The next First Day, which we call the Sabbath, the whole family attended Newtown meeting; and there John Estaugh was gifted with an outpouring of the Spirit in his ministry, which sank deep into the hearts of those who listened to him.  Elizabeth found it so remarkably applicable to the trials and temptations of her own soul, that she almost deemed it was spoken on purpose for her.  She said nothing of this, but she pondered upon it deeply.  Thus did a few days of united duties make them more thoroughly acquainted with each other than they could have been by years of fashionable intercourse.

The young preacher soon after bade farewell, to visit other meetings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Elizabeth saw him no more until the May following, when he stopped at her house to lodge, with numerous other Friends, on their way to the quarterly meeting at Salem.  In the morning quite a cavalcade dashed from her hospitable door on horseback; for wagons were then unknown in Jersey.  John Estaugh, always kindly in his impulses, busied himself with helping a lame and very ugly old woman, and left his hostess to mount her horse as she could.  Most young women would have felt slighted; but in Elizabeth’s noble soul the quiet, deep tide of feeling rippled with an inward joy.  “He is always kindest to the poor and the neglected,” thought she; “verily, he is a good youth.”  She was leaning over the side of her horse, to adjust the buckle of the girth, when he came up on horseback and inquired if any thing was out of order.  She thanked, with a slight confusion of manner, and a voice less calm than her usual utterance.  He assisted her to mount, and they trotted along leisurely behind the procession of guests, speaking of the soil and climate of this new country, and how wonderfully the Lord had here provided a home for his chosen people.  Presently the girth began to slip, and the saddle turned so much on one side that Elizabeth was obliged to dismount.  It took some time to readjust it, and when they again started, the company were out of sight.  There was brighter color than usual in the maiden’s cheeks, and unwonted radiance in her mild deep eyes.  After a short silence she said, in a voice slightly tremulous:  “Friend John, I have a subject of importance on my mind, and one which nearly interests thee.  I am strongly impressed that the Lord has sent thee to me as a partner for life.  I tell thee my impression frankly, but not without calm and deep reflection; for matrimony is a holy relation, and should be entered into with all sobriety.  If thou hast no light on the subject, wilt thou gather into the stillness and reverently listen to thy own inward revealings?  Thou art to leave this part of the country to-morrow, and not knowing when I should see thee again, I felt moved to tell thee what lay upon my mind.”