Miss Ellis's Mission Part 6

As such auxiliary he acted, distributing tracts, papers, etc., with a zeal that might well shame some life-long Unitarians. In later letters he wrote:--

"Outside of all churches there is quite a number of men, mostly young, intelligent men, who have cultivated an intense hatred of certain doctrines and religious observances, and who have gradually come to denounce and seek the overthrow of our whole religious system. These are banded together as an auxiliary to the 'Liberal League' of America. In addition to these are a number of young men, sons of Orthodox parents, who dissent from the religious views and peculiar creeds which have satisfied their elders, and yet have no definite faith of their own. I think that with these two cla.s.ses, as well as with those who have so far been indifferent to the claim of religion, we have an excellent prospect of success in introducing our views and extending the influence of Liberal Christianity. I am very friendly to the Orthodox Church, recognizing the n.o.ble purpose that animates them all, and the invaluable services that they have rendered to mankind; and I have less desire to draw upon their strength than I have to see the Unitarian Church built up from material that has formerly been identified with _no_ church organization. I was a Unitarian in theory long before I knew anything of the Unitarian Church.... As a rule, the young men of my acquaintance who are, either in theory or practice, liberal Christians, are of the most intelligent order, ambitious, progressive young men; and of _them_ what may we not hope?"

He went into business in Leadville, Colorado, and from there wrote Miss Ellis (in 1881):--

"Sunday is almost entirely ignored in the business portion of the city, very few men closing their places of business. Every saloon and theatre is open on Sunday, and bra.s.s bands fill the air with their inspiring music. I attended the Methodist Episcopal Church Sabbath School last Sunday, and found quite a respectable crowd in attendance. I thoroughly enjoyed that afternoon; and when I saw rough-bearded, grimy, slouchy-looking men and boys from the mines and workshops taking part in the exercises of the school, I thanked G.o.d for the influence his church and school had had upon the largest, hardest mining-camp in the world.... If you have any more of the doc.u.ments referred to, I wish you would send me a dozen or more, and a few of the pamphlets on 'What Do Unitarians Believe?'

It seems to me this would be a most fruitful field in which to plant Unitarian ideas and principles. It seems to me no other church would be so popular here. Of the party of ten young men who board with me, I do not think that any one of them has been in a church three times since he came to Leadville. In most respects, all of them are fine young men; but Orthodox doctrines would never gain any ground with them, while Liberal ideas might win the field if the boys could be made to consider them."

Miss Ellis, and all the ladies, indeed, of the Cincinnati Auxiliary, were greatly interested in Leadville, and hoped to do a good work there, aided by our enthusiastic young friend; but the above was destined to be our last letter from him. In September, 1881, came a postal card from a hotel clerk, saying, "Mr. Woodruff wishes me to inform you that he has been unable to answer your letter on account of sickness, but will write you as soon as able." A few days later came intelligence of his death.

Tributes to his character in the Ravenna newspapers, and his photograph sent Miss Ellis by his sister, only confirmed our opinion of this young man's n.o.ble character, and our sincere grief at his loss. Miss Ellis at once wrote to his mother this letter:--

OCTOBER 17, 1881.

I shall be compelled to address the envelope containing this note to your daughter, not knowing your husband's name. I presume you are aware that Miss ---- informed me of your son's death, and she, I presume, sent me so kindly the paper last week containing the obituary on him which I read with much interest, as it was such an opinion as I and all of us had formed of your son, Julius, from his interesting letters. I a.s.sure you that our love and sympathy are with you in the affliction, and would that we could soften the severe loss to you; but that alone the good Father in time can render less bitter. True resignation consists in enduring it as G.o.d's will.

The ladies of our Missionary Society wish me to tell you how much all were interested in Julius's letters, and how deeply they feel with you, and at my request send you a book of consolation, "Light on the Cloud," as an expression of our real interest in your son.

It seemed to me that nothing could be so appropriate as the literature he so learned to love. "He being dead yet speaketh"

(Heb. xi. 4); and such we deem would be his words to those who were so dear to him. The President of our society marked one piece,--"He giveth his beloved sleep," and I have marked pa.s.sages through the book, particularly under the head "Death a Blessing," and the last poem in the book. If words can cheer you, it is our hope that this little gift may serve the purpose. At least may it be a testimonial to you of our deep interest in your dear boy.... Our ladies are to hold the first meeting this season a week from to-morrow, when the obituary notice of Julius R. Woodruff's death will be read, and listened to with interest. He was my first correspondent, and his letter from Colorado was particularly enjoyable. It grieves me to think it was the last.... Hoping to hear farther from you, dear friend, through your daughter or Miss----, and to have the pleasure of becoming personally acquainted with you at some future day, with a G.o.d's blessing on you one and all, far and near,

Yours in common sorrow, S. ELLIS.

The correspondence was continued with Mr. Woodruff's sister as follows:--

NOVEMBER 11, 1881.

... Yes, you may call me your "friend," for I truly feel that I have lost a dear and true friend in your brother, and consequently feel interested in all of his family, and do not wonder that your mother and the whole family are heart-broken to be called to give him up. Am sincerely glad that you felt free to express all your feelings to me, for now I can sympathize more deeply with you. You are just the age I was when my first sorrow came upon me,--the death of my dear mother. As you say, I felt that I must keep up, to cheer my father, who has ever been a domestic man, and the loss of my mother was very hard for him to bear, and the five little children to be cared for, I the oldest daughter at home, and had been my mother's "right-hand man" in the care of the children. But all our sorrows and trials are good for us to bear, and we need the crosses as well as the joys of life to fit us for the life here and for that which is to come.

It was hard to be reconciled to the death of one so young and so good and true as Julius; but we must not be selfish, but think what is our loss is the gain of those taken, many times. He may, through his spiritual influence, still care for and lead you all nearer to G.o.d. These "dark hours of life" bring us to know ourselves better; they call out our sympathy for our fellow-men; and, what is more than all, they bring us nearer to G.o.d, and thus they are not a mere cross of agony; therefore let us not murmur at our affliction, but still believe that G.o.d is good, and will so make our trials serve us that they may become _good_ to us.... We must trust G.o.d, who doeth all things for the best, and pray for strength and light to be given us. Our prayers may not always be answered as we ask, but they are answered in another way.

"Pray, though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears, May never repay your pleading; Yet pray, and with hopeful tears.

An answer--not that you sought for, But diviner--will come one day: Your eyes are too dim to see it; Yet strive, and wait, and pray.[5]

"How shalt thou bear the cross which now So dread a weight appears?

Keep quietly to G.o.d, and think Upon the Eternal Years.

"Bear gently, suffer like a child, Nor be ashamed of tears; Kiss the sweet cross, and in thy heart Sing of the Eternal Years."[6]

[Footnote 5: A. A. Procter.]

[Footnote 6: Faber.]

The whole of Whittier's "Angels of Grief" and a poem by Ellerton are copied in addition.

The correspondence was continued, occasionally, during Miss Ellis's life. Aug. 11, 1882, she wrote:--

"Young women, Miss----, have great influence over young men, and I hope you struggle to improve all those whom you know. Have you ever come across Frances Power Cobbe's 'Duties of Women'? It is a remarkably sensible book, and I feel as if every young girl ought to read it. I think you would do your young friends a service by owning it and pa.s.sing it around among them. You can get it in paper for twenty-five cents. It is not a doctrinal work at all. She delivered the lectures in London, to women. Neither is it a Woman's Rights book altogether, but what any girl or young man, come to that, ought to do and practise. Are you going to resume school after vacation again, or what do you intend to turn your attention to?

"I have not been very strong since I was sick last August, therefore have not done much this year. I go into the city every two weeks on Sat.u.r.day A.M., to be at the church to loan books to any one who desires them. Was there last Sat.u.r.day, and two strange ladies came in who proved very pleasant; one a young girl. She came after 'Helps to Devout Living,' for a sister who has gone out to Nebraska for her health, and is miles away from any church and has no companionable people about her. This young sister also selected for herself 'Day unto Day,' as a book of daily study in an upward path. It is such pleasant work to have it within my power to loan and to recommend so many good books to those who have not read them. They always enjoy them. Julius would have been so happy in it out at Leadville."

Mr. Woodruff's sister wrote, Feb. 15, 1886:

"Some one very kindly sent us the obituary of our dear friend Miss Ellis. We were surprised and deeply grieved to hear of her death, as we did not know that her health was poor even. She said so little about herself, that we never thought of her as otherwise than well and strong.... I enjoyed Miss Ellis's letters so much, and we appreciated her kindness in writing to us after my dear brother's death. He thought so much of Miss Ellis, and I know if he had lived you would not have been disappointed in him. I cannot thank you sufficiently for the little book you sent mother after J----'s death. Truly it was a 'Light on the Cloud,' and it comforted mother more than I can tell you. It is so full of comforting words.

"Though Miss Ellis is gone from us, she has left behind the influence of a life so pure, so n.o.ble, and so grand, that we will all be the better for having known her. As my brother once wrote in a friend's alb.u.m, 'G.o.d wisely wills that we may not know the number of our years, and in view of the uncertainty which enshrouds each to-morrow, let us so live that be our lives long or short, the little home-world that surrounds us will be the better for our having lived in it.' Can we not say that these two did not live in vain? My brother had a great influence over young people and also over some who were much older than he, and had he been spared, I feel sure that he would have done a grand work for the cause of Christianity. But their life work is ended only too soon; and why they should be taken when they were doing so much good, and others who are a burden to themselves and others are left, I suppose we shall know sometime; and until that time we must believe that 'He doeth all things well.'"

Miss Ellis's letters frequently express her joy in a young man who had become a Unitarian minister through her efforts. He was a Methodist minister in Ohio, but had grown unable longer to accept the creed of his church. Unhappy, unsettled, and adrift, not knowing where to turn for help, by the merest "chance" he picked up on a railroad car a Cincinnati paper, and his eye fell on the Women's Auxiliary Conference advertis.e.m.e.nt. He wrote Miss Ellis a postal card, saying:--

"I have seen your notice in the 'Commercial,' offering Unitarian papers and tracts free to persons who may desire to read them. I must confess to more ignorance in regard to Unitarian doctrines than is seemly in a minister of the gospel, and will be thankful indeed if you will kindly favor me with such papers and tracts as may enlighten me ever so little."

Later he wrote:--

"You have helped me not a little in my search for truth. Before I first wrote you for tracts, etc., I knew absolutely nothing of Unitarianism beyond the term, and the fact that Unitarians did not believe Christ to have been G.o.d."

Miss Ellis corresponded with him from that time on, loaning many books, etc. It was never her wish or aim to unsettle persons of a fixed faith.

She sought rather to reach and help those who, by reading and thinking, had become dissatisfied with the only forms of religious faith known to them, and were consequently drifting into scepticism. Mr. ----'s own letters best tell the story. After Miss Ellis's death, he wrote Feb.

3,1886:

"I had long been wondering why I did not hear from her, but supposed that she found her time so engrossed with her chosen work that she must defer writing until some more convenient season. She had, it is true, hinted at her failing health, but I never dreamed it was so bad. My first intimation of the real state of affairs was the notice of her death. I need not say that I was startled, that I regret our common loss; these are but feeble expressions.

"Through all my life here at Cambridge I have been antic.i.p.ating the day when, returning West, I should meet her, and in some degree thank her for the help and comfort she brought me in life. This has become such a fixed idea with me, that it is hard to believe, as I write this, that it can never be in this world. It seems very strange that the one friend who did me such a supreme kindness in life I shall never meet.

"She was the very messenger of G.o.d to me, and is inseparably a.s.sociated with the most trying period of my life. The only conceptions of religion I had ever had were proving unreal and worthless, and no one offered anything as a subst.i.tute. As I look back, the peril of my situation seems much greater than it did at the time. I fear I should have become insincere, or, what is perhaps almost as bad, should have fallen into a sort of despairing scepticism. Heaven in mercy saved me from it; but I shall not forget that even Heaven might not have found a way to do this, had there been no Miss Ellis. It was but a little thing, a trifle, a brief notice in a daily paper, that in some way caught a careless reader's eye. But my whole life is changed in consequence.

"And so, while you miss her in her place and in your work, in your church and social life, I, too, here in New England miss her. I feel as if something is gone out of my life and I have really one less reason for returning West when my school work is done. But I have if possible an additional incentive to a good life. I trust I shall hear that your work is still going on successfully. I a.s.sure you I shall never lose interest in your Mission, and shall never cease to regard it as in some sense a home into which I was adopted. I sincerely hope I shall never do it any discredit."

In a letter to Mrs. Hunert, Miss Ellis's successor, he says:--

"Accept, please, my hearty congratulations, and my best wishes for your very abundant success. It is a great work indeed, one that cannot be easily over-estimated, and in which it seems to me you can accomplish a minister's work even, and a very successful minister's work at that. I wonder how large your congregation is now; that is, how many persons are in communication with you and your Mission.

"Of Miss Ellis I shall always think as one of my greatest earthly benefactors, and it will be a life-long regret that I never met her.... I wish you would say to Mrs. Smith that I have by me here in New England only the letters received from Miss Ellis since coming to Harvard, and these I fear contain nothing she would like to make use of. The really helpful letters, those that were of most vital interest to me, were written while I was a Methodist preacher in Ohio, and these are back there still, packed up among odds and ends, and practically might almost as well be in the moon.... Again accept my best wishes for your success in the new calling,--a divine one in the truest sense of the word. I a.s.sure 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."

A gentleman in Kentucky, long a correspondent of Miss Ellis, who had taken papers, bought many books, etc., through her, and who has recently died, wrote of her, Jan. 22, 1886:--

"Many souls will miss the modest, una.s.suming, faithful secretary, but her silent labors will be followed by a rich reward. Her memorial is in the hearts and minds of those who were led through her efforts to freedom, fellowship, and character, in religion."

This correspondent was a farmer's wife in Ohio, who, after Miss Ellis's death, wrote:--

"I have had much trouble in the last two years, and would have given up to utter despair many times, if it had not been for her kind letters and sermons. I made a confidential friend of her; so, knowing my situation, she knew what sermons would serve most to strengthen me, and sometimes she would come across sermons in papers that she would cut out and send me. I have them yet, and intend to paste them in a sc.r.a.pbook. I thought of calling upon her father to see if he had a picture that he would allow me to have a copy from, so I am very glad her portrait will be in the book.... I learned to _love_ Miss Ellis, and shall _never_ forget her."

There was a little family of step-children living on a remote Ohio farm, in whom Miss Ellis took a warm personal interest, advising as to their religious training, sending them children's papers and books. "Miss Ellis" came to be regarded as a dear friend by these children who never saw her. March 16, 1885, she wrote to the mother:--

"Your letter was received a week since, but I have been sick three weeks with a very severe cough and cold. Have been up and about, but could not accomplish much of anything, and especially writing, and still had much of it to do.... Wanted to advise you about the Sunday-school lessons. Order the lessons of 'Home Life' from Chicago at present, and then next, if you can, 'Corner-Stones of Character;' but do not get the 'Old Testament Chart,' for I have some very good lessons on the Old Testament that you will like and can have immediately.... Am so sorry you have so much sadness to contend against. However, you must feel that all your sacrifices are known by the good Father in heaven; so to him turn in your hour of need. There is a hymn Mr. Thayer often selects for our opening on Sunday. We sang it last Sunday,--'Daily Consecration,' by Caroline Mason.

'Oh G.o.d! I thank thee for each sight Of beauty that thy hand doth give; For sunny skies, and air, and light,-- Oh G.o.d, I thank thee that I live!

'That life I consecrate to thee; And ever, as the day is born, On wings of joy my soul would flee To thank thee for another morn:

'Another day in which to cast Some silent deed of love abroad, Which, greatening as it journeys past, May do some earnest work for G.o.d.