PREACHED DURING THE PREVALENCE OF CHOLERA, IN THE PARISH OF SEDGLEY; TOGETHER WITH A NARRATIVE OF THIS AWFUL VISITATION, AND OF THE RELIGIOUS IMPRESSION PRODUCED IN THE SOUTH OF STAFFORD MINING DISTRICT. WITH A MAP OF THE DISTRICT. BY THE REV. CHARLES GIRDLESTONE, M.A. VICAR OF SEDGLEY, STAFFORDSHIRE. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, & SOLD BY ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL; J. H. PARKER, OXFORD; & H. C. LANGBRIDGE, BIRMINGHAM. 1833. PREFACE, CONTAINING A NARRATIVE OF THE VISITATION OF CHOLERA, AND OF THE RELIGIOUS IMPRESSION IT PRODUCED IN THE SOUTH OF STAFFORD MINING DISTRICT. It is the glory of the Christian religion, that it converts to our spiritual improvement the most severe of earthly afflictions. And the Christian pastor, whilst he acknowledges in the visitation of pestilence a chastisement justly due to sin, will at the same time thankfully receive it, both as a token of God's concern for sinners, and as a help to the edification of his flock. Under these convictions, the writer of this brief narrative is anxious to record the religious impression, which has been produced by the Epidemic Cholera, in his own parish, and in the surrounding district. But first it may be well to give the reader some account of the neighbourhood referred to, of the employments and habits of the people, and of the means provided for their religious in struction. The parish of Sedgley is situated in that part of the county of Stafford, which is well known for its productive mines of coal and ironstone. The whole coal field is considered to extend about twenty miles in length, by four in breadth, from Stourbridge at the south west extremity, |