soul;
and, feeling that she had sinned against the Holy Ghost, she thought
that God never could forgive her, and that no sacrifice she could ever
offer could atone for this first act of disobedience. Through long and
dreary years it was the spectre that never would down, but stood ready
to point its accusing finger whenever she was tempted to seek the cause
of her disappointments and sorrows.

Thus, in the very outset of her new departure, arose apprehensions
which followed her continually, robbing her religious exercises of all
peace, and bringing her such a depth of misery that, she says, it
almost destroyed her soul. The frequent letters of her Quaker friend,
though calculated to soothe and encourage her, were all firm on the
point of implicit obedience to the movements of the Spirit; and she
found herself in a straight and narrow path, from which she was not
allowed to deviate.

To this friend, Israel Morris, Sarah seems to have confessed all her
shortcomings, all her fears, until, encouraged by his sympathy, and led
by her longing for a wider field of action, she began to contemplate a
removal to the North. There were other causes which urged her to seek
another home. The inharmonious life in her family, joined to the
reproaches and ridicule constantly aimed at her, and which stung her to
the quick, naturally inspired the desire to go where she would be rid
of it all, and live in peace. In her religious exaltation, it was easy
for her to persuade herself that she was moved to make this important
change by the Lord's command. She sincerely believed it was so, and
speaks of it as an unmistakable call, not to be disregarded, to go
forth from that land, and her work would be shown her. Naturally,
Philadelphia was the spot to which she was directed. When informed of
her desires, Israel Morris not only gave his approval, but invited her
to a home in his family. A door of shelter and safety being thus thrown
open to her, she no longer hesitated, but at once made known her
intention to her relatives. There seems to have been little or no
opposition offered to a step so serious; in fact, her brothers and
sisters, though much attached to her,--for her loving nature was
irresistible,--evidently felt it a relief when she was gone, her strict
and pious life being a constant rebuke to their worldly views and
practices.

Her sister Anna, at her urgent request, accompanied her on the voyage.
This sister, the widow of an Episc