49. Died, January 28th, in the Hastings Circuit, Sierra-Leone, West Africa, aged thirty, Mrs. Badger, the beloved wife of the Rev. Henry Badger, Wesleyan Missionary. She was, when very young, instructed in divine things by her mother, who conducted her regularly to a Wesleyan chapel in the neighbourhood. At the age of seventeen she commenced meeting in class; and, by diligence in the use of all the means of grace, manifested deep concern for her spiritual safety and welfare. She mourned under her sins two years; and then, through the ministry of a Clergyman preaching in a Wesleyan chapel, she was enabled to repose on the atonement of Christ, and immediately found the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. Her life then became a life of faith in the Son of God, and of obedience to his precepts. Her concern for the salvation of others was very great; and while her heart embraced the whole world, those members of her own family who as yet knew not God spiritually and savingly, were the objects of her especial pity and regard.

After her marriage to Mr. Badger, and before their embarkation for Sierra-Leone, she felt much in the prospect of separating from those whom she so much loved; but she could write thus: "From a sense of duty, I am willing to leave all my dearest friends; and I go to a foreign land, feeling assured that the Lord will go with us." At this time she expressed herself as being happy in God, and as having a hope of heaven, trusting simply on the death of Christ, and desiring richer spiritual blessings. On the voyage she suffered much from seasickness, and perhaps never fully recovered from its effects. About five weeks after her arrival, she passed favourably through the usual fever, and shortly after accompanied Mr. Badger to his station, where, for a short time, he was much assisted in his labours by her sympathy, prayers, and efforts. January 24th she gave birth to a daughter, and, up to the day of her death, appeared to be doing well. At nine o'clock on the 28th of the same month, Mr. Badger, after prayer, took an affectionate leave of her, for an absence of only a few hours, to hold a religious service at Wellington; and while there, a messenger arrived to inform him of her sudden illness. He hastened home; but, before his arrival, she had fallen asleep in Jesus. In the severest trial of nature she calmly reposed on God, and her consolations were many. The bereaved may well grieve for her loss, which was indeed a great one, and especially so to her husband; but he "sorrows not, even as others which have no hope," since those that "sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." W. A. QUICK.

50. Died, February 10th, at Cawood, in the Selby Circuit, aged eighty-three, Mrs. Sarah Obee. Up to the period of her conversion, about nine-and-twenty years before her death, she lived in a spirit of cheerfulness and worldly gaiety; but was always esteemed, by those who knew her, for her integrity and kindness; so that, when one of her friends heard of the change which she professed to have experienced, he said, with a surprise for which, in one not acquainted with spiritual religion, it is not difficult to account, "The Lord have mercy on us! If Sally Obee needs to be converted, what is to become of us?" She was awakened to a sense of her condition as a guilty sinner before God, during a revival of the work of God in the neighbourhood; and, for two days and nights, her mental anguish was such, that she

could not take her ordinary food and rest. She was brought, in deep contrition, to exclaim, "A wounded spirit who can bear?" The divine law was applied to her conscience; so that

"Faded her virtuous show,

Her form without the power;"

and she was fully convinced that there was no other way of salvation for her, than that which is by grace through faith; that she must come to Him who justifieth the ungodly, that he might freely justify her, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. During the second night her distress was so great, that she arose from her bed, in order to plead the more earnestly for mercy. Whilst walking up and down her room, she was led to repeat the hymn,—

"And can it be that I should gain," &c.;

and when she came to the verse,—

"Long my imprison'd spirit lay," &c.,

God spoke peace to her, and "her chains fell off, her heart was free." She cherished, to the day of her death, a grateful recollection of the time when she was thus first "filled with all joy and peace in believing." She immediately joined the company of those who had long been "partakers of like precious faith;" and thenceforth, at every opportunity, sought to bring others to Christ and his church. Very naturally, her first and most earnest desires were for the salvation of her husband. "Could I but persuade him to join me in serving the Lord," she said, "I should be one of the happiest women in the world." He consented to accompany her to the house of prayer; and it was not long before he, too, was not only convinced of sin, but also "received the end of his faith, the salvation of his soul." Soon afterwards, a place was wanted for the weekly meetings of the class to which she belonged; and it was with no common pleasure that Mr. and Mrs. Obee offered a room for the purpose. Years thus passed happily away. At length, Mr. Obee, after having long maintained a consistent profession, died in great peace.

Mrs. Obee was left in trying circumstances, as she scarcely knew now to what earthly source to look for support; but she remembered the promise," Bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure,”—and was comforted. In the course of Providence, friends were from time to time raised up, who afforded her assistance, though still she was occasionally painfully exercised. This was especially the case eight or nine years before she died. Many of her friends were either dead or removed; and they who were come in their place were not aware of the straits to which she was reduced. She knew how to bear poverty; but she had not the means of paying her arrears of rent. About this time, a gentleman from London, a member of the Church of England, whom Mrs. Obee had known from childhood, visited Cawood. He called on Mrs. Obee, and told her that he had latterly thought much about her, and that he feared she was in want. She candidly told him her circumstances; and added, that she had come to the conclusion, that she must apply for parochial relief. He said, that she should never do this while he had the means of befriending her; and having ascertained what would probably be allowed her from the parish, he promised to give it her himself. He kindly performed his

promise; and, during the last six months of her life, remembering her age and infirmities, he generously doubled the amount. Soon after she had passed her eightieth year, she fell down and dislocated her hip; and the consequence was, for a long time, much suffering. But she was enabled to bear all with submission to the divine will. Her piety was evidently deep, and delightfully mature; and feeble and tottering as was the house of clay, her mind was preserved in peace, and comparative vigour, till she calmly fell asleep in Jesus.

THOMAS ARMSON.

51. Died, at Doncaster, February 17th, aged sixty, Mrs. Brailsford, widow of the late Mr. Brailsford, and third daughter of the late Isaac Willson, Esq., Bradford, Yorkshire. Her father was a Churchman; but gave hospitable entertainment to the earlier race of Methodist Preachers, and was a personal friend of Mr. Wesley. The early Preachers used to call his house "the pilgrim's inn." Her mother is said to have been a truly pious woman; but died in the prime of life, the subject of the present sketch being in her childhood. Happily, however, for her, her father was a good domestic disciplinarian. At eight or nine years of age she was sent to the Moravian establishment at Fulneck, where she remained about eight years. On her return home, she shared the pastoral attentions of that holy and devoted Minister of Christ, the late Rev. John Crosse, then Vicar of Bradford, and of the Methodist Preachers jointly, and became a member of the Methodist society at the age of seventeen; about which time, it is believed, she also experienced the converting grace of God. Mrs. Suter, one of her first Leaders, and still living, says, her piety, consistency, and general amiability, at that period, were exemplary.

In the year 1802 she was united in marriage to Mr. Brailsford, then organist of the parish church in Bradford. Not long afterwards, she became the subject of a tedious and painful nervous affliction. This would not have been noticed here, but for the influence which it had on her religious experience both then and afterwards. It induced, for the time, a state of deep despondency,—a purely physical effect; but it contributed to the improvement of her piety, as well as tested its genuineness. The light of grace frequently gleamed amid the gloom occasioned by her disease, as entries made in her journal at that time abundantly show. Among other advantages intended by this trial, and derived from it, was its serviceableness in fortifying her for subsequent trials, which she had soon to experience, and which it is probable she would not have been able to pass through as she did, but for the good she had received from this previous one. In the providence of God, she was shortly afterwards removed to Doncaster, Mr. Brailsford having obtained the lucrative appointment of organist to the parish church of that place. Here she was immediately surrounded by the gentry of that fashionable town, and solicited to join their gay circles; and, considering the character of her husband's professional duties and connexions, policy seemed to echo acquiescence. It was a crisis. She remained, however,

"As an iron pillar strong,

And steadfast as a wall of brass;"

resisting all allurements, and maintaining steadfastly her singularity as

a Methodist Christian. Her fidelity, in this instance, was of great use to her. Besides the increased spiritual strength she derived from victory over temptation, it also gave her a status, a position as a professor, which became afterwards, comparatively speaking, easy to maintain, although not free from "conflicts from without;" but it became known and understood what she was, and what she meant to be. Nor is it too much to say, that her steadfastness in this trial gave a character to the whole of her future history, both personal and domestic. She became the mother of eleven children, all of whom lived to mature age. Ten survive to mourn her loss. Her incessantly anxious and prayerful efforts for their temporal and spiritual welfare, especially the latter, are here memorialized with feelings of reverential thankfulness. "Being dead, she yet speaketh."

She had naturally a strong understanding, good judgment, retentive memory, and facility of expression. Being also a careful reader and observer, she acquired valuable stores of useful knowledge; and having both wit and humour, she was really useful and highly esteemed in the social circle. The general feeling towards her, of all who knew her, was affectionate respect. In fact, it is difficult to say all the truth of her in this respect, without seeming to hyperbolize. Her "book of books" was the Bible, with which both her conversation and epistolary correspondence showed she was conversant. Next in her estimation stood the writings of the Rev. Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher, which she read frequently and with care. She might be said to be familiar with them; so frequent were her references to them, and her quotations from them. She felt the Wesleyan theology was the truth.

It is right to observe, she was not always the cheerful Christian; but this was owing to physical causes. She frequently indulged morbid views of her state and experience; but the causes referred to were known, and abundantly sufficient to account for this without at all impugning the genuineness of her piety. That by which her piety was most distinguished, was its practical character. She was rigidly conscientious, particularly in her frequent and regular attention to the duties of the closet; which, considering her multifarious domestic engagements, was really striking. In the later years of her life she had more leisure than formerly; when she became, beyond her strength, exemplary in connexion with various charitable institutions. Her attachment to the peculiar means and privileges enjoyed by the Methodists increased with growing years. A draught of her Christian character should not be given without reference to her habits of abstemiousness; which, although much too rigid, (at least, so it is thought,) were formed and sustained on religious principle: but her general health was doubtless impaired by them. "To err is human." Her health also suffered considerably, of late years, through grief occasioned by the death of a son, and afterwards by that of her husband.

The immediately-apparent cause of her last illness was her attentions to her aged mother-in-law, with whose decease her activities in this world ceased. This illness was painful and oppressive; but grace sustained her in the enjoyment of great peace. "Lamb-like patience armed her breast." She had always had, more or less, respecting dying; but she had none of it now. She expressed herself as having no anxiety on the subject. The fatal stroke was somewhat sudden, but, apparently, not at all discomposing; and her last words,

66 a sin of fear

"Jesu, lover of my soul," to the end of the verse, the whole of which she repeated nearly verbatim, while in the act of dying, were characteristic of what had been, for many years, the nature of her experience, and the ground and object of her solemn trust.

W. BRAILSFORD.

52. Died, February 19th, at Sandhutton, in the Thirsk Circuit, Mrs. Ann Taylor, aged seventy-five. She was born at Skipton, of parents who were reputable members of the established Church. Ann, who, with her brothers, was trained up in an esteem for all the external proprieties and moralities of religion, was ever distinguished by her habitual observance of them. She remained, however, ignorant of their spiritual principles, until her acquaintance with the Wesleyans. In 1803 she went with her brother, the late Christopher Watson, Esq., to a cottage in Skipton, and heard a Wesleyan Preacher for the first time. This service, in connexion with a sermon heard by Mr. Watson at Ingleby-Cross, was instrumental in abating their prejudices against Methodism, and of so convincing the judgment and conscience of Mr. Watson, as to induce him first to give himself to the Lord, and then to the church whose services had already been so beneficial to him, by the will of God; and as a member and officer he, to the end of life, adorned his profession in all things. At his house the Preachers of the word always found a hearty welcome; and on his estate he erected a chapel, which he devoted to Methodism. His concern for the salvation of his sister, to whom he was strongly attached, led him to seize every opportunity of recommending religion to her, and of pointing out the necessity of experiencing God's pardoning and regenerating mercy; demonstrating to her, that attending to the form of godliness was not sufficient without possessing the power, and that by the deeds of the law she could not be justified before God, but only by the faith of Christ. Instruction like this from one she so highly esteemed, was received by her with meekness, attention, and thankfulness. The deep and influential convictions of her own personal guilt and danger, which induced her to "flee for refuge to the hope set before her," were roused and matured by means of an affliction with which she was visited in March, 1828. In her trouble she sought the forgiveness of her sins through faith in Him "who bore our sins in his own body on the tree;" and He who in nowise casteth out the prayer of the penitent, granted the desire of her heart. Then her troubled spirit found rest; and her fear of death was displaced by a hope of heaven, and an earnest of her eternal and incorruptible inheritance; and while the affliction continued, she possessed her soul in patience, and calmly, and without anxiety, awaited its issue. It pleased God, however, to the great joy of her family, to restore her to health, and to add to her days sixteen years. When she was raised from the bed of sickness, she evinced the genuineness of her conversion by uniting herself to the Wesleyan church; and as a member of it she continued until removed to join the church triumphant. Throughout the whole of her Christian career, she walked in the ordinances and commandments of the Lord blameless. To the preaching of God's word, to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, to meetings for Christian communion and public prayer, as well as to social prayer and family devotion, to searching the Scriptures and