ive them some of her books and playthings at parting. When
they had gone, the good mother quietly said, "Elizabeth, why did'st thou
invite strangers, instead of thy schoolmates?" There was a heavenly
expression in her eye, as she looked up earnestly, and answered,
"Mother, I wanted to invite _them_, they looked _so_ poor."

When eleven years of age, she accompanied her parents to the yearly
meeting of the Friends, where she heard, among other preachers, a very
young man named John Estaugh, with whose manner of presenting divine
truth she was particularly pleased. Many of his words were treasured in
her memory. At the age of seventeen she made a profession of religion,
uniting herself with the Quakers.

During her early youth, William Penn visited the house of her father,
and greatly amused her by describing his adventures with the Indians.
From that time she became interested in the emigrant Quakers, and began
to talk of coming to America. Her father at length purchased a tract of
land in New Jersey, with the view of emigrating, but his affairs took a
new turn, and he made up his mind to remain in his native land: This
decision disappointed. She had cherished the conviction that it was her
duty to come to this country; and when, at length, her father, who was
unwilling that any of his property should lie unimproved, offered the
tract of land in New Jersey to any relative who would settle upon it,
she promptly agreed to accept of the proffered estate. Willing that
their child should follow in the path of duty, at the end of three
months, after much prayer, the parents consented to let Elizabeth join
"the Lord's people" in the New World.

Accordingly, early in the Spring of 1700, arrangements were made for her
departure, and all things were provided that abundance of wealth or the
ingenuity of affection could devise.

A poor widow, of good sense and discretion, accompanied her as friend
and housekeeper, and two trusty men-servants, members of the Society of
Friends. Among the many singular manifestations of strong faith and
religious zeal, connected with the settlement of this country, few are
more remarkable than the voluntary separation of this girl of eighteen
from a wealthy home and all the pleasant associations of childhood, to
go to a distant and thinly inhabited country to fulfill what she deemed
a religious duty. And the humble, self-sacrificing faith of the parents,
in giving up their child, with such reverent