were1 with all ,i have read and understood4 ,i attend the ,presbyterian ,church here1 because ,i think it is better to attend some church regularly2 and ,i am very fond of this minister socially4 ,there has been for ten days or more an evangelist holding a union meeting in our church1 and a night or two ago ,i went to hear him4 ,the only feeling excited in my heart was one of pity that all persons could not be taught the love of ,god instead of being frightened into a nervous fear4 ,i assure you1 ,i feel it a privilege to correspond with you1 and find myself wishing in my heart that you knew me thoroughly1 what ,i have been1 and what ,i am by nature1 education1 and social standing4 ,i feel that we women of the ,south are to be seen at home and known to be understood by our ,northern sisters4 ,the following are some of ,miss ,ellis's letters to a radical of the radicals1 an old gentleman in ,boston1 one of ,theodore ,parker's old congregation1 who sent much literature out under her direction1 and contributed ,theodore ,parker's ,prayers1 and his new volume of sermons1 to her loan library4 ,,july #b1 #ahhc4 ,your letter was received on ,thursday1 and1 contrary to your expectation1 was read with a great deal of interest1 for ,i always admire to have every one speak with perfect freedom1 and ,i am very glad you wrote as you did1 and feel honored by having so old a man for a correspondent4444 ,you and ,i won't quarrel on the ,bible question4 ,rather think ,i should come up to your expectations on that point4444 ,i do not consider ,mr4 ,c---- or ,mr4 ,s---- authority any more than ,i consider the ,bible so2 ,i read for myself and settle the question as best ,i can4 ,am ,i not right8 ,i have not read ,colenso on the ,pentateuch1 nor ,davidson's ,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 but have read ,canon of the ,bible1 ,knappert's ,religion of ,israel1 ,stanley's ,eastern ,church1 ,higginson's ,spirit of the ,bible1 ,dr4 ,noyes's ,translation of ,prophets1 ,psalms1 ,job1 and ,canticles1 and lastly1 ,bible for ,learners4 ,i merely mention these to let you see ,i have been a student of the ,bible4 ,will also add ,alger's ,future ,life1 ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke's ,ten ,great ,religions and ,thomas ,didymus1 ,savage's ,talks about ,jesus1 and his sermons this winter on the ,bible4444 ,i think of heaven and hell as you do2 but having always been fed on ,unitarian teachings1 am not so bitter in my feelings as those who have had the ,assembly's ,shorter ,catechism to overcome4 ,in short1 if people only live truly from day to day1 ,i will excuse their view of the ,bible1 and of ,god1 and ,christ1 as long as they do not wish me to think the same as they do1 for ,i decidedly think they are wrong4444 ,i shall be very much pleased to have a copy of ,theodore ,parker's ,prayers1 and shall gladly accept a copy for my circulating library2 for1 but with the exception of a few donations1 the books loaned have been those ,i put in it4 ,after receiving the book1 she wrote3-- ,first1 ,i must tell you how much ,i am enjoying ,theodore ,parker's ',prayers4' ,they are suitable in most instances to the present day1 and for all ages and times1 and one rises from reading them with kindlier1 broader thoughts1 and renewed in strength4 ,am very glad to have the book4 ,shall endeavor to sell copies of it this winter4444 ,i cannot exactly agree with all you said in your letter1 for ,i think it is not necessary yet to give up all theology1 though it should not be the main thing in religion4 ,the chief thing is to do right1 and people arrive at that by different methods4 ,they will inquire and discuss theology1 and therefore it is necessary as yet that ministers should preach it1 and ,i do not believe that ,orthodox ministers have arrived at ,mr4 ,savage's or ,mr4 ,chadwick's views exactly1 or they would come out and say so4 ,as for myself1 ,i still enjoy the ,communion service1 partaking of the bread and wine1 and cannot agree to casting aside ,jesus as a helper to a better life1 though ,i neither worship him nor think that he redeems us in any other way than as by following his example we become one with him and ,god4 ,he 'died for us' in no other sense than as a soldier dies for his country4 ,then let theology continue1 for the world is fast becoming better and better in spite of it1 and the time may come when we shall need it no longer4 ,we are gradually coming to the point4 ,i do not regret the time 'lost' ,i have spent on theology1 for it has fitted me for just the work ,i am engaged in1 and many are the questions ,i am called upon to answer1 either by letter or printed matter2 therefore ,i am glad to know where to send perplexed minds4 ,as a friend wrote me from the ,south1 ',your papers are a great help to me4 ,you are doing more good than the women did in the days of our ,saviour4 ,they clothed the body and you are feeding the souls4' ,both acts are needed1 but in different directions1 and some people can better do the one1 and others the other4 ,i am cut off from active benevolence from want of health for it1 and am glad to know there are souls needing nourishment4 ,do you not take this view too8 99 99 99 99 99 ,,december #bj1 #ahhc4 ,your kind letter awaited my return from the city last evening1 when ,i returned at ten4 ,it grieved me to think that possibly ,i had wounded your feelings1 for your heresies have not been too tough for me1 as you fear4 ,one's religious belief never troubles me as long as they do not force me into the same belief4 ,should be sorry if ,i had not charity enough to see the good in one1 and not look at the outside merely4 ,your last letter reached me ,september #bh1 and ,i replied by postal ,october #ai1 as there did not appear to be anything especial to require a letter2 and as my eyes were troubling me much at the time1 ,i was compelled to desist from all but necessary letters4 ,am still as much interested in the good cause as ever1 and we still have new applications constantly4 ,we are gaining ground in the ,south4 ,one gentleman in ,alabama is much interested in ,unitarianism1 and wrote1 asking me for ,mr4 ,savage's address1 whereupon he wrote to ,mr4 ,savage himself1 who is sending him ,unity ,pulpit present series4 ,i am subscriber to it myself1 and never can keep a sermon4 ,i subscribed for the benefit of others4 ,in ,independence1 ,ky41 a gentleman lately wrote1 asking for ,unitarian papers1 etc4 ,he is highly satisfied4 ,has been groping in the dark a long time1 and wrote me1 ,when ,i read the pamphlet1 ',what ,do ,unitarians ,believe8' by ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte1 ,i shouted ',eureka6' ,like it so well that ,i shall not part with it4 ,so it goes on all the time4 ,some one finds just what they have been in search of for some time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,february #ai1 #ahhe4 ,am much obliged to you for sending matter to ,mr4 ----4 ,he is extremely radical1 a farmer1 with a large family to educate1 and cannot get such religious matter as he needs4 ,you might1 if you choose1 send the ,chadwick sermons to him too1 or1 if you prefer they should go elsewhere1 address them to me1 and ,i will send them where they are needed4 ,her last postal card to this correspondent1 dated about a month before her death1 says3 ,thanks for the six ',unity ,pulpits' received4 ,i have been too busy to reply before1 and my health still feeble1 though not confined to the house or bed at all4 ,i'm not one of that kind until necessary4 ,since her death1 the farmer referred to above has written3-- ,i want to pay my humble tribute to the departed ,miss ,ellis4 ,i never met her2 but she was my friend1 because she was the friend to all struggling humanity4 ,she sent me sermons1 etc41 but above all1 kind words4 ,i had pictured her in my mind as a strong1 robust person1 and hoped at some future time to meet her4 ,i now fear that ,i may have wounded her refined soul by some things ,i wrote to her4 ,i am somewhat 'agnostic2' but ,i love to think of heaven if such as ,miss ,ellis preside there and give tone to the surroundings4 ,the old gentleman in ,boston wrote3-- ,with this please receive eight letters and seventeen full postals from our dear departed friend1 ,miss ,sarah ,ellis1 of your city1 whose face ,i never saw1 but whose correspondence was to me a great pleasure4 ,her personal friendship must have been a real blessing to you and her immediate friends4 ,she was able to be a very active worker for the cause which lay so near her heart1 and was at the same time so perfectly willing to let others believe what they can4 ,i will send all ,i have of hers and let you select what you desire4 ,there is not even a postal card among them on which there is not some small or large trace of her noble1 generous1 kindly nature4 ,a young man in ,ohio1 writing ,miss ,ellis about some revival scenes in his town1 makes this comment1 which is good and true enough to settle the leaven idea once for all4 ,if you had seen all this as ,i have1 you would hardly think it time for a civilized organization like the ,unitarians to cease fighting the great evil and wait for the leaven to work4 ,the ,unitarians are themselves a portion of the leaven1 and unless they work there is so much of the leaven idle4 ,a ,christian minister with whom ,miss ,ellis has corresponded two years or more1 and who expects to enter ,harvard ,divinity ,school1 in sending her letters writes3-- 444 ,i send such as ,i can get at1 preferring to let you make any suitable selections or extracts they may offer4 ,i shall be pleased to have them returned1 as you mention1 when you have used them4 ,i may add that my correspondence with ,miss ,ellis on all matters connected with religion1 ,unitarianism1 etc41 was in all respects most pleasant1 satisfactory1 and profitable to me4 ,the careful skill with which she divined the exact want of a correspondent and sent the appropriate word by tract or letter to supply it1 bespoke a wisdom and experience deeper than casual letters may reveal4 ,and continued correspondence served thus to inspire a greater esteem and confidence in the judgment expressed4 ,the following extracts are from her letters to this minister3-- ,,november #ab1 #ahhc4 ,your letter was received a week since1 and read with interest4 ,what you said of our teachings1 of course1 was light and just4 ,we do not expect ministers of other denominations to accept our views altogether1 for if so they would be ,unitarians4 ,your view concerning studying the ,bible agrees with mine4 ,still1 it is well to know the latest view of the ,bible1 although we cannot accept the teaching at first4 ,in time the way is made clear to us4 ,have mailed to you to-day two more good tracts and our church programme for this year4 ,after ,wednesday will mail to you ,positive ,aspects of ,religion1 by ,english leaders4 ,we will agree to let you have any book at just what it costs us1 you paying postage on it4444 ,theodore ,parker's ,discourses ,pertaining to ,religion is a good book for you to read1--usual price1 #a4jj4 ,but first1 ,orthodoxy2 ,its ,truths and ,errors1 ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke2 and a new book just out1 ,orthodoxy and ,heresy4 444 ,bible for ,learners is by three ,german divines1 translated by an ,englishman1 and gives the latest ,german views concerning the ,bible4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,december #bc1 #ahhc4 444 ,at the time your letter reached me we were holding our annual fair1 and since then ,i have been much occupied with preparing for ,christmas4 ,to-day am home-bound by the snow1--it being knee-deep between our front door and the gate1 and as ,i have to walk half a mile to take the street cars to the city1 and as it is raining on top of the deep snow1 concluded it was really too bad for me to venture4 ,have read myself out1 and being very much occupied during the week1 will take advantage of the holy-day to speak on a holy topic4 ,you suggested that we send papers representing ,unitarian ideas rather than tracts2 but papers do not contain our doctrines so explicitly4 ,since your last letter1 have mailed to you two tracts on ,inspiration and ,incarnation which ,i thought well answered the thoughts expressed in your letter4 ,you will see from them that ,unitarians are little troubled about ,inspiration and the ,divinity1 or the ,deity of ,christ as we prefer to state it4 ,we do believe in his divinity1 for we hold that all men are divine1 while we deny his being ,deity4 ,we lay greater stress on the divinity of human nature1 and therefore we do not feel that ,jesus is degraded by calling him man1 for we exalt man4 ,if we considered man totally depraved1 then to call ,jesus a mere man might seem to lower him2 but when we think of the possibilities of man1 and that he has it within himself to reach up to the highest manhood1 and to become in a measure a saviour of the world1 then to compare him with ,jesus--the most glorious of men--is not lessening the divinity of the ,christ1 it seems to me4 ,or1 if we held ,jesus to be ,god1 a being different from man1 and so far superior to us that we never could attain to his goodness1 then we never could compare the two4 ,jesus is an example to us because we also are divine as he is2 for he prays that they all may be one1 as thou1 ,father1 art in me1 and ,i in thee1 that they also may be in us4 ,if man had not been of the same nature as himself1 would he have thus spoken8 ,i advise you to send to the ,western ,unitarian ,sunday ,school ,society for ,rev4 ,william ,c4 ,gannett's ,sunday ,school ,lesson1 ,the ,christmas ,poem and the ,christmas ,fact1 if you wish to understand how ,unitarians of the present day understand ,christ4 ,though you may not accept1 you will have our idea of the birth legends in our ,gospels4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,december #bd1 #ahhd4 ,my reply to your letter1 by postal1 was written before talking with ----4 ,she tells me that ,harvard will be decidedly the better place if not too expensive4 ,meadville has the advantage in that respect1--less expensive2 but being near ,boston1 ,cambridge offers better opportunities for students to engage in work by which they can support themselves in the mean time4 ,a correspondent of ours went to ,harvard a year ago last ,september4 ,had a scholarship promised him4 ,he found a set of books to keep1 and studied4444 ,i tell you of this case1 as it may help you in your decision4 ,meadville is very thorough1 but think the younger men all give preference to ,harvard2 ,i presume as much as anything on account of the opportunities which being near ,boston affords them4 ,i have written to ,professor ,c4 ,c4 ,everett of ,harvard to please send you a catalogue and answer your inquiries4 ,we shall be very glad if our little ,cincinnati branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference is the means of securing them another ,divinity student4 ,with many good wishes of the season from the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 ,very truly yours1 ,s4 ,,ellis4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,january #ad1 #ahhe4 ,have been obliged to change my residence1 and1 temporarily1 am with another brother4 ,just came here to-day1 and1 not having my things about me1 have not your last letter to refer to1 but having received a letter from our ,harvard ,divinity ,student this past week1 wish to tell you what he says of his surroundings1 and his impression of ,professor ,everett4 ,he writes as follows3 ,i enjoy the work of the ,divinity ,school more than ,i had ever hoped4 ,we have a noble corps of professors eminently fitted for their special departments1 and personally most eminent examples of ,nature's noblemen4 ,in the light of what ,i am now learning1 ,i consider my former ignorance phenomenal4 ,thanks to ,professor ,everett1 my faith in ,god is clearer and stronger than ever before4 ,he has enabled me to reduce my chaotic philosophy to something of a system1 and has helped to furnish a steadfast basis for faith4 ,his lectures are simply invaluable4 ,to my mind he is not only the greatest man in the ,divinity ,school1 but the greatest man in ,harvard ,university2 and not only the profoundest thinker in the ,unitarian ,church in our country1 but the profoundest thinker to be found in any ,american church4 444 ,i feel that this will be of interest to you1 who are contemplating going to the ,divinity ,school4 ,there is another thing ,i wish to speak of2 that is1 we have quite a valuable book1 ,the ,origin of the ,doctrine of the ,trinity1 by ,hugh ,h4 ,stannus1 of ,england1 showing how much greater cause there is for believing in the ,unity of ,god than in the ,trinity4 ,you can have the book any time you wish1 though ,i have just mailed it to a lady in this ,state4 ,by the way1 the daughter of ,james ,f4 ,clarke1 with others1 has planned a course of ,unitarian ,studies at ,home4 ,the first year's course includes3 #a4 ,the ,unitarian ,doctrine of ,prayer1 by ,j4 ,f4 ,clarke2 #b4 ,the ,origin of the ,doctrine of the ,trinity1 by ,stannus2 #c4 ,jesus and ,his ,biographers1 by ,dr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,furness2 #d4 ,christ the ,revealer1 by ,thom2 #e4 ,religious ,duties1 by ,frances ,power ,cobbe4 ,we have first1 second1 and fourth1--at least1 are to have the latter4 ,jesus and ,his ,biographers is out of print2 but we are to have that loaned to us for two months1 as three ladies here1 with myself1 are pursuing the course1 and ,i have also induced a lady in this county to join us4 ,we have received quite a number of encouraging letters from our correspondents lately1 and have every reason to believe the ,post ,office ,mission work is doing good4 ,i mailed to you this week some arguments against the ,trinity4 ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,wendte's sermon1 ,encouragement for ,unitarians1 in ,register1 ,january #h1 ,i read with much interest4 ,we have such an interesting young convert1 a ,methodist1 in ,canada4 ,his intention is to study for the ,unitarian ministry1 we having brought him out into the light4 ,i thought with how much interest he would read that sermon of ,mr4 ,wendte's4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,april #ai1 #ahhe4 ,was glad to hear from you again1 and find you are in a larger field4 ,he had gone to a ,pennsylvania city4 ,perhaps you may draw into your church--take it for granted you have gone there to preach--,universalists and ,unitarians4444 ,we shall be glad to loan you books again as soon as you are ready for them4 ,have had added to the library lately ,the ,origin of the ,doctrine of the ,trinity1 by ,hugh ,h4 ,stannus2 ,christ the ,revealer1 by ,thom 7both ,english works71 ,the ,power of the ,spirit of ,jesus of ,nazareth and ,the ,story of the ,resurrection1 both by ,dr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,furness1 of ,philadelphia1--the latter just published1 and he presented the two to us4 ,am not quite ready to loan the latter1 as ,i've not read it myself4 ,if you know or meet with any ,germans in your vicinity1 we are soon to have some ,unitarian tracts in the ,german language4444 ,hope you read with enthusiasm the earnest appeal for ministers at the ,east1 and also at ,meadville1 in the ,register of ,april #i4 ,we hope to have two of our correspondents go to ,meadville in ,september1 and hope you may succeed in your desire to get to ,harvard4 ,we had a very pleasant letter from one of our boys1 as he styled himself1 a week since4 ,he is still enjoying his privileges there4444 ,hoping to hear from you again1 and wishing you success in your new position1 whatever it may be1 in which the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference join1 ,yours truly1 ,,sarah ,,ellis4 ,a gentleman in ,mississippi1 superintendent of schools in his county1 writes of ,miss ,ellis as 444 ,one whose memorial ,i read with a saddened heart4 ,a single request to her consequent upon an advertisement which ,i saw in a paper commenced a correspondence which continued uninterruptedly till the time of her death4 ,though just from the side of a dear sister whom she had left destined to a glorious immortality1 she found time to write to us a letter of condolence on the great loss that we had sustained in the death of our son1--a young man just of age1--in which she blended submission to ,him 'who doeth all things right1' with such words of comfort as could emanate only from a good1 earnest1 self-sacrificing instrument of our ,heavenly ,father4 ,than in her life of trials and troubles there has never been a greater instance of the victory of mind over matter4 ,i am afraid that ,i do little good with the sermons1 etc41 among the people here1 who1 although they use the beautiful hymn1 ',nearer1 my ,god1 to ,thee1' at their funerals1 still look upon ,unitarians as cultured heathens4 ,a lady in ,ohio1 who became a regular correspondent and bought many books1 wrote ,miss ,ellis3-- ,the lectures and papers you have sent have been1 and are1 the source of much pleasure to me2 and ,i have given them to some of my friends1 who also seemed pleased with them4 ,i had thought for a long time that the ,unitarian faith would be my idea of true religion1 and now ,i feel sure of it4 ,i knew nothing about its creed1 or whether it had one1 but had had a desire for several years to know something of it4 ,all my friends and acquaintances were as ignorant as myself1 and the most definite idea ,i had been able to gain concerning it was through ,james ,freeman ,clarke's ',self-,culture4' ,when ,i found your little notice in the newspaper1 it was just what ,i most desired4 ,i have always wished to be religious2 but there are things in the ,bible which my reason repels1 and the ,orthodox way of teaching them became at last so abhorrent to me that at one time ,i just gave it all up and ceased to try to believe any of it2 though ,i am sure ,i always felt the beauty of ,christianity as taught by ,christ1 and would be glad now to be a ,christian1 if not compelled to believe him the miraculous ,son of ,god4444 ,we like the ',register' better and better all the time1 and ,i have no doubt shall subscribe for it regularly4 ,i consider it exceedingly high-toned as a moral and religious teacher1 and also in a literary point of view4 ,the sermons and lectures supply for us a long-felt need4 ,i intend sending a list of names of friends and acquaintances to the publishers soon4 ,my sister-in-law has become a convert to the ,unitarian faith through the medium of the ',register' and the tracts you have sent me from time to time4 ,she is quite an enthusiast1 and feels that ,unitarianism is a great boon and comfort to her now in the midst of her troubles4 ,the sister had recently lost her husband4 ,she1 like myself1 could not conscientiously subscribe to the old ,orthodox creeds and requirements1 and so remained outside the ,church2 but now she feels that she may be a ,christian without stultifying her sense of reason4 ,when she returns home1 she expects to subscribe for the ',register4' ,after ,miss ,ellis's death she wrote3-- ,i received the memorial of ,miss ,ellis4 ,i thank you sincerely for sending it4 ,it is very touching and beautiful1 and delineates just such a character as ,i conceived hers to be4 ,i had received the sad intelligence of her death through the ',christian ,register' before the memorial reached me1 and it was like the shock of learning of the death of a personal friend4 ,i have great reason to be grateful to her and to cherish her memory2 for through her ,i have been led to embrace and to love the broad and charitable ,unitarian belief4 ,my reason had struggled for years against the great--to me--stumbling-blocks of ,orthodoxy1 and had finally abandoned the conflict and settled down into a kind of unthinking unbelief1 feeling that it was no use to try to subscribe to any ,orthodox creed1 and not knowing where to look for any more hopeful1 helpful1 or reasonable spiritual aid4 ,about four years ago1 ,i think it was1 ,i saw the notice in the paper which is referred to in the memorial1 and ,then ensued a very pleasant correspondence 444 wrote ,miss ,ellis asking for ,unitarian papers1 etc4 much like that with a dear familiar friend1 and she grew to be like one to me1 or rather was that almost from the first4 ,she put so much of her real self into her letters that they were like a living presence4 ,so full she was of true ,christian love and feeling1 so ever ready to forget her own sorrows and sufferings in her sympathy with the sorrows of others1 that thus unconsciously truth and love and self-forgetfulness were stamped upon every line that came from her mind and hand4 ,truly she was ',a ,little ,pilgrim1' bearing good tidings to the fainting and weary1 and lifting them up with her own heavenly strength4 ,sacred be her memory6 ,through her ,i became a subscriber to the ',christian ,register1' which is to me a standard of excellence in a religious1 moral1 and intellectual point of view4 ,i do not want to be sectarian1 as that is not my ideal of a good ,unitarian1--,i mean in an 'offensive' light2 but it really seems to me that even ,unitarian wit and fun have a refinement and exquisite touch of humor which cannot be equalled among ,orthodox publications4 ,the ',register1' however1 is the only ,unitarian paper that ,i am well acquainted with4 ,a widowed sister-in-law who is with me also became a ,unitarian through ,miss ,ellis4 ,she is a subscriber to ',the ,unitarian4' ,we also have ,channing's ,works and the ',oriental ,christ1' which ,i bought through ,miss ,ellis1 and some of ,freeman ,clarke's books2 so that we have the companionship of much of the best ,unitarian thought1 although we are denied the privilege of a personal ministry4 ,from ,springfield1 ,ohio3-- ,i have been greatly benefited by the papers1 sermons1 etc41 you have so kindly sent me4 ,hope to have them continued4 ,will try to have some ,unitarian volumes put in our public library4 ,after reading the papers ,i loan them out to others4 ,some sermons thus pass into six or eight homes4 ,they set people to thinking4 ,i thank you1 and your good ,society1 for the broad ,christian education you are giving me4 ,will do all ,i can as your missionary here4 ,rev4 ,samuel ,may1 ,leicester1 ,mass41 having offered to send his ,register to some one1 ,miss ,ellis arranged that it should go to the writer of the above1 who acknowledged it as follows3-- ,your postal received4 ,i am very grateful for this kindness1 and1 as ,i read the ',register' this morning1 ,i resolved to use it for others also4444 ,can't your ,association give the ball a push at this place8 ,the following extract is from the first letter of a new correspondent1 dated ,dec4 #h1 #ahhe4 ,to him was begun the last postal card1 which she was unable to finish4 ,she was so eager about it1 dictating faster than one could write4 ,tell him ,i think he will like us when he knows us better1 she said4 ,your postal came all right1 also copies of several tracts1 and specimens of ',register' and ',unity4' ,they are mainly in lines of thought which ,i have been working on for some years4 ,i am at one with the authors in main points1 but not prepared to accept all of the so-called advanced or radical expressions4 ,my own experience1 observation1 and reflection seem to show that they have swung too far from ,orthodoxy1 and the truth lies between2 but ,i am not fit to decide yet4 ,from the pamphlet of selections of ,channing's writings1 with which ,i am particularly pleased1 ,i have derived some ideas which inspire me for a greater activity1 and ,i hope a more effective activity1 in my work of teaching4444 ,i have a friend who also feels dissatisfied with current ,orthodoxy4 ,if you see fit1 ,i wish you to send him some of those tracts4 ,i wish to use my copies here1 or ,i would send them4 ,the estimation in which ,miss ,ellis was held by some of her fellow-workers appears in the following extracts from letters and papers4 ,at the conclusion of a letter1 a part of which is given elsewhere1 ,rev4 ,a4 ,a4 ,livermore1 ,president of ,meadville ,theological ,school1 says3-- ,but though disinterested and devoted to family interests and helpful to the growing households of her brothers and sisters1 the crowning interest that came to absorb and inspire her advanced ,christian life was the propagation of her own ,unitarian faith1 early learned1 later disciplined1 and mellowed and sanctified by trial and years4 ,what had been a stay and staff to her own mind and heart she was anxious to communicate to others4 ,hence she sought the instrumentalities of the pen and press1 and the ,post ,office ,mission sprang into being1--the invention of a ,christian woman's heart1 bent on doing good spiritually4 ,the zeal1 fidelity1 sympathy1 and adaptation with which she developed and pursued this work have been told elsewhere4 ,it is another lesson to teach us that ever new means will arise1 as time and opportunity serve1 for the faithful in heart and life to hasten the coming of the ,master's kingdom of righteousness and love4 ,miss ,ellis infused a sweetness and sympathy all her own into her mission4 ,to her it was no task1 but a delight1 as her letters show1--her meat and drink to help struggling souls to light and ,christian faith4 ,peace to her beautiful and saintly memory6 99 99 99 99 99 7,from ,rev4 ,s4 ,j4 ,barrows1 editor ,christian ,register47 ,a ,,candle ,,of ,,the ,,lord4 ,it was a feeble socket that held it4 ,it was a constant surprise that so small a candle could give forth so much light4 ,but its special mission was not so much to illumine the world with its own light as it was to ignite other minds and hearts from its own flame4 ,behold how much wood is kindled by how small a fire6 says the apostle4 ,nothing is small1 it has been said1 which is great in its consequences4 ,it does not need a stroke of lightning from heaven to raze ,chicago to the ground3 a little lamp-flame near a pile of hay is sufficient4 ,we forget sometimes the power of a single humble life to extend and duplicate its influence4 ,we have never learned yet how far the little candle can throw its beams1 when its waves of light and heat come in contact with minds and hearts that are prepared for the illumination it may give4 ,the wire and the battery have not entirely superseded the torch-bearer4 ,the lamps in the house may have been filled1 the gas may be ready to turn on2 what is needed is for some one to go about with match or torch or candle1 and tip the burner with its flame4 ,so1 as we have said1 it was the mission of this candle of the ,lord to ignite other minds and hearts4 ,she had discovered that the vast system of intercommunication established by the post-office might be used for moral as well as for commercial means4 ,in connection with a faithful co-worker1 she devoted herself to the dissemination of kindling literature4 ,set like a luminous panel amid a great wall of advertisements was a brief notice1 in some of the large ,western dailies1 that those who wished ,liberal religious literature might have it for the asking1 and by sending to the ,cincinnati ,post ,office ,mission4 ,in the columns of this paper1 from time to time1 we have shown what a wide-spread influence these little notices had4 ,they opened avenues of communication to many hungry souls4 ,the confidence of many in doubt and perplexity was secured4 ,the lady who was called to this special work had a keen intuition as to what was needed in each special case4 ,it was not only that she sent the right tracts and the right books1 and thus set up guide-posts for groping men and women2 not less prized by many of her correspondents was the simple1 earnest faith and cordial sympathy which she expressed in her own letters4 ,many are grateful to her for pointing out the way and giving the right impulse at the right time4 ,prevented by deafness from taking an active part in social intercourse1 she yet found an opportunity to unstop the deaf ears of others and to open their blind eyes4 ,in this ,post ,office ,mission work was a channel for her faithful and consecrated endeavors4 ,we cannot estimate the radiating influence of such a life4 ,its quickening flame has gone from heart to heart1 and it is destined to go still further4 ,her devoted example has given an impulse to many other women in the ,unitarian body1 who are sowing in the same field the seed for an abundant harvest4 ,it is now seen that this diffusion of our literature is one of the mightiest means for propagating our faith4 ,if such a devoted woman1 working independently1 could accomplish so much1 how much more might be effected by thorough organizations and wide co-operation for the same purpose6 ,her best monument will be the prosecution and extension of the work to which she gave her life4 ,it was but a pair of lines in the ,deaths of the last week's ,register which told that the candle had gone out1 but its flame is still propagated in the lives it has served to kindle4 ,the great work of her life was done far beyond the circle of her immediate influence2 and there are many who have never seen her in the flesh1 who will still feel that the name of ,sarah ,ellis represents an abiding spiritual reality4 99 99 99 99 99 7,from ,rev4 ,george ,a4 ,thayer in ,unity1 ,jan4 #bc1 #ahhf47 ,,sarah ,,ellis4 ,sarah ,ellis1 the faithful organizer of the ,cincinnati ,post ,office ,mission1 and the pioneer in that admirable form of the ministry of ,unitarian doctrine through the writing of letters and the circulation of religious literature1 went up higher from her sick-bed1 on ,sunday evening1 ,december #bg4 ,there are many1 ,east and ,west1 to whom her wise guidance in spiritual perplexities has been as a strong hand lifting them from confusion and doubt concerning all religion1 into tranquil joy1 who will read that she is dead1 with the shock which comes with an unforewarned calamity4 ,for almost up to her last hour she was carrying on her correspondence with the wide circle of men and women to whom she periodically sent glad tidings of a reasonable faith1 and never giving intimation to the most regular of these correspondents that she was any less vigorous of health than usual4 ,for many months her friends had seen the end approaching1 and very likely she herself had understood that the task was great1 the day short1 and it was not incumbent upon her to complete the work4 ,but her inexorable conscience1 blended with her delight in having found at last1 within this recent five years1 a work needing to be done1 and calling into use her store of admirable wisdom for such business1 kept her at her duty until the body ceased to obey the will4 ,only the people who knew ,miss ,ellis well could understand her rare fitness for her office1 through long and ripe study of ,unitarian religious literature1 and through her genius for apprehending at once what special reading and counsel her various applicants for light upon their darkened ways of the spirit needed to receive1--only those to whom she spoke the word in season1 or those nearer home to whom she was a quiet exemplar in holy things1 can appreciate the quality of virtue enclosed in that fragile and infirm body1 which shines on earth only in minds made better by its presence1 but shines with renewed honor elsewhere in the house of many mansions4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it was not my good fortune to know ,miss ,ellis personally1 but her works have praised her ,east as well as ,west4 ,her death is a great calamity to the cause1 as well as a great sorrow to her friends2 but she has put life and power into a good instrument of influence1 and it will live4 ,,rev4 ,,grindall ,,reynolds1 ,secretary ,american ,unitarian ,association1 ,boston1 ,mass4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,leicester1 ,mass1 ,april #aj1 #ahhf4 444 ,her communications made no mention of her infirmities or illness2 and her death was a great surprise4 ,i had become quite interested in her manner of doing her work2 the perfect intelligence1 good sense1 and self-reliance she manifested4-----of ,springfield1 ,ohio1 has written to me in the highest appreciation of her helpfulness to him4444 ,i enclose three of her postal cards1 which1 if quite convenient1 may come back to me4 ,on one of these postal cards ,mr4 ,may has indorsed1 ,miss ,ellis lived but about a month after this was written4 ,her death was a great and immediate loss to the cause of a wise and large ,christian faith in the ,west4 ,she was eminently worthy of a special commemoration and canonization4 ,respectfully yours1 ,samuel ,j4 ,may4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have thought of you often since the ,christian ,register brought the news of ,miss ,ellis's death1 and am moved to express my sympathy for the loss you have met1--a loss which all of us share indeed4 ,i suppose it was very good to her to be summoned from a state of feebleness2 but it will not be easy1 ,i believe1 to fill the vacant place4 ,perhaps her own inspiration will rest upon her successor1 and so she will indeed help to carry on the work which she has done so beautifully4 ,i suppose the time will come1 some day1 when the loss of a good worker in our ,conference will not be felt so seriously as now2 but we are far too few as yet4 ,,miss ,,abby ,w4 ,,may1 ,president ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 ,boston1 ,mass4 99 99 99 99 99 ,though ,i had had but comparatively little correspondence with ,miss ,ellis1 that little had made me regard her as a personal friend1 and ,i felt especially drawn towards her after ,i learned about her deafness1 for that was my own mother's trial for many years4 ,it is a comfort to think that all suffering and weakness are over for her2 and so we can but rejoice that she has entered upon the blessed life1 although the feeling of loss must be very great4 ,i have thought often of ,mr4 ,beach's sudden death last summer1 during the last few weeks1 and ,i was glad to tell our friends1 at the meeting the other day1 of ,miss ,ellis's tender1 helping sympathy for his mother and sisters at that time4 ,i think one can hardly help feeling that perhaps ,miss ,ellis and the young friend whom she had led to a bright and happy faith may already have met and rejoiced together in the heavenly life4 ,much sympathy has been expressed here for ,miss ,ellis's father4 ,i hope that the thought of all that she has gained is a constant comfort and help to him4 ,,mrs4 ,j4 ,i4 ,w4 ,,thacher1 ,secretary ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 ,boston1 ,mass4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the news of ,miss ,ellis's departure from among us filled us all with grief and regret2 and yet we feel she is so sure to continue her good work there1 that we ought not to regret4 ,what a delightful awakening for her when1 with no feeling of weakness or pain1 she opens her eyes to find herself surrounded by those who have gone before1 whose lives she had gladdened here1 and to learn that part of her mission there is to meet and welcome her host of friends1 personal and parochial1 as they follow her over there6 ,how many people will miss her here6 ,ten times one is ten4 ,their number cannot be estimated4 ,,miss ,f4 ,,le ,,baron1 ,sec4 ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conf41 ,chicago1 ,ill4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i want to express my great sympathy for you and your ,society in the loss of your friend ,miss ,ellis4 ,although ,i knew she had been an invalid for a long time1 the news of her death was a great shock to me4 ,she has been so kind in helping me to get started in the ,post ,office ,mission1 and made me feel so truly that she stood ready to help always1 that ,i cannot but feel that ,i have in her death lost a good friend1 which must be the case with many others all over the country4 ,she has left us all the memory of a brave example1 which ought to fill us with the desire to carry on the good work by her begun1 more faithfully than ever4 ,,miss ,,ellen ,m4 ,,gould1 ,sec4 ,post ,office ,mission ,committee1 ,davenport1 ,ia4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have just heard of the death of ,miss ,ellis4 ,how great a loss it is to all of us1 but how great a gain to all of us that she has lived1 and illustrated the possibilities of a life lived under even so many limitations as hedged her about6 ,will you not send me a sketch of her life and work for the next number of the ,unitarian8 ,,miss ,,eliza ,r4 ,,sunderland1 ,assistant ,editor ,unitarian1 ,chicago1 ,ill4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i had heard from time to time that she was feeble1 but her fragile frame held so strong a spirit1 that ,i hoped she would triumph over bodily weakness for many years to come4 ,the world can ill spare such as she4 ,each time ,i saw her ,i was impressed more and more with the strength of her character and the clearness and directness of her mind4 ,upon meeting a stranger of whom one has heard much there is almost always a little period of bewilderment before the ideal and real can be harmonized1 even where there is not disappointment2 and at first ,i was at a loss how to reconcile the strong1 well-balanced mind1 with its keen insight1--as revealed in her letters1--with the delicate1 dainty1 sweet-looking little woman1 shut out from her kind to so great a degree by her affliction4 ,yet when her tiny hand grasped mine so firmly at our first meeting1 there was that in the clasp that reconciled and united my ideal with the actual2 they were only two sides of the same nature4 ,she was so strong1 too1 in being so genuine and so full of faith4 ,in these halting1 doubting times1 a faith in the eternal verities so strong and unwavering as hers is like a rock to many a tossed and uncertain soul4 ,such people do not know their own power of helping4 ,i can never refrain from questioning why those who are so needed in the world must be taken1 when the useless and worthless are left1 unless it is that they go that they may leave the spirit of their service to do a larger work as a heritage to all who will accept it4 ,though dead1 they speak with many tongues4 ,,miss ,,frances ,l4 ,,roberts1 ,ex-,sec4 ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conf41 ,chicago1 ,ill4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,union ,meeting of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference for ,suffolk ,county1 which includes all the branches of the ,conference in the ,unitarian churches of ,boston1 was held at ,arlington ,street ,church on ,thursday1 ,jan4 #ba1 #ahhf4 ,at this meeting was officially announced1 with the most profound regret1 the death of ,miss ,ellis1 of ,cincinnati4 ,a brief account of her life in connection with the work of the ,conference was given by ,mrs4 ,j4 ,i4 ,w4 ,thacher1 ,mrs4 ,kate ,gannett ,wells1 and ,miss ,abby ,w4 ,may1 and it was unanimously agreed that there should be entered on the records of the meeting1 and transmitted to the friends of ,miss ,ellis1 an expression of our fullest appreciation of her beautiful and self-sacrificing character1 our high estimation of the work in which she had already accomplished so much1 and our deep and earnest sympathy for those who have suffered an irreparable loss4 ,our sorrow is not without the hope that the tender memory of a life so pure and unselfish1 and such earnest devotion to all the principles of our religious faith1 may influence for good the lives of each and all of us1 and prove an incentive to every member of our ,conference to further activity in the work we are trying to do4 ,,emily ,a4 ,,fifield1 ,director4 ,for the ,suffolk ,county ,branches of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,portland1 ,,me41 ,jan4 #ag1 #ahhf4 ,,mrs4 ,,fayette ,,smith1 ,director of ,women's ,conference3 ,at a recent meeting of the ,portland branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference1 an article in the ,christian ,register1 entitled ,a ,candle of the ,lord1 was read2 and on motion of ,mrs4 ,dr4 ,j4 ,t4 ,gilman1 the ,secretary was requested to express to your ,conference the sympathy of our little band in the death of ,miss ,sarah ,ellis4 ,while we cannot have the sense of personal loss that you feel in the extinguishment of that light1 we have the highest admiration for the work she accomplished under such limitations1 and trust that her example will be an incentive to every ,unitarian woman to do something to continue it1 till the flame she kindled may become a glorious light1 glowing in every hamlet of our common country4 ,very truly1 ,,mary ,r4 ,,mcintire4 ,,to ,,the ,,women',s ,,conference1 ,,cincinnati1 ,,ohio44 99 99 99 99 99 #eg ,,hawley ,,st41 ,,syracuse1 ,n4,y41 ,feb4 #g1 #ahhf4 ,,dear ,,mrs4 ,,smith1--,as ,i have had the pleasure of a little correspondence with dear ,miss ,ellis1 our ,society have asked me to express to you our deep sympathy in your loss4 ,she must have been a remarkable woman to have accomplished so much when so feeble4 ,her warm heart spoke plainly in her letters1 and we shall regret more and more1 as time passes1 that we shall receive them no more4 ,let us believe that her freed spirit is not far off1 but is still interested1 and far more able to help in the work she loved so well4 ,her sphere is only larger4 ,our branch of the ,woman's ,auxiliary ,conference resolved to incorporate in its minutes a resolution of regret at her death1 and sympathy with you1 and to preserve the ,in ,memoriam you so kindly sent1 among its papers4 ,please accept our warmest sympathy and expression of interest4 ,yours sincerely1 ,,frances ,j4 ,,myers4 ,for the ,syracuse ,branch of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference4 ,the ,post ,office ,mission ,committee at ,davenport1 ,iowa1 at their meeting ,feb4 #aj1 also took formal action upon the death of ,miss ,ellis1 and sent expressions of heartfelt regrets and sympathy to the ,cincinnati ,society4 ,,chicago1 ,march #bi1 #ahhf4 ,a part of ,thursday afternoon1 ,may #ac1 will be given to the ,women's ,conference1 and occupied with election of officers and report of ,post ,office ,mission work4 ,it seems very appropriate that something should be said at that time in memory of ,miss ,ellis2 and ,miss ,le ,baron and ,i request that you prepare the paper or remarks and present them4444 ,we leave the form of the memorial entirely to your judgment4 ,,mrs4 ,e4 ,a4 ,,west1 ,pres4 ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conf41 ,chicago1 ,ill4 ,in accordance with this request1 ,mrs4 ,george ,thornton1 of ,cincinnati1 read the following memorial before the ,western ,women's ,unitarian ,conference1 ,may #ac1 #ahhf3-- ,such an occasion as this1 full of words of good counsel and cheer1--a reunion of the little band of women workers in the cause of ,liberal ,christianity1--will be incomplete if we do not mention one name1 held in loving remembrance in the hearts of many here present1 and of a still greater number scattered far and wide1 whose lives have been touched to higher issues by the active ministrations of our beloved co-worker1 ,miss ,sallie ,ellis1 who has laid down her work on earth and passed on to the great ,hereafter4 ,when we recall the fragile form1 so full of the ,spirit's life1 which1 rising above the many disabilities of physical suffering1 accomplished so much in the brief years allotted her1 we take courage1 and thank ,god that we have had such spirits with us4 ,nothing doubting that their work continues here and elsewhere1 though we know neither the manner nor conditions of its progress4 ,we who are cheered in moments of sorrow by the great faith that the future of those who have passed behind the veil which hath no outward swing will be but a continuance of the best1 under nobler conditions1 rejoice1 even in the midst of personal bereavement1 that ,miss ,ellis has entered into that rest1 so nobly won by her patient endurance of the heavy burdens laid upon her1--burdens which yet never seemed to close her sympathy for others1 but only served to quicken her eagerness to work for the extension of that vital faith she found so satisfying4 ,it is to her warm heart1 and earnest desire to help others in the midst of spiritual difficulties1 that we owe the unique but most efficacious method of reaching such through the medium of postal communication4 ,scientists tell us that each wavelet of sound1 produced by the tiniest cause1 goes on in ever-widening circles of ether1 to the uttermost limits of creation4 ,had we but senses acute enough to receive the sensation1 how full of pulsing sound would all ,nature become6 ,it seems to me that this keener sense1 enabling her to catch the questionings of troubled souls1 became one of the great compensations of ,miss ,ellis's later years4 ,as the outer organs of hearing became dulled to what was passing around her1 the inner or spiritual became more observant2 and as we listened to the correspondence which came to her from ,north and ,south1 ,east and ,west1 from the home and the camp1 from the teacher and the taught1 we seemed to stand in some great whispering-gallery1 echoing with the sighs and anxious inquiries of seekers after truth who sought aid in solving the great problems of the soul's life4 ,as from time to time came back acknowledgments of gratitude for aid rendered1 either by her sympathizing letters or the ,liberal literature which she widely disseminated1 we realized what a great lever had been applied in this simple way to the spiritual needs of many4 ,it is in this phase of ,miss ,ellis's work that she has become better known to the members of the ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference2 and it is of this especially ,i have spoken to-day4 ,but the roots of this activity lie deeper1 and this work was but the fruitage of a life which drew its strength to suffer and endure1 as well as to labor and to wait1 from those fountains of a rational faith for whose extension we have met here this week4 ,to her it was the manna of life1 and it was fitting that her last years should have been spent in unselfish endeavor to extend its influence4 ,knowing how heartily she would have entered into the spirit of our meetings during this ,conference1 we cannot leave unsaid the word of tender remembrance which links her memory indissolubly with the work of our ,women's ,auxiliary ,conference4 ,the little band who are engaged in spreading the light of a higher faith1 in lifting the load of crude ideas in regard to our relations to ,god and humanity1 may surely feel that though our friend has joined the choir invisible1 yet her work lives on in lives made better by her presence1 still keeping alive the union with us who remain behind1--a help and incentive to continued progress4 ,no better key-note of ,miss ,ellis's life can be given than in the words of a poem copied by her into her diary1 ,january1 #ahha4 ,it was taken from the ,woman's ,journal1 and was entitled3-- ,,achievement4 ,nothing noble1 nothing great ,the world has ever known1 ,but began a seed of thought ,in some generous nature sown4 ,any soul may rise to be ,a new saviour to its race2 ,every man and woman fills1 ,well or ill1 a prophet's place4 ,in our ,now the ,then lies folded1 ,all its wealth1 and all its power2 ,from the promise of to-day ,bursts to-morrow's perfect flower4 ,every deed of solid worth ,helps the world to find its place2 ,every life of homely truth ,raises higher all the race4 ,ye are gods1 the ,scriptures saith2 ,yea1 our spirits make reply2 ,let us claim our birthright1 then1-- ,prove our high divinity4 ,we too may be1 if we will1 ,athlete winners every one1 ,conquerors of fate and chance1 ,lords of all beneath the sun4 ,let us thitherward aspire1 ,take whate'er we find to do1 ,making life what life was meant-- ,something liberal1 earnest1 true6 99 99 99 99 99 ,university ,press3 ,john ,wilson ,son1 ,cambridge4