There seems to have been little, if any, public demonstration against the preaching of Elias Hicks in meetings where he was present, except in Philadelphia. That is especially true before the coming of the English preachers, and the strained conditions that existed just preceding and during the various acts of separation. It will thus be seen that the concern and purpose of the ten men elders of Philadelphia remained persistent until the end. CHAPTER XVIII. The Braithwaite Controversy. One of the marked incidents during the "separation" period was the controversy between Elias Hicks and Anna Braithwaite,[144] and the still more pointed discussion indulged in by the friends and partisans of these two Friends. From our viewpoint there seems to have been a certain amount of unnecessary sensitiveness, which led both these Friends to exalt to the dignity of an insult, and positive impeachment of integrity, matters which probably belonged in the domain of misunderstanding. It was apparently impossible for either to think in the terms of the other, and so the contest went on and ended. [144] Anna Braithwaite, daughter of Charles and Mary Lloyd, of Birmingham, England, was born Twelfth month, 1788. She was married to Isaac Braithwaite, Third month 26, 1809, and removed to Kendal immediately after. She sailed for America on her first visit, Seventh month 7th, 1823. She attended three meetings in New York, and then the Quarterly Meeting at Burlington, at which place she seems to have been the guest of Stephen Grellet. She made two other visits to America, one in 1825 and the other in 1827. She returned to England after her first visit to America in the autumn of 1824. The last two visits she made to America she was accompanied by her husband. Anna Braithwaite was a woman of commanding presence, and was unusually cultured for one of her sex at that time. She was something of a linguist, speaking several languages. Her visits in America were quite extensive, taking her as far south as North Carolina. She died Twelfth month 18th, 1859. We shall let her friends state the beginning and progress of Anna Braithwaite's religious labor in America, and quote as follows: "She arrived in New York in Eighth month, 1823. For seven months she met with no opposition. True, she always preached orthodox doctrines, but she had made no pointed allusions to the reputed sentiments of Elias Hicks."[145] [145] "Calumny Refuted; or, Plain Facts _versus_ Misrepresentations." Being reply to Pamphlet entitled, "The Misrepresentations of Anna Braithwaite in Relation to the Doctrines Preached by Elias Hicks," etc., p. 2.