who, in death, was all-sufficient for his needs. As he passed away, her
faith and confidence could not forbear expression, and, kneeling at the
bedside, she gave utterance to words of thanksgiving for the safe and
happy ending of a life which had been so dear to her. The truth was, a
burden had been weighing her down for some time past, causing her to
question herself most seriously as to whether she were willing to obey
"the inward voice" which prompted her to serve God in a certain way.
This specific way was the way of preaching in Meeting, or "bearing
testimony," as she phrased it, "at the prompting of the Holy Spirit." It
will be remembered that this is a distinguishing peculiarity of the
society which George Fox founded. Preaching is only permitted upon the
spur of the moment, as people of the world would say, but at the
prompting of the inward voice, as Quakers deem. Certainly no one ever
became a preacher among the Friends "for a piece of bread." If fanatics
sometimes "prophesied" out of the fullness of excited brains, or fervid
souls, no place-hunter adopted the pulpit as a profession. Only,
sometimes, it needs the presence of an overwhelming trial to bring out
the latent strength in a person's nature; and this trial was furnished
to Elizabeth Fry in the shape of her father's death. The thanksgiving
uttered by her at his death was also publicly repeated at the funeral,
probably with additional words, and from that time she was known as a
"minister."

In taking this new departure she must not be confounded with some female
orators of the present age, who often succeed in turning preaching into
a hideous caricature. She was evidently ripening for her remarkable
work, and while doing so was occasionally irresistibly impelled to give
utterance to "thoughts that breathe and words that burn." Still, after
reaching the quiet of Plashet, and reviewing calmly her new form of
service, she thus wrote, what seemed to be both a sincere and