صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

"Being confined in the said hole, which was about twelve feet from the ground, and the ladder too short by six feet, he must climb up and down by a rope on a broken wall, which he was forced to do to get his victuals, or for other necessities: for though his friends would have given him a cord and a basket to draw up his victuals, yet such was the malice of his keepers, that they would not suffer it."

66

Continuing in this moist hole, his limbs grew benumbed, and thus it once happened, that as he was climbing up the ladder, with his food in one hand, catching at the rope with the other, he missed it, and fell down upon the stones, whereby he was exceedingly wounded in his head, and his body so bruised that he was taken up for dead. Then they put him into a hole underneath the other; for there were two rows of such vaulted places in the wall. This hole was called the oven; and so little, that some bakers' ovens where larger, though not so high. When the door of this place was shut, scarcely any air could be admitted, as there was neither win

dow, nor aperture. And after he was a little recovered from his fall, they would not suffer him to take the air, though he was almost spent for want of breath: and though some of his friends offered their bond of forty pounds to the justice; and another, to lie body for body in his place, that Parnel might have his liberty to come to W. Talcot's house, and return when recovered; even this was denied-nay, so immoveably were they set against him, that when it was desired that he might only sometimes walk a little in the yard, they would not grant it by any means: and once, the door of the hole being open, and he coming forth and walking in a narrow yard between two high walls, so incensed the jailer that he locked up the hole, and shut him out in the yard all night, being in the coldest time of the winter. This hard imprisonment did so weaken him, that after ten or eleven months he fell sick and died."

"When death approached, he said,' Here I die innocently.' A little after, he was heard to say, Now I must go;' and turning his head to Thomas Shortland, he said, 'This

6

death must I die; Thomas, I have seen great things don't hold me, but let me go;' then he said, again Will you hold me? to which Ann Langley answered, 'No, dear heart we will not hold thee!' He had often said that one hour's sleep would cure him of all : and the last words he was heard to say were, 'Now I go;' and then stretched himself out and slept about an hour, and breathed his last. Thus this valiant soldier of the Lamb conquered through sufferings."

AN. This is indeed an affecting narrative; it reminds me of some of those who were martyrs to their love of Jesus Christ in the early ages of Christianity. Sometimes when I have been listening to the tortures inflicted on the primitive Christians, and the Waldenses, I have been ready to leave the room; for it seemed too much to bear: but I have remembered what mother often tells us when we are visiting the poor; that to turn away from the sight of misery will not strenghthen the mind, and what they have to endure we should surely be willing to witness.

Mo. Yes; not only to witness, but to com

pare the ease and comfort we are in possession of, with the sufferings we behold; that our hearts may be filled with gratitude to our bountiful Creator, for all the privileges and benefits with which we are surrounded.

Lu. I often think of the difference, mother, and fear I should not stand my ground, if I lived in an age of persecution, it is so hard to bear pain; yet I think nothing has convinced me more of the truth of religion, than the accounts of thousands who have laid down their lives rather than renounce it.

Mo. I am thankful it has had so good an effect on thy mind: it was remarkably my own case in very early life; though surrounded with gayety and fashion, and initiated when young into the sins of fashionable life, yet when a child I spent many an hour over Fox's Book of Martyrs, and shed many tears in secret over their sufferings.

FA. Do any of you remember of whom Jesus Christ says he will be ashamed?

ED. I do, father, I believe; "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my

words, of him shall the Son of Man be

D

ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's and of the holy angels."

Mo. Precious indeed is the promise, "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it." FA. Is there any other subject on which you wish for information?

ED. Why are Friends never educated particularly for the ministry? In the memoir of- it is mentioned that he spent several years in a theological seminary, preparing himself for the duties of the ministerial office. And why do not our ministers receive a compensation for preaching?

FA. When the Saviour of the world was personally on earth, he chose twelve disciples, who were afterwards called apostles, and sent them forth to preach the Gospel of life and salvation: by selecting them from the humble walks of life, he clearly manifested that he did not deem human learning essential to prepare a man for the ministry. His commission to them was, "Preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand :"" "Freely ye have received, freely give."

6

« السابقةمتابعة »