She was superstitious, narrow, and intense.

She was as sure that the day of judgment would be proclaimed on the eleventh of August, 1843, as she was of her life.

No consideration in opposition to any belief of hers weighed a feather with her.

Her will mastered her judgment and conscience.
And so she determined that Samuel must sell his property for a trifle.
How far she was influenced in this by a sincere desire to square all outstanding debts before the final settlement, how far by a longing to be considered the foremost and most pious of all, and how far by business shrewdness based on that feeling which still lurks in the most protestant people, that such sacrifices do improve their state in a future world, I can not tell.

Doubtless fanaticism, hypocrisy, and a self-interest that looked sordidly even at heaven, mingled in bringing about the decision.