Heroines of Methodism; Or, Pen and Ink Sketches of the Mothers and Daughters of the Church - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1857. Excerpt: ... MISS ANN MAW, AN ISRAELITE INDEED, AND A DORCAS INDEED. Epworth, better known as the birth-place of John and Charles Wesley than for the picturesque beauty of its location, "had nothing of special interest about it. The people were generally hard characters." In that place Miss Maw began business as a milliner, in the year 1792, with a pleasing prospect of success. At that time she was a stranger to experimental religion. But in the year 1794 the death of a beloved sister, fourteen years of age, of whom she was very fond, and whose death she greatly mourned, was made instrumental, in the hands of a merciful God, of leading her to seek consolation in the unfading realities of personal piety. In 1795 she and another sister joined the Methodist society. In the year 1800, accompanied by a brother, she went to London "to gain a knowledge of the fashions." While there she attended the theater and witnessed the performance of a play. By this indiscreet step she lost the comforts of religion, and brought guilt and darkness upon her soul, and it was some time before her peace was restored. At a meeting for religious conversation and prayer she was enabled to cast herself upon the mercy of God in Christ, and in so doing she found pardon and peace. From that time she never lost the evidence of her acceptance with God, but became "steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." "The amiableness of her manner, the sweetness of her disposition," says one who knew her well, "together with her exemplary piety, soon gained my esteem. I saw that she was richly endowed with the graces of the Spirit. In the midst of a large and prosperous business, she was not lifted up by prosperity. She was naturally of a liberal disposition, which was bounded in its manif...