Chapter V: Part 5

Now, that you may know in what walk of life I move, I must tell you
that I am a laborer. When working by the month, my wages never
exceeded twelve dollars a month. From such small wages I have built
up a small library of 155 volumes; have also 156 pamphlets. I take
unceasing delight in reading, and now that I have others dependent
on me, am not able to procure all the books I need. By some I have
been encouraged to prepare for the ministry. Such also is my
aspiration. It may be years before I shall become a minister,
because my preparation is not to be accomplished very quickly. Oh,
how I wish that some one from their abundance would forward me some
of the books and pamphlets they have cast aside, having no further
use for! They would be of great use to me. What are the
qualifications necessary for the Unitarian ministry? Will you please
tell me? If possible for you to do so, please send me a few more
sermons by Rev. G. A. Thayer, and I shall be greatly obliged.

Miss Ellis forwarded this letter to Miss M. O. Rogers, Secretary of the King's Chapel branch of the Women's Auxiliary Conference, Boston, Mass., who had written, offering aid in her work. As a result, the King's Chapel Women's Auxiliary Conference sent this young man many Unitarian books of value, and the "Unitarian Review" regularly, for which his gratitude was great. He loans and distributes all matter sent him, and has procured many tracts from the American Unitarian Association for distribution. A portion of Miss Ellis's reply to the letter given above is as follows:--

MARCH 18,1885.

Your letter was read with much interest, and we are glad to know our
"little society has done good work."... Don't be discouraged if you
cannot convert the world at once, but wait quietly till your time
comes to do more. You are young yet. Think I can spare a few more of
Mr. Thayer's sermons. He has only had four sermons on "Reasonable
Religion" published.... Will send you the Meadville catalogue next
week, and you can see for yourself, and afterwards write to
President A. A. Livermore, telling him I sent you the catalogue. He
can give you all further information. He was the pastor in
Cincinnati from the time I was fourteen to twenty-one, and knows us
well.... Hope to hear further from you occasionally. Work on
quietly, knowing the discipline will the better fit you for
ministerial labors. We can't jump into the highest calling on earth
in a moment, and now-a-days a man must be something of more than
ordinary ability to enter a Unitarian pulpit. It is not an easy
place to fill.

He wrote to her, June 14, 1885:--

"Believe me, I am sorry to hear that you were 'too sick to more
than keep up' with your work. I know you must be busy at all times,
from the report of your work in the Conference 'Unity' you sent me.
That number of 'Unity' is very valuable to me, and will be kept for
future reference. The four sermons on 'Reasonable Religion,' by
Rev. George A. Thayer, have also been kept. I hope soon to see them
in a neat binding. They are worthy of the expense. Of the books
received from Boston, four have been read by me. Two of them were
mostly read as I walked to my work mornings. In the same manner
'Meditations on the Essence of Christianity' was read. This book is
very beautiful, its author, Robert Laird Collier. 'Channing's
Works' and 'Genuineness of the Gospels' cannot be carried about as
readily, so they are to be read and studied on lost days, when I
cannot work. The 'Reviews' received are very valuable; I would not
part with them for anything. The 'Register' is received regularly
from Philadelphia. The last one is very interesting, containing as
it does an account of the Festival. It must have been good to be
there. To you, and all who have aided you in your generosity to me,
I return my heartfelt thanks."

After Miss Ellis's death, he wrote, Feb. 13, 1886:--

"... With this I send you the whole of her correspondence to me,
hoping that you may find something that will be of use to you. I
cheerfully send you the letter and postals, knowing that my
treasures will be in safe keeping. Since Miss Ellis's death they
are doubly precious to me; I prize them very highly, because she
who wrote them proved herself to be a very dear friend to me,--a
laborer longing for more light. Whilst I live I shall never forget
how much I owe to her who labored so much in my behalf. It was the
one wish of my heart to have met Miss Ellis, and to have thanked
her for all that she had done for me; but it was to be otherwise.
When I meet her in the country of 'many mansions,' I shall have the
opportunity to do so. I believe I shall meet and know her there.
Your offer of help is very kind; my greatest drawback is lack of
books by Unitarian writers. I buy when I can, but being out of
work--that is, steady work--since last September makes it very hard
work to get a book very often. If you can help me in this way I
shall be very thankful, and if you cannot, I shall be just the
same, because I feel that you would if you could. I have much
opposition to overcome, standing alone in my belief in the truth of
Unitarianism. I have great need of more books. My preparation for
the ministry must necessarily be slow, because I can never attend
Meadville Theological College. But I am reminded that your time is
precious, and so I will close. Mrs. ----, will you at the next
meeting of the Women's Auxiliary Conference thank all the dear
friends who have done so much for me? If I ever amount to much in
life I shall owe it all to the Cincinnati branch of the Women's
Auxiliary Conference. Hoping that you will not forget me when
sending out literature, I remain, etc."

In another letter he wrote:--

"My object in fitting myself for the ministry is to be able to
carry the message of Unitarianism to my brother-laborers, because I
believe it will make better men--and women too--of them.... I began
to work when I was but a little more than eleven years old, and
since that time I have been my own teacher."

A lady in Ohio sends her "Register" regularly (the arrangement being made through Miss Ellis) to the correspondent who wrote her this letter of thanks:--

"I have long postponed the note of thanks I have meant to send you.
But when I tell you that I am a dressmaker, you will pardon me, I
am sure. This is my harvest season, and I am extremely busy. Being
one of the class of work-women who put _themselves_ into what they
do, I am exhausted at night, and forced to make Sunday a day of
rest indeed.

"The papers do come regularly, to my great joy. I assure you that
the pleasure and spiritual strength I get from them, if you could
realize it, would compensate you for the trouble an hundred-fold. My
business, showing me so plainly the small foibles and weaknesses of
human nature, and necessarily binding one's thoughts in large
measure to 'band, gusset, and seam, seam, gusset, and band,' or
their equivalents of flounces and gores, tends to a wearisome
narrowing of the mind; a half-hour spent after work is done, with
the 'Register,' opens a window, as it were, into heaven.

"I live alone. At times my isolation is hard to bear; but having
seen better days, as the saying goes, to me my deprivations are but
part of the discipline that God saw was needful for me. I am shut
off, by reason of serving the public, from the society of my equals
in education and breeding, and for that of my equals in station I
have no taste. _Pardonnez-moi_ these personal details; I give them
that you may know how much good you are doing. Long may you be
spared the power and the will to do such kindness to those who need.
We may never meet on earth, but I trust we shall in heaven."

To Miss Ellis, Aug. 20, 1885, she wrote:--

"I receive the papers, and not only read and enjoy them, but give
and send them to others. I am surprised to find 'unconscious'
Unitarians wherever I go. I hope you may be well by this time. Do
not tire yourself to write. Others need you more than I."

After Miss Ellis's death, she wrote acknowledging the memorial:--

"Many thanks. I was so glad to receive it, and prize it as one of
my treasures; also for the welcome tracts and papers. They are like
the shadow of a great rock in a weary land to me, and are given
away to others."

A woman in a small Indiana village wrote Miss Ellis:--

"I understand you have Liberal literature that you send gratis to
hungry people who are not able to gratify their appetite in that
direction. It would be greatly appreciated by me, and after reading
I would put it where I thought it would do the most good."

Later, she wrote:--

"I have received a paper and often something else every other week.
These I have accepted as a kind of trust; and when there has been a
favorable opportunity, given them away to friends and
acquaintances. I do not press them on any one, nor talk about it
much. I have not the courage of a reformer. When I speak to friends
(that are kind every other way) of a broader religious belief, they
meet me with coldness and distrust. It chills me, and I am silent.
Yet I believe, with Helen Williams, if any one is brought to face a
great truth, if they accept it, yet do not speak or act upon it,
there is retribution, barrenness, for them,--a plunging in the
whale's belly, as Jonah was,--a figure so many have laughed at, yet
significant for all that. I wonder now at my struggles in former
years; am happier since the tangled skein is partially
straightened. Still I am not fully in accord with the Unitarians.
Miss ---- [another correspondent in the same village] spoke to me
some time ago of your desiring us to form a reading circle. I do
not know what she said to you. I will give you the situation. I
live in a small village of about one hundred inhabitants, and Miss
---- lives about two miles away. I cannot call to mind a woman that
would take any interest. They would go to sleep over their
knitting, or want to use the time for social chat, as they do not
meet day after day at the village store, as the men do (I speak of
winter). True, there are a few that would enjoy the reading, yet
are so severely Orthodox they could not comprehend a new truth
outside of _their_ church. That is the dark side. Now I have often
thought if we had a place of meeting, where we could seat a small
audience (which we have not), and a good reader (ditto), we could
call them together Sunday afternoons and read some of the beautiful
sermons you have sent.

"Your work is grand,--the elevation of the human race. The ones that
_will_ read, will become better, kindlier, more patient with
ignorance; and while they yearn to give every soul a chance, will
naturally throw out a better influence and teach a broader religion.
As to your paper, not now. It is midwinter; husband, carpenter, out
of employment. Intend to take one of your publications after a
while."

About two weeks after Miss Ellis's death she addressed this letter to her:--

MY DEAR FRIEND,--I received a "Register" yesterday, directed in a
different hand. Are you sick? I hope not. I should grieve indeed if
I knew that physical pain had stopped your work. These lines come
to my mind:--

"Only a woman, and I could not find
The quiet household life that women know;
So too, my part where there were sheaves to bind,
Not much, perhaps, but more than I could do.
My tired feet failed me in the harvest lands,
My ripened grain but half-way reaped across;
And, where it dropped from over-wearied hands,
My best sheaf lies half bound for winds to toss."

Instead, may you continue your work till eventide.

Who can tell, when a mind gives up its beliefs, where it will stop?
I seem to believe nothing, unless it is in the Supreme Good,
whatever that is,--and my religion, to live the best life I know.
The Orthodox preachers say if one strays from the "path," or
"back-slides," they are always uneasy and unhappy. How different my
experience is! How glad I am to have escaped the little enclosure of
dogma, and to stand "far indeed from being wise, but free to learn"!

Hoping this will find you in good health and spirits, I remain

Your friend A---- C----

After hearing of Miss Ellis's death, she wrote:

"Received your postal. Have also received Unitarian papers, and
Miss Ellis's memorial, which last I will store among my treasured
mementos. How beautiful her life was! Though never having seen her,
she will be treasured in my memory as a dear friend. She has sent
me almost all the pamphlets, I suppose, that have been written for
the purpose of distributing. Having a large family, they have been
read and reread, and handed to neighbors and friends. One has no
idea how many they will reach, or how much they influence; and yet
there is so much prejudice against Unitarians among Orthodox
Christians, some would take it as an insult to offer them one of
the pamphlets. In our little village the 'United Brethren' have
been holding meetings day and night for three weeks, and oh! how
they do preach hell, and pray publicly for 'that lady that is
leading her daughters down to hell,' simply because she does not
believe as they do. I have more tolerance for them than they have
for me. I think there are some people they will reach and do good,
as I presume the Rev. Sam Jones is doing in Cincinnati."

The following letter to Miss Ellis from a poor old woman to whom she wrote, sent papers and other aid, for several years, is given _verbatim_, to illustrate the range of her sympathies. This letter was also written after Miss Ellis's death:--

"I wish I could come and see you, but I cannot afford to go up and
down on the Trains. I have to send by someone, 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
me.... Well I will close Write to me soon I am alone day and night
So goodbye from a Dear Friend to one I Love."

A young man in a State Normal School in Indiana long corresponded with Miss Ellis. He has been an enthusiastic distributor of our literature, and instrumental in procuring Unitarian preaching in his city. Extracts from his letters are here given.

"The papers received are read by myself and others. There are few
here who know anything of what Unitarians believe."

A second letter says:--

"The matter sent to me is read by several persons. I think of one
young man now who asked me to send you his name. He said he would
like to read literature made by persons who are independent of
creeds. I gave him Wendte's 'Statement' and Chadwick's 'Art of
Life.'

"I am grateful to you for your kindness, and shall be glad to
receive what you may send. I read the sermons by Savage with
interest. They were the only ones of his I ever saw. I have given
and shall continue to give the matter sent me wider circulation.
[Mentioning a rebuff recently received, he continues:] This little
experience, while not pleasant, is valuable to me. I see that the
spirit of the Middle Ages is not entirely dead yet, and that one
better not be too hasty. My convictions are just as strong as
before."

Another letter says:--

"I know something of what it costs to break away from old
associations. I was brought up in the Baptist Church. All my family
were of that faith.... My relatives all look upon me as one lost to
all true belief, because I cannot see my way clear to go with them
in the traditions of the fathers. Still, 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 teaches, asking no questions.
I do not care to argue with them, and so follow that life that
gives me the greatest comfort and satisfaction."

Feb. 11, 1886, he wrote Mrs. Hunert:--

"Miss Ellis was a very dear friend (although I never saw her), and
it was a great shock to learn of her decease. The first intimation
I had of her death was the article in the 'Register' headed 'A
Candle of the Lord.' Whatever literature you may send me shall be
given circulation after I have read it. I now supply some
half-dozen persons by mail with the tracts sent me. As I know the
personal peculiarities of all these parties, I can adapt the matter
to each. You will see, therefore, that I am a sort of branch
'mission.' In addition to this, I occasionally write a short
article to a local paper in Wayne County upon subjects of
interest."

He encloses one of these articles,--subject, "Future or Everlasting Punishment: Which?"

"... Mrs. Smith wrote to me in regard to Miss Ellis's letters. I am
very sorry not to have any of them. During the last three years I
have moved so frequently, being sometimes in this State and
sometimes in W. Virginia, that they were lost, and I am unable to
find them. Some of them I carried for a long time in my pocket
until they became so worn as to be scarcely recognizable. The form
of them has vanished, but the kindness and sympathy they breathed
is with me still. The spirit of that sainted woman cannot wax old.
I humbly trust that I may be imbued with something of the calm and
trust and purity which her letters always suggested. There was,
too, an enthusiasm which was untiring, and withal a modesty that
never was absent from her utterances. There was ever the absence of
anything like dictation in her advice. It was the gentle monition
of a friend, never the pompous dictation of conscious superiority.
Rev. J. T. Sunderland, of Chicago, is to preach in our city March
21. I have never heard him, and am looking to his coming with
expectation."

A young woman who is working out a Homestead and Timber Claim in Nebraska, and has been for several years supplied with much reading matter by Miss Ellis, which she has circulated so zealously as to have become one of the "branch missions," writes:--

"When I was about seventeen years old I joined the Baptist Church
in Newport, Ky. (where at the time I was residing, and teaching in
the public school in that city); and I was sincere in what I did,
only I had so many doubts about many things that they taught, and
hesitated from the beginning of the revival until the close before
I could decide. Then my decision was made on this, that there were
older persons belonging to the church that said they believed the
teachings and doctrine, and I thought when I grew older and had
more experience that I would understand, and I had a delicate fear
to converse with the older members about my doubts for fear of
their opinions of me; so I quietly stayed with them for a number of
years, when an old friend, a good woman, now gone from among us,
induced me to attend your church, Mr. Wendte then being the pastor.
The subject he was to speak about was 'the Christ we know.' I
remember my thoughts then were about these,--'Christ they know? I
don't believe they know any,' and thought I should like to hear
what he would say, any way. I well remember that sermon; not one
sentence he uttered jarred me in the least; and, strange to say,
they were my own thoughts on the subject; but I dared not, even if
I could, have expressed myself. I thought over that sermon the
whole week every spare moment I had, and even took some that did
not justly belong to me. I shall never forget that week. The next
Sunday his text was, 'the God we love.' For all I enjoyed the
previous sermon, I still thought, 'They love God? Impossible!' and
as my friends invited me to go over with them again, I accepted the
invitation. I never had God represented to me before as now,--more
like a kind father than an austere judge; yes, kind, compassionate,
and loving us all alike, condemning only our evil actions. This
suited me exactly; so another week was spent in thought. I would
think, 'How can I conscientiously be a Baptist and believe this
way?' Yet how I disliked leaving the church where many things were
endeared to me. It seemed as if I was in a sea of trouble and
doubt, not knowing whether to go on or halt and turn back. The next
Sunday the subject was, 'the Bible we revere.' I was more than
anxious to hear this one, for it seemed to me that on this I would
have to decide. I went, and decided. I broke off gradually from my
old associations, and attended the services in the Unitarian church
from that time until I came West. I never joined the church, but it
suited my views best of all churches, and to-day I cannot go in any
of the Orthodox churches and feel at home. Now as regards this
mission work that you wish me to engage in, I could devote half an
hour each day, and am willing to do all I can for the advancement
of the cause. My health became very poor, and I went West thinking
it would be beneficial. I must say I succeeded, for I am not
compelled to stay now for my health, but business keeps me here....
My homestead is three miles from the town, and I go out quite often
and stay over Sunday. My house is a very small dug-out. I raised
about ten bushels of potatoes, some beans, and a few squashes; have
done work I never thought of doing,--that is, planting vegetables,
made my own bedstead, put a floor in the house, and lined it with
sacking. Some of my lady friends assisted me when they came to see
me, and gave me ideas about my new kind of work. Now last, but not
least, in regard to Miss Ellis. I wrote to her directly after
coming West, and told her I felt isolated from church attendance,
but was pleased to find so many people with whom I could converse
on Liberal thought. Since that time she had kindly furnished me
with reading matter which I have again sent on its errand of peace
and joy. I looked over a bundle of letters and can only find this
postal card from her.... This card I send you is one she sent me in
reference to Mr. Copeland. I wrote her for his address, which she
gave me, and I requested him to come to our town and speak to the
people here. He kindly consented to come, and spoke on 'Into the
Light.' The majority of the people that heard him were well
pleased, and he promised me that whenever he passed our town on his
way to or from Denver he would stop over and speak. Would like to
have the card returned, as I want it for a remembrance."

In her first letter written after Miss Ellis's death she said:--

"Imagine how I felt when I came to your letter, and read the sad
news of Miss Ellis's death. I feared the worst when I did not hear
from her, for a friend had written me of her decline; but Miss
Ellis herself never referred to her illness but once to me. She
certainly must have been a patient and uncomplaining invalid, and
I, with many others no doubt, feel as if I had lost a dear friend,
and would be pleased to receive one of the memorials as a
keepsake.... I can assure you that I do all I can towards building
up a religion that all could conscientiously embrace. ... All the
reading matter sent to me I distribute to the best of my ability,
and hope that as it goes on its mission good seed will be sown.
There are numbers of Liberal people here who do not belong to any
church; and then I find a number of Liberals belonging to Orthodox
churches. I will subscribe for Mr. Savage's sermons, for I like his
sermons best of all."

Miss Ellis numbered several physicians among her correspondents. One living in Alabama writes:--

"Your Conference speaks truly when it says, 'Many of Miss Ellis's
correspondents had come to regard her as a dear friend, though
never having seen her face.' I feel that I too may have the
privilege and the honor of being enrolled among the number of her
unseen friends. I hope some of the good seed she sowed has fallen
in good ground, even at this distance from the kind hand that
scattered them, and that their fruit may not

'Appear in weeds that mar the land,
But in a healthful store.'

I am a regular subscriber to the 'Christian Register' and the
'Unitarian,' all through the influence of Miss Ellis."

A man on a remote plantation in Georgia, who has been most zealous in spreading the new light around him, writes:--

"Please accept thanks for papers and memorial of Miss Sallie Ellis.
She has been a good and a kind friend to me, has supplied me for
over two years with the best of literature, something new, so
different from what we are used to, something that lifts me above
myself and gives me new views of heaven and immortality, makes me a
better man to wife, family, neighbors, stock, and fills my heart
with that new love, the divine brotherhood of all mankind. I deeply
lament her loss. I do wish she could have lived a little while
longer, for my sake. I do feel so thankful for the papers, and
Channing, from Mrs. ----, God bless her!... Any books or papers
sent me will be used to the good of the community. The Post Office
Mission is doing a good work."

A young German in Tennessee to whom she sent much reading matter wrote her:--

"I am a German by birth, and received my education at German
universities. I devoted many years to the study of the chief
philosophical systems, and had in consequence of the results
derived from the latter for a long time little or no connection
with any church whatever. 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 Christ. So when I became acquainted with Channing's Works,
seeing that it is possible to reconcile with every scientific
discovery and with every logical conclusion all that is special in
Christianity, I knew I had found what I want and wherein to rest.
From my own standpoint, and remembering the religious
indifferentism which is now general in my native country and in
France, I regard Unitarianism as the principle which is to save the
Christian Church from ruin, and which will be an indestructible
bulwark against Nihilism and materialism. I still believe there is
a great future before the Unitarian Church."

From a lady in Alabama to Miss Ellis:--

DEAR FRIEND,--For such you have been to me, and it is to you I am
indebted for the papers, tracts, and sermons that I have received
and enjoyed so much. I have derived genuine comfort from them, and
sincerely thank you for thinking of one so unhappy and so tossed
about for a haven of rest. Truly yours is a heavenly mission,
answering the needs of many like myself afflicted beyond human aid.
The sermons of James Freeman Clarke are peculiarly comforting; and
indeed I have read all you sent me with the deepest interest and
benefit. How I wish I might in some way recompense your Society as
it deserves! And you individually have my deepest gratitude, which
is so little for such thoughtfulness as yours.

A second letter says:--

"Your papers, sermons, etc., are regularly received, and I wish I
could make you understand the great comfort they are to me,
particularly the sermons. Anything pertaining to the future life
holds me spell-bound till the last word is read. The Unitarian
ideas and beliefs, so far as I know, find echo in my heart; and I
always feel comforted and soothed, as it were, with all I have read
and understood. I attend the Presbyterian Church here, because I
think it is better to attend some church regularly; and I am very
fond of this minister socially. There has been for ten days or more
an evangelist holding a union meeting in our church, and a night or
two ago I went to hear him. 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 fear. I assure you,
I feel it a privilege to correspond with you, and find myself
wishing in my heart that you knew me thoroughly, what I have been,
and what I am by nature, education, and social standing. I feel
that we women of the South are to be seen at home and known to be
understood by our Northern sisters."

The following are some of Miss Ellis's letters to a radical of the radicals, an old gentleman in Boston, one of Theodore Parker's old congregation, who sent much literature out under her direction, and contributed Theodore Parker's "Prayers," and his new volume of sermons, to her loan library.

JULY 2, 1883.

Your letter was received on Thursday, and, contrary to your
expectation, was read with a great deal of interest, for I always
admire to have every one speak with perfect freedom, and I am very
glad you wrote as you did, and feel honored by having so old a man
for a correspondent.... You and I won't quarrel on the Bible
question. Rather think I should come up to your expectations on
_that_ point.... I do not consider Mr. C---- or Mr. S---- authority
any more than I consider the Bible so; I read for myself and settle
the question as best I can. Am I not right? I have not read Colenso
on the Pentateuch, nor Davidson's "Introduction to the New
Testament," but _have_ read "Canon of the Bible," Knappert's
"Religion of Israel," Stanley's "Eastern Church," Higginson's
"Spirit of the Bible," Dr. Noyes's Translation of Prophets,
Psalms, Job, and Canticles, and lastly, "Bible for Learners." I
merely mention these to let you see I have been a student of the
Bible. Will also add Alger's "Future Life," J. F. Clarke's "Ten
Great Religions" and "Thomas Didymus," Savage's "Talks about
Jesus," and his sermons this winter on the Bible.... I think of
heaven and hell as you do; but having always been fed on Unitarian
teachings, am not so "bitter" in my feelings as those who have had
the "Assembly's Shorter Catechism" to overcome. In short, if people
only _live_ truly from day to day, I will excuse their view of the
Bible, and of God, and Christ, as long as they do not wish me to
think the same as they do, for I decidedly think they are wrong....
I shall be very much pleased to have a copy of Theodore Parker's
"Prayers," and shall gladly accept a copy for my circulating
library; for, but with the exception of a few donations, the books
loaned have been those I put in it.

After receiving the book, she wrote:--

"First, I must tell you how much I am enjoying Theodore Parker's
'Prayers.' They are suitable in most instances to the present day,
and for all ages and times, and one rises from reading them with
kindlier, broader thoughts, and renewed in strength. Am very glad
to have the book. Shall endeavor to sell copies of it this
winter.... I cannot _exactly_ agree with all you said in your
letter, for I think it is not necessary yet to give up all
theology, though it should not be the main thing in religion. The
chief thing is to _do_ right, and people arrive at that by
different methods. They will inquire and discuss theology, and
therefore it is necessary as yet that ministers should preach it,
and I do not believe that Orthodox ministers have arrived at Mr.
Savage's or Mr. Chadwick's views exactly, or they would come out
and say so. As for myself, I still enjoy the Communion service,
partaking of the bread and wine, and cannot agree to casting aside
Jesus as a helper to a better life, 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 God. He 'died for us' in no
other sense than as a soldier dies for his country. Then let
theology continue, for the world is fast becoming better and better
in spite of it, and the time _may_ come when we shall need it no
longer. We are gradually coming to the point. I do not regret the
time 'lost' I have spent on theology, for it has fitted me for just
the work I am engaged in, and many are the questions I am called
upon to answer, either by letter or printed matter; therefore I am
glad to know where to send perplexed minds. As a friend wrote me
from the South, 'Your papers are a great help to me. You are doing
more good than the women did in the days of our Saviour. They
clothed the body and you are feeding the souls.' Both acts are
needed, but in different directions, and some people can better do
the one, and others the other. I am cut off from active benevolence
from want of health for it, and am glad to know there are souls
needing nourishment. Do you not take this view too?"

* * * * *

DECEMBER 20, 1883.

Your kind letter awaited my return from the city last evening, when
I returned at ten. It grieved me to think that possibly I had
wounded your feelings, for your "heresies" have not been "too
tough" for me, as you fear. One's religious belief never troubles
me as long as they do not force me into the same belief. Should be
sorry if I had not "charity" enough to see the good in one, and not
look at the outside merely. Your last letter reached me September
28, and I replied by postal October 19, as there did not appear to
be anything especial to require a letter; and as my eyes were
troubling me much at the time, I was compelled to desist from all
but necessary letters. Am still as much interested in the good
cause as ever, and we still have new applications constantly. We
are gaining ground in the South. One gentleman in Alabama is much
interested in Unitarianism, and wrote, asking me for Mr. Savage's
address, whereupon he wrote to Mr. Savage himself, who is sending
him "Unity Pulpit" present series. I am subscriber to it myself,
and never can keep a sermon. I subscribed for the benefit of
others. In Independence, Ky., a gentleman lately wrote, asking for
Unitarian papers, etc. He is highly satisfied. Has been groping in
the dark a long time, and wrote me, "When I read the pamphlet,
'What Do Unitarians Believe?' by C. W. Wendte, I shouted 'Eureka!'
Like it so well that I shall not part with it." So it goes on all
the time. Some one finds just what they have been in search of for
some time.

* * * * *

FEBRUARY 19, 1885.

Am much obliged to you for sending matter to Mr. ----. He is
extremely radical, a farmer, with a large family to educate, and
cannot get such religious matter as he needs. You might, if you
choose, send the Chadwick sermons to him too, or, if you prefer
they should go elsewhere, address them to me, and I will send them
where they are needed.

Her last postal card to this correspondent, dated about a month before her death, says:

"Thanks for the six 'Unity Pulpits' received. I have been too busy
to reply before, and my health still feeble, though not confined to
the house or bed at all. I'm not one of that kind until necessary."

Since her death, the farmer referred to above has written:--

"I want to pay my humble tribute to the departed Miss Ellis. I
never met her; but she was my friend, because she was the friend to
all struggling humanity. She sent me sermons, etc., but above all,
_kind words_. I had pictured her in my mind as a strong, robust
person, and hoped at some future time to meet her. I now fear that
I may have wounded her refined soul by some things I wrote to her.
I am somewhat 'agnostic;' but I love to think of heaven if such as
Miss Ellis preside there and give tone to the surroundings."

The old gentleman in Boston wrote:--

"With this please receive eight letters and seventeen full postals
from our dear departed friend, Miss Sarah Ellis, of your city,
whose face I never saw, but whose correspondence was to me a great
pleasure. Her personal friendship must have been a real blessing to
you and her immediate friends. She was able to be a very active
worker for the cause which lay so near her heart, and was at the
same time so perfectly willing to let others believe what they can.
I will send all I have of hers and let you select what you desire.
There is not even a postal card among them on which there is not
some small or large trace of her noble, generous, kindly nature."

A young man in Ohio, writing Miss Ellis about some revival scenes in his town, makes this comment, which is good and true enough to settle the "leaven" idea once for all.

"If you had seen all this as I have, 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 work.

"_The Unitarians are themselves a portion of the leaven, and unless
they work there is so much of the leaven idle._"

A Christian minister with whom Miss Ellis has corresponded two years or more, and who expects to enter Harvard Divinity School, in sending her letters writes:--

"... I send such as I can get at, preferring to let you make any
suitable selections or extracts they may offer. I shall be pleased
to have them returned, as you mention, when you have used them. I
may add that my correspondence with Miss Ellis on all matters
connected with religion, Unitarianism, etc., was in all respects
most pleasant, satisfactory, and profitable to me. The careful
skill with which she divined the exact want of a correspondent and
sent the appropriate word by tract or letter to supply it, bespoke
a wisdom and experience deeper than casual letters may reveal. And
continued correspondence served thus to inspire a greater esteem
and confidence in the judgment expressed."

The following extracts are from her letters to this minister:--

NOVEMBER 12, 1883.

Your letter was received a week since, and read with interest. What
you said of our teachings, of course, was light and just. We do not
expect ministers of other denominations to accept our views
altogether, for if so they would _be_ Unitarians. Your view
concerning studying the Bible agrees with mine. Still, it is well
to know the latest view of the Bible, although we cannot accept the
teaching at first. In time the way is made clear to us. Have
mailed to you to-day two more good tracts and our church programme
for this year. After Wednesday will mail to you "Positive Aspects
of Religion," by English leaders. We will agree to let you have any
book at just what it costs us, you paying postage on it....
Theodore Parker's "Discourses Pertaining to Religion" is a good
book for you to read,--usual price, $1.00. But first, "Orthodoxy;
Its Truths and Errors," J. F. Clarke; and a new book just out,
"Orthodoxy and Heresy." ... "Bible for Learners" is by three German
divines, translated by an Englishman, and gives the latest German
views concerning the Bible.

* * * * *

DECEMBER 23, 1883.

... At the time your letter reached me we were holding our annual
fair, and since then I have been much occupied with preparing for
Christmas. To-day am home-bound by the snow,--it being knee-deep
between our front door and the gate, and as I have to walk half a
mile to take the street cars to the city, and as it is raining on
top of the deep snow, concluded it was really too bad for me to
venture. Have read myself out, and being very much occupied during
the week, will take advantage of the holy-day to speak on a holy
topic. You suggested that we send "papers representing Unitarian
ideas rather than tracts;" but papers do not contain our doctrines
so explicitly. Since your last letter, have mailed to you two
tracts on "Inspiration" and "Incarnation" which I thought well
answered the thoughts expressed in your letter.

You will see from them that Unitarians are little troubled about
Inspiration and the Divinity, or the Deity of Christ as we prefer
to state it. We do believe in his divinity, for we hold that all
men are divine, while we deny his being Deity. We lay greater
stress on the divinity of human nature, and therefore we do not
feel that Jesus is degraded by calling him man, for we exalt man.
If we considered man totally depraved, then to call Jesus a mere
man might seem to lower him; but when we think of the possibilities
of man, and that he has it within himself to reach up to the
highest manhood, and to become in a measure a saviour of the world,
then to compare him with Jesus--the most glorious of men--is not
lessening the divinity of the Christ, it seems to me. Or, if we
held Jesus to be God, a being different from man, and so far
superior to us that we never could attain to his goodness, then we
never could compare the two. Jesus is an example to us because we
also are divine as he is; for he prays "that they all may be one,
as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in
us." If man had not been of the same nature as himself, would he
have thus spoken? I advise you to send to the Western Unitarian
Sunday School Society for Rev. William C. Gannett's Sunday School
Lesson, "The Christmas Poem and the Christmas Fact," if you wish to
understand how Unitarians of the present day understand Christ.
Though you may not accept, you will have our idea of the birth
legends in our Gospels.

* * * * *

DECEMBER 24, 1884.

My reply to your letter, by postal, was written before talking with
----. She tells me that Harvard will be decidedly the better place
if not too expensive. Meadville has the advantage in that
respect,--less expensive; but being near Boston, Cambridge offers
better opportunities for students to engage in work by which they
can support themselves in the mean time. A correspondent of ours
went to Harvard a year ago last September. Had a scholarship
promised him. He found a set of books to keep, and studied.... I
tell you of this case, as it may help you in your decision.
Meadville is very thorough, but think the younger men all give
preference to Harvard; I presume as much as anything on account of
the opportunities which being near Boston affords them. I have
written to Professor C. C. Everett of Harvard to please send you a
catalogue and answer your inquiries. We shall be very glad if our
little Cincinnati branch of the Women's Auxiliary Conference is the
means of securing them another Divinity student. With many good
wishes of the season from the Women's Auxiliary Conference,

Very truly yours, S. ELLIS.

* * * * *

JANUARY 14, 1885.

Have been obliged to change my residence, and, temporarily, am with
another brother. Just came here to-day, and, not having my things
about me, have not your last letter to refer to, but having
received a letter from our Harvard Divinity Student this past week,
wish to tell you what he says of his surroundings, and his
impression of Professor Everett. He writes as follows: "I enjoy the
work of the Divinity School more than I had ever hoped. We have a
noble corps of professors eminently fitted for their special
departments, and personally most eminent examples of Nature's
noblemen. In the light of what I am now learning, I consider my
former ignorance phenomenal. Thanks to Professor Everett, my faith
in God is clearer and stronger than ever before. He has enabled me
to reduce my chaotic philosophy to something of a system, and has
helped to furnish a steadfast basis for faith. His lectures are
simply invaluable. To my mind he is not only the greatest man in
the Divinity School, but the greatest man in Harvard University;
and not only the profoundest thinker in the Unitarian Church in our
country, but the profoundest thinker to be found in any American
church." ... I feel that this will be of interest to you, who are
contemplating going to the Divinity School. There is another thing
I wish to speak of; that is, we have quite a valuable book, "The
Origin of the Doctrine of the Trinity," by Hugh H. Stannus, of
England, showing how much greater cause there is for believing in
the Unity of God than in the Trinity. You can have the book any
time you wish, though I have just mailed it to a lady in this
State. By the way, the daughter of James F. Clarke, with others,
has planned a course of "Unitarian Studies at Home." The first
year's course includes: 1. "The Unitarian Doctrine of Prayer," by
J. F. Clarke; 2. "The Origin of the Doctrine of the Trinity," by
Stannus; 3. "Jesus and His Biographers," by Dr. W. H. Furness; 4.
"Christ the Revealer," by Thom; 5. "Religious Duties," by Frances
Power Cobbe. We have first, second, and fourth,--at least, are to
have the latter. "Jesus and His Biographers" is out of print; but
we are to have that loaned to us for two months, as three ladies
here, with myself, are pursuing the course, and I have also induced
a lady in this county to join us. We have received quite a number
of encouraging letters from our correspondents lately, and have
every reason to believe the Post Office Mission work is doing good.
I mailed to you this week some arguments against the Trinity. Rev.
C. W. Wendte's sermon, "Encouragement for Unitarians," in
"Register," January 8, I read with much interest. We have such an
interesting young convert, a Methodist, in Canada. His intention is
to study for the Unitarian ministry, we having brought him out into
the light. I thought with how much interest he would read that
sermon of Mr. Wendte's.

* * * * *

APRIL 19, 1885.

Was glad to hear from you again, and find you are in a larger
field. [He had gone to a Pennsylvania city.] Perhaps you may draw
into your church--take it for granted you have gone there to
preach--Universalists and Unitarians.... We shall be glad to loan
you books again as soon as you are ready for them. Have had added
to the library lately "The Origin of the Doctrine of the Trinity,"
by Hugh H. Stannus; "Christ the Revealer," by Thom (both English
works), "The Power of the Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth" and "The
Story of the Resurrection," both by Dr. W. H. Furness, of
Philadelphia,--the latter just published, and he presented the two
to us. Am not quite ready to loan the latter, as I've not read it
myself. If you know or meet with any Germans in your vicinity, we
are soon to have some Unitarian tracts in the German language....
Hope you read with enthusiasm the earnest appeal for ministers at
the East, and also at Meadville, in the "Register" of April 9. We
hope to have two of our correspondents go to Meadville in
September, and hope you may succeed in your desire to get to
Harvard. We had a very pleasant letter from one of our "boys," as
he styled himself, a week since. He is still enjoying his
privileges there.... Hoping to hear from you again, and wishing you
success in your new position, whatever it may be, in which the
Women's Auxiliary Conference join,

Yours truly, SARAH ELLIS.

A gentleman in Mississippi, superintendent of schools in his county, writes of Miss Ellis as

"... One whose memorial I read with a saddened heart. 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 death. Though just from the side of a dear
sister whom she had left destined to a glorious immortality, she
found time to write to us a letter of condolence on the great loss
that we had sustained in the death of our son,--a young man just of
age,--in which she blended submission to Him 'who doeth all things
right,' with such words of comfort as could emanate only from a
good, earnest, self-sacrificing instrument of our Heavenly Father.
Than in her life of trials and troubles there has never been a
greater instance of the victory of mind over matter. I am afraid
that I do little good with the sermons, etc., among the people
here, who, although they use the beautiful hymn, 'Nearer, my God,
to Thee,' at their funerals, still look upon Unitarians as cultured
heathens."

A lady in Ohio, who became a regular correspondent and bought many books, wrote Miss Ellis:--