ixion that they heed not the light within.
This wonderful prophet and seer was seventy-nine years old when the
separation began in Philadelphia. The division in this country created
great excitement among the Quakers in England, who were very active in
their hostility to Elias Hicks and his doctrines. Some of them came to
America to bear their testimony. Among others, Annie Braithwaite
traveled extensively and addressed Friends' meetings. Mrs. Mott states
that on one occasion when she was present, the English Quakeress, in
preaching salvation by the blood of Christ, had spoken with more than
usual unction and enthusiasm. As soon as she finished a profound
silence reigned. Elias Hicks, slowly rising and removing his hat, said
in deep inspired tones: "Friends, to the Christ that never was
crucified; to the Christ that never was slain; to the Christ that can
not die. I commend you."
Many of the professed followers of Elias Hicks lacked the courage and
conscience to maintain his principles when the magnetism of his direct
influence was withdrawn by his death. Hence even in that division of
the Friends to which she belonged, Mrs. Mott encountered much
opposition, especially for her public identification with unpopular
reforms. Many would have gladly seen her withdraw from their
membership, and others were desirous that she should be disowned. But
she understood her own rights and Friends Discipline too well to
violate a single rule. Although her enemies kept close watch, they
never caught her off her guard. At the time of the division, she
remarked to an acquaintance: "It seemed to me almost like death at
first to be shut out of the Friends Meeting where I had loved to go
for religious communion, to see the cold averted looks from those
whose confidence I once enjoyed, to be shunned as unworthy of notice;
all this was hard to endure, but it was the price I paid for being
true to the convictions of my own soul."
Her spiritual life was deep and earnest, but entirely her own. It was
intuitional, not emotional. It was expressed in her love for man in
God, and not God in creeds and ceremonies. She prized the free
sentiments of William Ellery Channing, read his works with avidity,
and always had some volume of his at hand. The Life of Rev. Joseph
Blanco White, a rare book, was for years one of the companions of her
solitude. It was thoroughly worn, and the margin covered with her
notes and marks of approval. Dean Stanley and
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