Besides, there were Friend
Chandler, from Nine Partners, and Friend Carter, from Maryland:
they had been seen on the ground. Friend Carter was said to have
a wonderful gift,--Mercy Jackson had heard him once, in
Baltimore. The Friends there had been a little exercised about
him, because they thought he was too much inclined to "the
newness," but it was known that the Spirit had often manifestly led
him. Friend Chandler had visited Yearly Meeting once, they
believed. He was an old man, and had been a personal friend of
Elias Hicks.
At the appointed hour they entered the house. After the subdued
rustling which ensued upon taking their seats, there was an
interval of silence, shorter than usual, because it was evident
that many persons would feel the promptings of the Spirit. Friend
Chandler spoke first, and was followed by Ruth Baxter, a frail
little woman, with a voice of exceeding power. The not unmelodious
chant in which she delivered her admonitions rang out, at times,
like the peal of a trumpet. Fixing her eyes on vacancy, with her
hands on the wooden rail before her, and her body slightly swaying
to and fro, her voice soared far aloft at the commencement of every
sentence, gradually dropping, through a melodious scale of tone, to
the close.
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