the Churchman--the religion of Herbert and of Laud, of Sibbes and of Milton--have mingled together and become elements of the national life and fruitful for the common good. The followers of Fox were subjected to unparalleled hardships, but to their honour be it said their general acts were in strict accord with their religious professions, for during those long years of suffering for conscience sake there is not a single instance recorded of vindictive retaliation on their part, or of recourse being had to any weapon sharper than a text of Scripture. Fox, it is true, shared the extravagances of his age, and, like all teachers of his class and time, he was for a period more of an alarmist than a comforter; prone, like pious enthusiasts of the present day, to plough up the hearts of the people and discover sins which before they dreamt not of. In one respect he and his followers were certainly most reprehensible, in disturbing the worship of those differing in religion with themselves, for it must be admitted by those who respect their principles and admire their honesty and fortitude that they provoked much of the persecution they so patiently endured. The best principles of Quakerism--peace, and love, and brotherhood--remain, but the distinctive formula is on the decline, and those characteristics which made them obnoxious to other religious professors have disappeared altogether. As Dr. Halley justly observes, "A modern 'Friend,' mild, pleasant, neatly dressed, carefully educated, perfected in proprieties, is as unlike as possible, except in a few 'principles,' to the obtrusive, intolerant, rude, coarse, disputatious Quaker of the early days of their sect."[8] Margaret Fox survived her husband 11 years, her death occurring at Swarthmoor on the 23rd February, 1702, in the 88th year of her age. At the time of her marriage with the Founder of the Society of Friends she had one son and seven daughters. Swarthmoor Hall, at her death, passed to her youngest daughter, Rachel, who had become the wife of Daniel, son of John Abraham, of Manchester; to them was born, in 1687, a son, John Abraham, who succeeded to the property, and who appears to have made some alterations and additions to the old mansion, as evidenced by a stone in the wall of one of the outbuildings, inscribed T F, 1651, and J A, 1715; the initials answering to Thomas Fell and John Abraham. Owing, as is supposed, to losses from some unsuccessful mining speculations in which John Abraham had embarked, the property became much encumbered, and in 1759, was finally brought to the hammer and disposed of in lots, when the family removed to Skerton, near Lancaster. [Illustration: Handwritten signature] Of the descendants of Margaret Fox by her first husband, Thomas Fell, it was recorded a few years ago that there were then living ninety, of whom forty-three were members of the society which their ancestress had so largely helped to found.