A Brief Memoir with Portions of the Diary, Letters, and Other Remains,: of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham, EnglandSouthall, Eliza Allen
Religion
A Brief Memoir with Portions of the Diary, Letters, and Other Remains,: of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham, England
Southall, Eliza Allen
Christian biography -- England; Quakers -- England -- Biography; Southall, Eliza Allen, 1823-1851
The remembrance of the cheerfulness with which Eliza Southall entered
into the duties and cares of her new position in her adopted home has
afforded cause for much gratitude on the part of those dear relatives
who welcomed her there. Newly made acquainted with some of them,
she won their love and esteem by her unaffected simplicity and the
geniality of her sympathies; but, whilst she showed true conjugal
solicitude in her plans for domestic comfort and social enjoyment, it
was evidently her first desire to have her heart and her treasure in
heaven. It was designed in the ordering of Divine providence that a
cloud should very soon overshadow the bright promises of her arrival;
and the following account of the illness which so speedily terminated
her life will, it is hoped, convey a correct impression of the
peacefulness of its close. It is compiled from memoranda made very
soon after her decease, but is of necessity imperfect; the attention
of those who contributed from memory portions of her conversation
being so much absorbed by their interest in the conflict between life
and death, and by the overwhelming feelings of an hour of such moment
to some of them. Whilst it is hoped that nothing inserted may appear
to go beyond the simplicity of the truth, it may be added that it
seems impossible to convey in words a full and faithful idea of
the holy serenity of her last hours, which showed that the work of
religion had not been in vain in her heart.
With the exception of a slight cold, which soon left her, she appeared
to be in her usual health and spirits. But it was so for only two
weeks, and on Third-day, the 30th of 9th Month, on returning from a
visit at Woodfield, she complained of not feeling well. The next day
she was more poorly, and medical advice was obtained. The following
morning she suffered much pain, but the remedies used soon relieved
her; and, though she was not able to leave her bed, the symptoms did
not continue such as to excite much uneasiness. She enjoyed hearing
another read, and not unfrequently Isaac Pennington's letters, or
some other book, was in her own hand, and during occasional pain and
uneasiness she would request to have some chapter in the Bible read,
or a hymn of comfort. There was always an air of cheerfulness in her
chamber, and the affectionate greeting with which each relative who
visited her was welcomed was very precious. Few words passed of a
religious nature, or such as to induce the supposition that in four
more days earth would be exchanged for heaven, except one short remark
to her husband in the evening: "I have been thinking of the text,
'Then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided?' they may
not be mine much longer." This was touching to his feelings, but was
viewed as her wonted cautious manner of speaking of temporal things.
There was nothing further in her remarks which showed that she
regarded her case as a critical one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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