Mary P. Wells Smith

“ As I read the many letters from all over the country that have come since Miss Ellis's death, as I realize how the spiritual force that burned in the soul of this small, feeble, seemingly helpless woman reached out afar and touched many lives for their enduring ennoblement, her life, so meagre and cramped in its outward aspect, so vivid and intense within and on paper, seems to me not without a touch of romance. ”

“ No one knowing Miss Ellis could read the touching little story of "Miss Toosey's Mission" without being struck by a resemblance in the characters, though a resemblance with a marked difference. As one said, "I never saw her going up the church aisle Sundays, with her audiphone, her little satchel, her bundle of books and papers, and her hymn-book, without thinking of Miss Toosey." In both lives a seemingly powerless and insignificant personality, through the force of a great yearning to do a bit of God's work in the world, achieved its longing far beyond its fondest dreams. ”

“ 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"! ”

“ It is another lesson to teach us that ever new means will arise, as time and opportunity serve, for the faithful in heart and life to hasten the coming of the Master's kingdom of righteousness and love. Miss Ellis infused a sweetness and sympathy all her own into her mission. To her it was no task, but a delight, as her letters show,—her meat and drink to help struggling souls to light and Christian faith. ”

“ Oh for some men to preach a little charity for the views of others, and to consider a man as not being necessarily worse than a criminal because he cannot accept their own views! I owe you a large debt of gratitude for being the means of lifting me out of a state of misery and despair, in which I had no pleasure in life, into a state of cheerfulness, happiness, hope, and peace; not intellectual peace,—for [Pg 103] I do not expect that,—but real 'soul peace,' a calm trust and a real faith in a living God. I have been surprised to see how largely Unitarian theology is based on science. ”

“ The last of my dear mother's five little children has gone from me, 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 circle. Still all is right and best as it is; and though clouds gather over our heads, the sunshine will at length make itself seen, for "all things work together for good." ”

“ One of the best lessons I have learned from the literature you have sent me is faith,—a very different kind of faith from the mere credulity I once knew by that name. At times I am dazed and confounded when I think of the great mysteries surrounding us, especially of the mysteries of death; but I feel that a good God is over all, and the main thing is to do right, and all will be well. ”

“ What church do you attend, and how old was Andrew? I am old enough to be his mother, I suspect, and looked upon him and some few other of my correspondents as 'my boys,' as one of my converts styles himself. My hope was that Andrew would study for the ministry some day.... I know what sorrow is, but must say yours is one of the most trying ordeals to pass through,—an only son, and such a noble one, to die among strangers. My heart aches sorely for you, and I do not wonder it seems like a 'dream' to you. We do not know and cannot tell why our dear ones are taken. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I assure you I shall always be glad to hear of the growth and success of your Mission, all the more, perhaps, because I hold to it a sort of filial relation. You know that in the Methodist Church each young convert or young minister speaks of the minister under whose preaching he was converted, as a spiritual father. So I think of myself now as the spiritual child of your Women's Missionary Society in Cincinnati. Would that Heaven might help me to be worthy of the home, and justify in some sense their loving-kindness and help in time of need. ”

“ I do not know as I "have ever realized the depths of absolute negations," but I have realized the depths of absolute solitude, and can sympathize with you in your loneliness, and "think it a good thing to keep the Eternal and Infinite always in view, and so love quiet, solitude, and meditation. They strengthen me to do my work in life." ”

“ She who had endured so much was quick to sympathize with others. The religious studies undertaken for her own consolation enabled her wisely to direct the reading of her correspondents. [Pg 43] Even her deafness seemed specially to fit her for her work. Shut apart from the din and bustle of modern life in a quiet world of her own, from its peaceful communings she sent out light and strength to others. The poor, denied life, like a plant severely pruned by the careful gardener to insure a late, full bloom, now reached out and touched many lives with a wonderful uplifting power. ”

“ Thayer says there, "Those who present themselves in an earnest spirit,"—an earnest spirit to do all the good you can, in every way, at home and to the world. It is character, and not belief, which makes the true Christian. And if our conscience is right before God, let man say what he will; if we are only sure ourselves we are doing our best according to our circumstances and our health; if our motives are pure and our conscience clear,—we shall feel a pleasure in joining in a Communion service, though one can be a member of our church if not a communicant. ”

“ 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 do not wonder you miss the dear brother, and feel grieved that you may not see him again. I do not believe the good Father in heaven is angry if we murmur some. He cannot be so harsh as to have us cultivate family affections and friendships on earth and not have any loving feelings left. ”

“ 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. ”

“ She has been so kind in helping me to get started in the Post Office Mission, and made me feel so truly that she stood ready to help always, that I cannot but feel that I have in her death lost a good friend, which must be the case with many others all over the country. She has left us all the memory of a brave example, which ought to fill us with the desire to carry on the good work by her begun, more faithfully than ever. ”

“ If we would only remember to strive to discover wherein we agree, and not always be looking for divergence of opinion, there would be more of practical piety in the world. Let us open our eyes to the fact that all denominations endeavor to make men better, though they differ in methods; and see to it that we ourselves are true to the highest and best as far as we know it, and the kingdom of God will be hastened in everywhere. Do right for its own sake, and not from fear or hope of punishment or reward. Let me give you a hymn we sang after the sermon last Sunday. ”

“ 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 read it to a dear friend, who always sends me to the Conference at Chicago, and she said, 'It's all true, but I hope you won't get so far above me in the next world.' I never have stopped to 'understand' what I am doing, or the 'name' I am making. To do the good comes from my heart, and I leave the results to the Good Father, and know if I merit a reward it will be given me. It is a pleasure in this world, to feel I am giving satisfaction to so many in the denomination. ”

“ 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 best, under nobler conditions, rejoice, even in the midst of personal bereavement, that Miss Ellis has entered into that rest, so nobly [Pg 196] won by her patient endurance of the heavy burdens laid upon her,—burdens which yet never seemed to close her sympathy for others, but only served to quicken her eagerness to work for the extension of that vital faith she found so satisfying. ”

“ Sarah Ellis, the faithful organizer of the Cincinnati Post Office Mission, and the pioneer in that admirable form of the ministry of Unitarian doctrine through the writing of letters and the circulation of religious literature, "went up higher" from her sick-bed, on Sunday evening, December 27. There are many, East and West, to whom her wise guidance in spiritual perplexities has been as a strong hand lifting them from confusion and doubt concerning all religion, into tranquil joy, who will read that she is dead, with the shock which comes with an unforewarned calamity. ”

“ Great must have been the yearning for the ministry consuming her soul, to tempt the reserved, feeble little woman, with her deafness and dyspepsia, her incessant cough, her love of her own room and things, her exactness and exquisite nicety of habit, seriously to contemplate such a career. Yet, but for absolute physical incapacity, and the dissuasions (on that account) of her family, she would certainly [Pg 25] have made the experiment. Or might she not open a reading-room in the church, to be kept open all the week, where the treasures of Unitarian literature could be dispensed? ”

“ All you need is some one to speak with you who sympathizes with you; and though they may not lighten your burden or change your circumstances, they will lighten your heart and make the whole world seem different to you, and full of work to be done, that will take your thoughts out from beyond your own home, and yet at the same time only make that all the more precious to you and just the place you ought to be in. ”

“ Miracle must be in harmony with law. Jesus must be to her the natural flower of human nature, the perfect blossom of human development. Nature and the supernatural must be in harmony. Hence the delight she took in Dr. Furness's works. His works helped her, as they have so many others, out of her difficulties about the supernatural. And more than that, they fed her religious life, pure and simple, and let her into the heart of Christ. She often alluded to her debt to Dr. Furness, whom she admired and loved."
Miss Ellis little expected or would have desired to figure as a Unitarian saint. ”

“ I shall see my way clearly in this seemingly intricate road, and discern, even at the end of it, the entrance to thy heavenly mansion."
"O God, may our souls be full of life. Save us from an inanimate and sluggish life.... Inspire our sensibility to good; may we see more and more its loveliness and beauty. ”

“ It does not need a stroke of lightning from heaven to raze Chicago to the ground: a little lamp-flame near a pile of hay is sufficient. We forget sometimes the power of a single humble life to extend and duplicate its influence. ”

“ Remember, opinions separate us, but kindly deeds and affection draw us close to one another; and so pursue your studies patiently, striving to make yourself the kind of man you think one ought to be, and in attending church do it in the spirit of Jesus,—with the feeling of worshipping God, and cast aside all other feeling, knowing that those around you are doing what they feel to be best. ”

“ Work on, dear friend, just where you are, and feel that there you are casting silent deeds of love which no one knows but the good Father above, but that they are none the less earnest work in his service.... ”