352 MEMORIALS OF THE DEPARTED. before she died she was up the earliest in the ward, and read aloud to some of the patients that were disposed to listen to, her. In the evening of that day she suffered a severe relapse, from which she never rallied. On the Friday, feeling much worse, she earnestly desired the attendants to send for her husband; but the post having left, it was too late to forward her wish. That night passed without improvement; and the light of the Saturday, December 12th, 1857, stole in upon her in the article of death. The Matron of the hospital prayed with her. On rising from her bedside, she asked her, "Are you afraid to die?" Her reply was, "I am not." She then asked, "On what ground are you resting your hope?" The answer was, "On the Rock, Christ Jesus." Although thus dying, away from her home and little ones, surrounded by strangers, and with the hum in the hospital-ward continually breaking on her ear, her end was peace. Almost the last words she uttered were, "I am going home. Jesus is precious! Jesus is precious!" On that evening she sank into a kind of stupor. She lingered on until eleven o'clock, when, without a struggle or a groan, she exchanged mortality for life. DIED, January 8th, 1858, in the workhouse at St. Ives, JOSEPH PEACOCK, in the seventy-third year of his age. He was for many years a consistent member of the Methodist Society. For some time he had been prevented from attending the house of God by affliction, which he endured with uncomplaining patience. To one who visited him in his last sickness he said, "I am ready to die." Though his was the deathbed of a pauper, and there were no loving relatives to witness his last moments, or to wipe the death-damps from his brow, or to listen to the faint whispers which fell from his lips, yet the loving Saviour was there, and our brother died happy in the Lord. DIED, at Launcells, in the Holsworthy Circuit, February 26th, 1858, aged twenty-eight years, ANN LYLE BERRIMAN. From a child she was accustomed to attend the house of prayer, and she became the subject of very serious impressions, and lived in the fear of God. When about thirteen years of age, being at Stratton, (three miles from her home,) where God was graciously pouring out His Spirit, she "thought upon her ways." One night before retiring to rest, while the pious friend at whose house she was staying was engaged in family-devotion, she felt her sins to press so heavily upon her as to prevent her rising from prayer. After some hours of deep penitential sorrow, God, for Christ's sake, removed the burden, filled her soul with peace and joy, and gave her a clear assurance of her adoption into His family. Her countenance was now lit up with holy joy; and, having united herself with Christ's church, the great and glorious change wrought in her heart manifested its influence in her life and general deportment. For upwards of four years prior to her death, she was much afflicted; but the powerful consolations of the Gospel enabled her to bear her sufferings with fortitude and Christian resignation. Towards the close of her life particularly, she felt she could rely upon the atonement of Christ as upon a "tried stone." Her confidence was strong in God, and her anticipations blessed. She would often say, "My home is in heaven; for What is there here to court my stay, And Jesus bids me come ?'" When she looked upon her frail emaciated frame, and remembered the amazing, happy change which the knew would take place at her resurrection, her heart would bound with holy triumph, and with thrilling emphasis would repeatedly say, "Fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body." On being told just before her happy exit that she was dying, she, trusting in the mercy of God through Christ, sweetly smiled, and calmly fell asleep. H, T. & J. ROCHE, PRINTERS, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, LONDON. THE METHODIST CHAPEL, HEPTONSTALL, 1797. METHODISM IN HEPTONSTALL.-II. THE chapelry of Heptonstall is in the parish of Halifax, one of the largest in the kingdom. It was formerly on the border of the forest of Hardwick, in which personages like Robin Hood were Kings. They are called "merry men all," in the rhyme of the old ballad; but they had often to suffer from want, or from the inclemency of the weather to which they were necessarily exposed; they were constantly pursued by the pinder, or by men sent from the Sheriff of the shire; and a good roof, with a well-stored larder, to which the honest yeoman could resort when the meal had to be prepared, was greatly to be preferred to the freebooter's mode of life. It has been remarked that Heptonstall had a similar position on the south of the mountain-moor with which it was connected, VOL. VI.-Second Series.-DECEMBER, 1860, 2 A 354 METHODISM IN HEPTONSTALL. to that held by Haworth on the north. There is another similarity in the longevity of its Incumbents. There have been only five since the year 1668. Thomas Towne, 1668; Thomas Greenwood, 1712; Tobit Sutclif, 1744; Joseph Charnock, 1813; Thomas Sutcliffe, 1847. The wealth of several of the families resident in this neighbourhood is immense; and if we were to state the sums at which it is estimated, the amount would be thought incredible. Yet they live in the simplest and most inexpensive manner. It is their glory to accumulate. Forgetting the responsibilities that are attached to the possession of property, there are some of them who say that they have more pleasure in saving than others have in spending: but, after all, this is only the kind of pleasure that the dog has in the manger, and can yield little satisfaction on the bed of death. Wealth is not weal. From the number of persons having the same surname, all of Saxon origin, and some of them peculiar to the locality, we have evidence that the people have been contented with their lot, and that no calamity has overtaken them to scare them away from the haunts of their ancestors. There is a respectability and refinement about the working classes not often met with elsewhere to the same extent, among persons in the same condition of life. At the time of the erection of the present chapel in 1764, the place in which it stands was called Dockey, or Croft-Field, and was a piece of rough land, from which many stones and other useless materials had to be taken, before it could be used for the erection of the house of God. The stones from which the pillars that support the gallery are made were found on the same spot. Its shape was octagonal; and as there was no one in this part of the country who could make a roof of the kind required, it was made at Rotherham, and brought thence on waggons. There was a large concourse of people to see it when it arrived, and a religious service was held on the occasion. Numbers of men and women came from afar to assist in the erection of the chapel. They brought their food with them, and remained at work the whole day. When finished, the services were regularly attended by a large congregation, and persons belonging to some of the most respectable families in the locality became members of the Society. The surplus income was taken to the quarterday. Previously to the year 1788, a lovefeast was held every six months on the Monday afternoon, which was followed by a watchnight. There is a tradition that Charles Wesley, Whitefield, and Grimshaw, preached on the same day in a croft, then, as now, belonging to the Cross Inn. At another time a scaffold had been erected for Whitefield, in the TownGate; but the owner of the property ordered it to be pulled down, when it was taken to Cross-Hill, and he there preached. Nearly all the families around have some stirring story to relate about old Methodism; and this may well be, when we remember that some of them have received the servants of God into their houses for nearly a century. None of the Ministers are more spoken of than Thomas Shaw, who died in 1801. From his intense earnestness he was known by the name of " Mad Tom." METHODISM IN HEPTONSTALL. 355 He would tell the children whom he met in the streets to inform their parents that the poor man's Preacher had come. John Slater, who died in 1808, was the chapel-keeper nearly forty years. He was sometimes in great distress; but he more than once received help immediately from God. There was a day when his family literally wanted bread. He made an appeal to his Father in heaven, and received at once an answer to his prayer. A person came to his house, and, desiring to speak with him privately, said, "I have half-a-guinea, which I have saved by industry and frugality; and I have made it a matter of prayer to God that I might know to whom to give it, as I am determined to give it to one who fears God. I can fix on no one but you; and I therefore beg that you will accept of it as from the Lord." The venerable Wesley was accustomed, after preaching in the church, to walk through a lane of people to the chapel, in order to give the Lord's Supper to the members of Society. It is said that on one of his visits to this place, he was met by the friends at Lilly-Hall, and was so struck by the beauty of the scenery that he then composed the following well-known hymn, which he gave out, and the people sang it on their way to the chapel : - "Ye heavens rejoice, In Jesus's grace, Let earth make a noise, And echo His praise! "Ye mountains and vales, In praises abound; These verses are found in the work entitled, "Hymns for those that seek, Blood of Jesus Christ;" of which They may have been given out but it is not probable that they About the year 1795, a Sunday-school was commenced, which was at first taught in the body of the chapel. A room was then rented for the same purpose, and afterwards a larger room was taken in the Stag Inn. In 1802 the chapel was enlarged, and in 1823 a schoolroom was erected on the same premises. At one time there were upwards of 900 children and 98 teachers. The Committee had an annual dinner given to them at an inn, at the expense of the gentlemen of the neighbourhood. One of the largest collections at the anniversary was after a sermon by the Rev. W. L. Thornton, in 1829, when upwards of £40 were received. An interesting document, drawn up by Lawrence Ashworth, from which several of these incidents are culled, contains also a list of "the trying sermons," as they are very properly here called, preached by probationers for the Local Preachers' Plan. There have gone forth from Heptonstall, among the Ministers-in 1804, William Sutcliffe, Missionary to Nova 356 THE BENEWAL OF THE COVENANT IN JOHN WESLEY'S TIME. Scotia, Bermuda, and Canada; in 1811, Abraham Crabtree, and John Slater; and in 1829, John Greenwood, Missionary to the West Indies. There are several of the present members of the church who date their conversion from the time of a revival which took place in 1820, when the Rev. T. Laycock was the resident Minister, and there was a gracious work upon the hearts of the Sunday-scholars. In 1824 a chapel was built at Hebden-Bridge, to which the residence of the Minister was subsequently removed; and several other chapels have been erected within the limit of the circle that was formerly under the exclusive influence of Heptonstall. And as the inhabitants of the place, who are principally hand-loom weavers, have had to emigrate, in a continuous stream, to other villages or towns in search of more remunerative employment, the congregation has been greatly reduced both in means and extent. The debt upon the premises, in consequence, began to press heavily upon the Trustees. But as the place, in itself, "beautiful for situation," is consecrated by so many hallowed recollections in the minds of the descendants of the first Methodists in this part of the land, and the graves of their forefathers, men famous in their generation, lie around it, most praiseworthy efforts have been made from time to time to lessen its difficulties, and contribute towards its maintenance. In the beginning of the present year a final effort was made, which has been attended with complete success. With the aid of a loan of £380 from the Chapel Fund, to be repaid in yearly instalments of £38, the Trustees have been enabled to pay off the entire debt, which amounted to £855. Among the subscribers are the names of Mr. William Horsfall and Sons, and Mr. William Green, for £150 each; and contributions were received from the Earl of Carlisle, and Sir Charles Wood. Methodism has no reason to be ashamed of its history in this locality. Some of its members have risen to wealth and influence, and many have exhibited every grace of the Christian character. It has made thousands of happy homes, and thrown gleams of gladness around deathbeds innumerable. And the manners of the people generally have been refined through the influence it has exercised by its numerous agents in the church and the Sabbath-school. THE RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT IN JOHN WESLEY'S TIME. THE following extracts from John Wesley's Journals contain the only references he makes to this service. While they furnish, in few words, its history, they also show how frequently, in the early days of Methodism, these solemn engagements were preceded by much fasting, prayer, and preparation. Were similar means employed throughout our Societies in these days, results would everywhere follow like those which, once and again, John Wesley tells us were felt and seen when he "assisted the Society" in this work. The last insertion he makes is prefaced by a very |