One , when he joined the society , had brought with him his wife and children , but never from that hour had spoken a fond word to the former or taken his best-loved child upon his knee . Another , whose family refused to follow him , had been enabled -- such was his gift of holy fortitude -- to leave them to the mercy of the world . The youngest of the elders , a man of about fifty , had been bred from infancy in a Shaker village , and was said never to have clasped a woman 's hand in his own , and to have no conception of a closer tie than the cold fraternal one of the sect . Old Father Ephraim was the most awful character of all . In his youth he had been a dissolute libertine , but was converted by Mother Ann herself , and had partaken of the wild fanaticism of the early Shakers . Tradition whispered at the firesides of the village that Mother Ann had been compelled to sear his heart of flesh with a red-hot iron before it could be purified from earthly passions . However that might be , poor Martha had a woman 's heart , and a tender one , and it quailed within her as she looked round at those strange old men , and from them to the calm features of Adam Colburn . But , perceiving that the elders eyed her doubtfully , she gasped for breath and again spoke . `` With what strength is left me by my many troubles , '' said she , `` I am ready to undertake this charge , and to do my best in it . '' `` My children , join your hands , '' said Father Ephraim . They did so . The elders stood up around , and the father feebly raised himself to a more erect position , but continued sitting in his great chair . `` I have bidden you to join your hands , '' said he , `` not in earthly affection , for ye have cast off its chains for ever , but as brother and sister in spiritual love and helpers of one another in your allotted task . Teach unto others the faith which ye have received . Open wide your gates -- I deliver you the keys thereof -- open them wide to all who will give up the iniquities of the world and come hither to lead lives of purity and peace . Receive the weary ones who have known the vanity of earth ; receive the little children , that they may never learn that miserable lesson . And a blessing be upon your labors ; so that the time may hasten on when the mission of Mother Ann shall have wrought its full effect , when children shall no more be born and die , and the last survivor of mortal race -- some old and weary man like me -- shall see the sun go down nevermore to rise on a world of sin and sorrow . '' The aged father sank back exhausted , and the surrounding elders deemed , with good reason , that the hour was come when the new heads of the village must enter on their patriarchal duties . In their attention to Father Ephraim their eyes were turned from Martha Pierson , who grew paler and paler , unnoticed even by Adam Colburn . He , indeed , had withdrawn his hand from hers and folded his arms with a sense of satisfied ambition .
But paler and paler grew XXXXX by his side , till , like a corpse in its burial-clothes , she sank down at the feet of her early lover ; for , after many trials firmly borne , her heart could endure the weight of its desolate agony no longer .
Ann Colburn Ephraim Martha Pierson family features firesides hour left