"And his wounds cannot be healed,
Light and truth do now forbid,
Since the Gospel has revealed
Where his filthy head was hid:
With a fig-leaf it was cover'd,
Till we brought his deeds to light;
By his works he is discover'd,
And his head is plain in sight."
It should be said that Ann Lee had married previously to these
manifestations, her husband being Abraham Stanley, like her father, a
blacksmith. By him she had four children, all of whom died in infancy.
It is related that she showed from girlhood a decided repugnance to the
married state, and married only on the long-continued and urgent
persuasion of her friends; and after 1770 she seems to have returned to
her parents.
She and her followers were frequently abused and persecuted; and in 1773
"she was by a direct revelation instructed to repair to America;" and it
is quaintly added that "permission was given for all those of the
society who were able, and who felt any special impressions on their own
minds so to do, to accompany her." [Footnote: "Shakers' Compendium."]
She had announced, says the same authority, that "the second Christian
Church would be established in America; that the colonies would gain
their independence; and that liberty of conscience would be secured to
all people, whereby they would be able to worship God without hinderance
or molestation.
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