Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Title: A Brief Memoir with Portions of the Diary, Letters, and Other Remains,
of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham, England
Author: Eliza Southall
Release Date: April 8, 2004 [EBook #11959]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF MEMOIR OF ELIZA SOUTHALL ***
A BRIEF MEMOIR
WITH PORTIONS OF THE
DIARY,
LETTERS, AND OTHER REMAINS,
OF
ELIZA SOUTHALL,
LATE OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.
1869.
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."--PHIL. 1. 21.
INTRODUCTION
BRIEF MEMOIR
OF
ELIZA SOUTHALL.
DIARY.
The diary which was kept by the beloved object of this memoir, and
the extracts from which form the principal part of this volume, is
contained in several volumes of closely-written manuscript, and,
taken as a whole, is a most interesting record of mental and spiritual
growth. At times it was continued with almost daily regularity, but
at others, either from the pressure of occupations or from various
causes, considerable intervals occur in which nothing was written.
It has been the endeavor of the editor to make such selections as may
preserve a faithful picture of the whole. There is almost of necessity
a certain amount of repetition, as in seasons of depression, when
faith and hope seemed to be much obscured, or, on the other hand, when
cheerful thankfulness and joy of heart were her portion; and in such
places it did not seem right to curtail her words too much. Many
entries referred too closely to personal and family matters to be
suitable for publication, and the uneventful character of her life
does not leave room to supply in their stead much in the way of
narrative; but it will be remembered that it is the heavenward journey
that it is desired to trace, not simply _towards_ the land "very
far off," but that pilgrimage _during which_, though on earth, the
believer in Jesus is at times privileged to partake of the joys of
heaven.
The first volume of the series is entitled, by its author, "Mementos
of Mercy to the Chief of Sinners." Some lines written on her
fourteenth birthday--about the period, of its commencement--may
appropriately introduce the extracts.
_6th Mo. 9th_, 1837.--
Can it be true that one more link
In that mysterious chain,
Which joins the two eternities,
I shall not see again?
Eternity! that awful thing
Thought tries in vain to scan;
How far beyond the loftiest powers
Of little, finite man!
E'en daring fancy's fearless flight
In vain would grasp the whole,
And then, "How short man's mortal life!"
Exclaims the wondering soul.
A bubble on the ocean's breast,
A glow-worm's feeble ray,
That loses all its brilliancy
Beneath the orb of day.
Can it be joyful, then, to find
That life is hastening fast?
Can it be joyful to reflect,
This year may be our last?
Look on the firmament above,
From south to northern pole:
Can we find there a resting-place
For the immortal soul?
* * * * *
[Footnote 3:
"Why should we fear youth's draught of joy,
If pure, would sparkle less?
Why should the cup the sooner cloy
Which God hath deign'd to bless?"]
THE END.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brief Memoir with Portions of the
Diary, Letters, and Other Remains, of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham,
England, by Eliza Southall
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF MEMOIR OF ELIZA SOUTHALL ***
***** This file should be named 11959-8.txt or 11959-8.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/1/9/5/11959/
Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Leah Moser and PG Distributed Proofreaders
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.