The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1845-06-02

Her parents, having always taught their children to
attend to inward revealings, were afraid to oppose
what sho so strongly felt to be duty. Her mother,
with slight trembling in her voice, asked il she had
reflected we'll on all the difficulties of The undertaking.
and how arduous task it was FOR young woman to
manage a farm OF unbroken land in a country.
Elizabeth rePlied:-'Young women have governed
Kingdoms, and surely it requires less wisdom to
manage a farm But let not that trouble us, dear
mother He that reedeth the raven will guide me
in the work whereunto he has called 1t is to
cultivate the farm but be friend and physician to
the people in that am called
Her father answered:-'Doubt not, my child, that
we shall be willing to give thee up to the Lords dis
posings, however hard the trial may be. But when
thou vert very little girl,thy Imagination much
excited concerning Americas therefore, thou must be
very careful that desire for adventures found
ed in the will of the creature, msead thee from the
true light in this matter. I advise thee Cor three
months to make ii a subject ofsoIemn meditation and
prayer. Then, If our lives be spared, we will talk
farther concerning it,
During the prescribed time no allrsion was made
to the subject, though it in the thoughts ;for
this highly conscientious family unwilling to
confuse inward perceptions by any expression of feel
ing or opinion. With simple undoubting faith they
sought merely ascertain whether the Lord required
this sacrifice. That their daughters views remained
the same they partly judged by her increased tender
ness toward all the family; not sad, but thoughtful
and ever waIcful, towards friends from whom she
was about separate. 1t likewise observable
that she redoubled her diligence in obtaining knowl
edge Of household affairs, of agriculture, and the
cure of common dieascs When the three months
had expired, she declared that the ligh, shone with
undiminished clearness, and she felt more strongly
than that it was her appointed mission to COM
fort and strengthen the Lords people in the New
World.
Accordingly, early in the Spring Of 1900, arrange
ments made FOR her departure, and all things
were provided that the abu ndance OF wealth tho
ingenuity Of affection could devise. A poor widow
of good sense and discretion accompanied her as
friend and housekeeper and two rusty men servants
members of the Society of Friends An ong the many
singular manifestations of strong faith and religious
zeal, connected with the settlement OF this country
few are more remarkable than the voluntary separa-
ton of this girl of eighteen years old from wealthy
home and all the pleasant associations Of childhood to
90 to distant and nIy-inhabiied country, full
I'll what she considered a religious duty. And the
humble sef-sacrifcing faith of tho parents, IN
giving up their beloved child, with such reverent
derness for the promptngs of her conscience, has
in it something sublimely beautiful, if we look
in its own pure light. The parting took place with
love than words can express, and yet without
tear either side. Even during the long and ted
GUS voyage Elizabeth never wept. She pre-
served martyr-ke cheerfuness and serenity to the
end.
The house prepared for her reception stood in
clearing of the forest, three miles from any other
dwelling. She arrived in June, when the landscape
was smiling in youthful beauty; and it seemed to
her as if the arch Of heaven never before so
clear and bright, the carpet Of the earth
dant. As she sat at her window and evening
close in upon her in that broad foresthome, and heard
for the first time the mournu notes Of the whlppoor-
will and the harsh scream of the jay in the distan,
woods, she was oppressed with Of vastness,
;nfnity, which she never before experienced, not
the ocean. She remained long in prayer,
and when she lay down to sleep beside her matron
friend, words were spoken between them The
elder, with fatigue, soon sunk into peace
fu slumbsr but the young enthusiastic spirit lay long
awake, listening TO the lone voice OF the whpfoowill
complaining to the night Yet Notwithstanding this
prolonged wake rulness, she early and looked
upon the lovely landscape The rising pointed to
the talles with his golden finger, and was well
coined with gush ofsong from thousand warblers.
The poetry in Ezubeth's soul, repressed by the Sc.
we're painness Of her education, gushed up like a
fountain. She dropped on her knees, and with an
outburst of prayer exclaimed ferventy Father
very beautiful hast thou made this earth! How boun-
,fuI are thy gifts, o I.ord'
To spirit less meek and brave, the darker shades
of the picture would have obscured these cheerful |
gleams for the situation lonely and the nconven
iencies innumerable. But Elizabeth easily triumph
ed all obstacles, by her practical good sense and
the quick promptings of her ingenuity. She was one
of those clear, strong natures, who always have |
definite aim in view and who at once the means
best suited to the end. Her first inquiry was, what
grain was bes, adapted to the soil of her farm; and
being informed that rye would yield best-''Ihen
shall eat rye bread was her answer The ear OF
Indian corn, so org treasured in her juvenile muse
UNI, had travelled with her across the Atlantic, and |
now after the lapse of seven years was planted in A
merican soil. As the superb plant ripened, she &C
that it more than realized the pictures Of