Editing Agapemonites (section)

==Followers==
A number of followers, estimated by Prince at 500 but by his critics at one fifth of the number, were gathered together, and it was given out by "Beloved" or "The Lamb" (the names by which the Agapemonites designated their leader) that his disciples must divest themselves of their possessions and throw them into the common stock. This was done, even by the poor, all of whom looked forward to the speedy end of the present dispensation and were content, for the short remainder of this world, to live in common and, while not repudiating earthly ties, to treat them as purely spiritual. With the money thus obtained the house at [[Spaxton]] that was to become the "Abode of Love" was enlarged and furnished luxuriously, and the three Nottidge sisters, who contributed £6,000 each, were immediately married to three of Prince's nearest disciples.<ref name="EB1911"/> Agnes, the eldest of the Nottidge sisters, objected to the spiritual marriage which entailed a celibate life and, as one writer reports, became pregnant by another member of the community;{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=26-27}} however, it is unlikely that she committed adultery because her husband never accused her, and she later gained sole custody of their child in 1850 after proving herself of good moral character before a court.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thomas v.Roberts|newspaper=The Times|date= 22 May 1850}}</ref> Agnes wrote to her younger sister [[Louisa Nottidge]] warning her not to come to Spaxton. Despite this Louisa travelled to Somerset to join them.{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=26-27}} Her mother Emily feared the spiritual and financial influence that Prince had established over her daughters. Emily instructed her son Edmund, her nephew Edward Nottidge, and her son-in-law, Frederick Ripley, to travel down to Somerset and to rescue her unmarried daughter, Louisa after her arrival.{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=26-27}} The three men succeeded in removing Louisa against her will in November 1846, and imprisoned her in 12 Woburn Place, a villa by Regents Park.<ref>''Nottidge v. Ripley and Another'' (1849), reported in ''The Times'': June 25–27, 1849</ref>

Following Louisa's persistent claims regarding the divinity of Henry Prince, her mother enlisted medical aid and had Louisa certified insane and then placed her in Moorcroft House [[lunatic asylum|Asylum]], [[Hillingdon]]. Her treatment and forced incarceration in the asylum have remained of interest with respect to the rights of psychiatric patients;{{sfn|Scull|1992}} Dr Arthur Stillwell, the presiding physician, made notes on Louisa's condition and treatment, recorded in ''The Lancet''.{{sfn|Stillwell|1849|pp=80–81}} Louisa escaped from the asylum in January 1848, travelling across London to meet the Reverend William Cobbe from The Agapemone at a hotel in [[Cavendish Square]], but was recaptured two days later at [[London Paddington station|Paddington railway station]].{{sfn|Mitchell|2004}}{{sfn|Wise|2012|p=107}} Cobbe alerted the Commissioners in Lunacy, whose report by [[Bryan Procter]] led to her release in May 1848. Louisa then sued her brother, cousin, and brother-in-law, Frederick Ripley, for abduction and [[false imprisonment]] in ''Nottidge v. Ripley and Another'' (1849); the trial was reported daily in ''The Times'' newspaper.{{sfn|Schwieso|1996|pp=159–174}} Louisa Nottidge returned to Spaxton and spent the rest of her life as one of the Agapemonites.{{sfn|Evans|2006|pp=26–27}}
In 1860 Louisa's brother, Ralph Nottidge, sued Prince to recoup the money that Louisa had given him as a result of his undue influence over her, in the case of ''Nottidge v. Prince'' (1860).<ref>{{cite web|title=Newsletter – Spring 2010|url=http://wilkiecollinssociety.org/newsletter-spring-2010/|publisher=The Wilkie Collins Society|access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Agapemone Again|pages=3|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8793521|publisher=Trove digitised newspapers|access-date=26 January 2014|newspaper=Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954)|date=1860-10-09}}</ref> The Nottidges won the case, with costs.{{sfn|Parry|2010|p=138}}{{sfn|Sands|2012}}

In 1856, a few years after the establishment of the "Abode of Love", Prince and Zoe Patterson, one of his virginal female followers, engaged in public ceremonial sexual intercourse on a billiard table in front of a large audience.{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=28}} The scandal led to the secession of some of his most faithful friends, who were unable any longer to endure what they regarded as the amazing mixture of blasphemy and immorality offered for their acceptance.{{sfn|Evans|2004|pp=27–33}} The most prominent of those who remained received such titles as the "Anointed Ones", the "Angel of the Last Trumpet", the "Seven Witnesses" and so forth.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{sfn|Waite|1964|pp=94–97}}