The Missionaries 3

England in the 19th Century

NEW MILLS CIRCUIT, DERBYSHIRE.

The parting scene at Hull was deeply affecting. A chaise, with
two gray horses, conveyed us from a friend's house down to the
pier,where a great portion of the society stood waiting with their
tokens of affection. It was gratifying, but very trying to our feelings ; and
when the steamer put off into that fine river, such waving of hats
and handkerchiefs I never on such an occasion witnessed, either
before or since. Our removal to New Mills was a great change. We
found the country bold and romantic, and the people less polite
than in Hull. We had some difficulties, arising out of the house
being badly finished, which very much endangered our health, and
also on account of the New Mills Chapel being on the shareholding
plan. It was however upon the whole a comfortable circuit,
presenting a wide field for usefulness ; plenty of places, good
Sabbath Schools, and an active and talented staff of Local
preachers.

In this circuit, I witnessed the direful effects of strong drink
upon educated, pious, and useful men. Before I arrived, the young
Wesleyan minister, the son of an influential aged Wesleyan minister,
lost his status and influence through drinking. He commenced
business as a grocer ; but his habits were such that they involved
him in debt : he abandoned the trade, and began to teach a school
in our chapel. I got him to take the pledge to be a tee totaller, and
he gained ground a little, but his health had materially suffered :
and while he was heavily emaciated, he was taken out of bed and
committed to the county gaol for debt. I was deeply afflicted to see
him dragged from his couch to prison. I wrote to his father as
follows —
Rev. and dear Sir — I feel bound to communicate to you the
mournful tidings, that your son is a prisoner for debt in the county
gaol at Derby; sent by a grocer in Stockport, with whom he
transacted business after leaving the ministry. He has been very
bad of rheumatism most of the winter, and when taken he was very
ill, under the care of Dr. H.  Having written to the young man, I
received the following letter —

" Derby Gaol, Aug. 1, 1840.  My dear Friend, I received your kind
epistle, and will most cheerfully answer it according to my present
views. When I arrived here my state of health was most alarming.
I was, in fact, deprived of reason, and my companions expected to
hear of my departure every day. In this state I remained for
fourteen days. My appetite failed, but I cannot remember any
circumstance that transpired. Through the mercy of my God and the
attention and skill of the doctor, I gradually recovered. At present I
enjoy a good state of health, and if I had more exercise, should be
more active and cheerful. I pant for liberty, which I shall value more
than a little bird which has been confined to its cage many months.
I long to visit Mount Pleasant chapel, and to have a friendly chat
with you and your kind, though reserved lady. There are about
160 prisoners, some of whom are in for murder. The judge enters
Derby on Monday next, hence some of these poor creatures will
suffer the penalty of the law in a very short time and be hanged.
One interesting young girl is in for wilfully murdering her infant. I
have taken great notice of some of the prisoners' conduct ; they
are a naughty race of beings. Transportation, imprisonment for
twelve months, hard labour, and the like, are regarded as trivial.
There are several lads in, not more than nine years old, for
stealing. Sin is of a hardening nature. Happy is the man who
feareth the Lord in all places and at all times. Religion is most
certainly the only and best preventative against sin of any
description.
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' I feel thankful
for the religious impressions which have been made upon my
mind during my residence within the lofty walls of this castle. I
hope that the lessons which have been taught me during my
affiction and confinement, will be of a permanent nature. I still
believe that the star of Divine Providence conducted me to Derby
gaol. My afflictions were of such a character as to require special
help. In future I shall take care of the farthings, remembering that
two make a halfpenny. As it regards my future prospects, I know
not what to say: some of my friends wish me to take charge of a
National School in New Mills, but when I visit you we can talk over
the matter. My objection to beginning again in the old school arises
from its peculiar position to the minister's house. I feel this, and so
do you ; and it is a great objection to all of us ; and the only plan is
to remove. I shall never be happy but in one place — namely, the
pulpit. I long to preach again, but I must wait the openings of Divine
Providence and see if it is God’s will. I must pray much, think much
and consult my friends. You know that I am poor, and cannot begin
business. I should like to go abroad, and distribute Bibles, or tracts
or anything, so that I may be useful.  My mind is so constructed,
that I must be actively engaged in something.  I must conclude,
hoping to see you and yours. I hope you are not removing, as you
are so beloved and useful. May God bless you and yours ! Give
my love to all friends, and excuse all errors, as I have written this
letter surrounded by my noisy companions on this busy day. I
cannot write as I would wish.

Ten years after, I again saw this person ; but he was so bloated
and disfigured with drunkenness, that I did not know him. In
the interim, he had for a short time been the pastor of an
independent church, but his besetting sin of drink destroyed him.
One evening, in the dusk, while I was resident at New Mills, a
rather tall, genteel looking young man, came to our door, and
inquired for the individual just referred to. I replied, "He is not at
home." He then stated that they were educated together at
Woodhouse Grove; that he had come on his feet all the way from
Manchester to see him, and that he was without money or friends.
His black clothes, hat, and boots, had all, like himself, seen better
days. I invited him to take a bed with us, and while at supper, he
told me his name, and the name of his father ; that he had been a
travelling preacher, but, like his friend before referred to, and many
others of that class, he had been ruined through drunkenness. A
third victim from the same school of the sons of the prophets, fallen
from the same status in the Methodist Society, I became ultimately
acquainted with while resident in New Mills. One Saturday afternoon
a calico printer, about sixty-five years of age, was returning from his
labour with his wages to New Mills. On his way he went
into a drunkery, and got intoxicated, and swore, and used other
filthy language too bad to mention. On having reached the top
of a flight of steps which led to his dwelling, he fell over the
railing and broke his back. After a day or two I was told of this
awful case, and I visited the man. There were several persons
standing round the bed. I said, " Well, my poor fellow, you are in
a sad state." " I am, man ! " " You were drunk when you fell
over the rail, were you not?" " I must tell no lies ; I had had
ten pennyworth upon an empty stomach. I have been a wicked
sinner sixty- two years to my knowledge ; and now I am going to
die with all these sins upon my conscience." He was then seized
with pain, and cried out, “O God, hell cannot be
worse than this ; let me die and know the worst of it ! " I said,
"My poor fellow, you must not speak in that manner; hell you
will find to be worse than anything you can suffer here ; you must
pray for God to have mercy upon you, and spare you until you
are pardoned." Here the clock struck three p.m. I said, " If you
cry to God, He can save you before six o'clock this evening." He
then said, “ God, I shall die before six o'clock." I asked him,
“Must I pray?" when he said, "Yes, if you will not be long."
Immediately he was seized with dreadful pangs; he shook his
head in the most frightful manner, with contortion of face,
uttered a heavy groan, and was clearly dying. His sister, a tall, heavy
woman, stood by, and on seeing that he was dying, screamed
aloud, and fell senseless upon the floor. Another man in that
neighbourhood, upon his dying bed, I visited frequently ; but it
seemed as if he could not lay hold on God for mercy. At length
he sent for me to have a private interview. On attempting to
speak he seemed almost choked with grief, and then burst into a
flood of tears. I encouraged him to speak his mind in confidence ;
then he made confession of having been guilty of one of the most
degrading and brutalising sins that ever stained poor, fallen,
degraded humanity. The particulars of that case I shall never,
never disclose. The man became calm, and I hope died a penitent
believer.

In the year 1841 I moved to the Salford Circuit, and, for the
first time since I became a travelling preacher, I there had a
colleague. In this circuit there were some good preaching places,
many respectable families, and a dense population. During my
sojourn with this people the times were very hard ; but the leaders
meeting voted large sums of money to the needy members, and,
generally, the preachers had the privilege of distributing the aid,
according to the votes of the meeting. By this means our visits to
the poor of the flock were sweetened, and made balmy. There
was also, in connection with Bury-street Chapel, a Good Samaritan
Society, out of the funds of which I had to bestow largely ; and
thus I was, in two or three instances, instrumental of saving life.
I was punctual in my visits, and often received the blessings of
them that were ready to perish. There can be no doubt in my
mind that, at that time, some persons did lose their natural life
from lack of food. I and a benevolent individual connected with
the society, one evening went seeking out some of the worst cases.
We found two females, from twenty to thirty years of age, making
boys’ cloth caps, at three and a half pence per cap. They could not
earn more than two shillings per week, one of which went for rent.
The place in which they lived was one very small room — no
furniture or bed, but an old pan, pot, and spoon. Their aged
mother was in the Salford workhouse. They were intelligent and
amiable women. We found one old man, in a cellar, lying upon
straw, and that straw moving with insects ; and the place had not
been white washed for seven years. The old man was very deaf,
and almost as ignorant as a beast, and he cursed in the most awful
manner. Perceiving his wife to be more intelligent, and younger in
years, I turned to her, and said, " Mistress, how came you to be
married to this man ? "
She replied, " It was one of the most foolish things
in the world. That she had seen better days, and had had for
years a seat in, and attended, an Independent chapel," Oh ! how
many young women have I seen utterly ruined by their violation
of that command, " Be ye not unequally yoked together with un-
believers." In such cases, one wrong step may involve ruinous
consequences. Query? —  Are parents, class-leaders, teachers in our
schools, and, above all, ministers of the Gospel, clear in this matter ?
On this subject they ought to give " line upon line, precept upon
precept." Some years before this, during the ministry  of the
Rev. H. Breeden in that circuit, one Sabbath evening a public
brewer took his place on the free seats. He had recently buried a
child, and was under the strivings of the Holy Spirit. He left his
brewing establishment, and commenced another
business, was converted, and now he is one of the most useful
members and officers of that church; has a large family and
flourishing business.