I have thought of you often since the "Christian Register" brought the news of Miss Ellis's death, and am moved to express my sympathy for the loss you have met,—a loss which all of us share indeed. I suppose it was very good to her to be summoned from a state of feebleness; but it will not be easy, I believe, to fill the vacant place. Perhaps her own inspiration will rest upon her successor, and so she will indeed help to carry on the work which she has done so beautifully.
I suppose the time will come, some day, when the loss of a good worker in our Conference will not be felt so seriously as now; but we are far too few as yet.
Miss Abby W. May,
President Women's Auxiliary Conference, Boston, Mass.
Though I had had but comparatively little correspondence with Miss Ellis, that little had made me regard her as a personal friend, and I felt especially drawn towards her after I learned about her deafness, for that was my own mother's trial for many years. It is a comfort to think that all suffering and weakness are over for her; and so we can but rejoice that she has entered upon the blessed life, although the feeling of loss must be very great. I have thought often of Mr. Beach's sudden death last summer, during the last few weeks, and I was glad to tell our friends, at the meeting the other day, of Miss Ellis's tender, helping sympathy for his mother and sisters at that time. I think one can hardly help feeling that perhaps Miss Ellis and the young friend whom she had led to a bright and happy faith may already have met and rejoiced together in the heavenly life. Much sympathy has been expressed here for Miss Ellis's father. I hope that the thought of all that she has gained is a constant comfort and help to him.
Mrs. J. I. W. Thacher,
Secretary Women's Auxiliary Conference, Boston, Mass.
The news of Miss Ellis's departure from among us filled us all with grief and regret; and yet we feel she is so sure to continue her good work there, that we ought not to regret. What a delightful awakening for her when, with no feeling of weakness or pain, she opens her eyes to find herself surrounded by those who have gone before, whose lives she had gladdened here, and to learn that part of her mission there is to meet and welcome her host of friends, personal and parochial, as they follow her over there! How many people will miss her here! Ten times one is ten. Their number cannot be estimated.
Miss F. Le Baron,
Sec. Western Women's Unitarian Conf., Chicago, Ill.
I want to express my great sympathy for you and your Society in the loss of your friend Miss Ellis.
Although I knew she had been an invalid for a long time, the news of her death was a great shock 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.
Miss Ellen M. Gould,
Sec. Post Office Mission Committee, Davenport, Ia.