WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE.

AUGUST, 1858.

MEMOIR OF MRS. PARNELL,

OF CANTERBURY:

BY THE REV. JOHN BROWN, 1ST.

(Concluded from page 584.)

It was genuine conversion that laid the foundation of Mrs. Parnell's religion, and imparted that loving zeal which was the mainspring of her diligence. Her heart was affectionate, while her mind was richly stored with Scripture truth; and, combining tenderness with cheerfulness, she enjoyed a peculiar facility in engaging the attention of the sick and suffering, and leading them to seek for comfort in God. Her piety, not dependent on fluctuating circumstances, was carried into all the departments of life, and shown in the various relations of a wife, a mother, and a professing Christian.

Several of her children she lost in infancy. Her first-born was taken away soon after he saw the light of this world, and her reflections on the event are eminently Christian :-"O blest babe! I trace thy flight from hence: I view thee beholding thy Maker's face, and adoring Him for delivering thee from a painful existence here. I envy thee not, but rejoice with thee: this world affords not half the bliss thou now enjoyest. It is mine to suffer here a little longer; but may thy Creator and Redeemer be my support! May it be my happy lot to see thy angelic face welcoming me to those blest regions whither thou hast ascended! Lord, make me meet for that thricehappy place; so that in life I may honour Thee, in death glorify Thee, and through eternity reign with Thee. Amen.-In hours of suffering and danger I felt the emptiness of all earthly things; but I hung upon the cross of Christ. I was determined, if I perished, I would perish crying out for God."

A paragraph of much later date contains an allusion to repeated bereavements :

"This day, thirty-one years ago, the Lord gave me the only daughter I ever had. She is the only child now living. O Lord, make her a burning and shining light. Give her an abundant measure of the Spirit. Make her very useful in Thy church.-I feel the Lord blesses me day by day. I delight in being employed in His service. When my body is worn down, I repose on Jesus; when invigorated, by His strength I go on."

In January, 1807, we find her at Staplehurst, seeking medical

VOL. IV. -FIFTI SERIES.

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advice for her dear Josiah, who was threatened with consumption. "Like Abraham," she writes, "I am sojourning in a strange land; but a consciousness of the Divine guardianship is my stay and support. I cast my child and myself on the Lord, desiring not my own will, but His, to be done; and trusting that He will not forsake me in trouble." And again: "I dare not choose. Teach me to profit. Work in my son a thorough change. Save him with an everlasting salvation. But, if consistent with Thy will, spare him to be a useful member in Thy church." In July an additional trial awaited her. She found her sister at St. Peter's dying, but happy in the prospect of future glory. She stayed till she saw the sufferer expire, and then indulged appropriate reflection :-"I am the only one left of my family. Lord, why am I spared? Suffer me not to be a cumberer of the ground. Let not many cares drown me."

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Other memoranda record the keenness of her feelings :- Lord, Thou triest me many ways: pursue not Thy creature to death. O, give me wisdom. Support my soul, or I sink." Again: "Josiah was quite composed, and very patient. I asked him if he feared death. He answered, 'No; my hope is in God.' He sat at the dining-room window till eight in the evening, when he was carried into his chamber. We had just time to lay him down. his limbs, closed his eyes, and sank away as in a deep sleep. For an hour we thought, He will surely revive." Again: "This day my dear child's remains were committed to the dust. The Lord graciously supports me, yet I feel acutely." Again: "I find a kind of pleasing melancholy; yet I would, and I trust I do, submit to the Lord's will. He has saved my child from sin; He has saved him with an everlasting salvation: I dare not complain. When I recollect my former fears, I can rejoice and say, It is the Lord: He doeth all things well.'

We have already seen Mrs. Parnell in the relations of wife and mother. Extracts from her copious diary will show her daily walk with God, and her diligence in seizing opportunities of doing good. As these are duly arranged in order of time, evidence will be thus supplied of her gradual advancement in the Divine life.

June 27th, 1790.-" This day, twelve months ago, the Lord set my soul at liberty. I believe God is my Friend. I now have an interest in the death of His Son. I know that of myself I can do nothing. I owe all to the goodness of God. I have at times found the way of religion thorny; but God is love. In entire dependence upon Him, I now resolve to be the Lord's evermore, to serve Him and obey Him, and, by His grace abiding in me, to wage war against myself and all my spiritual foes. Wherein I may be negligent, or, through temptation, do not fulfil this resolution, may the God of mercy forgive me, bear with me, pity my weakness, heal my backslidings, and restore me!"

December, 1790.-" This week Mr. Wesley visited us. It was the last time he was in Canterbury. We had a happy meeting. May we meet around the throne!"

June, 1792. "For many weeks past I have laboured under heavy inward and outward trials,—unkind treatment, severe reproaches, and false speeches; so that the conflict has been severe. But, glory be to God, He has brought me through: I can yet praise Him. I feel my own heart to be my worst enemy: Lord, give me a new heart and a right spirit!"

February, 1793.-"I visited the death-bed of Mrs. G., who was rejoicing in God her Saviour. She said the room was full of glory, and she felt more than she could express; for God had overcome her with love. She continued thus for about an hour after I left her, and calmly took her departure to be with Christ."

Another death-bed scene, of an opposite character to that just mentioned, occurred. It was that of her own servant, who had remained obstinate in defiance of all entreaty to seek salvation. But, when she felt she was dying, she now cried out in terror and alarm, "I will pray-I will pray-with my whole heart-with my whole heart!" till her speech failed, and in about ten minutes more her spirit took its flight into eternity.

In January, 1796, the class that had met in Mrs. Bissaker's house was removed to Mrs. Parnell's; on which occasion she observes :— "I am touched with the importance of the office of a Class-Leader. I want to feel the force of Divine truth constraining me to speak for God, to live for Him, to renounce self, and die daily to sin. Lord, grant it for Thy mercy's sake!" Where efficient Leaders faithfully discharge their duty, we generally find spiritual religion prosperous. But, on the other hand, where Leaders are deficient, the piety of the members is low and languishing. Many, in speaking their experience, whisper out their words in a low and almost inaudible voice. What they say is not distinctly heard; and the consequence is, they lose much of the benefit to be derived from counsel judiciously adapted to their state. Entering on the office of Leader with the views and feelings above expressed, Mrs. Parnell devoted herself to this great department of service with diligence, zeal, and affection for those committed to her care. She was punctual in her attendance, and expected others to be punctual also. Frequent reference is made to her class-meeting in subsequent parts of her diary.

In the early days of Methodism, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not generally administered in our places of worship. The members were obliged to partake this holy ordinance at the Established church, or in some Dissenting chapel. Under date of August 28th, 1796, Mrs. Parnell notes that a large majority of the members in Canterbury expressed a strong wish to have the Lord's Supper administered in their own chapel, and by their own Preachers. To this some of the Trustees objected. To meet the case, Mr. and Mrs. Parnell offered their dining-room. The Stewards of the Society applied to the Rev. Thomas Young, who cheerfully and kindly consented to conduct the service. The time appointed was half-past two o'clock on Sabbath afternoon, and thirty-seven were present. So

solemn a sense of the presence of God rested on all, that they were constrained to acknowledge that God was with them of a truth. Mr. Young continued to render them this service till he removed to Margate.

To return to the diary :

Christmas-Day, 1796.-"I have for a few weeks past seen more than ever the necessity of holiness, a single eye, purity of intention in all I do: but, O my God, how shall I attain it? Increase my faith, my love, my zeal; and enable me to persevere."

An extraordinary manifestation of depravity, cruelty, and bigotry, finds record a little later. A woman was in West-Gate jail for poisoning her husband. She had also been the death of a former husband, a soldier, whom she first induced to rob a gentleman's garden, and then, to obtain the reward, informed against him. He was sentenced to receive five hundred lashes. He received three hundred, two hundred more awaited him; but he died before receiving them, it is said, of a broken heart. To this monster of iniquity Mrs. Parnell obtained access. She conversed with her, lent her Alleine's "Alarm," and endeavoured to awaken her slumbering conscience. The miserable prisoner seemed at first hardened, and wished to extenuate her crimes. In after-visits she seemed in some measure affected with a sense of sin, but expressed her fears that she could never be pardoned. At other times she felt a hope, because she found in Scripture that Christ died to save the greatest sinners. She now appeared contrite, and thankful for religious attentions. Clergyman called on her, read to her, and wished to prohibit others from seeing her. This she felt to be distressing. A second Clergyman advised her "not to read the Methodist books," nor to see the faithful visiter. After a short absence from the city, Mrs. Parnell found her more blind and insensible than ever. Means had been employed which served to lull her conscience to sleep. It seemed vain to speak to her on the hardening nature of sin, or to engage in prayer with her. She was executed six months after, but died apparently in utter obduracy. How deep the responsibility of men who, under the influence of prejudice, oppose the truth, and become blind leaders of the blind!

The following language, if not very remarkable, is yet indicative of a truly devout state of mind:-"I find my desires going out after God. I want to be wholly given up to Him. O, take my heart, and make it Thine..........I long, I sigh, for all the mind that was in Christ. I feel a deadness to all below. O gracious Visitant! stay with me, nor ever hence remove." Again: "I am sometimes discouraged from a sense of how far I come short of a believer's privilege. When I consider the purity of God, and the meetness He requires, I retire and say, 'O, when shall I be fit to appear before Him?" "

At a prayer-meeting, where the power of God was remarkably present, Mrs. Parnell seems to have obtained that entire sanctification