UBRARV OF PRINCETON 
 
 
 2004 
 
 LOGICAL SEMIK.W 
 
 BR 1725 .L45 B3 1835 
 Baird, Robert, 1798-1863. 
 Memoir of Anna Jane Linnard 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 ANNA JANE LINNARD, 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. ROBERT BAIRD. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE 
 
 HON. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, 
 
 AND 
 
 A LETTER FROM THE 
 REV. WILLIAM NEILL, D.D. 
 
 And being dead, yet speaketh.— Heb. xi. 4. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 HENRY PERKINS, 159 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PERKINS, MARVIN & CO. 
 1835. 
 
Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1834, 
 by Henry Perkins, in the office of the Clerk of the Dis- 
 trict Court of the eastern district of Pennsylvania. 
 
TO THE 
 
 REV. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D.D. 
 
 Professor of Theology in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. 
 
 Reverend and dear sir, 
 
 This memorial of the excellence of religion, 
 as illustrated by the eminent usefulness in life, and 
 peace in death, of one who was, for several years, 
 a lamb of the flock over which Christ appointed 
 you, for a time, an overseer, is most respectfully 
 inscribed to you, as an humble testimonial of the 
 sincere regard and affection of 
 
 The Author. 
 
 LIBRARY OF PRi! JON 
 
 AUG 3 2004 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
i. 
 
 h 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction, by the Honourable Theodore Freling- 
 
 huysen, ... - - - " 
 
 A Letter, from the Rev. Dr. Neil], to the Author of 
 
 the succeeding memoir, ... - 13 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The eye contemplates with pleasure objects in de- 
 tail, rather than in mass. The mind delights in 
 simple truths, because they are most clearly ap- 
 prehended. Hence the reason why the memoirs 
 of individuals have always constituted so interest- 
 ing a portion of history. A large portion of the 
 Bible is biographical. In every age of the Church 
 this species of writing has been popular. Such 
 works are well calculated to instruct and console. 
 Reasons for preparing this memoir — the eminent 
 piety of the subject — her uncommon usefulness — 
 her life an example for those who are desirous of 
 doing good as Sunday school teachers, Tract dis- 
 tributers, &c. 25 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Parents of Miss Linnard. Piety of her mother. An- 
 ecdote of the late John Randolph, Colonel Lin- 
 nard. Early pastoral instruction. Serious impres- 
 sions in her youth. Early indications of talent. 
 Fondness for reading and writing. Novels. Fond- 
 ness for dress, &c. Less seriousness. Intellectual 
 knowledge of the truth, without deep conviction 
 of sin. Aroused by the death of her sister Susan. 
 An affecting case. Her reflections on the death 
 of her sister. Her resistance of the Spirit. Her 
 a2 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 deep distress, and subsequent relief. Devotes her- 
 self to God, in a formal written covenant. Joins 
 the 6th Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. Her 
 subsequent darkness of mind. Peace obtained. 
 The mode which she, ever afterwards, pursued in 
 order to find lost peace of mind. Usually cheerful 
 and happy. Her reflections on reviewing her 
 early life. Remarks on erroneous opinions regard- 
 ing conversion, 32 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Miss Linnard's religious life. She entered upon it 
 with a determination to be wholly devoted to God's 
 service. Her views of the Atonement. Of the ob- 
 ject of the Christian religion. Need of both pardon 
 and sanctification. Aimed at eminent conformity 
 to the will of God. Her way of seeking it. Ex- 
 tracts from her diary. Object of giving these ex- 
 tracts. Three classes of readers, who will be dif- 
 ferently affected by these extracts. Miss Linnard 
 frequently observed days of fasting and prayer. 
 Further extracts from her diary. Memoranda 
 made on each New- Year's day. Other extracts. 
 Her religious character to be judged from her 
 diary, in connexion with her conduct in the va- 
 rious relations of life. The perfection of her re- 
 ligious character. Error in the mode of prose- 
 cuting self-examination. Extracts from the "Spirit 
 of the Pilgrims." Miss Linnard habitually cheer- 
 ful. Extracts from two of her letters, which show 
 her fondness for the works of God, - - 54 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 Miss Linnard's religion appeared well, both at home 
 and abroad. The religion of many defective in 
 this particular. Her filial piety. Her father. An 
 anecdote. Her character as a sister. Greatly be- 
 loved by her family. Her character as a more re- 
 mote relative. Her faithfulness. Letter to two of 
 her nephews. Her character as a friend. Sincerity 
 and fidelity of her friendships. Topics of self-ex- 
 
1^ LF 1> 1 £.11 j. a. 
 
 ara in»ation in relation to her duties to her family 
 and friends. Her letters to Miss C. M'K.— to Mrs. 
 A. M. J.— to Miss J. C— to Mrs. A. M. J.— to 
 Mrs. J. M'A.— to Mrs. A. M. J.— to the same, 100 
 
 PART V. 
 
 Miss Linnard's diligent study of the Bible. Her at- 
 tendance at the Bible class. Her extensive attain- 
 ments in the knowledge of religion as a system of 
 doctrines and duties. Authors which she read. 
 She read much. How she was enabled to do this. 
 She laid every attainment at the feet of her blessed 
 Master. Her opinion of Novels and fashionable 
 amusements. Her labours as a Sunday school 
 teacher. Her diligence in preparing for this duty. 
 Attends the Rev. Dr. Green's Lectures, delivered 
 to Sunday school teachers. Her interesting man- 
 ner of communicating instruction. A specimen of 
 her illustrations. A letter from one of her pupils, 
 addressed to the author of this memoir. Miss Lin- 
 nard as an author. Helen Maurice, a book which 
 she wrote for the American Sunday School Union. 
 Extract from it Purposed to write two other 
 books for Sunday schools — prevented by sickness 
 and death. An original hymn, - 145 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 The interest which Miss Linnard took in the va- 
 rious benevolent societies. Was corresponding 
 secretary of the Female Bible Association of the 
 south-eastern section of the city of Philadelphia. 
 Extracts from the Reports which she wrote. Was 
 secretary of the Female Domestic Missionary As- 
 sociation. Success of the efforts of that association. 
 Her efforts in behalf of the Tract cause. Her in- 
 terest in the operations of the American Sunday 
 School Union. Her deep solicitude for the spread 
 of the gospel among the heathen. She informed 
 herself in relation to the deplorable state of the 
 heathen. The importance of all Christians doing 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 this. She prayed much for the conversion of the 
 world. Took an active part in the efforts which 
 were made to procure funds to send the Gospel to 
 benighted men. Corresponded with Missionaries. 
 Her opinion of the Koran. Her prayers for Rulers. 
 Her efforts in behalf of the poor and ignorant in 
 her own city. Her visits to the abodes of wretch- 
 edness. Her seasons of fasting in reference to 
 these labours. Spends much time and money in 
 these efforts. Her economy. Various objects of 
 her visits. Mode of performing them. Her visits 
 to the Aims-House. Instances of good results 
 from her labours. Her faithfulness in reproving 
 sin. Her meekness and affection. Always treated 
 with respect. A simple statement of her efforts in 
 behalf of a poor family that lived in V street, 167 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 The occasion of her last protracted illness. An af- 
 fecting fact, in relation to a wretched family, con- 
 nected with it. Travels in the spring of 1833. 
 Returns much worse. Many interesting details 
 respecting her state of mind, &c. during her last 
 sickness. Her eminent peace in believing. Her 
 simple reliance on the merits of Christ. The nar- 
 rative of her friend, Miss G. Affecting closing 
 scene. Her own beautiful verses on the subject of 
 death. Funeral sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. 
 Neill, - •' - 197 
 
 PART VIII. 
 
 General remarks, suggested by a review of the life 
 and death of Miss Linnard. Power of religion to 
 
 • give happiness in this life. The transforming in- 
 fluence of religion on the heart and life. This 
 memoir shows what an amazing influence one de- 
 voted, active Christian may exert for the salvation 
 of mankind. The blessedness which true religion 
 brings to u dying hour, - - - - -217 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The following memoir contains an instructive 
 exhibition of the power and loveliness of religion. 
 It is a seasonable offering to the Christian public. 
 There is so much of magnificence in the plans of 
 modern benevolence — so much to quicken the 
 spirits, and gratify the curiosity and sympathy of 
 the mind, that Christians are in danger of neglecting 
 the cultivation of personal piety. An ardent co- 
 operation in all the noble schemes of philanthropy, 
 and even a munificent spirit of liberality towards 
 them, may be mistaken for the living principle of 
 holy love, in the heart. This little volume, rich in 
 the memorials of practical godliness, is happily 
 calculated to admonish us of our danger, and lead 
 us to the only certain marks of true and decided 
 piety. 
 
 In the brief career of this excellent young lady, 
 we are presented with the history of twelve years, 
 consecrated to the service of her Redeemer. In 
 the sanctuary, the Sabbath school, and the closet — 
 in the abodes of wretchedness, and at the bed of 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sickness and poverty — at the associations of bene- 
 volence, and in all the sacred duties of domestic 
 and filial love, her light shone with uncommon 
 lustre. The reader will be struck, with what her 
 biographer aptly styles the completeness of her 
 Christian character. Her piety runs in harmony 
 with the broad spirit of the gospel. It met every 
 claim. Each duty seemed to hold its proper place, 
 and receive its due proportion of her attention. 
 From this bright example, the humblest private 
 Christian may learn how to become extensively 
 useful. She resolved to live for God. This great 
 purpose filled her desires, and excited her prayers. 
 She consecrated to his glory all her time and talents. 
 This was not a formal dedication. Her heart was 
 in the sacrifice — and here lies the secret of that 
 holy order and symmetry that adorned her piety. 
 It is the divided heart that puts our duties out of 
 place. The world usurps so large a share of the 
 affections, that if the rights of God are regarded at 
 all, it must be with a very partial and imperfect 
 consideration. But when the soul deliberately 
 comes up to the resolution of entire and full con- 
 secration to God — when this blessed purpose 
 takes in life, with all its relations^ and concerns — 
 when holiness to the Lord is inscribed on every 
 duty, scheme, and enterprize, then, indeed, there 
 will be fruitfulness in every good work : and then, 
 too, the soul enjoys perfect freedom in God's ser- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 vice, and becomes " as a tree planted by the waters, 
 that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall 
 not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be 
 green ; and shall not be careful in the year of 
 drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." 
 
 This interesting record of her life furnishes many 
 valuable illustrations of Christian principles and 
 duty. She faithfully and laboriously studied the 
 word of God. She constantly repaired to this 
 fountain of light and purity, and partook freely of 
 its refreshing waters. She fasted, and prayed for 
 the communications of the Spirit, and in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of the closet, according to her 
 emphatic language, " She began with her own 
 heart first." " There, unfatigued, her fervent spi- 
 rit laboured." She watched its exercises with a 
 holy jealousy — brought its feelings and desires to 
 a rigid scrutiny, and mourned over its native sin- 
 fulness. 
 
 It is to be feared, that these most important 
 duties of meditation, fasting, and prayer, and 
 searching the Scriptures, are sadly neglected. 
 Many professors of religion never fast, unless on 
 some public occasion ; and how many seldom visit 
 the closet, that antechamber of heaven, where the 
 Christian often finds his richest repast and his best 
 armour ? And there exists a lamentable defection 
 in the church, as to the duties of meditation and 
 the study of the Bible. It has become the fault of 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the age. There is, as was well said, a kind of 
 religious dissipation, that is never satisfied with 
 hearing, and can hardly be persuaded to pause, and 
 apply itself to the sterner duties of reflection and 
 self-examination. The standard of piety would 
 become far more elevated and stable, did Christians 
 more frequently retire and hold converse with 
 themselves — did they meditate on the truth and 
 ways of God, carefully examine their own hearts, 
 and bring the motives that sway them, and the 
 whole conduct of life, into faithful review. This, 
 surely, ought so to be. 
 
 In the singular devotedness, zeal, and usefulness 
 of Anna Jane Linnard, in the assured hope and 
 prevailing peace of her life, and the calm triumph 
 of her death, the followers of Christ are urged to 
 the attainment of larger measures of grace. Al- 
 though dead, she speaks to them in affecting ex- 
 hortation : " Pray always :" " Search the Scrip- 
 tures." " Delight in the Law of the Lord, and 
 meditate therein, day and night." 
 
 Theodore Frelinghuysen. 
 
A LETTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 REV. DR. NEILL 
 
 TO THE AUTHOR OF THE xMEMOIR. 
 
 Anna J. Linnard, of whom you are preparing 
 a memoir, was a lady of many estimable qualities, 
 which have left behind her a record in the hearts 
 of her numerous friends, not soon to be obliterated. 
 Having had some opportunity of knowing her, 
 first, as a member of a Bible class, and subsequent- 
 ly, as communicant and a Sabbath school teacher 
 in the sixth Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, of 
 which I had the happiness to be the pastor for 
 eight years, it affords me pleasure to bear my tes- 
 timony, in compliance with your request, to her 
 personal worth and exemplary deportment. May 
 her kindred and acquaintance be excited, by the 
 recollection of her Christian virtues, to be fol- 
 lowers of their deceased friend, as she was of 
 Christ, in her works of faith, and labours of love ! 
 
 Miss Linnard's mind was, in several respects, 
 much above mediocrity ; it was capable of grasping 
 a great subject with vigour, and of discriminating 
 
14 RE V. DR. NE ILL'S LETTER. 
 
 between truth and falsehood, in matters of doubtful 
 disputation. She was, accordingly, an intelligent 
 Christian. She formed her judgment deliberately, 
 and was not easily shaken from her purpose. She 
 examined dispassionately, and, in due time, ac- 
 knowledged, unhesitatingly, the validity of the Re- 
 deemer's claims to her heart and life. She had 
 warm and strong feelings on the subject of reli- 
 gion; but, in approaching the communion table, 
 and in engaging in the Christian warfare, she seem- 
 ed to me to count the cost and follow her convic- 
 tions of duty, without regard to the fear or the fa- 
 vour of man. Hence, as all who knew her will 
 testify, she adorned the doctrine of God, her Sa- 
 viour, in all things. Religion was not a by-busi- 
 ness, or a matter of mere decency and convenience 
 with her. It enlisted her affections, and pervaded 
 and actuated her whole moral powers. In the 
 Sabbath school, the Bible class, and the duties of 
 church membership, as also in visits of mercy to 
 the poor and afflicted, she soon attained to an 
 eminence, which her associates will all readily 
 acknowledge. Let others draw as largely from 
 the fulness of Christ, and they will be able to 
 go and do likewise. Her bright and useful career 
 was cut short by a wasting disease, tedious and 
 painful; but her faith was firm, and her peace with 
 God was seldom disturbed, — never, it is believed, 
 for any considerable length of time. In an inter- 
 
REV. DR. NE ILL'S LETTER. 15 
 
 view, which the writer had with her a few days 
 before her decease, she made remarks, in answer to 
 some inquiries about the state of her mind, to the 
 following amount, (the words not exactly remem- 
 bered.) "My hope is ordinarily strong- and com- 
 fortable ; but I sometimes lose sight of Christ, and 
 then I am in trouble, for then doubts arise, not 
 about his all-sufficiency, but about my personal in- 
 terest in his unchanging love, and covenanted 
 mercy. This, I know, is my infirmity or my 
 fault. He is faithful, and able to save to the utter- 
 most, all that come unto God by him." Much 
 more, of the deepest interest, was added ; but the 
 words are gone, though the impression remains 
 deep and indelible. As I withdrew from her 
 chamber, never more to see her face, this side of 
 heaven, the aspiration arose, as it had often done 
 before, on similar occasions, "Let me die the 
 death of the righteous, and let my latter end be 
 like his!" 
 
 Christianity is a practical religion ; its doctrines 
 must be cordially embraced, and its duties be con- 
 scientiously and cheerfully performed, in order to 
 the full enjoyment of its consolations. Your me- 
 moir of our deceased friend will, I doubt not, illus- 
 trate this remark in a manner, that, under divine 
 favour, will make the little volume a blessing to 
 many, and especially to children and young Chris- 
 tians. May the youth in our churches feel them- 
 
16 REV. DR. NE I LL 3 LETTER. 
 
 selves called upon, by every breach that death 
 makes in their respective circles, to double their 
 diligence in the work of the Lord ! God often 
 admonishes families and churches, by the early 
 and unexpected removal of useful members. The 
 language of such dispensations is: " Give all dili- 
 gence to make your calling and election sure — the 
 night cometh, wherein no man can work. Behold 
 now is the accepted time." Wishing you all hap- 
 piness and success in the service of our blessed 
 Master. 
 
 I am yours truly, by sacred ties : 
 
 W. Neill. 
 Germantown, Oct. 17th, 1834. 
 
PART I. 
 
 THE VALUE OF RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY : REASONS FOR WRITING 
 THIS MEMOIR. 
 
 And we desire that ye be not slothful, but followers of them 
 who through faith and patience inherit the promises. — 
 Heb. vi. 12. 
 
 The human eye is so constructed, that it can 
 perceive with distinctness and pleasure only indi- 
 vidual objects. 
 
 If we ascend a lofty steeple, and survey an ex- 
 tended and beautiful city, we soon feel dissatisfied 
 with an attempt to take in a large portion of the 
 scene at one scope of vision, and turn to the con- 
 templation of separate streets, squares, and houses, 
 or a portion of the distant forest, the capacious 
 harbour, the noble ship, or some other single object. 
 
 If we take a position on an eminence command- 
 ing an extended landscape, we find that it is not a 
 view of the whole scene which most deeply im- 
 presses our minds, and gives us most pleasure ; but 
 that of the component parts of it — the verdant mea- 
 dow, the field covered with flocks and herds, the 
 
26 MEMOIR OF 
 
 stately mansion, the humble cottage, the distant 
 woodland, and the meandering river or streamlet. 
 
 When we enter a beautiful garden filled with 
 trees and flowers, or witness a horticultural exhi- 
 bition, it is not a coap-iVceil, a glance at the whole, 
 which delights us longest, or creates the most per- 
 manent impressions ; but it is the examination, se- 
 parately, of the fruits, and flowers, and shrubbery, 
 which we see there. In one part we view the 
 orange tree, the lemon, &c; in another, the baskets 
 of fruits successively ; and in a third, the dahlia, 
 the rose, the hyacinth, the anemone, the carnation 
 and the jessamine. 
 
 So it is with the mind. It can dwell upon gene- 
 ral principles and propositions ; but prefers analy- 
 sis. And simple truths are most easily and clearly 
 perceived, and permanently remembered, because 
 they are most distinctly apprehended. 
 
 We read of the conduct of nations, and the 
 achievements of armies, with interest ; but we pre- 
 fer looking away, when we seek most pleasure or 
 profit, from the aggregate of action, to the exempli- 
 fication of principles and sentiments, which we 
 deem noble, in the conduct of individuals, whom 
 we can contemplate singly and distinctly. 
 
 If these propositions are correct, they teach us 
 why biographical works have ever been the most 
 interesting and profitable portions of the history of 
 the past. They single out individuals for our fixed 
 
ANNA JANE LINN ARD. 27 
 
 and undivided attention, and give us defined, and 
 consequently impressive, views of characters and 
 actions, instead of the vague, indistinct, and feeble 
 impressions, which men and their actions occasion 
 when viewed in the gross. 
 
 It cannot have escaped the attention of even the 
 most superficial reader of the Bible, that a very- 
 large portion of it consists of biographical sketches 
 of individuals. Why is this ? Because he who 
 made man, best knew how to adapt instruction to 
 his nature. And when he would teach men lessons 
 of obedience and religion, he presents, in epitome, 
 the lives of Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and 
 Joshua, and Samuel, and David, and Elijah, and 
 Hezekiah, and Josiah, and Paul, and above all, of 
 Jesus Christ, the exemplar of every virtue of 
 which human nature is susceptible. On the other 
 hand, when he would give us most impressive les- 
 sons on the odiousness, the injuriousness, and the 
 wages of sin, he exhibits to us brief, but striking 
 portraits of such men as Pharaoh, and Saul, and 
 Ahab, and Herod. 
 
 In every age of the church, the lives of those who 
 were distinguished for their zeal, or reputed piety, 
 have constituted the most popular books, so far, at 
 least, as regards those who professed religion. 
 And there is scarcely one circumstance in relation 
 to evangelical religion, in this country and Great 
 Britain, which augurs more decidedly its increase 
 
8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and perpetuity, than the great and rapidly increas- 
 ing number of excellent works of this kind. That 
 there is any danger of there being too many of 
 them is not credible. For whilst only those of the 
 highest and most general interest, will survive the 
 destruction which time effects, the others, though 
 less valuable, will subserve important purposes, 
 illustrate the power of religion, in ever-varying 
 circumstances, and profitably instruct the minds of 
 those who read them. And so each may furnish 
 its proper contingent, be it less or more, of in- 
 fluence to make this world better. 
 
 The memoirs of those who have been eminent 
 for piety, in different ages of the world, are well 
 adapted to give us instruction. The same promises 
 which supported Abraham, and Moses, and David, 
 and Paul, and Augustine, and Luther, and White- 
 field, and Brainerd, and Martyn, and Mills, are 
 sufficient to sustain and console us. They endured 
 similar temptations from the "world, the flesh, 
 and the devil." And if we find the road that leads 
 to heaven narrow and difficult ; if we find that to 
 live a life of devotedness to God, requires constant 
 self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer ; if we expe- 
 rience the bitter reproaches of the world, and what 
 is still harder to bear, the " fiery darts of the 
 wicked one ;" let us remember, (and surely it 
 will be some support to us,) that they passed 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 29 
 
 through the same trials and difficulties, and came 
 off more than conquerors. 
 
 " They wrestled hard, as we do now, 
 With sins, and doubts, and fears." 
 
 Other things being equal, the memoirs of those 
 who have lived within our own times, and in cir- 
 cumstances similar to ours, are best fitted to do us 
 good, inasmuch as they show us what is practica- 
 ble for us, and exhibit the subjects of them as dis- 
 charging duties, making sacrifices, and enduring 
 trials, which are likely, in a good measure, to fall 
 to our lot. 
 
 The reasons which have led to the preparation 
 of this memoir may be stated in few words : 
 
 1. The subject of this memoir was a person of 
 eminent piety. She was a most devoted, exempla- 
 ry, and useful christian. Few have given more 
 unequivocal evidences of being children of God. 
 It was, therefore, deemed a duty faithfully to set 
 forth the example which her life exhibited, of the 
 excellence of true religion, and the blessedness 
 which is to be found in faithfully serving God, as 
 lessons of instruction to all who will contemplate 
 them. 
 
 2. This memoir describes the life of one who 
 was eminently useful, and shows how it was that 
 she became so. It is a memoir of one who lived 
 among us, and was known to hundreds in the city 
 
 c2 
 
30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of her residence, and whose circumstances were 
 not materially different from those of thousands of 
 christians in our land. It is not the memoir of a 
 martyr, nor of a person in an extraordinary sta- 
 tion of life, nor of a minister of the Gospel, nor of 
 a missionary of the cross, but of one whose exam- 
 ple is the more easy to be followed by the mass of 
 christians, inasmuch as her circumstances, means 
 of usefulness, &c. were similar to their own. 
 This book, therefore, is intended to occupy ground 
 which is comparatively untrodden in our religious 
 biographies ; a very large majority of which relate 
 to persons whose lives were passed in circum- 
 stances widely different from those of the most of 
 christians. Few readers, it is apprehended, will 
 be able to rise up from the perusal of this book, 
 and say that it does not reach their ease ; that the 
 example which it exhibits cannot be followed by 
 them, inasmuch as the spheres in which they live 
 are entirely dissimilar to that in which the subject 
 of this memoir was placed. 
 
 3. In an especial manner, this volume is designed 
 to show to Sabbath-school teachers, tract distri- 
 butors, friends of the various benevolent societies, 
 and visiters of the poor and wretched, what can be 
 done by one person, and that within a short period. 
 The example which is here delineated is calculated 
 to awaken a holy emulation, as well as to afford 
 the most cheering encouragement. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 
 
 *h 
 
 Indeed, it would have been manifestly wrong to 
 have permitted so remarkable an instance of the 
 power, the blessedness, and the utility of devoted 
 and active piety, to pass away from the earth, with- 
 out an effort to extend its influence beyond the cir- 
 cle in which it appeared. 
 
 It only remains for the author of this volume to 
 assure the reader that he has endeavoured to state 
 what he well knows to be true, and what may be 
 relied on with entire confidence. He has not ex- 
 ceeded, but, he fears, fallen far short of a com- 
 plete representation of her character and useful- 
 ness. 
 
 That the blessing of God may ever accompany 
 the perusal of this memoir, is his sincere and earn- 
 est prayer. 
 
32 MEMOIR OF 
 
 PART II. 
 
 HER EARLY LIFE : EDUCATION : CONVERSION, &C. 
 
 " And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy 
 God led thee."— Deut. viii. 2. 
 
 Anna Jane Linnard was born at Philadelphia, 
 on the 8th of May, 1800, and was the youngest, 
 but one, of eleven children. Her father, Colonel 
 William Linnard, was an officer in the American 
 army during several years of the war of the revolu- 
 tion; and held, until recently, the office of Quarter 
 Master General. He is now very aged and in- 
 firm. Her mother was a godly woman, and 
 deeply interested in the spiritual and eternal wel- 
 fare of her children. She was, however, removed 
 from this world whilst the subject of this memoir 
 was quite a child. But her instructions and pray- 
 ers were not in vain. Almost all her children, it 
 is believed, have been brought to the knowledge 
 of the Saviour; and several of them have followed 
 her to a brighter and better world. 
 
 The annals of the church are filled with facts 
 which prove the blessed influence of faithful, judi- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 33 
 
 cious, and pious maternal instruction. The hea- 
 venly counsels, persuasive appeals, the sweet 
 tones of the endeared voice, and the affecting' and 
 irresistible eloquence of the beloved countenance 
 of a devoted mother, cause impressions to be made 
 in the hearts of her offspring, which time cannot 
 efface. " I should have been an infidel of the 
 French school," said a distinguished statesman, 
 recently deceased, " had it not been for the re- 
 membrance of my mother, who died during my 
 childhood, but who used to make me kneel down 
 by her side, and placing my little hands in hers, 
 taught me to say ' Our Father which art in Hea- 
 ven.' " And although this great, but unhappy, 
 man gave no satisfactory evidence of having expe- 
 rienced the saving power of religion, yet his his- 
 tory ghows the amazing influence of a mother's 
 instruction and prayers, enforced by a mother's 
 love, upon the heart of childhood, and which 
 lasted until the latest years of life. 
 
 But, although Miss Linnard lost her mother in 
 her childhood, she was not wholly without that 
 guidance and training which a mother alone can 
 fully give. God, in his goodness, had made a 
 provision, for which she never ceased to be grate- 
 ful, after she had arrived at an age which enabled 
 her to appreciate it. Her eldest sister, with more 
 than a sister's care and affection, watched over 
 her, and the members of the family who were 
 
34 MEMOIR OF 
 
 younger than herself, and confirmed them in the 
 pious instructions which had been commenced by 
 their excellent mother: whilst their worthy and 
 greatly respected father was assiduous in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of his station. Although he 
 was not a professor of religion, yet he lived a 
 most exemplary life, and was careful to bring up 
 his children in the fear of God, and in the strictest 
 regard for the holy Sabbath, and all the other du- 
 ties of religion. Neither his public official duties, 
 which were very numerous, nor any other cause, 
 led him to neglect the temporal or religious inter- 
 ests of his beloved family. And nothing gave 
 him so much delight as to see them, one after ano- 
 ther, devoting themselves to the Lord, and attach- 
 ing themselves to his people. 
 
 Col. Linnard and his family, for many years 
 attended the Third Presbyterian Church ; after- 
 wards they worshipped at the Sixth, where most 
 of the surviving members still attend. During 
 the greater part of the first twelve years of her 
 life, Miss Linnard enjoyed the privilege of living 
 under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Alexander, 
 now Professor of Theology in the Seminary at 
 Princeton. His sermons and catechetical instruc- 
 tions made an impression on her mind. And al- 
 though they did not lead to a saving change of 
 heart, yet they probably formed a part of that 
 mysterious chain of influences, which, under, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 35 
 
 the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, 
 our Sanctifier, afterwards gradually enlightened 
 her mind in the knowledge of God; her rela- 
 tions to him as her Creator, Benefactor, and Re- 
 deemer ; her sinful and lost estate ; and the way 
 of salvation by a simple reliance on the righteous- 
 ness, blood, and intercession of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Nor was the knowledge which she thus 
 early obtained, on these subjects, only theoretical. 
 From her earliest years she had, at times, many 
 and distressing convictions of sin. But no saving 
 change of heart appears to have taken place until 
 she was about twenty years of age. 
 
 The following remarks are taken from a small 
 memorandum book which she kept, and were 
 written partly when she was on a visit to the 
 country, and partly when she was at home. 
 They were made at the close of the Sabbath, and 
 show that at the age of fifteen her mind was some- 
 times occupied with serious reflections. 
 
 "July 6th, 1815. Sabbath. How pleasant it 
 would be, if at retiring for the night, we could 
 exclaim, "A well spent day." Very few are 
 they who can thus speak. In the solitude of our 
 chambers ought this day, in particular, to be spent. 
 Do we thus spend it ? Oh no ! It is too often 
 trifled away in frivolous amusements, levity, and 
 folly. For all these things we shall really be 
 called to judgment. 
 
36 MEMOIR OF 
 
 "In the silence of the country, the duties of the 
 Sabbath, it might be supposed, would be per- 
 formed. So thought I. But that day, at least 
 here, is the grand visiting day, a holiday for all 
 sorts and sexes ; and is by some spent in mirth 
 and jollity. This morning I was determined to 
 withstand all temptations. I repaired alone to my 
 room, taking a book of sermons with me, studied 
 them attentively, and I hope with profit. In the 
 midst of it, a young girl came up begging me to 
 go with her to hunt for berries. I refused her 
 earnest solicitations. How I wanted to impute it 
 to a new principle ! But alas ! All my endeav- 
 ours were vain. Indolence must at last be the 
 cause of the refusal. 
 
 " Hard it is to confine the mind to any thing 
 good. Our thoughts continually wander from one 
 idle thing to another, but most from what is good. 
 It is so, at least, with myself. I can think of any 
 thing else rather than religion. O Lord, renew 
 my heart; pour down thy grace, I beseech thee, 
 on my poor unworthy soul, that I may love and 
 serve thee." 
 
 "August 16. Sabbath. A trifling circumstance 
 detained me from church. That, generally, is no 
 cause of regret to me. Any pretext is sufficient 
 to keep me from the house of God. Miserable 
 depravity of heart ! How should I employ my- 
 self in heaven through an endless eternity ? The 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 37 
 
 society of the good is disagreeable here ; how 
 shall 1 bear that of angels and saints? Oh, never ; 
 till the Lord is pleased to renew my heart. Hasten 
 the time, Almighty Father, when thou wilt be 
 pleased to receive me as thy servant. Keep me 
 through the remainder of this day, and to thee 
 shall be the glory forever." 
 
 At a very early period of her life, Miss Linnard 
 displayed indications of more than, ordinary talent, 
 and a remarkable desire for knowledge. And as 
 soon as she had learned to read, and had acquired 
 the terms by which things are expressed, she made 
 rapid progress. She enjoyed for a number of years 
 the instructions of an excellent teacher. And al- 
 though she ceased to attend school at the age of 
 fourteen, yet such were her indefatigable industry, 
 and perseverance in her efforts to obtain know- 
 ledge, that few females in our country have ac- 
 quired a larger amount of truly valuable informa- 
 tion, united with real discipline of mind. Every 
 faculty — memory, taste, judgment, &c, became 
 matured and strengthened to an uncommon de- 
 gree, before she reached her twentieth year. 
 
 When she was quite young she read, in an 
 attentive manner, the Universal History, written 
 by an association of literary gentlemen in Eng- 
 land, and consisting of twenty octavo volumes. 
 Having much leisure, and access to her father's 
 valuable library, she devoted a very large portion 
 
38 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of her time, from her fifteenth year, to reading and 
 study. Even before that period, she had read a 
 large number of books. And her reading was not 
 confined to historical works, but included the 
 whole circle of what are called the English classi- 
 cal authors. The Poets and Moralists of the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were fami- 
 liar to her. She was well acquainted with the 
 writings of Addison, Steele, Swift, Milton, Pope, 
 Johnson, &c. &c. 
 
 She early manifested a great taste for writing. 
 When she was only eight or ten years of age, 
 and before she had learned geography, she wrote 
 a long story, which, although it displayed much 
 immaturity of mind, and ignorance of places; — 
 such as that of laying the scene of the events in 
 the county of Virginia — indicated much inge- 
 nuity, and a vigour of thought, and of imagina- 
 tion very extraordinary in a child. These facts 
 are mentioned, simply as evidences of activity of 
 mind and a fondness for knowledge, and not as 
 possessing any special intrinsic importance. It 
 will be seen in the sequel that this taste for writ- 
 ing increased with increasing years, and lead to 
 the attempts which she made, after she had be- 
 come enlightened by divine grace, to employ her 
 pen to promote the glory of God, and the best in- 
 terests of the young. 
 
 In this connexion, it may be stated — what the 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 39 
 
 reader might almost infer from the preceding para- 
 graph — that Miss Linnard early became fond of 
 reading the romances and tales which are now 
 generally denominated novels. She read a great 
 number of such books ; indeed, almost every thing 
 of the kind which she could obtain. Nor did she 
 read even these works carelessly. As a proof of 
 this, it may be mentioned, that she wrote a short 
 critical essay on the character of Sir Walter Scott's 
 novels, which is one of the best which the author 
 of this memoir has ever seen. It was written when 
 she was in her nineteenth year, and before she be- 
 came pious. The acute discrimination which it 
 displays, is characteristic of a vigorous and well 
 disciplined understanding, united with a most re- 
 fined and exquisite taste — taste, as an attribute of 
 the mind, rather than of the heart, and particularly 
 as employed upon the works of nature, and descrip- 
 tions of those works. 
 
 She deeply lamented this fondness for novels 
 after she had "tasted the good word of God." 
 She never ceased, after that event, to consider it 
 one of the greatest calamities of her life. What her 
 opinions respecting novel reading were, after her 
 conversion, and until the day of her death, will be 
 fully stated in another place. 
 
 From her fifteenth to her twentieth year, Miss 
 Linnard's seriousness of feeling was probably much 
 less than during the earlier portion of her life. 
 
40 MEMOIR OF 
 
 She then began to mingle much with the world. 
 Her attention appears to have been absorbed by 
 her studies, and by fashionable society. She be- 
 came fond of dress and display, and indulged in 
 them as far as her circumstances allowed. And al- 
 though it has been often said, that fondness for 
 dress, in a female, is characteristic of a weak mind, 
 yet the remark was certainly not just in her case. 
 She possessed a mind of a very high order, and 
 cultivated it, all the while, with the utmost assidu- 
 ity. And no fondness for dress and gay company, 
 nor novel reading, nor any other cause, was suffi- 
 cient to make her give up the study of the most va- 
 luable authors in English Literature. She also ac- 
 quired such a knowledge of the French language as 
 to be able to read it with facility. 
 
 Such was Miss Linnard's course of life before 
 the occurrence of that gracious change, which 
 turned her thoughts and feelings into a new and 
 heavenly channel, transformed her entire character, 
 and made her a monument of the power of religion. 
 Until that event, her whole life, although free from 
 what is censurable in the view of the world, was 
 one of hostility to her God and Saviour. Whilst 
 there was much in her conduct to excite the admira- 
 tion of the world, yet there was no manifestation 
 of any real spirituality of feeling. The love of the 
 world, and the things of the world, held undivided 
 sway over her affections. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 41 
 
 Her case strikingly illustrates a fact which is con- 
 stantly witnessed in the conduct of thousands who 
 have been brought up under religious instruction, 
 and which would be truly astonishing, were we not 
 so familiar with its occurrence ; namely, an exten- 
 sive acquaintance with the great and awful truths 
 of the Bible, united with an almost total want of 
 interest in the subject of religion, as a personal af- 
 fair. She knew well the theory of religion. She 
 acknowledged its vast importance. When addressed 
 on the subject, she uttered not a cavil, made not an 
 objection, and admitted that she believed the Bible 
 to be true. She knew that she must die ; that this 
 life is only one of probation, or rather preparation 
 for eternity. She was aware of the coming judg- 
 ment day, and its overwhelming transactions. She 
 doubted not the statements which the Scriptures 
 make in regard to the glory of heaven, and the 
 blessedness of the righteous. Nor did she less be- 
 lieve in the approaching awful revelation of the 
 doom of the ungodly, " When the Lord Jesus shall 
 be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 
 in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
 not God and that obey not the Gospel." All these 
 thrilling truths she not only acknowledged, but, in 
 a sense, truly believed. But still her heart remained 
 unaffected and unmoved, at least as it regards any 
 effort to seek, in earnest, eternal life. 
 
 But, in the year 1820, an event occurred, which, 
 d2 
 
42 MEMOIR OF 
 
 by the blessing of God, aroused her from the state 
 of comparative insensibility in which she had been 
 living, and proved, ultimately, to be the most impor- 
 tant crisis in her life. This was the sickness and 
 death of her beloved sister Susan, who was but a 
 year or two older than herself. 
 
 The circumstances of that afflictive event were 
 truly affecting. She had enjoyed, until within 
 a very short time before her decease, uncommonly 
 fine health and spirits, and was in the full bloom 
 of life. She had been married but a little lon- 
 ger than a year, and was surrounded by circum- 
 stances which promised as much felicity as 
 usually falls to the lot of mortals. But, in an 
 hour when he was not expected, the Son of 
 man came. And although she had always been a 
 most amiable and serious person, and had had 
 much deep concern respecting her spiritual state, 
 yet she had not given satisfactory evidence, previ- 
 ously to her last sickness, that she had become re- 
 conciled unto God. As might be expected, her 
 friends were most tenderly alive to her danger. No 
 pains were spared by her skilful physicians to ar- 
 rest her disease. It was all, however, in vain. 
 
 But the solicitude of her friends for her soul was 
 far greater than for her body. Her beloved pastor, 
 the Rev. Dr. Neill, then settled in the Sixth Pres- 
 byterian Church, and other religious friends were 
 constant in imparting instruction, and in commend- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 43 
 
 ing her case to God in earnest supplication. And 
 through his mercy she died with a good degree of 
 composure, and, it is believed, in the hope of eter- 
 nal life through the merits of the blessed Redeemer. 
 
 This scene of suffering and death made a very- 
 deep impression on the mind of Anna. When ap- 
 prised of her sister's dangerous state, she hastened 
 to her bedside, and manifested to her last hour, the 
 deepest concern for her salvation ; so greatly did 
 she feel the importance of religion in the critical 
 hour of death, and so anxious was she that one so 
 dear to her should not fail of seeing the glory of 
 God. Her tears, her exhortations and entreaties, 
 addressed to her dying sister, and her anxious days 
 and nights, spent at her sick-bed, testified to her 
 strong conviction of the transcendent value of reli- 
 gion, in view of the judgment-seat of Christ, and the 
 realities of the eternal world. 
 
 That she felt deeply the death of this sister, is 
 manifest from the following beautiful passages in 
 her large memorandum book, which relate to that 
 mournful event. These reflections and tender apos- 
 trophes were written in September, 1820. 
 
 " The heart loves to weave a charm around the 
 memory of a departed one, and dwell upon beau- 
 ties which before were unheeded. Melancholy, 
 painful pleasure ! To think of actions, words, and 
 looks, when the heart which dictated, the voice 
 which spoke, and the eyes which beamed, are 
 
44 MEMOIR OF 
 
 all stilled in death. When the loved form, which 
 memory so fondly retains, is covered by the green 
 grassy sod! 
 
 " Hers was no common heart. It was tender ; 
 it was meek ; it was pure and humble. Nor was 
 it alone the remembrance of those mild and lovely 
 virtues that gave the pang to parting. She, though 
 unobtrusive and retiring, had a mind strong and 
 well informed. She was mild, but also firm. How 
 did her amiableness of temper, generosity, and no- 
 bleness of disposition endear her to us ! Candid 
 and open, she despised display and deceit in others, 
 she practised them not herself. 
 
 " O my sister, thou art gone for ever ! Thy 
 pure soul has breathed its last sad sigh, and winged 
 its distant way. Thy heart has ceased to throb. 
 Those soft, mild eyes are for ever closed. That 
 smile which hovered around thy lip has fled for 
 ever. And is it so? Art thou dead ? Oh no ; still in 
 many a heart thou livest. It is not in marble thou 
 art enshrined. Painful— yet it is sweet, when gazing 
 on the evening cloud to think of thee. Fit emblem ! 
 Like thee, so fair, so soft, so light, so passing lovely, 
 so transient. Yet not like thine is its course. 
 Smooth and serene, the western breeze gently bears 
 it on his wing. But thou wast tossed by tempes- 
 tuous winds. Affliction's hand pressed heavily 
 upon thee, and sunk thee low as the grave. Oh, my 
 
ANNA JANE LINNAED. 45 
 
 heart bleeds. when T recall thy wasted form, and the 
 early grave which has closed on thee for ever."* 
 
 The result of this providential dispensation was, 
 in Miss Linnard's case, well worthy of a distinct 
 notice. She was aroused by it, as it were, from a 
 profound and long continued dream. Her eyes 
 were, in some measure, opened to see the danger 
 of delaying repentance until a dying hour. She 
 felt that the great work of preparing to meet God 
 was not even commenced. The consequence was, 
 that she began to peruse the Bible with some de- 
 gree of diligence, but with little real delight in the 
 duty. On the contrary, within a few days after her 
 sister's decease she began to cavil at the truth which 
 she read. She objected to almost every statement 
 of doctrine and facts, until her scepticism became 
 truly alarming. She continued day after day to read 
 the Scriptures, and quarrel with them at every step. 
 The pride of her understanding was not willing to 
 bow to the simple declarations of God. Nothing in 
 the arrangements of his economy of law, grace, or 
 providence pleased her. She disliked, exceedingly, 
 the doctrine of the fall and total depravity of man, 
 
 * There is something peculiarly touching in the eventful 
 history of the latter part of this interesting young lady's life- 
 Within fifteen short months the following affecting incidents 
 occurred : — She was married, became a mother, childless, a 
 widow, and, from perfect health, in a few weeks withered 
 away, like a blossom, and died ! 
 
46 MEMOIR OF 
 
 justification by faith in the merits of Christ alone, 
 &c. In short, the enmity of her heart was singu- 
 larly stirred against every distinctive feature of 
 Christianity. 
 
 This state of feeling was occasioned by her at- 
 tempting to bring the subject of religion home to 
 her heart as a personal and practical matter. 
 Hitherto, religion had been chiefly viewed as a 
 subject of speculation. But when she was led, by 
 the influence of the Spirit of God, to bring his 
 claims before her mind with a view to action, the 
 " carnal mind, which is enmity against God," rebel- 
 led against them, and refusedto yield an entire sub- 
 ordination of heart to their sway. The great ob- 
 stacles which opposed the reception of the Gospel 
 were her pride of intellect, natural independence, 
 and ceaseless aspiration after greatness and dis- 
 tinction in this world. 
 
 But God, who is ricii in mercy, did not suffer the 
 good work which had been commenced to cease. 
 The sudden and awful death of a cousin, which oc- 
 curred about this period, probably had some effect 
 to lead her to a greater thoughtfulness, though it is 
 not known that this providence had a very marked 
 degree of influence. But by the operation of the 
 Spirit, through the truth which she read, and which 
 she heard in the faithful sermons of her pastor and 
 other ministers of the Gospel, her mind was more 
 and more enlightened to see her great sinfulness 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 47 
 
 in the sight of a holy God. Her religious friends 
 watched over this state of things with trembling 
 solicitude. For the opposition, which her unre- 
 newed heart made to the claims of the Gospel, was 
 great and long protracted. But when her eyes 
 were opened to see more clearly her true character, 
 she " abhorred herself," and was prostrate before 
 the throne of God, as an humble, contrite suppli- 
 ant for his unmerited favour, through Jesus 
 Christ. Her distress became exceedingly great, 
 and she was brought to the borders of despair. And 
 this state of things lasted a long time. At length 
 she was brought to an humble reliance on the 
 merits of Christ as the sole ground of her hope be- 
 fore God. 
 
 She now began to entertain, in some degree, a 
 comfortable belief of her having become truly re- 
 conciled to God. It was not, however, a hope full 
 of joy and peace. On the contrary, it was weak 
 and trembling. This change occurred in the latter 
 part of the year 1820. On the 13th day of the 
 succeeding February, being in her 21st year, after 
 having observed a season of fasting and prayer, 
 she adopted and subscribed a written covenant, in 
 which she made a solemn devotion of herself to 
 God. The form which she used is that which 
 Dr. Doddridge has given in his " Rise and Progress 
 of Religion in the Soul." 
 
 This covenant Miss Linnard very frequently 
 
48 MEMOIR OP 
 
 renewed, and with great profit. Indeed, it was a 
 practice with her to make this renewal on the ob- 
 servance of days of fasting and prayer, which were 
 frequent during the year. No act of devotion with 
 her was more delightful, or more abundant in con- 
 solation, than that of a distinct, formal, and sincere 
 consecration of herself to God her Saviour. 
 
 In May 1821, Miss Linnard became a member 
 of the visible church, and was baptized by the Rev. 
 Dr. Neill. This act was done after long and ma- 
 ture deliberation. She felt it not only a duty, but 
 a privilege, to profess the name of Christ before 
 the world, and attach herself to the company of 
 those who are followers of the Lamb. And yet 
 this step was not taken without many fears and 
 doubts. She had great distrust of her own heart, 
 and was far from having a full assurance of hope. 
 
 It ought, perhaps, to be stated, that she often 
 doubted, afterwards, whether she did not join the 
 church prematurely. But this is a point respect- 
 ing which very different opinions would be ex- 
 pressed by different persons. One thing is certain ; 
 she did not rest on a mere profession of religion. 
 No ; that gave her no consolation when she did not 
 enjoy the full evidence, in her heart and life, that 
 she was born again. 
 
 Not long after she had made a profession of re- 
 ligion, she fell into a state of distressing darkness 
 and doubt respecting her spiritual state. The feeble 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 49 
 
 hope, and the comparative peace which she, in a 
 measure, had enjoyed, were lost. After passing seve- 
 ral weeks in this state of mind, she ventured to ad- 
 dress a letter to her greatly respected pastor, in 
 which she fully stated all her difficulties. As the 
 letter was anonymous, he had no other means of 
 giving the desired and needed counsel, than to 
 preach a sermon on the case as stated. The bless- 
 ing of God evidently accompanied this discourse. 
 It gave her great and permanent consolation, 
 directed her into the path of peace and holiness, 
 and taught her how to meet the temptations and 
 difficulties which every young convert has to 
 encounter. From this time she set out in the 
 christian course, with maturer views of the man- 
 ner in which the "life and walk of faith" are 
 to be maintained. And during the whole of her 
 subsequent life she was uniformly one of the hap- 
 piest christians whom the author of this memoir 
 has ever known. 
 
 When she fell into a state of darkness and doubt, 
 she knew where to seek for light and peace. 
 When she felt conscious of having wandered from 
 God and lost the light of his countenance, it was 
 her practice to pause immediately in her course, and 
 take time for special prayer, and self-examination, 
 united often with fasting. She was not willing to 
 live in a state of habitual doubt respecting her 
 prospects for eternity. She went forthwith to the 
 
 E 
 
50 MEMOIR OF 
 
 throne of grace, confessed the sins which had 
 been keeping her from God, and did not cease until 
 she obtained a sense of forgiveness. This has 
 ever been found to be the true and only way to re- 
 cover lost hope and comfort. This was the course 
 which David pursued. "I thought," says he, 
 " on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testi- 
 monies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep 
 thy commandments." 
 
 Pursuing her way to the skies, with cheerful 
 and steady steps, Miss Linnard became not only a 
 happy christian, but also, eminently, an useful one. 
 And it may be asserted that she was indebted for 
 much of her usefulness to her possessing, almost 
 habitually, a full assurance of eternal life. This is 
 a fact which every reader of her life is entreated 
 to remember and ponder well. The energies and 
 usefulness of many christians are greatly impaired 
 by their living in sinful doubts respecting the state 
 of their own souls. These doubts can be remov- 
 ed. They are not acceptable, but exceedingly 
 dishonouring, to God. And they are often occa- 
 sioned by a criminal want of faith, arising from 
 not reflecting sufficiently on the promises of God, 
 nor reasoning on the gracious declarations which 
 he has made in his word, and which are calculated 
 to enlarge and strengthen our confidence in Him. 
 Let any truly conscientious christian, who is prone 
 to despondency, pursue such trains of reflection as 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 51 
 
 Scougal so beautifully suggests in his " Life of God 
 in the Soul of Man," under the title of " Consider- 
 ations," and withal live a life of watchfulness and 
 prayer, and he will soon attain to a good measure 
 of uniform peace and even joy in believing. It is 
 proper to add, however, that those whose health is 
 the cause of this despondency are not here meant ; 
 for they need a physician : although even they 
 would be benefitted by the course recommended. 
 
 Miss Linnard was accustomed, during all her 
 subsequent life, to take frequent and self-humbling 
 retrospects of the long portion of her life which was 
 spent in alienation of heart from God. For although 
 many would deem the first twenty years of life a 
 short period to be given to what they call pleasure, 
 yet she thought very differently. And when re- 
 viewing all the way by which the Lord had led 
 her, the sacrifice made for her redemption, his 
 great forbearance, the striving of his long-resisted 
 spirit, and his claims to her entire affections, she 
 was ready to exclaim, in the language of an emi- 
 nently great and good man, lately deceased ;* 
 My dear Redeemer and my God, 
 Take thou the purchase of thy blood : 
 The price was paid that I might be 
 A living sacrifice to Thee. 
 An additional paragraph will close this portion 
 of the Life of Miss Linnard. 
 
 * Rev. Rowland Hill. 
 
52 MEMOIR OF 
 
 It is probable that some, who may read this book, 
 will be disappointed at not finding more that is re- 
 markable in the account which has been given of 
 her life before her conversion, and especially of the 
 manner and circumstances of that event. On this 
 point the writer has only to say that he has simply 
 stated the facts of the case. He has not dwelt upon 
 them unnecessarily. And he certainly has no dis- 
 position to minister, by exaggeration of these 
 facts, to the erroneous views of those who think 
 that there can be nothing interesting, in a re- 
 ligious biography which does not represent the 
 subject of it as having been uncommonly wicked, 
 or whose conversion has not been almost mira- 
 culous. Just as if it ought not to be quite as 
 interesting, or rather far more so, to read of the 
 conversion of one whose life was from youth pre- 
 served from flagrant sins, and was governed in a 
 good degree by correct sentiments of religion. 
 And yet vast numbers can see nothing attractive in 
 the conversion of a sinner, unless he has previously 
 been remarkable for abandoned wickedness, and his 
 conversion, for some reason or other, wonderful. 
 Now, whilst we ought to magnify the grace of 
 God, which can renew and save the vilest of sin- 
 ners, we should not less admirethe restraining 
 grace displayed in the lives of such persons as 
 Samuel, and Josiah, and Obadiah, and Timothy. 
 But with perverted judgments and tastes, many 
 
ANNA JANE LIN NARD. 53 
 
 even think more highly of the religion of those 
 who were once notoriously wicked ; and virtue is 
 reckoned more estimable when it has been pre- 
 ceded by abandoned profligacy. Whereas it 
 requires the same grace to restrain the heart in 
 childhood, and keep it in the right way. And 
 certainly a life thus spent ought to appear more 
 desirable and lovely. The interesting subject of 
 this memoir was remarkable, from her youth, for 
 many excellent qualities, and a most exemplary 
 life, so far as it relates to external conduct. And 
 her conversion, though scriptural in its cha- 
 racter, and producing a special and radical change 
 in her life, had nothing wonderful about it. Let us 
 not, on that account, less highly estimate the riches 
 of the grace of God displayed in her case. 
 
 e2 
 
54 MEMOIR OF 
 
 PART III. 
 
 HER RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 
 
 ""But by the grace of God I am what I am." — 1 Cor. xv. 10. 
 
 In the last chapter we had an account of the 
 early life of Miss Linnard, her conversion, and 
 her entrance into membership with the Church of 
 the living God. The present chapter will be de- 
 voted to a description of her religious character, 
 from that period until her final sickness. 
 
 When Miss Linnard embraced religion, and de- 
 voted herself to the service of her Saviour, it may- 
 be truly said of her, that she did it without reserva- 
 tion, and with a deliberate and decided determina- 
 tion to be wholly His, for time and for eternity. 
 The private diary which she kept, and which was 
 never read by any human eye until after her 
 death, gives decisive proof of this fact. 
 
 The author of this memoir has never conversed 
 with an individual who was better acquainted with 
 the true nature and object of the Christian religion, 
 than thib devoted young lady. Her mind was 
 naturally of a very high order, and it was well in- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 55 
 
 formed on this important subject, by the perusal 
 of many of the best religious works in the Eng- 
 lish language, and above all, by a most diligent 
 study of the word of God, — a study which she 
 habitually maintained until the day of her death. 
 
 In her view, the Atonement was designed to ac- 
 complish three grand objects. 
 
 1. To make known the entire character of the 
 ever-blessed God, some of whose attributes and 
 perfections — such as his boundless mercy, love, — 
 and, it might be added, his holiness, too — could 
 never have been otherwise manifested, or so 
 fully illustrated, to the universe. 
 
 2. To make a sufficient satisfaction to Divine 
 justice and law, so as to render it consistent with 
 the best interests of his kingdom to grant salvation 
 to sinners, who penitently confess, and forsake 
 their sins, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. To secure the application of that salvation 
 to sinners : which is effected by the agency of 
 the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the 
 revealed word of God. This agency is one of 
 the " gifts" procured by the death and intercession 
 of Christ. 
 
 And with regard to the design of the religion of 
 the Bible, she believed that it was not simply to 
 procure pardon, or the mere forgiveness of sins. 
 But that there is, if we may so speak, a higher 
 and nobler end to be accomplished, namely, the 
 
Ob MEMOIR OF 
 
 restoration of the image of God to the soul of sin- 
 ful man ; to secure, by a process suited to the na- 
 ture of man, his recovery to a life of obedience 
 and holiness, begun in his present state of exist- 
 ence, and which will be completed before he en- 
 ters the gates of the New Jerusalem. Pardon 
 and holiness are inseparably connected in this glo- 
 rious plan of salvation — a plan fully suited to the 
 spiritual wants of mankind. And he who desires 
 to have the one, must be willing to receive with it 
 the other. 
 
 Holding these views, which are so clearly 
 taught in the word of God, she set out in the 
 christian course, and persevered in it, with the 
 conviction that much as she needed pardon, — 
 Avhich she sought in the way, made known in the 
 Bible, viz : by repentance towards God and faith 
 towards our Lord Jesus Christ, — she also needed 
 the renovation of her heart, and its entire sanctifi- 
 cation by the Spirit and grace of God. And she 
 sought this with the whole heart. To become 
 conformed to the measure of holy obedience which 
 God has required in his laws, and above all, has 
 given in the life of his blessed Son, appeared to 
 her to be the most desirable object in the world. 
 
 She sought this growth in grace and con- 
 formity to the will of God, as the grand object 
 and business of life. To become holy as God is 
 holy, was, in her view, the only end at which an 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 57 
 
 intelligent and accountable being should aim. 
 She used the appropriate means to approxi- 
 mate, and finally reach, this desirable consum- 
 mation. For this purpose, she was abundant in 
 prayer, fasting, reading the word of God, medita- 
 tion and reflection, watchfulness, hearing the Word 
 dispensed in the sanctuary, &c. She believed 
 that if she would make progress in holiness, she 
 must constantly, humbly, and in reliance upon the 
 grace of God, use the divinely appointed means 
 through which, with the aid of God's Spirit, she 
 might, and did obtain those measures of know- 
 ledge, peace, purity, and love, which elevate and 
 refine the affections, enlighten the understanding, 
 and sweetly, and delightfully bring the will into a 
 blessed coincidence with the will of God. And 
 whilst she rejected one Antinomian error, and 
 it is one of almost universal practical operation in 
 the church in these times, viz : that religion con- 
 sists in the pardon of sin, she did not less abhor an- 
 other error of the same origin, viz : that progress 
 in holiness is the mere sovereign gift of God, 
 bestowed, as the rain of heaven, without any con- 
 nexion with human effort to obtain it. She held 
 no such doctrine as this. She believed that it 
 was her duty to seek eminent attainments in piety 
 — not as a matter of boasting, or a ground of de- 
 pendance, — but as a duty, a -privilege, not less com- 
 manded by her heavenly Father, than required by 
 
58 KEIOIB 1 
 
 the very nature of the human soul, which cannot 
 find happiness but in proportion to its approxima- 
 tion to a blessed conformity to the image of its 
 Maker, portrayed in his word, and exemplified in 
 the life of Jesus Christ. She imitated Paul, and 
 Edwards, and Brainerd, and Martvn, and Mrs. 
 Graham, and Mrs. Newell, and Mrs. Hunting- 
 don, and many others, who attained to a desTee 
 of piety, — not evinced by spiritual pride, but 
 by humility — which but few, comparatively, 
 of christians do attain. And how did they 
 attain it ? Not by sitting down in slothfulness, 
 but by aiming at it, and by seeking it, in the 
 use of the means which God has enjoined, 
 with all diligence, and in reliance upon divine 
 grace. And it ought not to be a matter of won- 
 der to any one who reads their lives, that they 
 became eminently devoted christians. Behold 
 how they prayed, attended upon the ordinal. 
 God's house, studied his word, fasted, and 
 watched over their hearts and lives ! 
 
 AVith such views of religion and of duty, did 
 Miss Linnard commence her christian course, 
 and in them, she persevered to the end. Reli- 
 gion, personal religion, was the business of every 
 day. It is not intended to assert that she did not 
 come short very often, — indeed, daily and hourly — 
 of what she knew she ought to be. This fact she 
 constantly lamented. She felt that she came far, 
 
A N X A JANE LI X X A R D. 59 
 
 very far. short of that holy and reasonable rule of 
 duty which God has given in his moral law. 
 
 She had the most exalted ideas of the perfection 
 which it requires of us, and she was humbled in 
 the dust in view of her deficiency. In her diary- 
 she notes down, with much particularity, her de- 
 fects, with the view, undoubtedly, of holding 
 them up to her own contemplation, and in order 
 to confess them before God, and to seek His grace 
 to enable her to overcome them. Some extracts 
 will be given, which will show to every reader the 
 great faithfulness, and even severity, with which 
 she examined herself, and noted her failures in 
 duty, as well as the intimate knowledge which 
 she had of the deceitfulness and depravity of the 
 human heart. 
 
 On the 18th of March, 1823, she wrote in her 
 diary as follows : 
 
 " Suffered self-indulgence to defraud me of half 
 an hour this morning, and when I did rise, was 
 cold and stupid. Contrary to expectation, had a 
 gracious audience at the throne of grace. Some 
 life whilst reading the Scriptures, and felt its in- 
 fluence on my heart through the day. Committed 
 a part of a chapter of the Epistle to Titus. Felt 
 some tenderness of spirit during the day. but no 
 fixedness of mind. Oh that my heart were not 
 so wandering, but were entirely abstracted from 
 the things of this world, and set on things above ! 
 
60 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Lost time by loitering after dinner. Read Thomas 
 a Kempis with some improvement, and think I 
 can say that I rejoiced in the will of God being 
 done in me. Lost time and a serious sense of 
 divine things. Have not profited by last night's 
 examination. My soul feels its guiltiness, yet is 
 not sensibly affected by it. Alas ! how does sin 
 harden the heart !" 
 
 On another day she wrote as follows : 
 " Rose as usual, stupid, and felt entirely desti- 
 tute of spiritual life or strength. In prayer, en- 
 deavour to give myself away to God in an unre- 
 served manner. Read the Scriptures with very 
 little improvement, and again implored a portion 
 of the children's bread. Went down stairs hum- 
 bled, and laboured during the morning to fix my 
 thoughts on heavenly things, but found it difficult 
 to do it for any length of time. The passage 
 committed on Tuesday, afforded me some affect- 
 ing ideas ; yet, for want of retaining them, lost 
 much of the benefit. Contrary to my intention, 
 engaged in conversation not of the most profitable 
 kind. I lament my backwardness to introduce 
 religious conversation, yet seldom feel resolution 
 to engage in it, particularly, in the family. ' Out 
 of thy mouth shalt thou be judged.' Oh, what 
 will become of such a creature as I am ! Lost 
 time in loitering after dinner. Evening. Have 
 not had a warm sense of God's goodness in tern- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 01 
 
 poral and spiritual mercies. What an ungrateful 
 heart is mine, and what wonderful long-suffering 
 is exercised toward me !" 
 
 On another page of her diary is the following 
 notice of her feelings. It was intended to be a me- 
 morandum of her deficiencies, when her heart and 
 conduct were weighed in the " balance of the sanc- 
 tuary." " Felt drowsy this morning, and lost so 
 much time in sleep that I had not time for my de- 
 votions before breakfast. Resolved to make more 
 exertion in this respect. After breakfast read a 
 portion of Hezekiah's history, with some improve- 
 ment. Was enabled to feel some earnest desires in 
 prayer. Felt willing, I think, to yield myself en- 
 tirely up to God. Endeavoured to watch against 
 a trifling spirit, and was in some measure success- 
 ful. In company, desirous of guarding against vain 
 conversation ; but whilst conversing on serious 
 things, felt the risings of self-complacency. For a 
 few moments had considerable freedom at the 
 throne of grace. Walking out, lost the sense of 
 God in my soul. Oh for a heart lifted up above the 
 power of earthly things to distract. Drank tea at 
 
 S B . Could not enter upon spiritual 
 
 conversation by reason of my backward heart. 
 Attended prayer-meeting. I seldom attain to any 
 fixedness of mind in these duties, but am generally 
 troubled with vain, wandering thoughts and imagi- 
 nations, owing, in a great degree, I believe, to my 
 
 F 
 
62 MEMOIR OF 
 
 want of watchfulness, prejudices, nicety of taste, 
 &c. Oh my God, have mercy upon me for these 
 sins. I felt deeply guilty, yet not broken hearted. 
 Had been indulging in self-complacency during the 
 evening : had also felt happy in believing the work 
 of sanctification progressing. But how am I taught 
 my own vileness ! After having thus mocked God, 
 I felt little disposed to secret duty, and was tempted 
 to omit it. But it occurred to me, that to keep me 
 from the place of pardon, would be all that Satan 
 could desire ; and while persevering, I felt some 
 melting of heart in pleading for forgiveness. — Ob- 
 servation. That sin has a surprizing tendency 
 to harden the heart : I find myself always harder 
 when conscience has been grieved." 
 
 Again, she wrote the following excellent remarks 
 upon the events of one day. " Rose later than 
 usual, and in an unthankful, stupid frame. At- 
 tempted to engage in prayer, but was wandering 
 and cold, could not realize the presence of God, or 
 breathe out one desire after Him. I can generally 
 form some idea of what the day will be, from the 
 manner in which devotion is performed in the 
 morning. As I was unrefreshed this morning, so 
 I have been weak and helpless through the day, 
 and felt entirely destitute of strength to strive 
 against my besetting sin — particularly my slothful, 
 loitering disposition. 
 
 " Read the Scriptures without any life, more as a 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 63 
 
 form than any thing else. Studied the Bible lesson 
 and attended the class. Of all my besetting sins 
 this is, I think, the most deeply rooted ; this desire 
 to appear well, and to receive honour from human 
 beings, continually intrudes into my thoughts, and 
 destroys the life of my duties. 
 
 " Attended prayer meeting without proper prepa- 
 ration, and endeavoured, in vain, whilst there, to ex- 
 cite my affections, and raise my cold heart from 
 earth to heaven. Lead in prayer with much ap- 
 parent warmth and enlargment of heart, but very 
 little internal affection. How detestable must I ap- 
 pear in the sight of the Great Searcher of hearts ! 
 From my procrastinating spirit lost time for self- 
 examination, did not feel suitably a sense of my de- 
 pravity, and in family prayer was very stupid and 
 formal. Oh, wretched being that I am ! who shall 
 deliver me ? Went to rest, as might be supposed, 
 after such a day, distressed, but not truly contrite." 
 
 We shall give but one more extract from her 
 diary at this point in the memoir. It is as follows : 
 " Sabbath. In prayer this morning, was sensible 
 of more affection than I had expected. Read a por- 
 tion of the Scriptures in too hurried a manner to 
 derive much profit. During the prayer meeting 
 felt some life. In church was much touched with 
 my besetting sin : yet I trust it had not the victory 
 over me. By asking assistance, I was enabled, in 
 some degree, to mortify it. Resolved, by partial 
 
64 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fasting and prayer to humble myself before God. 
 Spent the time of the intermission profitably, con- 
 fessed, and wept over my sins." 
 
 This is a specimen of what her diary contains. 
 It is a faithful record of her deficiencies, with no in- 
 tention that it should be seen by any human eye, 
 but that it might be a perpetual remembrancer, that 
 she might contemplate them, pray and fast over 
 them, and through God's grace obtain the victory 
 over them. " Remembering mine affliction and 
 my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul 
 hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in 
 me. This I recall to my mind, therefore, have I hope. 
 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not con- 
 sumed, because his compassions fail not." And 
 this victory she did gain to an uncommon degree ; 
 though, in her own view, she seemed to make little 
 progress in holiness. 
 
 We have given the foregoing extracts from Miss 
 Linnard's diary for the purpose of showing, 1 . The 
 great sensibility of conscience which she possessed, 
 and which led her to detect the slightest deviation 
 in her affections or conduct, from what she believed 
 to be the requirements of God's holy law. 2. Her 
 rigid and uncompromising fidelity as displayed in 
 her severe self-condemnation for the slightest omis- 
 sion of any known duty, or the secret risings of 
 pride or vanity. 3. Her great abhorrence of all 
 sin, and her deep humiliation on account of her de- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD, 65 
 
 ficiencies. Here is no concealment or palliation. 
 All is acknowledged, and condemned, and wept over, 
 and resolved against. 4. Her unwearied pains to 
 overcome, what she called her besetting sins, pride, 
 fastidiousness, vanity, and slothfulness : sins which 
 intimate friends would have been slow to charge 
 her with after her conversion. As to slothfulness, 
 which she often mentions in her diary, and mourns 
 over, there is no one, who, if he knew all the facts 
 in her history, after she became a Christian, would 
 not say that he has seldom, if ever, heard of a per- 
 son in her circumstances, who laboured more inde- 
 fatigably than she did, until she was called to give 
 up her stewardship, for the temporal and eternal 
 welfare of mankind. She literally ivore out life in the 
 service of her Saviour, as will appear in the sequel. 
 There are three classes of persons who will 
 read the extracts which have been given from Miss 
 Linnard's diary, with widely different feelings, and 
 form very different opinions respecting them. One 
 is composed of those who are avowedly unconverted. 
 Such persons, having never had any correct idea 
 of sin, and having never analyzed the motives 
 which are the springs of their actions, cannot at 
 all enter into the feelings and views of the subject 
 of this memoir. They will be likely to look 
 upon this portion of the book as exceedingly 
 disagreeable. The entire nature of sin, and of 
 its intrinsic evil and odiousness, as well as the na- 
 f 2 
 
66 * M E M I R OF 
 
 ture of holiness and its desirableness, are subjects 
 of which they have no proper conceptions. An- 
 other class consists of nominal professors of religion, 
 and such as know but little of the power of religion, 
 or the depravity of their own hearts. They have 
 a religion which has given them but little trouble, 
 and knowing nothing of the spiritual warfare with 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil, which every 
 one who seeks for entire deliverance from sin must 
 incessantly wage, the language which Miss Lin- 
 nard uses is all a mystery to them. 
 
 The third class consists of those who have ex- 
 perienced the renewal of the heart »by the Spirit of 
 God, and who, having tasted the comfort which 
 flows alone from purity of heart, and supreme love 
 to God, and obedience to his will, can readily enter 
 into the meaning of the language which she em- 
 ploys. They know what the Christian warfare is. 
 They know what the " plague of the heart" signi- 
 fies. They, too, mourn over the depravity of their 
 hearts, and daily cry to God for complete deliver- 
 ance from the power and pollution of sin, as well 
 as from the condemnation and ruin which, when 
 unpardoned, it occasions. 
 
 Miss Linnard was in the habit of frequently set- 
 ting apart special days for fasting and prayer, be- 
 sides observing those which were appointed by the 
 civil or ecclesiastical authorities. The observance 
 of such days she found to be a source of rich bless- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 67 
 
 ing to her soul. Respecting one of them (the 
 3d of September, 1823) she wrote as follows, and 
 it is only quoted as containing a statement of the 
 motives which led her to the observance of such 
 days. " I have set apart this day for humbling 
 myself before God, by fasting and prayer. I have 
 for some weeks been oppressed with a sense of 
 guilt which has weighed me down. The remem- 
 brance of my sins has been grievous, and the bur- 
 den of them too intolerable to be borne. And in 
 looking into my heart, I felt that there was a call 
 for some deep expression of penitence and sorrow. 
 For several months, instead of making progress in 
 spiritual life, I fear I have been declining. I have 
 backslidden with a perpetual backsliding." 
 
 In addition to this, it was her practice to devote 
 the first day of every year to special prayer, and 
 sometimes made memoranda of her feelings on 
 those solemn occasions. We give a few of these 
 annual notices, which, besides giving an account 
 of her religious feelings and views during each 
 past year in succession, also contain many excel- 
 lent remarks on points of general interest. 
 
 January 1, 1824. " This is the beginning of a 
 new year. O my soul, what hast thou been doing 
 in the time that is past ? Ah me ! the review af- 
 fords but little pleasure. The same ground has 
 been gone over, sinning, repenting, resolving, yet 
 sinning. I have broken very many resolutions. I 
 
68 MEMOIR OF 
 
 have omitted very many duties, and committed very 
 many and greatly aggravated sins. And, if my 
 heart was not exceedingly hard, and my conscienc e 
 very stupid, I do think I should be almost crushed 
 to the earth, under the recollection of them. I can 
 not perceive that I have made much advancement 
 in the divine life ; or that I have really gained any 
 victory over my sins. I feel in my heart, this day, 
 the workings of a most corrupt nature. I do not 
 know that I am any more humble, or any less de- 
 sirous of vain glory, than heretofore. And yet, let 
 me not sink into despondency. I think that I have 
 acquired some more knowledge of myself. And 
 though I have obtained no sensible advantage over 
 sin, yet my hungerings and thirstings after righte- 
 ousness have been greatly increased. Generally, I 
 have had a spirit of fervent prayer. I have been 
 helped to engage more in religious duties, particu- 
 larly in set meditation ; not so much for a month or 
 two past as before. I feel sometimes — most gene- 
 rally, I think, in private prayer — as though I could 
 breathe my very soul out at the feet of Jesus. I 
 have enjoyed much comfort, too, in church ; in se- 
 cret prayer ; in reading the Scriptures ; in medita- 
 tion on God and heaven. I have been exceedingly 
 elevated and enlarged, so much so, that I have been, 
 at times, almost overwhelmed with the views I have 
 had. 
 
 " There is one thing, I think, I have attained in 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 69 
 
 the year — that is, a great love to the Scriptures. 
 They are applied to my heart in a peculiar manner. 
 I delight in them. They are no longer dry and 
 uninteresting ; but there is a life and spirit in them 
 which I never experienced before. I have been ex- 
 ercised much with a sense of the divine presence, 
 and have found it a great benefit to me. I think, 
 also, I have experienced something of the fear of 
 God ; a frequent sense of the divine majesty in re- 
 ligious services, and a deeper reverence in engaging 
 in duty ; also, within four or five months past, a 
 spirit of praise, and much comfort in it. 
 
 " In closing the year, I have most abundant rea- 
 son for thankfulness. Blessing and praise be unto 
 the Lord, but unto me, shame and confusion of face ! 
 How bountifully hath he dealt with me, and how 
 illy have I requited his favours ! My temporal 
 mercies have been very great. Our family have all 
 been continued in health. No distressing, dan- 
 gerous diseases, or painful, anxious watchings. 
 Death hath made no inroads, with the exception of 
 an infant, which died in the summer. And we are 
 all, this New Year, the living to praise the Lord. 
 We have been fed, and clothed, and sheltered ; 
 been preserved from all dangers and disturbances ; 
 restrained from sin; cherished and supported. 
 Above all, we have witnessed very favourable ap- 
 pearances in one who has been the object of much 
 
70 MEMOIR OP 
 
 solicitude and prayer. Here, then, may I raise my 
 Ebenezer. Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. 
 
 "Closed the last year, and commenced this, in a 
 prayer-meeting, at which I felt a great deal of 
 solemnity. Yet I had not that feeling of nearness 
 to Christ, or of the presence of the Spirit, which 
 often render those meetings so profitable. After- 
 wards, when speaking of deficiencies, I detected a 
 very subtle working of pride. At family worship, 
 very cold and wandering. Had to allow but little 
 time, after returning home, for devotion. Felt great 
 earnestness in praying for spiritual blessings. In 
 church, had a good deal of wandering of mind in 
 prayer, and some warmth of affection. Sermon 
 from the text, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us ;" 
 which I enjoyed ; and felt I had need to, and my 
 heart did, raise an Ebenezer. Spent the afternoon 
 in my chamber, in serious duties. Felt very ur- 
 gent for sanctifying grace. I feel sometimes as if 
 my sins would overwhelm me, and sink me into 
 despair. I pray for deliverance from my besetting 
 sin, and, perhaps, while I am rising from my knees, 
 I perceive it rising in my heart, and I know not 
 what to do. It was the case this afternoon. In 
 reflecting on the Lord's mercies, I experienced 
 some grateful emotions." 
 
 January 1, 1825. " Spent the closing hours of 
 the last year, and commenced this, with a religious 
 society. The exercises were solemn, and my 
 
ANNA JANE LINNAED. 71 
 
 heart was considerably engaged, yet so much op- 
 pressed with a sense of guilt, that I knew not what 
 to do. It seemed to me that I would gladly have 
 been trampled under feet — I felt my ill-desert so 
 strongly that I almost desired to have it. I doubt 
 whether it was true contrition : probably only the 
 actings of an awakened conscience. 
 
 " Attended worship this morning in a very dead, 
 cold frame, and of course was but little benefitted. 
 Have been settling my year's account with my soul. 
 And alas, alas, what do I find? Sin, sin, sin.' 
 
 " In the early part of the year my heart began 
 to wander from God, in the neglect of a duty to 
 which it has always been averse, but which I am 
 convinced is a means of grace — spiritual medita- 
 tion. When diligently attended to, my soul has a 
 life, an elevation, which it has at no other time. 
 But I have passed by stated times for it, day after 
 day, without one hour spent thus with God. The 
 drawings and sensible calls of the Spirit to my re- 
 tirement have been wilfully resisted. And yet, 
 occasionally, when my soul has obeyed, what joy, 
 what fulness of joy have I experienced ! Yet I 
 have been thus ungrateful. 
 
 " Through the winter those omissions were not 
 so frequent as afterwards. In the spring, my heart 
 was also much drawn away with the desire of 
 other things. Worldly thoughts and matters en- 
 grossed much of my time. Through the heat of 
 
72 MEMOIR OF 
 
 summer, instead of using double exertion and exer- 
 cising greater watchfulness, yielded to a spirit of 
 sloth and self-indulgence. This sloth, I think, is 
 the great enemy of my soul — the right eye, the 
 right hand. Lord, impress deeply on me the ne- 
 cessity of subduing it, and casting it from me for 
 ever ! 
 
 " Have been much troubled of late with evil 
 tempers. Here is evidence of declension. I have 
 become more irritable and less forbearing, and often 
 sensible of an ungentle spirit. Have not resisted it — 
 have by no means done all that in me lay to conquer 
 it. Besides, have been very superficial in daily 
 self-examination. It has been hurried over in such 
 a manner as not to benefit me. 
 
 " I have failed greatly in relative duties ; have 
 been far from a right spirit towards my inferiors, 
 superiors, or equals, coming short in every thing. 
 Wandering thoughts have made great inroads on 
 my devotions. I have set apart several days, be- 
 sides those before communions, for fasting and 
 prayer; yet seemed to have gained but little 
 strength. 
 
 " On the whole, I cannot perceive that I have 
 made the least progress, but the contrary, unless 
 it be that I think I have learned more of the nature 
 of faith, and have been more sensible of its actings. 
 When often burdened and oppressed with a sense 
 of sin, I have been conscious, (if I am not deceived,) 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 73 
 
 of a direct acting of faith on the sacrifice and pro- 
 pitiation for sin, and an application of it to my 
 soul, and have felt peace and comfort in be- 
 lieving." 
 
 January 1, 1827. "On looking back on the 
 dealings of God with my soul, and my perverse 
 way before Him, I have much reason, on one 
 hand, for gratitude, and on the other, for deep 
 humiliation and sorrow. During the first two 
 months of the year, my time was chiefly occupied 
 in the sick room of my dear sister Mary.* It 
 pleased the Lord to chasten us very severely in 
 her, and, in March, to remove her from us. But 
 not unmingled with mercy was the blow. And 
 though it be painful to recall those agonizing hours 
 here, let me record the goodness and faithfulness 
 of the prayer-hearing and covenant-keeping God. 
 
 " Her mind was greatly disturbed with doubts 
 and fears and gloomy anticipation, on the approach 
 of the last enemy. Her hopes all fled, and her 
 agony of mind was extreme. Her expressions of 
 anguish rent my heart; yet still I was endued 
 with strength and fortitude. My only refuge was 
 
 * This amiable and interesting young lady was awak- 
 ened by the death of her sister Susan, and still more 
 deeply impressed, by the sudden death of a cousin, a few 
 weeks afterwards. She joined the Sixth Presbyterian 
 Church in the summer of 1820. 
 
74 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Israel's God. To Him we cried, and He heard 
 and delivered. Encouraged by his promises, a 
 few dear friends assembled in an adjoining room 
 to plead for mercy. That old saint of God, Mr. 
 Joseph Eastbum, was sent for. They engaged 
 earnestly in prayer together for some time. But 
 still the darkness remained. That night, how- 
 ever, the Sun of Righteousness, we trust, arose 
 with healing in his beams. Her fears were all 
 removed, and she found peace in believing — a 
 peace which continued for the few days she re- 
 mained, and armed her against all the terrors of 
 death and the grave." 
 
 The remainder of this annual memorandum is 
 taken up with severe self-condemnation for allow- 
 ing herself to lose so much of the benefit which this 
 affliction was designed to accomplish for her soul 
 — for the wandering of her affections from God to 
 created objects — for occasionally unguarded and 
 harsh expressions of opinion respecting others — 
 for indulgence, sometimes, in vain imaginations — 
 for want of a vigorous exercise of love to God 
 and man, faith, &c. All these sins she attributes 
 to a want of watchfulness, fasting, and prayer, 
 and, especially, meditation on divine things. 
 Upon the whole, she considered herself as not 
 having lived as near to God, nor having attained 
 to the degrees of comfort and joy, during the last 
 two preceding years, as in former days. She 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 75 
 
 closed the review of the year with thanksgivings 
 to God for his great forbearance and mercy. 
 
 January 1, 1828. "Another year has flown 
 rapidly, how rapidly, away. Yet I am still in 
 the land of the living, in the land of hope, and of 
 mercy. Here let me look back on the days that 
 are past, and let my soul impartially answer the 
 question, "How is it with thee?" Alas! how 
 melancholy is the review ! What do I see, but 
 days of sin, and months of guilt ! 
 
 " The state of mind spoken of in the beginning 
 of the year, (referring to the last annual record) 
 continued some time ; and yet I did long earnestly 
 for reviving influences, and seemed to feel, in 
 some measure, my need of them. My mind was 
 a good deal absorbed in a little work which I then 
 commenced, so that, though I mourned my state, 
 I was not led to those means which might have 
 been instrumental in awakening my slumbering 
 soul, until March, when on hearing of the work 
 of God in W — , I, by invitation, repaired thither. 
 
 " I cannot exactly describe the state of feeling 
 which succeeded, because I was then, and am still 
 now, at a loss to decide whether it was the result 
 of spiritual influences, or mere animal excitement. 
 At any rate, I began to feel more deeply, more in- 
 tensely, anxious for the conversion of sinners, and 
 the revival of religion in our own city, than I had 
 done." 
 
76 MEMOIR OF 
 
 She proceeds to remark, that she fell into, what 
 we apprehend, is a very common error with 
 Christians during revivals of religion, and which 
 is one cause, both of the shortness of the blessed 
 work, and of their own loss of spirituality and 
 comfort, viz : that of " being too much in public 
 duties, and too little in those of the closet." She 
 also gives an account of the efforts which she, and 
 a number of others, made for the promotion of 
 religion in Philadelphia, upon her return from W. 
 And whilst she approves of what was done, yet 
 laments that there was so much dependence upon 
 a human arm, instead of God alone ; a remark 
 which throws some light upon a fact which she 
 goes on to state. 
 
 " The history of that period in our church was 
 rather singular. A considerable number of per- 
 sons were half-awakened, and for a short time ap- 
 peared in a hopeful state. But, contrary to our 
 expectations, the partial excitement soon died 
 away, without any permanent results. Great 
 guilt is, no doubt, attached to the church for refus- 
 ing to come up fully to the work of the Lord." 
 
 She then proceeds to describe the state of cold- 
 ness and destitution of spiritual enjoyment which 
 succeeded, and the manner in which she found re- 
 lief from it. 
 
 " My own mind, during the summer, seemed 
 again to sink into its old apathetic state. I felt 
 
ANNA JANE-LINNARD. 77 
 
 much distressed about it at times. One day, in 
 August, after having suffered my thoughts to run 
 after vanity, towards evening I was led to reflect 
 on my present unprofitableness and folly. Con- 
 science awoke and stung me to the very soul. 
 My distress became great, and yet it was not a 
 godly sort of sorrow, an ingenuous melting of soul, 
 but a kind of hard, remorseful feeling, which I am 
 not a stranger to. I endeavoured to come to Christ 
 afresh, to throw myself again on his mercy, and 
 take a new hold of his covenant, but in vain. It 
 seemed as though I could have as soon removed a 
 mighty mountain, as to have put forth one act of 
 faith. 
 
 " This state of feeling continued a day or two. 
 One evening I repaired to my chamber, deter- 
 mined, if possible, to get rid of my burden before 
 leaving it. My mind was as distressed and har- 
 dened as ever. Then commenced a mighty strug- 
 gle. My spirit grappled with unbelief and sin. 
 I felt as if my eternal all was at stake. I prayed 
 in an agony. And yet I obtained no relief. It 
 seemed as if a wall of iron was between me and 
 Christ, and as though it was impossible either to 
 surmount it, or break through it. But blessed be 
 God, I was at last, after perhaps an hour and a 
 half, enabled to take new hold by faith of Christ 
 as my Saviour, to throw myself once more at the 
 foot of his cross, and lay my guilty soul under its 
 g2 
 
78 MEMOIR OF 
 
 droppings. My burden was removed, and a mea- 
 sure of peace was restored. The way of access 
 to God seemed clear and plain, and I rejoiced in 
 it with joy unspeakable. The grace of God in 
 making such a provision, and the love of Christ 
 seemed so to draw forth my admiration, that self 
 was entirely forgotten. The more I looked, the 
 more I loved and praised. And in the increased 
 transport of my soul I praised God aloud. I do 
 not remember ever having had just such a season. 
 
 " I did not know, afterwards, whether I had not 
 suffered myself to rise to too great a pitch of ani- 
 mal excitement; and whether my joy would not 
 have proved more salutary and permanent, if the 
 expression of it had been calmer and less tumultu- 
 ous." 
 
 We think that no one can read the preceding 
 extracts from Miss Linnard's private record of her 
 feelings and resolutions, without being greatly be- 
 nefitted. And may we not add, that it is probable 
 that some professors who read them will be deeply 
 concerned for their own want of that keen sensibi- 
 lity of conscience, that rigid determination to de- 
 tect and conquer every sin, however subtle its 
 character, and latent its influence, which is so clear- 
 ly manifested in these brief notices, written by her 
 own pen, and in the sacred privacy of her closet, 
 and with no eye but God's fixed upon her? 
 
 The only other extracts which it is proposed to 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 79 
 
 give from her diary, are the following. They were 
 written at different times, as the dates will show. 
 
 " Saturday evening, April 26, 1828. I can 
 scarcely ascertain, or describe, the present state of 
 my soul. There seems that sort of indistinctness 
 in my feelings and exercises, that it is difficult to 
 come at a knowledge of their true character. Of 
 one thing I am certain, that mine is a very sad 
 state of declension. I am not what I once was : 
 and Oh, from what have I fallen, and to what ! 
 The spirit of slumber seems to have gotten pos- 
 session of me. I feel an overpowering lethargy 
 of soul from which I cannot arouse. I am motive- 
 less, and almost, as to any spiritual action, motion- 
 less. If there is any grace in me it has the feeble- 
 ness of infancy, or rather, the weakness of expiring 
 age. As to my faith in regard to the presence of 
 God, Oh, how exceedingly weak it is ! I have not 
 that habitual, realizing sense of his presence that I 
 once had. He has scarcely an existence, as to 
 any consciousness which I have of it. At times it 
 is not so ; but generally I do not feel God near. 
 What an atheist I am ! 
 
 "August, 1828. I have been spending two 
 months in Maryland, and returned much recruited 
 in health, and, consequently, in spirits. The state 
 of my mind was owing greatly to that of my body ; 
 and yet I feel criminal, as the bodily affection was 
 induced, in a measure, if not wholly, by mental 
 
80 MEMOIR OF 
 
 depression. My " gourd" withered, and like Jonah, 
 because I could not have my will, I sat down 
 grieved and vexed, and caring for nothing but my 
 own disappointment. Oh, what a heart ! 
 
 " I found a change in scene and air beneficial : 
 enjoyed many seasons of sweet refreshment in the 
 country, in communion with the God of nature 
 and of grace. Whilst there, from want of watchful- 
 ness, fell into sin, which grieved my conscience, 
 very much, and what is worse, grieved the blessed 
 Spirit, and provoked him to depart for a season. 
 But he who, I trust, loved me from the beginning, 
 brought me back in the old covenant way, and a 
 blessed way it is ! The rod and stripes are with- 
 in those provisions by which the people of God 
 are kept through his power from final apostasy 
 and ruin. 
 
 "January 2, 1831. Almost two years since 
 the last record ! How astonishing the flight of 
 time ! It seems scarcely one fourth of it. I am 
 no longer a babe of days, but a professor of nearly 
 ten years standing. In looking back through that 
 period, I see much of God's goodness. His mercies 
 have been new every evening, and repeated every 
 morning. I can say, " great has been his faithful- 
 ness." Even during the last twelve months, how 
 many instances of his loving kindness and tender 
 favours have we experienced. We have had much 
 sickness, but, except in the case of one infant, no 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 81 
 
 deaths. The Lord has spared the members of our 
 family, and in regard to the impenitent ones, we 
 feel it a special mercy, for which I here record my 
 unfeigned gratitude. Oh that I could say, I have 
 returned according to the benefits received. Alas! 
 alas ! I feel that I have most basely requited my 
 kindest Friend and Benefactor. I have been like a 
 deceitful bow, continually turning aside. The 
 Lord has visited my soul, and then I have promis- 
 ed to be more faithful, and perhaps for a little 
 season have been more diligent in duty ; but then 
 I have quickly forgotten my resolution, and again 
 relapsed into my old slothful habits, and thus 
 grieved away the gracious Visitant who is so wil- 
 ling to make my heart his constant abode. Shall 
 my religious course never be more steady ? 
 
 " I have had greater discoveries of the plague of 
 my own heart, within this year, than I ever had be- 
 fore. But what comfort is it to know our disease, 
 unless we know and feel the remedy ? I know 
 what that remedy is, but I experience so little of its 
 efficacy, that I am sometimes tempted to despair of 
 ever feeling its healing power. My Lord ! apply 
 that precious balm, thine own blood. It cleanses 
 from all sin. Oh let me know its virtue. 
 
 " I have been sealing my covenant with God 
 again, to day, in the Rev. Dr. Skinner's church. A 
 very sweet, solemn time. During the sermon I 
 felt much love to Christ, in view of his unspeak- 
 
82 MEMOIR OF 
 
 able love to us, and a willingness to bind myself 
 by the strongest obligation to be forever his. It 
 was a profitable communion, and I felt thankful 
 that I had thought of going thither. 
 
 " 5th. Was at a very solemn meeting last night in 
 the Rev. Dr. M' Auley's church. It was the second 
 one of the kind which have been held by a number 
 of ministers for the purpose of stirring up the 
 minds of Christians to prayer and supplication, on 
 account of the lamentable state of religion through 
 this Presbytery, accompanied with humiliating 
 confessions from the clergymen, and earnest ex- 
 hortations to professors to look well into the state 
 of their own souls. It is, indeed, a day of rebuke: 
 and, if ever, the present time calls for deep humi- 
 liation and mourning. Ministers divided — Chris- 
 tians cold, lukewarm, worldly, distracted in opin- 
 ion, and too divided in feeling — impenitent sinners, 
 secure in their sins, and triumphing, and stumbling 
 over the faults of professing Christians ! Oh, surely 
 this is a time for fasting and prayer. Felt inclined 
 to spend to-day in this manner, and was, I think 
 uncommonly assisted in duty. 
 
 " Began with my own heart first. Endeavour- 
 ed to examine it by the law of God. Tried my 
 thoughts, feelings, and conduct, by this holy stand- 
 ard, in regard : 1st. of my duty to God ; 2d. to man. 
 I found abundant reason for deep self-abasement, 
 and though I confessed my sin, and tried to be 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 83 
 
 humbled, yet I am conscious that my feelings of 
 sorrow and self-loathing were inconceivably dis- 
 proportionate, to what the case demanded. Such 
 a sinner as I convicted myself of being, ought to 
 have been in the very depth. Took a view also 
 of the sins of our family, their ingratitude under 
 mercies, neglect of privileges, &c. Confessed 
 them, and endeavoured to mourn over them. Like- 
 wise of the sins of the church, the scandals recently 
 brought upon the cause, coldness of professors, 
 unbelief, &c. &c. 
 
 " Although my exercises were no doubt greatly 
 defective, yet I felt that I was not mocking God. 
 My heart was burdened with these things. I think 
 that I sincerely mourned before Him. The duty 
 of fasting never seemed so entirely in place, has 
 seldom proved so profitable. Attended meeting, 
 subject, "Evidences of a close walk with God." 
 Found evidences enough that mine was any thing 
 else than a close walk. 
 
 8th. " Saturday. In rather a dull frame, I 
 opened the Bible at Mark. Whilst medita- 
 ting on that miracle,* — the faith that was requir- 
 ed of the parent of the child, — I was led to feel, 
 in a deeper manner than I ever did before, the 
 importance of faith, the necessity of faith in 
 
 * The miracle referred to is related in Mark ix. 17—30. 
 
84 MEMOIROF 
 
 prayer. I knelt down and felt that Christ was 
 really, though spiritually, present. Preferred my 
 request and essayed to exercise faith, a belief that 
 he had power, and would grant my requests. One 
 was the poor trembling father's petition, 'Help 
 my unbelief.' Another was for more sanctification. 
 Another, the conversion of dear relatives. Ah me, 
 it is a desperate thing to cast all into the hands of 
 Christ, simply believing. We are hardly aware 
 of the degree of our unbelief, till we make the at- 
 tempt to obey Christ's word — only believe. So I 
 found it. It seems to me that He will answer my 
 prayers. He did, in a manner, answer one. Oh, 
 if my faith were stronger, less mixed, what might 
 not I receive ! 
 
 " 9th. Sunday. Have been endeavouring this 
 evening to answer the question ' Am I a Chris- 
 tian?' by examining myself with the following texts: 
 
 1. < Whoso is born of God doth not commit sin.' 
 
 2. ' He that doeth righteousness is righteous.' 3. 
 'He that is begotten of God loveth him that 
 begat.' 
 
 " I decided, first from Scripture and facts, that 
 John did not teach, that to be born of God, meant 
 to be brought into a state of sinless perfection. 
 There can be no other consistent interpretation, 
 than the one which I ha\e heard to day: viz. that 
 a child of God does not wilfully, knowingly, and 
 habitually sin. Found some difficulty with this, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 85 
 
 when I recollect how often T loiter away my time, 
 which I know to be sinful. 
 
 " Saturday. Being interrupted at the time of writ- 
 ing the above, I am not able now to retrace the 
 process by which I arrived at the conclusion, that 
 though very imperfect and sinful, I was really a 
 child of God. The evening was a profitable one, 
 and left a solemn savour on my mind. I do not 
 lind that evidences of a state of grace have any 
 thing like a tendency to exalt or puff me up with 
 pride." 
 
 The extracts which have been given from Miss 
 Linnard's diary, were written at different times, 
 through a period of nearly ten years, being almost 
 the whole period of her life after conversion. A 
 remark may be here made, which has probably oc- 
 curred to the reader who has regularly read these 
 extracts, which is, that there is a very perceptible 
 evidence of an advance, not only in the knowledge 
 of the art of living a holy life, but in the attainment, 
 to a good degree, of a steady, calm, sustaining 
 faith in the promises and merits of the Redeemer, 
 and of her consequent victory, in a considerable 
 measure, over her besetting sins, which so much 
 perplexed her in her early Christian course. 
 
 It would, however, be a very imperfect way of 
 ascertaining Miss Linnard's religious character and 
 attainments, to consult only her private diary. For 
 although that is a most important document, yet it 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 is mainly a record, as has already been remarked, 
 of her short comings in duty, and of her self-abase- 
 ment before God for them; and it also displays 
 great knowledge of the depravity and deceitfulness 
 of the human heart, deep penitence for sin, and 
 earnest desires after holiness. But if we wish to 
 know her religious character more fully, we must 
 not only contemplate her in the closet, but also in 
 the various relations of busy life. And when ex- 
 amined by both tests, we are sure that her attain- 
 ments in religion, not simply its theory, if we may 
 so speak — though few persons have a more thorough 
 knowledge of the doctrines of Christianity — but the 
 experienced subordination of the heart and life to 
 its sway, will be considered truly uncommon, and 
 deserving of a holy emulation on the part of every 
 one. It will be acknowledged by her numerous 
 acquaintances and friends in this city, and in other 
 places, that they have known but few persons who 
 have attained to so great a measure of personal re- 
 ligion, so far as it can be ascertained from its fruit 
 in the life and conversation. Not that we would for a 
 moment be understood as saying, that she had at- 
 tained to perfection, or a state of entire deliverance 
 from sin and its influence on the soul. No ; she 
 felt that it was far otherwise, and it was the burden 
 of her distress until the day of her death, that she 
 came so far short of loving and serving God, as she 
 knew it was her duty and privilege to do. And 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARU. 87 
 
 yet she generally had a very comfortable evidence 
 of her truly loving the Saviour and his cause, and 
 her chief delight was in his service. 
 
 But the remark which we chiefly wish to make 
 in this place, respecting the religious character of 
 Miss Linnard, is, that she attained to an uncommon 
 degree of entireness or completeness of Christian 
 character. By this we mean, that every Christian 
 grace and attribute of character, not only existed in 
 her, but was cultivated to an uncommon degree. 
 This constituted in a great measure the moral 
 beauty of her character. And this is'an excellence 
 which is by no means common in the religious 
 world at this day. For if there is any one thing 
 in the church, at this time, in which there is a 
 greater deficiency than in another, it is this, that 
 there is so little completeness of Christian character, 
 or perfection, if any one chooses to use that word, 
 among Christians. Religion does not seem to 
 pervade and influence the whole character, and ef- 
 fect the cultivation, in a proper proportion, of all 
 the Christian virtues. There is but little symme- 
 try of religious character. For instance, what is 
 more common in these days of exertion and ex- 
 citement, than to see many Christians who are re- 
 markably zealous, but not humble, and spiritual 
 in all their conversation, — liberal, but not devout, — 
 active in doing good, but yet appearing to have 
 little solid piety. And there is so little of true 
 
MEMOIR or 
 
 spirituality, and subordination of the passions and 
 
 _« 
 
 ji name, act so much like the child- 
 
 _■ 
 - -. - > .r^rz:. I: 
 
 less holiness of character, among Chrisiians now, 
 - 
 m two hundred years ago. This m 
 
 '.«. I: is r.o: l^e '.'....: ... 
 
 - k:. 7 _ - - 
 
 whi: .: ••::.-: fx-.:-.:v.; .:-_..- - :: ._: :;:_:■-;_: :-:::-'.q:-:X 
 for the edification of believers, to the neglect of en- 
 forcing Chrisiianacdvirv. I: was, perhaps, unarad- 
 abie. considering the then stale of the times. Wt 
 _ 
 
 too much, bt: 
 
 N ■ * 
 
 NL?s Lii-.iir. - - 
 
 . .. 
 
 cessant in her daily perusal and study of the 
 
A H H A JANE LI N H A E D. 99 
 
 :" God, ;.::d iu the duties of her d aet, .ome: 
 b '.e in here: 1 rtsl savi - _ iming 
 
 hex family. _ 
 
 ss ag her own 
 
 soul. Cheerfu'.. .evity. holding very* rigid 
 
 ' iirisium duty, and : ..ements of 
 
 spel. hut not censorious in her judgment of 
 
 gioos : others. And in a word, 
 
 there was. we may say. an wr: only in her 
 
 - in her in: 
 which gavel - _ cession oi the 
 
 enly character, of her pi 
 In reading the ts which have been 
 
 :'. • Miss Linn 'a ;. . the : 
 
 the mind oi the writer of this book, that 
 there was probably a slight trror in her mode of 
 pi - u ting the - - - . .'.::: and vet 
 
 it exists in 
 
 .. b be has evej n ...-. Uis 1 tof 
 heart, as k -^ . I - 
 
 feelings, 
 the sime time anempting to exclude all other 
 
 ghts, and so call rbrth holy affections, 
 there is no object presented to the contemplation 
 mind to X - xami- 
 
 is a most j *ht to 
 
 rmed. It may be a 
 
 l the feelings 
 which predominated in our mil - 
 h2 
 
90 MEMOIR OF 
 
 portion of past time, as far as we can remember 
 them. It may also be an examination of the cha- 
 acter of onr religious feelings at the present time, 
 when, by " spiritual meditation," (as Miss Linnard 
 denominated it, and very properly considered it to 
 be of great importance) we bring some duty or 
 religious object before our minds. In both modes, it 
 is not only a. duty, but a most profitable exercise. 
 
 The error which I have mentioned above, is very 
 commonly committed by young converts, and is 
 often the occasion of great trouble, perplexity and 
 despondency. Some old English divines have 
 given directions on the subject of self-examination, 
 which appear to have a tendency to lead into this 
 mistake. If we wish to know the character of the 
 feelings of our hearts, we must watch those feelings 
 when the objects, calculated to excite them, if they 
 exist, into activity and conscious exercise ; and not 
 attempt, by a simple act of turning the mind in 
 upon itself, endeavour, by this mental inspection, to 
 ascertain the existence, or the character, of affections 
 which cease to be perceptible to us by the very act 
 of calling oft' the mind from contemplating the ob- 
 jects which alone can excite or call them forth. 
 
 The following excellent remarks on this subject 
 are taken from a valuable periodical work.* They 
 are in strict accordance with the true princi- 
 ples of the philosophy of the human mind, and 
 
 * The Spirit of the Pilgrims, Vol. 1. pp. 75—77. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 91 
 
 consequently, coincide with the experience of every 
 Christian. They are commended to the attention 
 of the reader. 
 
 "The existence of religion does not imply the 
 perceived existence, at once, of all the Christian 
 graces. The nature of the mind does not admit of 
 it. The affections can exist only in the view of 
 the proper objects of affection, presented to the 
 heart, through the medium of the understanding. 
 But the understanding can no more, simultaneously, 
 look at as many objects, as there are Christian 
 graces, with such distinct contemplation as is indis- 
 pensable to emotion, than the eye can pour its con- 
 centrated inspection on many objects at the same 
 time. The Christian graces 7mtst, therefore, be suc- 
 cessive in their order, as the mind can only pre- 
 sent and inspect in succession, their several objects. 
 Besides, the coexistence of some religious affections 
 is, in their nature, incompatible. How can mourn- 
 ing for sin, and deep prostration of spirit, consist 
 with the elevation and vivacity of joy, and grati- 
 tude, and praise. Some of the Christian graces, 
 such as unconditional submission, and repentance 
 for sin, may exist without any apprehension of par- 
 don and personal safety; while, to gratitude and 
 praise for pardon and sanctification, hope is indis- 
 pensable. And yet it is no uncommon thing for 
 the young Christian to sit down, and search his 
 heart, as with a candle, to see if he can find in it at 
 
92 MEMOIR OF 
 
 once, every one of the Christian graces ; and, in 
 default of such a discovery, to feel alarmed and dis- 
 quieted, lest his hope should be vain. 
 
 " Nor does the existence of religion enable the 
 Christian to call up at bidding, for his inspection, 
 any particular Christian grace. For the affections 
 do not move at the word of command. They can 
 be produced only by mental attention, bestowed 
 upon the objects of the affections. It is while we 
 muse, that the fire burns. Nothing is more sure 
 to extinguish religious affection, than to make upon 
 the heart a direct demand for it. The heart cannot 
 feel, but as the objects of affection are presented. 
 But, while the understanding is employed in cate- 
 gorical demands of love, repentance, and faith, and 
 in watching and waiting to see if the heart obeys ; 
 it is turned off from the glorious objects which can 
 alone inspire affection, and the poor heart becomes 
 motionless and dead, during the cold chills and 
 darkness of the disastrous eclipse. To demand of 
 the heart feeling, that we may inspect and analyze 
 it at pleasure, is, therefore, the most preposterous 
 demand that could be made ; and of course, it is 
 always and justly refused. And yet, there are 
 multitudes, who thus torture their hearts with the 
 demand for religious affections, while the only pos- 
 sible means by which the heart can act, are with- 
 held. For the eye may as well be expected to 
 see, in the absence of all objects of vision, as the 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 93 
 
 heart to feel, in the absence of all the proper ob- 
 jects of religious affection. 
 
 " The proper way to examine the heart, is to 
 watch its movements while in action, and almost 
 unsuspicious of the inspection. And the way to 
 call forth the affections, is to turn the mental eye 
 upon God, his works, and word ; upon Jesus Christ, 
 his glorious character, his love, his compassion, 
 his sufficiency and willingness to save. And an- 
 other way to make a holy heart beat perceptibly, 
 is, by vigorous action FOR God. Many Christ- 
 ians, who doubt and fear concerning the existence 
 of spiritual life in their souls, sit down with heavy 
 heart and downcast eye, to feel their own feeble 
 pulse; and while they sit inactive, and almost 
 breathless, to catch the slow and feeble stroke, it 
 always will be feeble ; for vigorous action is as in- 
 dispensable to a vigorous spiritual life, as it is in 
 the animal system, to a vigorous tone. If a man 
 •were doubtful whether his vital organs were sound, 
 how would he ascertain the fact ? Let him not sit 
 down, to watch with hesitation and fear, the throb- 
 bings of the vital organ ; but rather do with his might 
 what his hand findeth to do, and action itself will 
 bring its own evidence. The powerful throbbing 
 of the great organ of life will soon convince him 
 that the central energies are in order, by the blush of 
 health, and muscular tone which their powerful ac- 
 tion will send through the system. In like man- 
 
94 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ner, let feeble, downcast, doubting Christians shake 
 off their sloth, and rouse up to action. Let them 
 read, and pray, and act for God with all their might, 
 and the spiritual pulsation will rise, and a spiritual 
 vigour will diffuse itself through the soul. If Christ- 
 ians would act for God with more decision, they 
 would not need a microscope to make their graces 
 visible." 
 
 If any one supposes, that the great care and 
 watchfulness which Miss Linnard bestowed upon 
 the subject of personal religion, rendered her gloomy 
 in her feelings, he is utterly mistaken. She was 
 almost always cheerful, and even playful, though not 
 foolishly trifling. Indeed, she had a fine flow 
 of spirits, naturally; and as she advanced in the di- 
 vine life she became more and more habitually 
 sustained by the consolations of religion. She 
 often realized what is meant by the " full assurance 
 of hope." It is true, that she shed many a tear 
 over the remaining corruptions of her heart, and 
 over the deplorable state of poor sinners, whom she 
 saw going down to ruin without heeding the warn- 
 ing given to save them from it. And the distrac- 
 tions, imperfections, apathy, and worldliness of 
 professors of religion caused her daily to go to 
 the throne of grace with a heavy heart, to spread 
 all before the Lord, and implore his merciful inter- 
 position. 
 
 She was uncommonly fond of natural scenery, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 95 
 
 and when on visits to the country, made in quest 
 of her own health, or that of some beloved relative 
 or friend, she richly enjoyed the " works of God," 
 and made them, as they ought ever to be, means of 
 promoting growth in gracious feelings and views. 
 Two or three extracts from her letters will fully 
 confirm this assertion, as well as close this chapter. 
 
 The first was written from Harford County, in 
 Maryland, and is as follows: 
 
 "My dear Sister, — I had so much to say the 
 last time I wrote, that I quite forgot to tell you to 
 write to me soon, and let me known how much 
 longer you wish me to stay. Before I came to 
 Harford I felt as if the shortest possible time was 
 quite long enough for my inclination. But since I 
 have come here, I feel so differently, that I need 
 some inducement to take me home. 
 
 " R has four horses ; two are used exclu- 
 sively in the carriage, and the other two are very 
 easy-going creatures, and when not employed on 
 the farm, are at my command. So that I have al- 
 most as often as I wish, an opportunity of enjoying 
 my favourite exercise, riding on horseback. The 
 rides around " Mount Adams^ are really beautiful. 
 The country is hilly and well wooded, and at some 
 points affords as fine prospects as I think I have 
 ever seen. The morning of yesterday was so 
 rainy that we could not go to the Presbyterian 
 church ; but in the afternoon we went to a meeting 
 
96 MEMOIR OF 
 
 at , about four miles distant. The preaching 
 
 was nothing extraordinary. Yet, after being so 
 much debarred the pleasure of attending a place of 
 worship, as I have been for some time, it seemed 
 delightful to hear the sound of the Gospel from any 
 lips, and to join once more with his people in the 
 worship of God. 
 
 " We all rode home in silence, enjoying the 
 pleasant feelings which the exercises in which we 
 had been engaged, and the lovely prospect before 
 us, excited. The meeting house is situated on the 
 highest point of ground for several miles around. 
 And as we descended from this Mount Zion, the 
 country in all its beauty, revived and freshened 
 by the morning showers, stretched before us. The 
 river on our right, and the village, or rather hamlet, 
 for it is nothing more, and the succession of gentle 
 hills and dales, spotted here and there with farm 
 houses, woods and yellow fields, formed as interest- 
 ing and lovely a landscape as I have seen for some 
 time." 
 
 The second extract is from a letter written on a 
 visit to the " Pines" in New Jersey, for a sister's 
 health, and is dated July 14th, 1825. It is address- 
 ed to her youngest sister, and displays, what was 
 habitual with her, a very lively and playful dis- 
 position, united with a fine imagination, and a truly 
 spiritual state of the affections. 
 
 " We are in the Pines, dear K. and I wish you 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 97 
 
 were here a little while, and I would take you to a 
 window and bid you extend your furthest view, 
 and you should see nothing but a few poor fields 
 which the art of man can never enrich, skirted by 
 a low forest of pines. I would take you to an- 
 other, and you should look up and down and 
 around, and the same dull prospect should meet 
 your eye ; or with some such exception as this ; 
 that to the south, the dark, thickly matted, trees of 
 a cedar swamp may be seen beyond some thinly 
 scattered pines. Before the door runs a heavy, 
 sandy road, that whitens and glares in the sun, and 
 so solitary, that not a carriage, horse, or traveller, 
 save one labouring man, has passed since we have 
 been here. 
 
 " We board with a family of the name of P . 
 
 The man can read, but * don't;' the woman says 
 she would, but ' can't.' The rest of the family 
 are a ' help,' that sits and sews, or sleeps, or any 
 
 thing else ; whilst Mrs. P bustles, and heats 
 
 and fatigues herself, doing the work; a woman 
 hired to spin ; and a little grand child, and, a part 
 of the time, a son who assists in farming. All ig- 
 norant, and I would say perfectly uninteresting, 
 but their very ignorance makes them objects of so 
 much the deeper interest. Alas, it is not of human 
 science only that they are ignorant, but of the 
 things that belong to their everlasting peace. 
 They have no Bible, and never go to a place of 
 i 
 
98 MEMOIR OF 
 
 worship, though there is one within three miles 
 distance. So much for the " Pines." 
 
 " I have not enjoyed many sun-sets since I left 
 home. Last night, however, I had a rich treat, in 
 as beautiful a sky, I think, as nature's pencil ever 
 painted. Towards the east, the dark clouds, in 
 large broken masses, lay piled upon one another ; 
 whilst above them rose hills of yellow flame that 
 seemed to throw a soft light all over the rocks be- 
 low. Farther along, some were of a dark red 
 colour, and appeared to shine through a thin misty 
 veil ; still farther south, there were others, that 
 looked like heaps of drifted snow, driven by the 
 wind along the sides of some dark mountain. In 
 the west, the sun lay buried beneath an even bank 
 of deep blue. Above, long, narrow islands of dark 
 gray, sailed round ; while higher, quite in the 
 upper sky, the light clouds, blown into fanciful 
 forms, and of delicate saffron, floated peacefully on 
 the clear blue air. I cannot describe it to you ; it 
 was too sublimely grand for my pen to reach. I 
 stood till near dark, at a distance from the house, 
 gazing at the glorious scene, with inexpressible 
 pleasure, thankful that my Creator, when he gave 
 me being, did not deprive me of sight ; and more 
 thankful, that He has given me a disposition to 
 rise, from observing nature, to nature's God. I 
 would be a Christian, were it but to possess a 
 Christian's eyes : to have that pure and holy plea- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 99 
 
 sure which the mind enjoys, that through all His 
 works can see and feel, a present God : that every- 
 where can perceive the " shining foot-prints of His 
 Deity." They who can say, " My Father made 
 them all," know an enjoyment which the world- 
 ling, however refined and intellectual he may be, 
 can never reach." 
 
100 MEMOIR OF 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 HER CHARACTER AS A DAUGHTER, SISTER, MORE REMOTE RE- 
 LATIVE, AND FRIEND. 
 
 And they took knowledge of them, that they had been 
 with Jesus. — Acts iv. 13. 
 
 In the last chapter some account was given of the 
 religious character of Miss Linnard : in this it is pro- 
 posed to contemplate her in the various relations of a 
 daughter, a sister, a more remote relative, and a 
 friend. Of her conduct in each of these relations, 
 we shall speak somewhat in detail, and in their natu- 
 ral order. 
 
 And here it may be remarked, that this is a part 
 of this memoir which ought to excite a very high 
 degree of interest, both from the importance of the 
 subject, and the uncommon excellence of the char- 
 acter of Miss Linnard's piety in this particular res- 
 pect. 
 
 It is a matter greatly to be regretted that many 
 professors of religion seem to have no proper con- 
 ception of the importance of their religion exerting 
 a most salutary and pervading influence throughout 
 the entire circle of the domestic relations and duties. 
 The religion of many who are called Christians, 
 appears to far greater advantage abroad than at 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 101 
 
 home. They manifest much zeal in behalf of those 
 efforts which are of the more public kind ; are, it may- 
 be, exemplarily constant in their attendance at the 
 ehurch and the lecture room ; and are apparently, 
 devout, meek, and benevolent when mingling- with 
 their fellow Christians abroad ; but yet, at home, are 
 cold in their feelings, allow their unsanctified tem- 
 pers to manifest themselves at every step ; and dis- 
 play little or none of that deep, abiding, holy, heaven- 
 ly influence of religion which their conduct and ap- 
 pearance, when engaged in the public duties of the 
 church, indicated. That such is a true description of 
 the religion of many professors, at the present time, 
 is obvious. It is a species of religion which does 
 not seem to exert any direct and hallowed influence 
 upon the domestic circle. 
 
 Now, whatever may be the reasons assigned for 
 this, they cannot be valid. Real Christianity 
 was designed to influence, in the most blessed man- 
 ner, all the relations of life. It does, just in pro- 
 portion to the degree in which it is possessed, pro- 
 duce this effect. It makes all who truly act out its 
 legitimate spirit, fulfil in a better manner all the 
 duties appropriate to all the relations which they 
 sustain in life. It makes those who possess it bet- 
 ter parents, better children, better brothers and sis- 
 ters, and better friends and neighbours, — far better 
 than they were before they experienced its power. 
 And in thousands of cases, the exemplary, serious, 
 i 2 
 
102 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and lovely deportment of one truly pious mem- 
 ber of a family leads, under God's blessing, in the 
 process of time, to the conversion of many, if no 1 
 of all the members of it. And it may be taken as an 
 established truth, that religion, wherever it truly 
 exists, will produce a great and happy influence 
 upon all, as a general thing, who are brought within 
 its sphere. 
 
 This was undoubtedly the character of the reli- 
 gion of Miss Linnard. Those who knew her most 
 intimately had the highest opinion of her piety. 
 It is believed there is not a relative, whether of 
 her immediate family, or of a more remote con- 
 nexion, who had not the most decided belief, that 
 she was a sincere Christian. She enjoyed the un- 
 bounded respect of all the family circle in which 
 she moved, and, indeed, the whole circle of her ac- 
 quaintance. It was a respect which partook large- 
 ly of the nature of veneration, as well as of the 
 purest affection. Such was the exemplary, holy, 
 affectionate, meek, gentle, lovely example por- 
 trayed in her conduct and conversation, that her 
 life was a living epistle of the power and excel- 
 lence of the religion of Jesus Christ, in whose 
 footsteps she humbly attempted to walk. 
 
 Her filial piety '. It is one of the most appalling 
 proofs of the depravity of human nature, that, all 
 the world over, where the religion of Christ has 
 not established its throne, the tenderest relations of 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 103 
 
 life are prostrated and almost sundered, and child- 
 ren grow up " without natural affection." And 
 no species of false religion provides any remedy 
 for this most deplorable^vil. But it is one of the 
 brightest glories in the crown of Christianity, that 
 it "turns the heart of the' fathers to the children, 
 and the heart of the children to their fathers ;" re- 
 instates and establishes the sacred ties of kindred 
 in their proper place ; and unites together the mem- 
 bers of the family circle in the bonds of love. 
 
 At a very, early period of her life, Miss Linnard 
 lost her excellent mother. But she had the duty 
 and privilege of honouring and rendering comfort- 
 able and happy, an aged father, who still survives. 
 And no one ever, probably, fulfilled the duties of a 
 daughter with a heart more influenced by true filial 
 affection, than she did after her conversion. She had 
 always, before that event, manifested great respect 
 for her father. But when she experienced the pow- 
 er of the grace of God in the renovation of her heart, 
 the principle of filial love received a degree of 
 strength, tenderness, and depth, which nothing but 
 the religion of Jesus can create. From that time, 
 until the day of her death, she was one of the most 
 remarkable specimens of the beauty and loveliness 
 of Christianity. No service that she could render 
 for the comfort of her aged and, in the latter period 
 of her life, very infirm father, was left unper- 
 formed. In these services she cheerfully co-opera- 
 
104 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ted with her sisters, who, with her, felt it to be an 
 honour to do all that they could for his happi- 
 ness. 
 
 Many facts of the n^st interesting character 
 might be stated to prove this, if it were proper to 
 invade the sacred privacy of the domestic cir- 
 cle. Only one shall be mentioned. It is this. 
 During a highly interesting protracted meeting in 
 the Rev. Dr. S.'s church, in the winter of 1831 — 
 32, the writer of this memoir accompanied her 
 home, from one of the evening meetings, long 
 before its close. On the way, she stated, by way 
 •of apology for leaving the meeting at that early 
 hour "that she had for some time been in the 
 habit of returning home as soon as possible after 
 nine o'clock ; that her aged father had long suffer- 
 ed from a distressing debility in his feet and ancles ; 
 and that it was her practice to be at home at that 
 hour, in order that she might bathe, rub, and ban- 
 dage his feet, and see that he retired to rest com- 
 fortably." This duty, it may be added, she perform- 
 ed, morning and evening, until the failure of her own 
 health rendered her unable to perform it. Frequent- 
 ly a whole hour was devoted to this filial service, 
 and with as much alacrity as she ever attempted any 
 other duty. And what, it might be asked, could be 
 a more interesting spectacle, than to behold a 
 highly accomplished and lovely woman, daily and 
 cheerfully, for years, rendering such acts of filial 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 105 
 
 piety, sustaining the infirmities and soothing the 
 sorrows of a parent's old age ? If there is any thing 
 lovely and cheering in this sinful and wretched 
 world, it is such an exhibition. 
 
 Her character as a sister. In this tender rela- 
 tion, her conduct was of the same excellent charac- 
 ter as in that which has been just described. Her 
 whole intercourse with her brothers and sisters 
 was endeared, exalted, and sanctified by her eleva- 
 ted attainments in religion. She was eminently 
 faithful to their souls, as all of them will testify. 
 Her conversations with them on the subject of per- 
 sonal religion, were frequent and close. Such was 
 her affection for them, that she could not endure the 
 idea of an eternal separation from any one of them. 
 Two of her sisters were called away by death, be- 
 fore she was. Their cases have already been 
 mentioned. One of them, Susan, died before Anna 
 had become a Christian. The other, Mary, died 
 in the year 1826. Her end was emphatically 
 peaceful. She had ever, after conversion, been an 
 humble, timid, doubting, but conscientious follow- 
 er of the Lamb. But her death was triumphant, 
 and full of comfort to her friends. To both of these 
 sisters, the subject of this memoir was greatly at- 
 tached, and for the assured happiness of both she 
 felt deep solicitude, though under very different 
 circumstances. Nor was her interest less in her 
 three sisters who remain, and who have for several 
 
106 MEMOIR OF 
 
 years been members of the church of Christ. For 
 her two brothers, both highly respected in life, she 
 entertained, and always displayed in a becoming 
 manner, an ardent affection, united with great 
 Christian faithfulness. She had the pleasure of 
 seeing one of them become a member of the church 
 several years before her death. For the other, as 
 well as 'a beloved brother-in-law, she had the 
 strongest desires that God would make them heirs 
 of eternal life, and to her latest breath, offered up 
 her fervent prayers for their salvation, — prayers 
 which, it is hoped, will not be in vain. It may be 
 added, that such was her whole life, and such her 
 conversation — so cheerful, pleasant, affectionate, yet 
 consistent and spiritual — that she possessed the sin- 
 cere affection and profound regard of all the members 
 of her family, whether professors of religion or not. 
 Her character as a more remote relative. This 
 was precisely similar to what we have just described 
 as having been exhibited in the narrower domestic 
 circle. She was beloved by every relative that knew 
 her. And her hallowed influence extended, it is be- 
 lieved, in a good degree, to the remotest circles of 
 her kindred. By her conversations, by her letters, 
 enforced, as all she said was, by her holy example, 
 she exerted a mo3t happy influence far and wide. 
 Many facts might be mentioned to show how great 
 was the esteem in which she was held by her rela- 
 tives ; her Christian fidelity towards them ; and 
 
ANNA JANE LIN SARD. 107 
 
 the happy fruits of it. To a very near and dear 
 relative she often spoke respecting 1 the gTeat im- 
 portance of religion. He was a gay young man, 
 immersed in business, and greatly exposed to 
 temptation. Her conversations, prayers, and let- 
 ters, made happy impressions on his mind, which it 
 may be hoped, will issue in his conversion. When 
 about, not long since, to embark on a distant voy- 
 age, he took with him the Bible which she had given 
 him, and a most excellent letter which she had writ- 
 ten to him, declaring that he could not think of 
 going to sea without them. 
 
 The letters which she addressed to her relatives 
 were admirable. One of them is inserted as a 
 specimen. It was written to two nephews of hers 
 who were then at a classical Academy at B asking- 
 ridge, N. J., under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. 
 Brownlee. It is as follows : 
 
 Philadelphia, Friday, July, 1822, 
 
 " My bear boys, — I have risen a little earlier 
 from my bed this morning, to write a few lines to 
 you, in consequence of some intelligence which I 
 received last evening, that affected me verv much. 
 I allude to the revival of religion in your neigh- 
 bourhood. Since I have heard of the attention to 
 religion at Somerville, my most anxious hopes 
 have been for Baskingridge, and it has been my 
 fervent prayer, that God would not pass it by, but 
 
108 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that he would not only visit it, but your school, 
 and your own souls, with his awakening influence. 
 I returned a few days ago from Bucks county, where, 
 in Mr. Belville's school, six or eight of the boys, 
 some older, and some younger than you, Thomas, 
 have become hopefully pious. Not many nights 
 ago, standing under the window of the school house 
 where several of them had assembled, I heard a 
 dear little boy of ten years of age, pleading in pray- 
 er for his careless father and mother. 
 
 This is certainly a very important and interest- 
 ing time, and I do beseech you, not to let it pass un- 
 improved. The opportunities you now have, may 
 never again return ; the offers of mercy that are 
 now made, may be the last that will ever be ten- 
 dered. 0, slight them not, but now secure that 
 " good part which shall never be taken away." 
 Perhaps you say, " you are as good as others," or 
 that you are " no worse than other boys," but that 
 will not stand you in stead ; don't compare your- 
 selves with others, but think how you appear in 
 the sight of that Being, in whose eyes it is said, 
 " the heavens are not clean, and who charge th the 
 angels with folly," — expressions that are used, to 
 convey an idea, of the infinite purity, and holiness 
 of His character. It is true, God has, by the re- 
 straints of education and of grace, kept you from 
 those dreadful outbreakings of sin, which others 
 have been left to commit : but do you think it is 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 109 
 
 because you are, by nature, better than they ? by no 
 means ; St. Paul says, "the carnal mind," which 
 means the natural heart, the unchanged heart, " is en- 
 mity against God, and is not subject to his law, nor 
 can be ;" and I think, young as you are, you cannot 
 but be conscious, that you have hearts which 
 do need purifying, wills, that must be subdued, 
 and passions and dispositions, which the grace of 
 God only can change. Besides these heart-evils, 
 you know, my dear boys, you have been guilty of 
 a great many things which you knew and felt to 
 be exceedingly wrong ; you have broken God's 
 law repeatedly, (O could you but realize, what it 
 is to break the law of God, surely it would fill you 
 with terror and distress, and lead you to cry, with the 
 jailor in the Bible, " what shall I do to be saved ?") 
 — you have violated his Sabbaths — profaned his 
 name, and — but I leave it to your own conscience 
 to tell you what you have done — that, unless sear- 
 ed, will prove a more faithful monitor, than I pos- 
 sibly could be. I do not wish to hurt the feelings 
 of either of you, I feel very anxious for you, and 
 the reason I tell you these things, is, because I know 
 you must be made sensible, that you are sinners, 
 that you need the precious blood of Christ to 
 cleanse you, or you will never make application 
 to it. People, when they think they are well, will 
 not send for a physician ; so with you, I want you 
 to feel that you are in danger, that you require a 
 
 K 
 
110 MEMOIR OF 
 
 physician, even the great Physician of souls. If 
 your minds are in any measure impressed with 
 the necessity of religion, O, cherish the impression, 
 beware how you act, lest it should leave you. I 
 will relate a circumstance which was mentioned in 
 my presence by a clergyman, which will convince 
 you of the danger of losing serious impressions ; 
 During a time of revival in a literary institution, 
 one of the students became very anxious for his 
 soul's concerns, and desirous to know what he 
 must do to be saved ; he however trilled with his 
 impressions, and after a while they wore off, and 
 he became more careless, and more hardened than 
 ever ; he left the institution, and settled in life, 
 was a man of talents, respected by the world, and 
 very prosperous : twenty years afterwards, he met 
 with an old classmate, one who had become truly 
 pious, and was then a minister of the Gospel; after 
 some conversation, his friend asked him, what was 
 the state of his soul 1 He replied with tears in his 
 
 eyes, that he looked back to the revival in , as 
 
 the time when he lost his soul. Lost his soul ! O, 
 for a moment consider, lost his soul ! ! " What 
 will it profit a man if he should gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul?" You remember 
 who it was that asked this question, one who knew 
 the value of the soul, who to redeem it, left his 
 throne of glory, veiled his Godhead by wearing 
 our nature, and suffered and died upon the cross. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. HI 
 
 Can you, then, my dear nephews, trifle with the 
 concerns of that which cost him so much ? O, 
 act not so unwisely, secure an interest in him now, 
 " now while it is called to-day, harden not your 
 hearts." Search the Scriptures ; not read them in 
 a formal way as you would a school-book, but with 
 a desire to be benefitted by them ; ask the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit (promised by our Saviour to 
 them that seek it) to enlighten your minds, and to 
 awaken your consciences, and to renew your hearts. 
 I wish to urge upon you this latter duty of prayer : 
 prayer is not religion, it is true, yet there is no re- 
 ligion without prayer. If you desire an interest 
 in Christ, you must pray, and that often. Do not 
 be ashamed of religion, even should you be laughed 
 at, or ridiculed ; to attend to it is your highest wis- 
 dom, and to possess it, will be your greatest hap- 
 piness, both in this world and in that which is to 
 come. Our friends are all well. I wish you to 
 read this letter with attention, and I pray that God 
 would make it useful to you. Write to me freely, 
 just as you would converse if I were present, or as 
 you would to one of your school-mates : you will 
 find me quite as willing to overlook deficiencies — 
 but good night. Your affectionate aunt 
 
 Anna. 
 
112 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Her character as a friend. From what has been 
 said of Miss Linnard as a daughter, a sister, and a 
 more remote relative, it might be inferred, that her 
 character, as zfriend was equally excellent. It was 
 truly so. The influence which she exerted over a 
 very large circle of friends and acquaintances, was of 
 the most happy and beneficial nature. Her exem- 
 plary conduct, her devoted piety, her cheerful and 
 buoyant spirits, her meek and gentle manners, united 
 with a determination to serve God faithfully in all cir- 
 cumstances, rendered her influence salutary to a very 
 high degree. To profit, as well as to gratify and 
 please, was the noble motto which characterized 
 all her social intercourse. Wherever she went, it 
 seemed to be her great object to do and to obtain 
 good. In all sorts of company she seemed to be 
 on her guard, to do or say as little as possible which 
 would not be for the honour of God. And it is be- 
 lieved, that there are few, if indeed any, whose 
 conduct and conversation, do more habitually 
 adorn the profession of the Gospel. Although the 
 author of this memoir knew her well for several 
 years, he does not recollect having heard her say 
 a syllable that was calculated to injure the charac- 
 ter, or impede, the usefulness of any one. Amidst 
 all the unhappy disputes growing out of the di- 
 visions which have agitatedthe churches belonging 
 to the denomination of Christians, to which she was 
 attached, he never heard her make a remark concern- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 113 
 
 ing any one which was contrary to the scriptural 
 rule of charity. She had her opinions, most cer- 
 tainly, and decidedly, respecting the measures and 
 the course pursued by individuals, and there 
 were many things which she disapproved. But 
 when she spoke of those proceedings which 
 she did not approve, she always did it with 
 charity, in meekness, using no harsh epithets, cal- 
 ling in question no one's piety, or honesty of inten- 
 tion. Indeed, she was remarkably free from censo- 
 riousness, and seemed always to have a heart to 
 overlook the faults of others, speak little of them ; 
 and to pity, and pray for those who erred. How 
 greatly it would be for the peace, happiness, 
 and prosperity of the church, if her spirit, or rather 
 that of her blessed Master, were universal ! 
 
 The following extracts from a memorandum 
 which she made of the topics upon which she had 
 resolved to examine herself, during a day of fasting 
 and prayer, will show how conscientiously she 
 cultivated the relative duties of life. 
 
 " I resolve to set this day apart for serious self- 
 examination, humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And 
 to aid me in this work, I will consider, first, my 
 conduct towards man, in the several relations of life. 
 
 " To my parent, — have I been a dutiful child, 
 giving that honour and respect which are due? 
 Have I manifested at all times a proper temper of sub- 
 mission and affection, seeking his eternal interests by 
 k 2 
 
114 MEMOIR OF 
 
 all proper, suitable means ? Do I seek his com- 
 fort, and attend cheerfully to his wants? 
 
 "Am I kind and affectionate to my brothers and 
 sisters, not engaging in bickerings or disputes, but 
 living peaceably, giving up my own will or pleasure 
 for their benefit ? 
 
 " To children;* do I govern them in love ? Do 
 I set an example of meekness, or do I bear with 
 them patiently, instruct them in religion and virtue, 
 praying with and for them ? 
 
 " What do I as a neighbour? Is my neighbour- 
 hood benefitted by me in any way? Am I kind; 
 do I set a good example ? What do I for their 
 salvation ? Am I of any use in my connexions ? 
 
 " What has become of several resolutions made 
 in time past? And what is my progress in divine 
 things ? Do I grow in humility ? Have I advanced 
 any in self-knowledge ? Do I gain any mastery 
 over my besetting sins ? Am I more self-denied ? 
 Under what regulations are my passions? Am I 
 subject to their control, or do I in any degree com- 
 mand them ? Am I diligent in business ? Do I 
 improve my time? Do I strive against sloth ?" 
 
 She corresponded by letter, more or less, with 
 many friends. She considered it an excellent 
 means of doing good. How greatly it is to be de- 
 
 * Referring to the children of her sister and her two bro- 
 thers, which were often, and some of them for weeks, at their 
 grandfather's. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 115 
 
 sired, that the same opinion were held and acted upon 
 by all who can write. Scarcely a day passes, a 
 part of which, even if it be but a few minutes, 
 might not be spent in writing a few lines which, 
 under the blessing of God, might benefit some dis- 
 tant friend or acquaintance. How important it is 
 that all should strive to arrive at such a degree of 
 diligence in the service of God, as to act upon the 
 principle of employing every talent, and devoting 
 every hour to the advancement of His glory and the 
 best interests of their fellow men! 
 
 This chapter will be closed with extracts from a 
 few of Miss Linnard's letters, addressed to various 
 individuals, with whom she was intimately ac- 
 quainted. From them will be perceived the spirit 
 which pervaded her entire correspondence, after she 
 became a Christian. 
 
 To Miss C. M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 Philadelphia, June, 1821. 
 You have had letters, I suppose, lately from 
 Philadelphia, and no doubt you have been rejoiced 
 at the good news you have heard ; the Lord is 
 doing something for us, and I trust is about to do 
 still more, in the conviction, and conversion of sin- 
 ners. In many parts of the city, there is a very 
 great attention to the things of religion, and in 
 Doctor E's. congregation in particular, forty 
 eight came forward at the last communion, and I 
 
116 MEMOIR OF 
 
 understand a great many are under deep exercise 
 of mind at present. John, Eliza, and Ann 
 M'C , were among the former. In our con- 
 gregation, there are a few mercy drops descend- 
 ing, and the hopes of our dear pastor, and his 
 people, are excited, and their prayers increased, 
 that the Lord would , send to us a refreshing 
 season from on high. Our last communion was a 
 very solemn one to me. Will it not gladden your 
 heart, that your friend, unworthy as she is, was 
 admitted to a seat at the table of the Lord ? Pray 
 
 for me, dear C e, that I may be enabled to 
 
 adorn the doctrine which I have professed, and to 
 walk worthy of that high vocation, to which I 
 sometimes hope I have been called. Should that 
 hope prove delusive, and I have been building on 
 any other foundation than the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, how great will be my condemnation. Oh, 
 we have all reason to cry " search thou me, and 
 try me, and prove my ways." If I know myself, 
 I desire to be, if deceived, undeceived ere it be 
 forever too late. 
 
 I must not omit to mention, that sister E — 
 also came forward, and I trust it will not be a great 
 
 while before Mr. H will see his way clear, 
 
 in joining the professed disciples of Jesus. 
 
 During the course of last year, it was a subject 
 of remark to some, the singular afflictions our 
 family, through every branch, experienced. But 
 
ANNA JANE L I N N A R D. 117 
 
 then, I saw not the hand that chastised, and the 
 serious impressions, if such they might be called, 
 which death awakened, were but of short duration ; 
 and though the blow was, and must ever be, most 
 keenly felt, yet the improvement was lost. Not 
 so with Mary, she had long been seeking, and 
 
 shortly after the death of Mrs. M'M made a 
 
 profession. Truly, the Lord is long suffering, pa- 
 tient, and full of loving kindness. 
 
 To Miss M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 Philadelphia, Feb A, 1822. 
 
 However pleasant H may be, I am. not 
 
 surprised that you look back on C with 
 
 regret ; there is something so painful in leaving 
 the abode of our childhood, endeared by time, and 
 all those associations which we delight to connect 
 with that happy period. And " in truth it was a 
 sweet spot." Often in memory I retrace our walks 
 along the shore, when we watched the sun des- 
 cending in all his glory, tinging the clouds with 
 such bright hues, and found our language too poor 
 to express half the beauties of the scene. I think 
 
 I never enjoyed nature as I did in C , her 
 
 forms were varied there from what I had been ac- 
 customed to see; used to the flat and insipid 
 country around Philadelphia, your wood-crowned 
 hills, and beautiful river with all its romantic 
 views, were novelties to me. But those pleasant 
 
118 MEMOIR OF 
 
 days are gone, to join "the years beyond the 
 
 flood." You have, no doubt, advantages in H 
 
 which in C you had not, I allude par- 
 ticularly to Christian society, as I am informed re- 
 ligion flourishes very much where you now are ; 
 in C you seemed much alone, in that res- 
 pect, there appeared at that time, to be few 
 to join hand in hand with you, in promoting the 
 Redeemer's cause and glory. Now, I suppose you 
 have many of your own age and sex, with whom 
 you take sweet counsel together on the " things of 
 religion." Your pastor and his wife I feel quite 
 
 desirous of seeing ; of him, uncle R 's family 
 
 gave us an exalted character, and of her, I have 
 heard a friend of ours, a young clergyman, say, 
 she most resembled "Milton's Eve" of all the 
 women he had ever seen. You may remember 
 in my last letter, I mentioned the hopes that were 
 entertained of a revival of religion amongst us : 
 those hopes, so fondly indulged, have not been as 
 yet realized ; coldness, deadness, and formality, 
 seem to prevail among the churches almost univer- 
 sally; " because iniquity abounds, the love of many 
 waxes cold," at a time when the active exertions, 
 and fervent supplications of Christians are most 
 needed. Folly, dissipation, and infidelity, instead of 
 being on the decrease, have been gaining ground : 
 the fashionable world has never been known so 
 gay as at this season, and the old, almost extinct, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 119 
 
 Universalist church, never so much crowded. They 
 have got a minister who, to Universalist, joins the 
 Unitarian principles, and is exceedingly active in 
 disseminating his dangerous doctrine, and drawing 
 multitudes astray. You will perhaps think that 
 we have indeed deserved the severe chastisement 
 we have received.* O that it might be more felt 
 as such, and more improved. It was truly a re- 
 markable providence, and when the tale, in all its 
 aggravated horror was told, the question seemed 
 almost involuntarily to arise, " Lord, why is this?" 
 But the answer was as ready, " shall not the Judge 
 of all the earth do right ?" Much feeling has been ex- 
 cited, and many exertions made, and it is sup- 
 posed that the pecuniary loss will be much more 
 than made up, and the surviving orphans more 
 comfortably housed than ever. I do not enter 
 into a detail of the agonizing circumstances, as I 
 conclude you have heard all that can be known. 
 
 To Miss M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 July 18, 1822. 
 I have been very much pleased with my little 
 jaunt to N ; the pure air, the lovely pros- 
 pects of gently swelling hills and dales, woods and 
 fields, were all sources of enjoyment; but what 
 excited most interest, and gave greatest pleasure, 
 
 * Alluding to the destruction of the Orphan Asylum by fire 
 
120 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was the attention to religion which existed there. I 
 
 do not know whether the name of N isfamiliar 
 
 to you; but if you will task your memory for a mo- 
 ment, you will recollect a circumstance which adds 
 some interest to it ; I mean its being the residence 
 of old Mr. Tennent, and, if I mistake not, the birth- 
 place of his more celebrated son. The Presbyterian 
 church is, I think, in as beautiful a situation as I 
 
 have ever seen ; it is on the banks of the N 
 
 creek, over which a rustic bridge is thrown, which 
 as you approach, is half hid by the noble sycamore 
 and willow trees that fringe its edge. It is under the 
 pastoral care of Rev. Mr. B — . You will, with me, 
 consider it a privilege to witness the reviving and 
 awakening influences of the Spirit in the souls of 
 men, stirring up and refreshing the christian, and 
 arousing the careless sinner, to an anxious inquiry 
 of what he must do to be saved : of the latter class 
 I suppose there were nearly a hundred; between forty 
 and fifty of whom, before I left N , profess- 
 ed to have submitted to the righteousness of Christ, 
 and some more rejoicing in the hope of the Gos- 
 pel. The meetings were very frequent, but solemn 
 and perfectly still, nothing like enthusiasm or ex- 
 citement of animal feeling was visible at any one of 
 
 all I attended. In Mr. B 's school, six or more 
 
 of the boys, some as young as ten years, it is hoped, 
 have become the subjects of renewing grace. In 
 these latter days, how often we have occasion to 
 
ANNA JANE L I N N A R D. 121 
 
 repeat, " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings 
 thou hast perfected praise." 
 
 I wrote a long letter to W S , which I 
 
 suppose he did not relish much. I am somewhat 
 at a loss to know exactly what line to pursue : I 
 feel attached to W., and unwilling to excite his 
 disgust, and perhaps dislike, by obtruding the sub- 
 ject of religion upon him ; and yet it appears to me 
 clearly to be a duty to write plainly and faithfully 
 to him, on the momentous concerns of eternity, 
 even at such a risk. 
 
 If we ourselves could feel the importance of 
 eternal things, and the value of the never-dying 
 soul, Oh, how should we rise superior to those 
 grovelling fears of wounding and displeasing our 
 fellow men ! But, alas, alas ! how little do we 
 realize ! For myself, I am often astonished at my 
 own insensibility, when I see many of my frien ds 
 and acquaintances, that I can have no reason to 
 suppose, are interested in the blessings of the 
 " Covenant," and yet feel so little anxiety in their 
 behalf. I remember an observation of Baxter's 
 that struck me very forcibly. Speaking of the indif- 
 ference manifested by christians for the condition of 
 sinners, and the little exertion made by them, he 
 says, in his own peculiar manner, " No thanks to 
 us if heaven be not empty," and we do act, as if 
 we thought, if we but get there ourselves, the world 
 may perish ! 
 
122 MEMOIR OF 
 
 To Miss M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 Philadelphia, September, 1822. 
 
 I have been reading to day a little book lent me 
 
 by Mr. E -, that I have been very much pleased 
 
 with — the " Christian Soldier, or heaven taken by 
 storm." It is written in -the old-fashioned style, by 
 Thomas Watson, one of the non-conforming divines 
 of Charles IPs time. If you have never read it, I 
 think you would be pleased with it ; there is a 
 great deal of quaintne'ss, and sometimes a coarseness 
 in his manner of expressing himself, but, as in 
 many of the works of the old writers, there is a 
 vigour and^originality of thought, which more than 
 compensate for the peculiarities of style. 
 
 Ah me, how little do christians of the present 
 day seem to know of this warfare ! We act as if we 
 thought heaven was to be gained on easier terms 
 than formerly — as though our enemies were all 
 subdued, and we had nothing to do but take our 
 rest. How cold and lifeless are we in our Master's 
 seryice ! How little engaged in his cause ! How 
 little engaged, either for our own souls, or the 
 souls of others. 
 
 The salvation of the Redeemer's people was 
 dearly purchased ; it cost Him tears, and agonies, 
 and blood. " We have not been bought with cor- 
 ruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the 
 precious blood of Christ;" and this consideration 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 123 
 
 ought to exeite us to more energy and zeal in his 
 dear cause. We ought to strive after greater holi- 
 ness of life, and more conformity to his blessed image 
 — to be crucified unto the world, and to have the 
 world crucified unto us. Let us, my dear cousin, 
 stir up one another to en&r upon this heavenly 
 warfare, remembering y$$6 has said, "My grace 
 shall be sufficient, €^thee,'' and " To him that 
 overcomethjtftfmgive a crown of life." , 
 
 Our fcjjtfiiy has not passed this summer without 
 some^entle. chastisement from our Father's hand. 
 He has corrected us, but it has been in mercy, 
 less tfhan our deserts, and less than our expecta- 
 tions." I allude to the illness of Mr. ( H*i ; he 
 
 was brought to the very brink of the eternal world, 
 and when almost all hqpe-was over, he was raised 
 again, in answer, I believe, to the many prayers 
 that were offered from many closets, as well as in 
 the church. He is now much better, I think, than 
 he has been for many months. 
 
 To Miss C. M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 Philadelphia, April 15, 1823. 
 
 Dear C , So much for dress. Alas what 
 
 care, what expense, what time is spent, by more 
 than half the world, in clothing and adorning these 
 poor frail bodies, while the everlasting interests of the 
 soul are either entirely neglected, or at best, occu- 
 py but very little thought or attention. If we 
 
124 MEMOIR OF 
 
 • 
 
 could but have realizing views of eternity, and 
 could, with the eye of faith, see things invisible to 
 sense, as present, how little would it concern us, of 
 what the robe which covered our bodies, was com- 
 posed. We should then, indeed, " take no thought 
 wherewithal we should be clothed," save with that 
 " meek and quiet spirit which is, in the sight of 
 God, of great price." But O, how trifling and 
 grovelling are the pursuits, even of Christians ! A 
 Christian ! one, whose privilege it is to soar above 
 this world, through regions of immortality, whose 
 professed home is heaven — God's glory his aim ! 
 How ought a Christian to live ! I once met with 
 an idea that struck me as forcible : speaking of the 
 pursuits of Christians, the writer asked, what 
 would be thought of the man who was travelling 
 to a far country, to receive the inheritance of a great 
 kingdom — where honour, glory, and power, await- 
 ed him — who should be seen to stop at every step 
 to gather chips and pebbles ? 
 
 Dear C , let us seek to live above this vain, 
 
 dying world, to crucify it, and be crucified unto it, to 
 deny ourselves, and bear the cross, always keeping 
 in mind that solemn saying of our Lord, " whoso- 
 ever doth not deny himself, and bear his cross, can- 
 not be my disciple." The conflict will soon be 
 over with us : a little more striving and praying, a 
 little more sighing and sorrow, and then, when 
 this mortal shall have put on immortality, " O, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 125 
 
 how sweet will be the conqueror's song." If our 
 names are indeed written in the Lamb's book oflife, 
 what a delightful hope is ours — to be ever with the 
 Zord — to behold his glory, and to be made like 
 him, to join that blessed company of glorified 
 spirits, " who have washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb," " who cast 
 their crowns at His feet, and ascribe glory, do- 
 minion, and praise, to Him who hath loved them 
 and given himself for them." I feel as though I 
 could dwell long on such a heavenly subject, but I 
 must return again to earth. 
 
 Anna. 
 
 To Miss C. M'K. of C , Pa. 
 
 Philadelphia, Dec. 8th, 1825. 
 We were just beginning to ask, ' how are our 
 C 's fingers employed,' when your wel- 
 come letter answered all our inquiries, and renewed, 
 for a few moments, our pleasant intercourse. But 
 for 2,/etv moments — though by reading the lines over 
 again, we prolonged a little the pleasure. If you 
 and I could settle some such correspondence as I 
 have often fancied, and our thoughts, a sort of 
 winged messengers, could be carried from one to 
 the other, we could willingly dispense with the 
 trammels of a formal communication : the pen 
 which I believe, we both equally dislike, as far as 
 we were concerned, might then remain dry in the 
 l2 
 
126 MEMOIR or 
 
 ink-stand ; and our mental epistles, free, and unre- 
 strained, and frequent, might make us almost for- 
 get we were separated. But we are still in the 
 body, and must be content to use those means 
 which Providence has given us, as the most suita- 
 ble, and best fitted to our present place and condi- 
 tion. How mysterious appears to us, who are 
 creatures of sense, flesh, and blood, that mode of 
 communication which spiritual beings possess ! 
 We must believe that these eyes are not necessary 
 to seeing, and ears to hearing, or that these heavy 
 limbs are essential to motion ; for we feel, that a 
 living soul within looks out at these windows, and 
 hears through these organs, and moves and governs 
 these bodies. Yet how the viewless spirit, when 
 separated from its clay, can make known its 
 thoughts, and utter its feelings, we cannot now 
 conceive. O, how little do we know of the unseen 
 world, of the nature of our future being and em- 
 ployment ; and still, with the gleam of light the 
 gospel throws, how dark is all beyond the verge of 
 mortality, and but for the cheering hope of being, 
 when absent from the body, present with the Lord, 
 how wretched would the prospect appear! Here, our 
 curious speculations and inquiries cannot be satisfi- 
 ed ; that bourne to which we are all travelling, is one 
 from which none return to tell its secrets, and He 
 who orders our destinies, has not seen fit to dissi- 
 pate that deep obscurity, and permit our eager vision 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 127 
 
 to penetrate within. In the midst of all our dark- 
 ness, doubts, and fears, how gracious are those 
 words on which our humble faith may confidently 
 rely, •' Father, 1 will that those whom thou hast 
 given me, be with me that they may behold my 
 glory." 
 
 To Mrs. A. M. J. of W , Del. 
 
 Philadelphia, Sept. 22d, 1828. 
 
 My dear Mrs. J , Often, very often, have I 
 
 got so far on in a letter to you, but have conclud- 
 ed, that amidst the multiplied duties that claimed 
 your attention, my correspondence would be an 
 unreasonable tax upon your time. I felt conscious, 
 too, that I had nothing interesting to communicate, 
 either in my own experience, or in the state of the 
 church around me. I could not tell you of fresh 
 conquests that I had gained over Satan, the world, 
 and the flesh ; nor call on you to rejoice with me 
 over the inroads that had been made in the enemy's 
 kingdom ; the trophies won ; the number of cap- 
 tives taken from the destroyer ; and the ransomed 
 ones returning with songs and everlasting rejoicing 
 upon their heads. Though I could have excited 
 your sympathy, I could have asked your prayers 
 for Zion, sitting degraded and afflicted in the dust, 
 the love of her friends waxing cold, and her watch- 
 men and defenders asleep — I could, but have not 
 
128 MEMOIR OF 
 
 done it — my pen has been laid aside, and I have 
 thus been deprived of the counsels, the exhorta- 
 tions, nay, the rebukes which I have so much 
 needed. 
 
 And now I have resumed my pen, to ask you to 
 come and try to do us some good. Come, and 
 rouse our sleeping spirits ; come, and stir us up to 
 duty ; urge upon us our obligation, and by your 
 warmth, kindle anew the almost extinguished sparks 
 that lie covered in our bosoms. What shall I say 
 more ? I have deferred writing till I have left time 
 to say but little. Come, and you shall have a cham- 
 ber as large, at least, as the Shunammite's, and a "ta- 
 ble, and a bed, and a stool, and a candlestick," and 
 you shall turn in, with as uninterrupted freedom 
 as the Prophet did into his ; you shall meet at this 
 interesting season,* many of the wise and excel- 
 lent of the earth, and shall doubtless have your 
 heart warmed with hearing of the Lord's doings 
 for Zion, and your zeal enlivened, and your faith 
 increased and strengthened. Come, then, and con- 
 fer a great pleasure, and possibly a lasting benefit 
 upon us. But you do not need further persuasion ; 
 I feel persuaded that you cannot say us " Nay," 
 and shall therefore expect you, till you write that 
 
 * Referring to the Annual Meeting of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which met 
 that year at Philadelphia. 
 
ANNA JANE UNNARD. 129 
 
 duty will not permit you to leave your important 
 station at home. 
 
 We have heard of the affliction in Mrs. S 's 
 
 family, and sympathize with them in the melan- 
 choly bereavement. Remember us affectionately 
 
 to them, to Mrs. G , &c. and to the members 
 
 of your own dear family. 
 
 Sister M. has been urging me to write, for a week 
 past, and is now impatient that I should close with 
 her love to yourself, and a reiteration of all that I 
 have said. 
 
 Most sincerely yours, though in haste, 
 Anna J. Linnard. 
 
 To Miss J. C. of Philadelphia. 
 
 W , Aug. 24, 1829. 
 
 Will you, my very dear J , think I am tres- 
 passing too much on your kindness, if I ask you to 
 teach my class one Sabbath more ? I am spend- 
 ing my time so pleasantly, and I would think, 
 profitably, and as I have no engagement at home 
 to prevent my longer stay, except my class, I have 
 almost yielded to Mrs. J's. solicitations to spend 
 next week with her. I have, however, furnished 
 myself with so little work, that if I stay I shall be 
 quite unoccupied: can you not supply me ? 
 
 I wish I had something pleasant to tell you 
 about W — . Alas! what a melancholy contrast 
 
130 MEMOIR OF 
 
 does the present state of things afford to what we 
 found here two years ago; then, crowded houses, 
 solemn countenances, anxious sinners — now, a 
 thin, scattered congregation, listless hearers, and 
 stupid souls. Their new church is a beautiful, 
 neat building, but the fire on the altar burns dimly, 
 and the glory of the Lord has gone up from the 
 cherubim. 
 
 Oh why, why must it be so ? Or is there any 
 necessity in the case? I think not. It appears to 
 me that there is something wrong in the manner 
 of conducting revivals. Meetings are too frequent, 
 the ordinary business of life too much suspended, 
 the minds of persons wrought up to too great a 
 pitch of excitement, to last very long in the same 
 degree, and there is a sort of revulsion of feeling 
 which takes place — neglected business, accumu- 
 lated, demands the time and attention, and there 
 ensues a more than proportionate degree of cold- 
 ness and worldliness. 
 
 And yet, I would be at a loss to propose a re- 
 medy. Revivals seem like harvest seasons, when 
 every thing else is laid aside and all hands are 
 employed in gathering in the ripened grain. 
 
 There are several things that operate very un- 
 favourably on the church here. The building of 
 the house of worship, the division of the congre- 
 gation, a debt of some thousands, and the sickness 
 and absence of Mr. G., as also the sickness and 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 131 
 
 absence of some of their best members, furnish 
 something like extenuating reasons for their present 
 condition. The young gentleman who supplies the 
 pulpit, Mr. H., is of Mr. F's. school, engaged and 
 zealous, — but without any of his abrupt man- 
 ner — serious and sensible in the desk, and cour- 
 teous and agreeable in private. He gave us two 
 excellent sermons yesterday, well adapted to ex- 
 cite thought and feeling in bofti saint and sinner, 
 from the texts, " Comfort ye my people," and 
 " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." 
 I spent the afternoon in my chamber, and, with my 
 Bible, enjoyed a very pleasant, and I trust, profitable 
 season of meditation and self-examination. The 
 subject to which my mind turned, was love — love, 
 as its nature and effects are described by Paul, 
 and the loving Apostle. Although I could not 
 arrive at the conclusion that God had not implanted 
 a seed of even that divine grace in my heart, yet how 
 deficient did I find myself in that holy, humble, 
 expansive, all-comprehending love, which the Gos- 
 pel enjoins, and to which it is doubtless our glo- 
 rious privilege to attain. What an inexpressible 
 beauty did I see in this heavenly affection ! How 
 essential to the Christian character ! And how did 
 my soul long to be melted, and subdued, and filled 
 
 with the spirit of love ! Oh, dearest J .,. let us 
 
 long, and aspire, and seek more diligently after this 
 
132 MEMOIR OF 
 
 grace. I do not mean perfection, but such love as con- 
 strained Paul, and humbled Peter, and endeared 
 John, — love to, and derived from, the infinitely 
 lovely, and blessed Fountain of love. I wish I 
 had commenced where I am ending, for I feel that 
 with love for my subject I could fill my sheet. 
 Although I am standing at a window to catch the 
 last lingering rays of declining day, I must add, 
 what I have often thought, that in our intercourse 
 with each other, we do not sufficiently aim at 
 each other's spiritual benefit. I think we should 
 always endeavour, in our every interview, to help 
 one another at least one step on our journey, to aid, if 
 it were only in the feeblest degree, in the acquisition 
 
 of some gracious habit or feeling. Dear J I 
 
 want you to resolve for the future to help me. 
 Whenever we meet, let us each inquire, what 
 can I do to further my friend in her upward 
 progress toward the kingdom ? How shall I assist 
 her in maintaining her conflict with sin, and prin- 
 cipalities, and powers ? Oh what a blessing might 
 we be to each other, if it were thus ! How faith- 
 ful in admonishing, and reproving each other's 
 faults ! How would our friendship be sanctified 
 and sweetened, and owned and approved of God ! 
 But I must be done. Let it be so dear, very dear, 
 J . Yours, Anna. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 133 
 
 To Mrs. A. M. J. of W , Del. 
 
 Philadelphia, Saturday Evening. 
 
 I am alone this evening, and have been thinking 
 of my dear friends in W , who are, pro- 
 bably, now taking sweet counsel together, uniting 
 their hearts and voices, and pouring out their souls 
 before their God and mine. Peace be upon my 
 sisters in Christ ! The peace of God, which passeth 
 all understanding, be theirs! May they feel to-night 
 how sweet and awful is the place ! May he who 
 dwelleth between the cherubim shine forth, and fill 
 their souls with his glory ! And may their petitions, 
 winged with faith and love, ascend before the 
 mercy-seat, as a cloud of sweet incense ! 
 
 O my dear sister, have you been tuning your 
 harps anew, and raising a higher, and still higher 
 note of praise, to Zion's victorious King? 1 have 
 been ready to sing " Glory" to-night, on hearing 
 of one soul bowing to his sceptre ; but you, O ! 
 
 you, what strains should you raise ! Mr. E 
 
 tells us, that God is still with you, that he is still 
 inspiring your prayers, and granting you the de- 
 sires of your hearts ; that sinners are still waking 
 out of their guilty slumbers, and fleeing from the 
 wrath to come. O, my heart would join with you 
 now, while you are pleading for yet larger bless- 
 ings, for more abundant manifestations of His glo- 
 rious power and presence. My anxiety to hear 
 
 M 
 
134 MEMOIR OF 
 
 how the work of the Lord was prospering, has 
 prompted me several times to use my pen, but I 
 have for three weeks past been so unwell, (and am 
 too much so now to go out at night,) that I felt as 
 though I could not sit down to write a letter. A 
 little imprudence in going out on a wet evening, 
 after taking calomel, has deprived me of several 
 pleasant meetings. But enough of the body, you 
 say, how is the soul? " Have you as much humili- 
 ty and love as you want ?" said Mr. E to me, 
 
 yesterday. I told him, No : that in respect to the 
 degree of those graces, I felt like a person at the 
 foot of a towering hill, whose summit was almost 
 beyond his sight. All / want of any grace is a 
 measureless amount. 
 
 You ask, perhaps, " Does the revival spirit in- 
 crease ?" I think I can say it does. My feelings 
 are very different from what they were when with 
 you ; I am more absorbed — more intensely anxious, 
 more prayerful, and, I think, more believing. For 
 several years, I think, I have often felt, in pleading 
 for my own soul, the Spirit making intercession 
 within, with groanings which could not be uttered ; 
 but, now, my own interest, or the interests of my 
 friends, seem to have but a small proportion of my 
 prayers — it is for Zion's sake I cannot hold my 
 peace, for Jerusalem's sake I cannot be silent. 
 
 I had written thus, my beloved sister, when I 
 was interrupted. I was about to tell you of our 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 135 
 
 brightening prospects — of our increasing hopes — 
 how our pastor was roused, and how a few chris- 
 tians were beginning to burnish their lamps, and 
 how careless sinners were beginning to look 
 around them ; but the precious Sabbath has inter- 
 vened, and my thoughts and feelings have been 
 drawn into a somewhat different current. Charles 
 Samuel Stewart, and his Harriet, are in town, 
 and have been relating what would move your very 
 soul. 0, what views have they given me of Mis- 
 sionary life ! Missionary life, connected with a 
 thousand romantic associations, and seen through 
 the medium of a highly excited imagination, or 
 even as exhibited in the beautifully written and in- 
 teresting journals of Missionaries, is a very differ- 
 ent thing from what it is in sober reality. The 
 innumerable difficulties, the petty vexations, the 
 trials of faith, and love, and patience, and even tem- 
 per, which they describe in conversation, are such 
 as my mind had not even conceived. And yet it 
 seems a glorious path to tread in — to follow through 
 suffering the footsteps of apostles and martyrs, of 
 Schwartz, of Brainerd, of Martyn — like them to live, 
 to labour — even to die for Jesus — O how sweet ! 
 What a noble, honourable — what a delightful, em- 
 ployment is it, to win souls to Christ ! 0, who 
 would not be willing to sacrifice life, and all that is 
 dear in life, for such a glorious object ! What are 
 the privation of comforts, the trials, the difficulties, 
 
136 MEMOIR OF 
 
 during a few working-days, to the joy unspeakable 
 of saving souls from death, and of studding an im- 
 mortal crown with shining jewels ! How the 
 thought, as I write, fires my spirit ! Dear Mrs. 
 
 J , is it wrong to be ambitious here ? Is it 
 
 wrong to grasp, within our soul's enlarged desires, 
 multitudes of our ruined, dying fellow men — 
 wrong to long to be ourselves the instruments of 
 their restoration to the life, image, and favour of 
 God ? But I am digressing too far ; I must bring 
 my piece-meal letter to a close. 
 
 Mr. M has come to town to labour for the 
 
 Female Domestic Missionary Society. He called 
 to see me this evening, (Tuesday,) and I took him 
 
 with me to a meeting at Mr. K 's house, 
 
 where I had the pleasure of hearing your friend 
 
 H , and my friend, for I call him so, because 
 
 I like him very much, and also Mr. M . The 
 
 rooms were crowded, — there were, no doubt, up- 
 wards of one hundred people. We have had such 
 meetings, since we came home, sometimes twice 
 a week, and we think they have been blessed. 
 
 I was obliged to dear M — J — for her journal, 
 though I have not told her so before : and will be 
 very glad to have the remainder. I inquire of 
 
 every one from W , and I did it to day of 
 
 P. C , how T C comes on. What 
 
 an awful condition is his ; so enlightened, and yet 
 so stupid and stubborn ! 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 137 
 
 Remember me to Mr. J ; I shall not soon 
 
 forget his prayers for me and mine. 
 
 Dear M S , I hope that clay tenement 
 
 of hers will be propped up a little longer. Give 
 her much love for me, with the request that she 
 will please to remember that she is not all spirit. 
 
 My little sister K at my side, says, " Give 
 
 Mrs. J my love, and ask her to pray for me." 
 
 M also desires to be kindly remembered to 
 
 you. 
 
 Yours, most affectionately, 
 
 Anna J. 
 
 Please don't keep Mr. M longer than 
 
 two weeks, he has a work to do here. 
 
 Love to J . 
 
 To Mrs. J. M'A. of W , N. J. 
 
 Philadelphia, 16th Nov. 1830. 
 
 My dear J , I did not learn of your afflictive 
 
 bereavement, until ten or twelve days afterward, 
 and then I felt as though I could scarcely believe 
 that this last dear object of your affections had in- 
 deed been riven from you. I have been intending 
 to write every day since, but have been prevented, 
 until an unoccupied hour this evening gives me an 
 opportunity. 
 
 But what shall I say ? Alas ! I feel as though I 
 hardly knew how to offer you any consolation. I 
 would only remind you , that your dear meek, mother 
 m 2 
 
138 MEMOIR OF 
 
 is now a sainted spirit — that she has forever laid 
 aside her weak frail body, and that her purified 
 soul, free from the shackles of mortality and 
 sin, is now at rest in the bosom of God. O, 
 think what she has escaped! No more tears 
 to shed — no more sighing, or sorrow — no more 
 conflicts, no more sin. Ah ! while we are mourn- 
 ing here below, she is enjoying the presence of 
 Him, whom, though unseen, she loved. Hers is 
 now the palm of victory, and the crown of rejoic- 
 ing, and on the heights of Zion she is timing her 
 golden harp to Him who hath washed her from 
 her sins in his own blood. And would you, my 
 dear friend, recall her back to earth ? Would you 
 have her tread the same path that you are now 
 walking, and bear the same * bitter trials? ' As- 
 suredly not. Endeavour to anticipate the hour 
 when your day of probation shall be over, and 
 your trial ended, and you, too, be admitted into the 
 joy of your Lord. 
 
 Do not think, dear J , that I consider this, 
 
 and other afflictions with which divine Providence 
 has visited you, as other than very, very severe. 
 No : having experienced the pain of parting from 
 dear friends myself, I can conceive of the bitter 
 anguish you must feel, in the view of those repeated 
 bereavements you have been called to suffer. But, 
 suffer me to ask you, what I have asked myself, 
 has there not been a " needs be" for all this? 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD, 139 
 
 Have not these much, and deservedly, loved objects 
 entwined themselves too closely around our hearts, 
 and engrossed those affections which He, who 
 only has a right to them, demands ? I feel that / 
 am too prone to commit those two dreadful 
 evils charged upon Israel, " forsaking the fountain 
 of living water, and hewing out broken cisterns 
 that can hold no water," and if it be so with you, 
 is it not wise, and even kind, in your heavenly 
 Father to dry up these streams, and thus lead you 
 to himself? He seems now as if he were deter- 
 mined to have your heart, your ivhole heart. He 
 took from you your sweet child ; still there was a 
 dearer being left, and you clung to him. He was 
 withdrawn ; and then you turned, and fastened, with 
 a stronger hold, upon another creature. Now all 
 
 are gone, and " what have you more ?" Dear J , 
 
 you have God, the ever living, unchanging God. 
 Yes, He is willing to fill the void, he himself has 
 made. He will come into your broken, bleeding, 
 heart and fill it with his peace. Now is the time 
 for a ivhole dedication, now for an entire conse- 
 cration of body, soul, and spirit to him who has 
 redeemed you, and who, by his disciplinary mea- 
 sures, would draw you to this reasonable service. 
 Your reeds have all broken under your weight, let 
 me affectionately urge you to be careful how you 
 lean upon others. Go, dear J , to God for 
 
140 MEMOIR OF 
 
 comfort, and to him alone. Go to him for grace 
 and strength, and he will sustain you. 
 
 I have had some thoughts of coming to see you 
 for a few days, but do not know whether I shall 
 be able to accomplish it this season. There has 
 not been any week since I could have gone ; — 
 father has been quite sick, and is still rather unwell. 
 If I do not come you must not impute it to disincli- 
 nation. I was interrupted by company the even- 
 ing I commenced this, and I have been so situated 
 as not to be able to finish it till now. The anni- 
 versary of our Missionary Society, (which gene- 
 rally brings me a good deal of writing, such as the 
 preparation of a Report, &c.) has taken place, and 
 other indispensable engagements occupied my time. 
 
 Sisters sympathize with you in your trial, and 
 desire to be affectionately remembered to you. 
 
 Remember me also to Miss N , and when you 
 
 can do it, write to me, if it be but a few lines, I 
 shall excuse it. Yours, affectionately, 
 
 Anna. 
 
 To Mrs. A. M. J. of W , Del. 
 
 My beloved Friend, — It has long been in my 
 heart to write to you, but the opportunity always 
 seemed wanting till now, when I have made one, 
 by staying from meeting. 
 
 And so you have lost your dear little Sandy* — 
 
 * A familiar name given to this sweet child, whose name 
 was Archibald Alexander. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 141 
 
 I should not say lost, for he is, doubtless, only re- 
 moved to a more congenial atmosphere, where his 
 pure spirit can forever expatiate in its own element 
 of love. He was very sweet, even when clothed 
 in his garments of clay, how lovely must he be, 
 now, disenthralled, and washed from all the stains 
 of original corruption ! If children are angels, 
 what a gentle, loving, little angel is he ! You had 
 the privilege of assisting in his training for that 
 heavenly state, and perhaps your Lord and his, 
 saw that it was no longer safe to trust him away, 
 even in a tender mother's hands, and so he took 
 him to himself. Blessed child ! so soon escaped 
 from the turmoil and temptations of life — spared 
 the conflict, yet enjoying the victory, receiving the 
 crown, without bearing the cross ! O my dear 
 sister, do you repine if his Lord thought it best? 
 I trust not. Sandy is not dead, but lives, and will 
 live forever. He is not lost, but safe at home in 
 his dearer Father's house. 
 
 Do not think, my dear sister, that I do not feel 
 for you ; I do, and I trust, that He, who knows 
 better how to administer consolation than any 
 earthly friend, will not forget you now, but fill up 
 the void he has made with his own fulness. 
 
 A. J. L. 
 
142 MEMOIR OF 
 
 To Mrs. A. M. J , of W , Del. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 13th, 1832. 
 
 It was very kind in you, my beloved friend, to 
 write to me so soon. It was the more grateful, be- 
 cause it was neither expected nor deserved: indeed, 
 after I heard that you had still sickness in your 
 family, I felt as if it were not right to have intro- 
 duced any subject into my letter which would seem 
 to ask an answer. I thank you for your " honest 
 questions," and feel no less indebted for your 
 fidelity than your promptness. True christian 
 faithfulness is very rare, and therefore the more 
 precious. It is love's most delicate, difficult, yet 
 important duty, and the highest proof she can give 
 of the strength of her regard. 
 
 I took your letter with me to my chamber, and 
 there bowed before the great heart-Searcher, and 
 determined to review this whole subject, which I 
 acknowledge to be deeply important, and even mo- 
 mentous. I asked myself the question, whether I 
 was willing to give up the matter, unconditionally, 
 into the hands of God — to do just what he would 
 have me, let it be what it might ? I confess this 
 question excessively agitated me, as my mind 
 glanced rapidly at many of the circumstances of 
 the case, — there was a struggle — but it was only 
 for a moment. Oh! it seemed better, infinitely 
 better, to sacrifice the dearest desire of my heart, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNAED. 143 
 
 rather than that the wise and holy, just, and good, 
 and precious will of God should not be done. Per- 
 haps I was deceived, but I thought I could surren- 
 der my will to his. I then begged that my mind 
 might be enlightened as to duty, and my will in- 
 clined to embrace whatever should appear such. 
 With this preparation, I took up the subject in all 
 the different aspects in which you had presented 
 it. I tried to be impartial, and as I proceeded, step 
 by step, my convictions deepened, that in the pro- 
 posed measure I had nothing left but to go for- 
 ward. 
 
 If I have done wrong, I must lay this, with all 
 my other errors on the head of the Great Sacrifice, 
 and look for pardon through the merits of his 
 blood. 
 
 I wish very much to see you. Will not the at- 
 traction of the General Assembly bring you up 
 with the rest of the W friends ? For my- 
 self, I expect but little gratification. I advanced 
 
 my first step last Sunday, over to Dr. E 's, 
 
 and hope to get as far as Mr. B *s at the open- 
 ing, but have no prospect of attending any early 
 morning or evening meetings. Being debarred the 
 house of God is the greatest trial attendant on sick- 
 ness. 
 
 We have all been looking forward to this Assem- 
 bly with the deepest anxiety. 
 
 Oh, that the Lord would disappoint the ex- 
 
144 MEMOIR OP 
 
 pectations of the wicked, and breathe upon the 
 Brethren a spirit of unity and love. 
 
 Oh, that christians, everywhere throughout our 
 church, may be much at the throne of grace on 
 this errand ! Will not your little circle remember 
 the Assembly, daily and throw their whole hearts 
 into their petitions ? Have we not an individual in- 
 terest in this matter 1 The honour of our God and 
 Saviour ! Oh ! it ought and must be dearer to our 
 hearts than any other interest in the universe. 
 
 Anna J. Linnard. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 145 
 
 PART V. 
 
 HER CHARACTER AS A STUDENT OF THE WORD OF GOD : AS A 
 SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER, &C. 
 
 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of 
 gold and silver. — Psalms cxix. 72. 
 
 In the last chapter, it was attempted to portray the 
 character of Miss Linnard, as exhibited in the va- 
 rious relations of life. In this we shall speak of her 
 character as a student of the Scriptures; a member 
 of a Bible class; her attainments in religious 
 knowledge; and her labours as a Sunday School 
 Teacher. t 
 
 One of the most interesting features in the char- 
 acter of Miss Linnard, before her conversion, was 
 her unquenchable thirst for knowledge. She read 
 a great number of valuable books which treat of 
 various branches of knowledge, and read them with 
 deep attention, and great advantage. And when 
 she became a Christian, this desire for knowledge 
 was not abated, but only elevated, purified, and 
 regulated. It had God, and the things relating to 
 Him, as its blessed object. 
 
 As might be expected, the Bible became em- 
 phatically her book, and was perused and studied 
 daily, with untiring industry. And she soon attain- 
 
146 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ed to an uncommon acquaintance with it. She read 
 it often through in regular course, besides studying 
 its devotional portions, constantly, during the twelve 
 years which she lived, after her mind had been il- 
 lumined by the truth. It was her practice, for years, 
 to spend two or three hours every evening, in read- 
 ing the sacred Scriptures. It was seldom that she 
 retired to rest before midnight, often later. And 
 from ten o'clock, until she did retire, she was, 
 almost uniformly, engaged in this delightful em- 
 ployment. In this still and solemn hour of the 
 night, when the city, with its many thousands of 
 immortal beings, was silent in repose, and nothing 
 was heard but the voice of the watchman announc- 
 ing the passing hour, she delighted to study the 
 Bible, generally with Scott's or Henry's Com- 
 mentary, and no eye but God's superintending. 
 Here it was that she found those delightful seasons of 
 communion with God, which she so often enjoyed. 
 Here it was, too, that she poured forth her heart be- 
 fore Him, in intercession for her family, her friends, 
 the church of Jesus Christ, and a dying world. 
 
 Nor did she read the Bible in a superficial man- 
 ner. She studied it, with all the helps and appli- 
 ances which are now, so abundantly, within the 
 reach of all who desire them. She studied it in a 
 systematic manner. For this purpose, she attend- 
 ed for years the Bible classes which were main- 
 tamed in the church to which she belonged. During 
 several of the last years of her life, her attendance 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 147 
 
 was seldom, on account of her many engagements ; 
 and finally, the state of her health. And it was a very 
 rare thing, (if, indeed, it ever did occur,) that she 
 went to her class unprepared. The pains which 
 she took to become thoroughly prepared, were 
 very great, and would appear incredible to careless 
 readers of the word of God. She felt, however, 
 that the Bible is a rich mine of divine knowledge 
 which can never be searched too diligently. And 
 she found a rich reward for all her labour in this 
 diligent investigation. And she always derived 
 profit from the instructions of her teachers, and 
 never reckoned the hour or two which she week- 
 ly spent in the Bible class, as lost, or even spent 
 with little profit. She went expecting to be bene- 
 fitted. Nor was she often disappointed. 
 
 In this respect, she set an example, which all our 
 youth ought to imitate. She often expressed her 
 wonder, that any professor of religion, old or 
 young, should be willing, or allow themselves 
 upon any, except most imperative, considerations, 
 to lose the opportunity of securing instruction, in the 
 thorough manner in which they might obtain it in a 
 well conducted Bible class. And she looked for- 
 ward in expectation with much delight, to that day 
 when this subject will be seen in its true impor- 
 tance, and all the members of the churches, and even 
 of the congregations, be enlisted in the regular and 
 careful study of the word of God. 
 
 As to Miss Linnard's attainments in the know- 
 
148 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ledge of all that relates to religion, they were truly 
 surprising, when it is remembered that she only 
 lived about twelve years after she became a profes- 
 sor of religion. And yet in that time, besides the 
 valuable religious works of a lighter character, 
 (such as those in biography, narrative, &c, which 
 were numerous,) she read a large number of 
 the most important religious works in the English 
 language, such as those of President Edwards, 
 Arch-Bishop Leighton, Newton, Law, Baxter, Al- 
 leine, Gray, Scougal, Doddridge, Ridgely, Hop- 
 kins, Paley, Fletcher, Wesley, Dick, Chalmers, 
 Jay, Owen, Bates, Milner's Church History, 
 and Home's Introduction. 
 
 Few persons have a more thorough acquaintance, 
 not only with the Bible, but with the entire subject 
 of theology, and the various theories and specula- 
 tions which have been entertained, especially in 
 this country, than she had; or who could point 
 out the differences in these systems, and the dan- 
 gers which arise from any particular theory or 
 scheme. Her knowledge of the best English 
 writers on the Philosophy of the Human Mind 
 was by no means inconsiderable. She had read 
 Locke, Stewart, Reid, and Brown, with much 
 care and reflection. 
 
 In addition to this, she not only kept up, but 
 enlarged, her knowledge of subjects of general 
 interest, and in which she had made great advances 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 149 
 
 before her conversion. And if any one desires to 
 know how she accomplished all this, the answer 
 is, that it was by employing well all her leisure 
 time, which was certainly much greater than that 
 which falls to the lot of most of young ladies, but 
 not greater than what thousands in our country 
 enjoy. It is astonishing how much any one may 
 read in ten or twelve years, who devotes only one 
 or two hours to it every day. And vast numbers 
 of people can, if they are disposed to do so, spend 
 far more than that amount of time, every day, in 
 this employment. 
 
 The knowledge which Miss Linnard acquired, 
 she laid at the feet of her blessed Master. How- 
 ever desirable in itself, its chief value, in her esti- 
 mation, was, that it might be rendered useful to the 
 cause of Christ ; and well did she prove this in her 
 own case. It was owing to this fact that her at- 
 tainments did not excite and cherish pride, or lead 
 to an ostentatious display, as is the case, ordinarily, 
 with persons who possess little or no religion. 
 Her deep piety always kept her humble, so that 
 she was remarkable for her unassuming manners, 
 although she always considered pride and vanity, 
 naturally, as her besetting sins ; but through the 
 grace of God she gained the victory over them. 
 
 Miss Linnard was well acquainted with the Doc- 
 trines, Form of Government, and Discipline of the 
 church to which she belonged, and preferred them 
 N 2 
 
150 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to those of any other. Yet she was no bigot. She 
 was a frequent worshipper in the Episcopal and 
 Methodist churches, at those times when there 
 was no service in the church of which she was a 
 member. She delighted to feel that she belonged 
 to the general church of Christ on earth, embracing 
 all who truly believe in Him and " work righteous- 
 ness," by whatever name they are called. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted that Christians, both 
 old and young, are so far from being thoroughly 
 informed in the doctrines of the word of God, or 
 capable of defending them. The church will 
 never be safe from pernicious error, until her 
 members are not only well informed as to what 
 God does say in his word, but are also contented 
 simply to believe it because he has said it. A 
 spirit which will not be satisfied with this, but is 
 ever seeking something further, is always in dan- 
 ger of running into great errors. 
 
 We would here remark, that although Miss 
 Linnard read much, yet it was seldom, after 
 her conversion, that she read any book which 
 was not obviously calculated to improve her reli- 
 gious knowledge, or to qualify her for greater useful- 
 ness. It has already been stated that before she 
 became pious, she was extravagantly fond of read- 
 ing novels. But after she "had apprehended 
 God, or rather had been apprehended of him," 
 and had known his grace in truth, she renounced 
 
ANNA JANE L I N N A R D. 151 
 
 decidedly, and for ever, this species of reading,— sel- 
 dom ever looking into a book of this kind, unless 
 to ascertain its character, in order that she might 
 be better enabled to guard those over whom she 
 had influence. And it was her decided opinion 
 that all such books are exceedingly injurious in 
 their influence upon real spirituality of mind. It 
 did not affect her opinions, on this subject, to be 
 told that many persons of high standing, but who 
 do not profess to know any thing about religion, 
 by having experienced its power, approve of the 
 reading of such books. Nor did she regard the 
 opinions of many professors of religion, whose re- 
 ligion, however, allows them to enter into what 
 are called fashionable amusements. She never 
 thought either class capable of deciding upon what 
 is, or is not, really injurious to real spirituality 
 of mind. It was enough for her that the word of 
 God forbids, in its scope, all things which have a 
 tendency to make Christians " conformed to this 
 world," instead of being " transformed by the re- 
 newing of their minds ;" to strengthen the influence 
 of the "world, the flesh, and the devil;" and 
 which promote instead of repressing the dispo- 
 sition which is naturally so powerful in every 
 heart, to indulge in " foolish jesting," and "things 
 which are not covenient" to the Christian char- 
 acter and the glory of God. And she found from 
 her own experience, that the influence of this spe- 
 
152 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cies of reading is to give a distaste for substantial 
 reading, and for serious and spiritual exercises; 
 that it quenches the monition of the Spirit and of 
 conscience ; that, by exciting the most powerful 
 passions of the human heart it absorbs the atten- 
 tion and time which ought to be bestowed on the 
 care of the soul ; and, that it leads to wrong ideas 
 of real life, and through the romantic hopes of the 
 future which it excites in the minds of ardent and 
 inexperienced young persons it unfits them for the 
 trials, and disappointments of real life. 
 
 It may well be supposed that when Miss Lin- 
 nard embraced the Gospel, she was ready to take 
 a part in every good work. It was so. And one 
 of the first objects in which she felt a deep interest, 
 was the Sunday School. She soon became a 
 teacher, and, until the state of her health prevented, 
 she was one of the most indefatigable and success- 
 ful Sunday school teachers in the city. She 
 spared no pains to make her class interesting, and 
 to keep up its number, by constant and faithful 
 visitation. And such was her success that she 
 was seldom without a good class. During the 
 twelve years in which she was engaged in this 
 good work, she taught several successive sets of 
 scholars. And such was her faithfulness, united 
 with a most skilful mode of giving instruction, 
 and earnest prayer, that her labours were greatly 
 blessed. 
 
ANNA JANELINNAED. 153 
 
 She also laboured with great diligence to qualify 
 herself for giving instruction. By careful study 
 she made herself well acquainted with the les- 
 sons which she taught her pupils. She embraced 
 every opportunity of hearing instruction which was 
 calculated to have a bearing upon her work as a 
 Sunday school teacher. For this purpose she at- 
 tended, with great constancy and much profit, an 
 excellent series of Lectures which the venerable 
 Dr. Green delivered in the Sixth Presbyterian 
 Church, in the winter of 1825-26, to a large num- 
 ber of teachers belonging to various churches. She 
 often spoke of these Lectures as having been very- 
 useful to her, and, she doubted not, to many others. 
 
 In giving instruction to her class, which was a 
 Bible class, composed of girls, nearly or quite 
 grown up, she used often to read to them, or sim- 
 ply relate, some interesting incident, or anecdote, 
 or historical sketch, to illustrate some principle of 
 duty which she had been inculcating. Sometimes 
 she clothed this instruction in an interesting alle- 
 gory for that purpose. 
 
 Of this the following is a specimen, in which 
 there is displayed a fine ingenuity united with an 
 excellent judgment. 
 
 " A certain great noble, about to go on a short 
 journey, at a very early hour, called the servants 
 of his household together, for the purpose of giving 
 
154 MEMOIR OF 
 
 them his orders, and assigning their employments 
 during his absence. Upon a table, in the apart- 
 ment where they were assembled, was placed 
 what appeared to be a heap of rude, unshapen 
 stones ; there were also scattered crucibles and 
 other implements of manufacture, with which they 
 were little acquainted. " Here," said the noble, 
 approaching the table, and taking a stone in his 
 hand, " are pieces of ore, which, though mingled 
 with other base substances, yet contain much of 
 that most precious and valuable of all metals — 
 gold." Handing a piece to each, he added, " it is 
 my wish, that during my absence, you melt this 
 ore, and separating the gold from it into these moulds, 
 and according to this mode, prepare me an 
 ornament worthy of my acceptance on my return. 
 You will thus have an opportunity of proving the 
 sincerity of your love and obedience, and, on my 
 return, I will reward the diligent servant with 
 honour, and wealth, and dignity, infinitely beyond 
 his desert ; but the unfaithful and negligent I will 
 punish, not only in accordance to his offence in 
 itself, but also in proportion to the extent of the 
 blessings which I promise." 
 
 " Immediately on his departure, one of the ser- 
 vants, reclining himself on a couch, let the ore 
 slip through his fingers on the floor, and picking 
 up a faded rose, began to occupy himself by tear- 
 ing to pieces its withered leaves. Another, throw- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 155 
 
 ing himself on the ground, exclaimed, " I cannot 
 do it ; what a hard man is our master, to expect us 
 to make this lump of dark crude ore into such a 
 beautiful and brilliant jewel as that. I cannot do 
 it; I cannot do it;" and thus he lay turning the 
 gold in his hand, without a single effort to obey 
 his lord. Another, with a smile of contempt, de- 
 clared " their master had deceived them ; he did 
 not mean what he said ; he never will reward us 
 so ; and I am not going to labour for nothing." 
 Another thought their lord had always been so 
 kind, he certainly would not punish him much, 
 and he would try to make a good excuse. Ano- 
 ther, with a parcel of straws in his hand, said he 
 was determined to make a fly-box first, and set 
 himself down very busily to his trifling employ- 
 ment. Two others had just bought a set of bat- 
 tle-doors, and wanted first to try them. Another 
 filled his mouth with betel-nut, and, under its in- 
 toxicating influence, was soon asleep. Some be- 
 gan to quarrel and fight ; and five only attempted to 
 obey their lord's command. One of these, after 
 he had placed the ore in the crucible, and was go- 
 ing with his companions towards the furnace, was 
 gently touched by a ball-player, who begged him 
 to go out into the garden for a game. He hesi- 
 tated. " I think I had better not," said he ; " our 
 master has enjoined this work, and we ought to do 
 it." " Oh, yes," said the other, " but the day is 
 
156 MEMOIR OF 
 
 very long ; there will be time enough before our 
 lord returns." Willingly decoyed, he set the ves- 
 sel down, and followed his tempter. Of the other 
 four, one placed the crucible in the front of the 
 furnace, where no heat could reach it, and 
 sat down to watch it ; but as no heat could reach 
 it, it remained hard and unfused still. Ano- 
 ther put his within the fire, and soon it began to 
 melt ; pleased to see the rich gold appear, he took 
 it out, and held it so long, that when he attempted 
 to pour it into the mould, it was not only hard, but 
 adhered to the vessel. Another put his within the 
 fire, and there left it till the boiling metal ran over 
 the sides of the vessel, and was lost among the 
 ashes. But not so the last, whom I shall call 
 Faithful. Fearing not the intensestheat, he placed 
 his crucible in the hottest place, and carefully did 
 he watch the proper moment to pour the liquid metal 
 into the mould. Nor did he relax his diligence, 
 when he saw it assume the desired form ; but with 
 the graving and burnishing tools which his master 
 had provided, he strove to complete his work and 
 make it perfectly like the pattern which lay beside 
 him, and upon which his eye was constantly bent, 
 that he might catch every touch and turn of the 
 beautiful jewel. While thus engaged in giving it 
 the last polishing strokes, a long loud blast of the 
 trumpet was heard at the gate, the usual signal of 
 the lord's approach. Consternation and dismay 
 
ANNA J A NE LINNARD. 157 
 
 then seized those idle and disobedient servants. 
 Starting from their slumbers, or unlawful employ- 
 ments or amusements, some had to search for the 
 ore committed to them, which, in the general con- 
 fusion, could not be found ; and others were vain 
 and foolish enough to attempt to do in the last mo- 
 ment what had required a whole day to accomplish. 
 Then those who had slighted Faithful's frequent 
 admonition to do their duty, were imploring assist- 
 ance. But in the midst of all this, the door open- 
 ed, and in all the dignity of his rank, the lord 
 stood in the midst of them, and casting an eye of 
 indignation on his terrified and guilty servants, he 
 exclaimed — "Is this the manner, ye worthless and 
 unprofitable servants, that ye fulfil my commands ! 
 Feared ye so little my anger, or did you desire so 
 little my favour ? What have you to plead as a 
 reason why my fury should not be instantly pour- 
 ed out upon you ?" He paused, but not a mouth 
 was opened ; silence seized every lip, while terror 
 turned every face to paleness. "Away! away !" 
 and clapping his hands violently, there rushed in 
 an armed host, with fierce and angry countenances ; 
 "seize these rebels !" he cried, "and bear them to 
 the deepest, darkest dungeon you can find, and 
 there let them suffer for their folly and wicked- 
 ness. But thou, who only wert faithful found, 
 come hither! no longer servant, but friend, my 
 son, my heir ! Clothe him with my richest robe 
 o 
 
158 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of state : henceforth I proclaim thee the sharer of 
 my honour and wealth, partner of my cares. 
 Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude Faithful sunk 
 at his feet. " Rise, my Faithful, rise ; this re- 
 ward, though far above your desert, does not ex- 
 ceed my friendship and esteem. This coronet, 
 this wide domain, and all I have, are yours. But 
 you, base, ungrateful, disobedient servants, who 
 thus despised my grace, behold the blessings you 
 have lost. Hence from my sight, begone. Guards 
 do your duty." And soon the wretched men, fill- 
 ing the air with bitter lamentations, were driven 
 all to their dark abodes." 
 
 The following interesting letter, which the author 
 of this memoir has received from a young woman 
 in this city, who adorns the profession of religion 
 which she has made, will give some highly in- 
 teresting views of Miss Linnard as a Sunday school 
 teacher. She was once a member of a class which 
 she taught. This letter bears a noble and just tes- 
 timony to the faithful manner in which Miss Lin- 
 nard instructed her class. The good which is here 
 mentioned, as having been done by her, relates to 
 only one set of pupils. Many others, who were 
 once under her care, will for ever bless God for 
 her instructions. 
 
 " Dear Sir — In writing of my dear friend, I fear 1 
 shall not be able to do justice to her character as a 
 
ANNA J A NE LINNARD. 159 
 
 Sabbath school teacher, for, as such, she was 
 worthy of imitation by all those who endeavour to 
 lead the young and rising generation to Jesus 
 Christ. Her manner toward her class was, at all 
 times, kind, affectionate, and engaging; always 
 manifesting great interest in whatever concerned 
 their welfare. She met us each Sabbath with plea- 
 sure beaming in her countenance, as she gave her 
 hand to each one, upon her entrance, and bade us 
 welcome. 
 
 "Before she commenced teaching, she would 
 always invite us to be silent, for a few moments, 
 and join with her in asking the blessing of God 
 upon the instruction we were about to receive. In 
 explaining the Scriptures, she was very plain and 
 easily understood, and would never tire us with 
 unnecessary words, but would explain all things in 
 the shortest way possible, — which tended to make 
 a more lasting impression upon the mind than they 
 would otherwise have done. Her favourite theme 
 was redeeming love. On this she loved to dwell. 
 This was the principal topic of her instruction. 
 Here she loved to#top and linger, and gather the 
 thoughts of her scholars around the cross of the 
 spotless Son of God, and view him bleeding and 
 dying for them, until the tears would drop from 
 her eyes, and many of the scholars would weep 
 also at the bitter sufferings of Jesus Christ. In 
 beseeching her scholars to attend to the concerns 
 
160 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of their souls, she was exceedingly importunate ; 
 she would invite them, by all that Was pure and 
 lovely in the life of Jesus Christ, by all that was 
 tender and affecting in his death, by all the mercies 
 that God was continually bestowing upon them, 
 and by the solemnities of death, judgment, and 
 eternity, to make their peace with God. 
 
 " Her instructions were not confined to the 
 Sabbath alone, but whenever she met them in the 
 streets, or wherever else it might be, if she had 
 but one minute to speak to them, that short space 
 of time was spent in persuading them to repent of 
 their sins. She had meetings also for her class, 
 during the week, at her own house. At these 
 meetings, she prayed with them, conversed with 
 them on the subject of religion — read to them 
 tracts, or explained to them the Scriptures. In her 
 prayers, she prayed for each by name, and as their 
 several cases required. One of these meetings, in 
 particular, was very solemn ; at which she invited 
 all who intended, without delay, to attend to the 
 concerns of their souls, to stand up ; at which in- 
 vitation five, I believe, stood upland of these five, 
 all now, if I mistake not, are professors, and I 
 doubt not possessors, of the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 '" But I feel that I cannot do justice to her charac- 
 ter as a teacher of a Bible class. Her many tender 
 , and affecting instructions and admonitions, I hope 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 161 
 
 never to forget, but to bind them to my heart, and 
 they will be a guide and support to my soul, by 
 the blessing of God, in every event in life. And 
 when it shall please God to call me from time to 
 eternity, I hope, through infinite riches of grace in 
 Jesus Christ, to join with many others in praising 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, that they have ever been 
 under the instructions of Anna J. Linnard." 
 
 Miss Linnard wrote an interesting book for the 
 American Sunday School Union, which has gone 
 through several editions, and has been read by 
 some thousands of youth. The title of this work 
 is " Helen Maurice." Nine thousand five hun- 
 dred copies of this book have already been printed 
 by the Society. The following brief extract from 
 this book will give the reader some idea of her 
 easy style of writing, as well as her views of the 
 proper mode of giving religious instruction to child- 
 ren. 
 
 " The affecting circumstances related in the last 
 chapter, made a very powerful impression on the 
 mind of Helen ; and for several days a deep gloom 
 overspread her usually cheerful countenance ; she 
 smiled not, scarcely eat, was much alone, and often 
 discovered with the Bible in her hand, and in tears. 
 
 " These favourable appearances were regarded 
 by her aunt with deep yet trembling solicitude : for 
 several months past her desire for Helen's salva- 
 o2 
 
162 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tion had greatly increased in intensity ; it was not 
 now regarded as an object of distant interest, or of 
 small moment, to be viewed with calm composure, 
 or a feeble, uncertain hope; daily had it been 
 magnifying itself before her, and gathering in im- 
 portance, until it absorbed her thoughts, and her 
 spirit found no rest, but in breathing out its fervent 
 aspirations at the throne of grace. 
 
 " This may appear very strange to some who 
 may be disposed to inquire, what more could be 
 desired, since the child was acknowledged to be duti- 
 ful, affectionate, and intelligent? Not so Mrs. St. 
 Felix : she was not disposed to substitute love and 
 obedience to her, for love and obedience to that 
 great and excellent Being, who had the highest 
 claims upon Helen's affection and reverence. She 
 well knew that Helen did not love God, nor desire 
 to please him : she had learnt to interpret that half 
 concealed expression of dissatisfaction or aversion, 
 which would often overspread her usually mild 
 countenance, when the things of God, and Christ, 
 and Heaven were urged upon her attention : — and 
 with the Bible before her, she could not deny, 
 that however correct and amiable in her outward 
 deportment, however dear to her, Helen was 
 none other than a pleasant, agreeable, yet real ene- 
 my of the Lord of heaven and earth. 
 
 " Nor had Helen's aunt acquired that method of 
 quieting her anxiety, and quelling her fears, which 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 163 
 
 some good people employ; she did not say, "O 
 she's but a child yet; it will be time enough bye 
 and by — it's not to be expected that children 
 should take to these things." Ah ! she felt that 
 the precious years of instruction and privilege were 
 now passing away, leaving Helen the same inno- 
 cent and guiltless creature ; she believed that all 
 the pains taken to enlighten her conscience, inform 
 her understanding, and affect her heart; all the 
 calls of God's providence, his word, and Spirit, 
 were gathering upon her a fearful amount of obli- 
 gation ; and she trembled at what might possibly 
 be the result. Such being her views, we may ex- 
 cuse Mrs. St. Felix's undue anxiety on this sub- 
 ject, nor wonder that she should now hail any ap- 
 pearance of even the beginnings of piety in her be- 
 loved child, with the liveliest pleasure. She was, 
 however, too well acquainted with the human 
 heart, and particularly with the youthful heart, to be 
 inordinately elated on the occasion : she therefore 
 did not go through the circle of her friends to tell 
 them, what great hopes she had of Helen — no : 
 she went to her closet, and her God, and there she 
 spread her case. 
 
 " But the dealings of the Divine Sovereign, with 
 his creatures, are sometimes very different from 
 what we are led to expect. We see the mighty 
 whirlwind sweeping over the mountains, tearing 
 up by its roots the lofty oak, and desolating the 
 
164 MEMOIR OF 
 
 plain — it passes by — God is not in the wind. 
 Again, the earth by terrible convulsions shaken to 
 her centre, yawns in affright — it is gone — God is 
 not in the earthquake : — and then the fire — and 
 then the still small voice is heard — it penetrates 
 the sinner's ear— it reaches, melts, and subdues 
 his heart. So in the present case ; Helen's feel- 
 ings of terror, for they were nothing more, in a few 
 weeks wore off: the elasticity of her spirits return- 
 ed, and her light step, and cheerful countenance 
 were resumed : — yet there still remained a certaiu 
 feeling, a sort of susceptibility to religious impres- 
 sion entirely unknown before. Mrs. St. Felix's dis- 
 appointment, though severe, did not lead her to up- 
 braid Helen continually for the change now observ- 
 able in her deportment ; a part of her conduct was 
 worthy of imitation by those who are similarly 
 situated ; she took all proper means to revive and 
 deepen Helen's impressions, yet she very justly 
 thought that to remind her of them frequently, and 
 in a reproachful manner, would only lessen that 
 confidence she had always endeavoured to cherish, 
 and produce feelings of aversion and disgust, with- 
 out probably doing any good." 
 
 In addition to this, it ought to be stated, that 
 Miss Linnard had sketched two other works for 
 Sunday schools, and which would, no doubt, have 
 been very valuable ; but her last illness prevented 
 her from going on with them. One of these works 
 
• ANNA JANE LINNAR D. 165 
 
 related to Greece. The following beautiful hymn 
 was intended to be introduced into one of these 
 projected books. 
 
 Sleeper! awake, and sing, 
 
 The shades of night are gone ; 
 Sleeper! awake, and sing, 
 The sun is hast'ning on. 
 He rises from his ocean bed, 
 Sleeper ! arouse ! lift up thy head, 
 
 Behold his glorious beams, 
 
 Spread o'er the mountain top, 
 And now, like golden streams, 
 Pour down its rocky slope. 
 The fields and trees are bathed in light, 
 The verdant earth with joy is bright. 
 
 The birds are on the wing, 
 
 They warble forth their lays ; 
 How sweet the notes they sing 
 To their Creator's praise ! 
 Sleeper ! and canst thou silent be ? 
 Has God, thy God, no claims on thee ? 
 
 He watched thy slumb'ring hour, 
 
 He guarded thee from ill ; 
 His arm of love and power 
 Is cast around thee still. 
 Oh, come, thy grateful ofF'ring bring ; 
 Awake ! awake ! his goodness sing. 
 
166 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Each day its duty brings ; 
 
 Arise, and seek his face ; 
 In Him are all thy springs 
 
 Of life, and strength and grace. 
 Awake ! awake ! His love adore, 
 His mercy seek, His aid implore. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 167 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 HER EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF THE VARIOUS BENEVOLENT SOCIE- 
 TIES: VISITS TO THE POOR, &.C. 
 
 For to me to live is Christ. — Phil. i. 21. 
 
 Having, in the last Chapter, spoken of Miss 
 Linnard as a student of the Bible, her attainments 
 in religious knowledge, and her labours as a Sabbath 
 school teacher, we propose, in this, to give some 
 account of her other efforts for the conversion of 
 the world. 
 
 From her entrance upon her religious life until 
 its close, the principle which governed Paul's life 
 seemed to be truly that which governed hers — " for 
 to me to live is Christ." And she did devote every 
 talent, and faculty of soul and body, time, property, 
 and influence, to the promotion of the honour of 
 Christ, by endeavouring to bring others to the know- 
 ledge of his salvation, and with a zeal steady as 
 time, and a love stronger than death. 
 
 The writer of this memoir has never seen a per- 
 son who evinced, habitually, a greater interest in all 
 the efforts which the Church is now making to 
 extend the kingdom of Christ throughout the world, 
 than did Miss Linnard. She had a heart, which 
 
168 MEMOIR OF 
 
 could comprehend, in its feelings, all the various 
 enterprizes which are prosecuted for the accom- 
 plishment of this grand object — an object for which 
 this world is continued in existence ; for which the 
 Son of God died; and for which, in part, his 
 Church was established. Deeply convinced of the 
 importance of the religion of Christ, by having 
 herself felt both her need of it and its efficacy, 
 she looked with a sympathizing eye upon earth's 
 benighted millions, and longed to send to every 
 creature the blessed Gospel of the Son of God. 
 
 For many years she was secretary of the Aux- 
 iliary Female Bible Association of the South-Eastern 
 section of the city of Philadelphia, and one of its 
 most efficient officers. She distributed, with her 
 own hand, very many copies of .the sacred Scrip- 
 tures. The Reports which she wrote of the opera- 
 tions of this Association were always interesting. 
 Some of them, indeed, are of a character, for beauty 
 of language, as well as for abundance of touching 
 incidents, truly remarkable. A few extracts from 
 these Reports are here subjoined. 
 
 In that of 1826, are the following interesting 
 paragraphs : 
 
 "To do good is doubtless the sweet employ- 
 ment in which the angelic spirits delight to use 
 their celestial powers. Placed in a state so highly 
 exalted above all sin and selfishness, to what a height 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 169 
 
 of holy affection do their aspiring spirits attain ! 
 How intense their desires ! How swift their motions 
 in fulfilling the will of God for the benefit of man! 
 They are said to be ministering spirits to the heirs 
 of salvation ! and are represented as eagerly carry- 
 ing the messages of love and mercy from heaven 
 to earth ; as watching over our interests — sympa- 
 thizing with our sorrows — and rejoicing before 
 God in the conversion of sinners. When communi- 
 cating to the shepherds of Bethlehem, the glorious 
 news of a Saviour's incarnation, we are told they 
 shouted with holy rapture, and sung in joyful 
 strains the heavenly anthem, ' Glory to God, good 
 will towards man.' To glorify God in doing good, 
 is likewise the noblest employment of man. He, 
 who from nature's rude chaos could by a word 
 call forth order and beauty, those moving worlds 
 of light, and all the various scenes of loveliness 
 and grandeur, with which the universe is decked, 
 needs not the assistance of his creatures : his al- 
 mighty power alone can accomplish his purposes, 
 and fullfil his vast designs without their aid ; and it 
 is infinite condescension, when he stoops to em- 
 ploy the brightest seraph that bows before the 
 throne, on the humblest errand of mercy. How, 
 then, can we express the wondrous grace conferred 
 upon his once rebellious worms, when they are 
 permitted to be ' workers with God and co-workers 
 with Jesus Christ ?' It is no slavish constraint that 
 
170 MEMOIR OF 
 
 binds us — it is the glorious liberty of the free-born 
 children of God. In paths of benevolence we 
 tread, who are uniting our humble efforts in the 
 work of publishing the Gospel of grace to every 
 creature, We meet with few difficulties ; some 
 trifling inconveniencies, at most, are all we are call- 
 ed to sutler : and are we tempted to slothfulness — 
 despondency ? Let the view of our high obligation, 
 our happy privilege, and the recollection of our 
 past unfruitfulness, rouse our sluggish spirits, and 
 prompt us with cheerful alacrity to pursue our 
 way. 
 
 " One Bible was given to a person residing at 
 no great distance from our city, in a portion of 
 country which enjoys perhaps as little of "Gospel 
 light and ministrations, as some of our western 
 wilds. The woman to whom it was given, was 
 considerably advanced in years, ignorant and un- 
 taught. Her life had been laborious and joyless : 
 she had known but few opportunities of instruc- 
 tion, and but little happiness : two or three torn 
 leaves was all her dwelling contained of the Book 
 of God. On receiving the precious gift, her eyes 
 were filled with tears of joy ; and from the fullness 
 of her heart, she poured forth the warmest expres- 
 sions of thankfulness. Though little acquainted with 
 its glorious truths, yet she knew it was that Word, 
 which was able to make wise unto salvation. O 
 that He who gives sight to the blind, would shed 
 
ANNA JANE L I N N A E D. 171 
 
 into her mind the light of his glory, and accompany 
 this, and every message of his grace, wherever dis- 
 tributed, and wherever possessed, with his Al- 
 mighty Spirit's enlightening, saving power." 
 
 The Report of 1827 contains some passages 
 which are here given. 
 
 " One of the peculiar traits, and distinguishing 
 characteristics of the Christian religion, is its suit- 
 ableness to the poor: though it presents heights 
 which the loftiest aspirant in vain might seek to 
 grasp, and depths so profound, that the noblest in- 
 tellects that have graced our nature are lost in their 
 contemplation, yet it furnishes such powerful mo- 
 tives — opens such cheering prospects — and affords 
 such rich consolations — that it is admirably fitted 
 to raise the tone of moral feeling, and soothe the 
 sorrows of the suffering poor. 
 
 " And that such are the blessed effects of this 
 true Balm of Gilead, when properly applied, we 
 have daily proof: that amazing change of nature, 
 and elevation of character, which takes place in 
 beings once wretched and debased — that firm en- 
 durance of the ills of life — that peaceful content, 
 and holy serenity under its most oppressive woes, 
 which we often perceive, are so many testimonials 
 of its divine origin and happy influence. In our 
 humble walk as Bible distributors, we are some- 
 
172 MEMOIR OF 
 
 times privileged in witnessing these results ; an 
 interesting case has recently come under our ob- 
 servation. 
 
 " It was that of a young woman in the alms- 
 house : one, in whose cup of suffering but few 
 meliorating ingredients had been mingled : she was 
 a widow — poor — and diseased. 
 
 " It did not appear, that in her many trials she 
 had been at all led to view that hand, even in 
 whose smitings there is mercy — she had grieved — 
 but hers was the grief of the world, which work- 
 eth death ; until, on one occasion, when the affect- 
 ing parable of the Prodigal Son, was read in her 
 hearing, the springs of godly sorrow were opened 
 in her soul. 
 
 " With fixed attention, and streaming tears, she 
 listened, as the similarity between her own case 
 and that poor wanderer, forced itself upon her 
 mind : — but she had no Bible. One was shortly 
 after procured for her, which she received with 
 every expression of gratitude, fervently invoking 
 the blessing of heaven on the individual who con- 
 ferred it. 
 
 "In a subsequent interview, while expressing 
 her sense of her own sinfulness and ill desert, and 
 weeping over the recollection of her past careless- 
 ness, she was directed to the only hope of a sin- 
 ner, ' the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins 
 of the world,' and reminded of the rich treasure of 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 173 
 
 gospel promises which the Scriptures contain. * O!' 
 said she, ' that is my only comfort ! I am such a 
 sinner, that I sometimes feel as though I should be 
 lost — but when I take up the Bible, there I find 
 peace. I think I should die, if it were not for the 
 Bible ! Often, while I am reading it, I feel happier 
 than I ever did in my life before.' Alas ! poor 
 Marian ! there were few circumstances combined 
 to make her happy — a homely bed of straw, sur- 
 rounded by the sick and dying, was hers — with 
 no kind friends hovering near to smooth her pil- 
 low, or minister to her wants ; and yet — O, pre- 
 cious Bible ! such is its blessed efficacy, that, even 
 here its sacred truths could spread a peaceful calm 
 over this widow's stricken heart ! 
 
 " As we are permitted to witness the effect of 
 the Book of God among the poor, so also are we 
 led to observe the estimation in which it is held by 
 that class of people. In pursuing our rounds in a 
 certain district, we entered an old frame dwelling, 
 with the intention of ascertaining whether the lio-ht 
 of truth had yet shined there. There was a deso- 
 late appearance about the place : the walls were 
 partly unplastered — the floors bare — and a little 
 shrivelled fruit, and a few stale things exposed for 
 sale in the window, induced the conclusion, that 
 not much either of the comforts or riches of this 
 life were there enjoyed. On communicating our 
 errand to the aged inhabitants, we learnt that they 
 p2 
 
174 MEMOIR OF 
 
 were well supplied with the Scriptures, and were 
 agreeably surprised when the man of four-score, 
 taking a half dollar from his pocket, doubtingly 
 asked, ' If we would accept that T 
 
 " The above circumstance would stand in fine 
 relief, with the reception frequently met in houses 
 of a far different description ; nor would this ob- 
 servation be made, but that, in the present instance, 
 the contrast was too strikingly experienced to pass 
 unnoticed." 
 
 From the Report of 1828, the following extracts 
 are made : 
 
 " Brief and simple it must necessarily be ; for 
 ours is a small and circumscribed sphere of action: 
 our duties lie within a narrow compass : we have 
 no splendid achievements to recount; no lofty 
 deeds of Christian enterprize to exhibit to the ad- 
 miration of the world: — like the rill, that in its 
 silent flow escapes the passer's eye until it reaches 
 the stream, whose mighty torrent it scarely swells, 
 has been our progress. As an humble auxiliary we 
 move along, content to be unknown, if by our fee- 
 ble efforts we can in any measure aid those, whose 
 noble daring has conceived, and whose persevering 
 energy is accomplishing designs*which shall tell 
 on the character and destinies of future ages. 
 
 "We have distributed eleven Bibles and five 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 175 
 
 Testaments. One of the above, we think, will not 
 be regarded as an ill-bestowed gift, and we trust 
 has not been altogether in vain. The circumstances 
 of the case were rather interesting. A young man, 
 in the dress of a sailor, one day last summer en- 
 tered the store of a lady residing within the limits 
 of our section : while purchasing some articles, he 
 uttered an oath, for which he was immediately re- 
 proved. After pointing out to him the sinfulness 
 of the practice, she inquired, whether he owned 
 a Bible. He burst into tears, and frankly ac- 
 knowledging it was against his own better judg- 
 ment, replied to her question, that he had no Bi- 
 ble. There was something in the manner and 
 language of the young man that interested her 
 feelings, and led her to inquire into his past his- 
 tory. He was a wanderer from the home of his 
 youth, and a wanderer from God ; yet sin, with all 
 its stupifying influence, had not quite seared his con- 
 science, and wholly hardened his heart — and now 
 that the voice of warning and reproof again came 
 over his ear, it brought fresh to his recollection the 
 instructions of his childhood, and the solemn ad- 
 monitions maternal tenderness had breathed— -and 
 he wept with all the ingenuousness of a child. A 
 Bible was procured from our Librarian, and with 
 many thanks a»d promises of faithfully reading it, 
 he shortly after sailed for a distant land. The cir- 
 cumstance had nearly escaped the memory of the 
 
176 MEMOIR OF 
 
 lady, when, after the lapse of a few months, the 
 young seaman again walked into her store. After 
 making himself known, he renewed the expression 
 of his gratitude for her counsel and gift, and assur- 
 ing her that his Bible had often been the companion 
 of his leisure moments, insisted upon her accept- 
 ing, as some small token of the grateful sense he 
 entertained of her kindness, a few articles he had 
 purchased in England. He did not remain long in 
 port, but on his second departure, had added to his 
 Bible a bundle of tracts. And we hope, that, 
 through the blessing of God attending his own 
 word, this wanderer maybe reclaimed and brought 
 back to his Father's house, and angels yet rejoice 
 over this one sinner that hath repented." 
 
 Further extracts might be made, if it were pro- 
 per. Enough has been given to show the vigour 
 and beauty of her style of writing, and the delight- 
 ful unction of piety which pervades the whole, and 
 constitutes its highest excellence. 
 
 Miss Linnard was also, for several years, secre- 
 tary of the Female Domestic Missionary Associa- 
 tion, which has laboured for many years in the 
 noble work of providing religious instruction for 
 thousands who live in the suburbs of the city. 
 This Association is confined to the Presbyterian 
 churches. Through its labours, no less than three 
 churches have been planted in different quarters of 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 177 
 
 the city, which bid fair to be permanent bless- 
 ings to the neighbourhoods in which they have been 
 established. 
 
 Her efforts in behalf of the Tract cause were 
 very great. She was one of the most indefatigable 
 distributors which this city ever possessed ; and. 
 whilst distributing Tracts, she often made the oc- 
 casion one of earnest exhortation to those whom 
 she visited, on the subject of their salvation. In 
 this way hundreds have heard the messages of 
 mercy and of warning from her lips. And, yi 
 many cases, it is believed, her admonitions and in- 
 structions, accompanied, as was always the case 
 where practicable, with prayer, have been blessed 
 to their conversion, or their growth in grace. This 
 duty she always performed in a most conscientious 
 manner ; earnest prayer always, and often fasting, 
 preceding her setting out on these errands of 
 mercy. 
 
 She also took a deep interest in the efforts which 
 were made to benefit the seamen, as well as in all the 
 other religious enterprizes of the day. She was a 
 warm friend to the American Sunday School Union, 
 and was much interested in the efforts which that 
 important institution is making to establish Sunday 
 schools throughout all parts of our land, and sup- 
 ply them with suitable libraries. 
 
 But in no cause was she more interested than in 
 that of sending the gospel to the heathen. Her 
 
178 MEMOIR OF 
 
 religion was truly missionary in its character. 
 With her, the field was the world. She surveyed 
 this wretched world, peopled with more than eight 
 hundred millions of immortal souls, by far the 
 greater part of whom are ready to perish for " lack 
 of knowledge," with a heart filled with holy com- 
 passion. With Baxter she was ready to say, that 
 of all the mysteries relating to God's procedure, 
 that of his confining his saving mercies to so small 
 a portion of mankind was the greatest. She mourn- 
 ed daily over the amazing apathy of the churches 
 on this subject. " Shall we," she was ever ready 
 to exclaim — 
 
 " Shall we, whose souls are lighted 
 With wisdom from on high, 
 Shall we, to men benighted, 
 The lamp of life deny ? 
 
 Salvation ! O salvation ! 
 
 The joyful sound proclaim, 
 Till earth's remotest nation 
 
 Has learned Messiah's name." 
 
 On the subject of Missions, Miss Linnard was 
 well informed. She read with intense interest the 
 religious papers. Those relating to missionary 
 efforts, and which give an account of the spiritual 
 wants, and the peculiar condition, history, manners 
 and customs, religious opinions and rites of the 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 179 
 
 different nations of the earth, were read with very 
 great interest. She could not rest without having 
 her Missionary Herald, and other religious papers, 
 and she read them with more interest than she ever 
 read a political newspaper, (although she made it 
 a point to be well informed in regard to the politi- 
 cal changes and events of our country and of the 
 world,) or the most attractive novel, in the days of 
 her indifference to religion. 
 
 How deeply it is to be regretted, that so few 
 professors of religion take pains to inform them- 
 selves, either as to the wants of heathen countries, 
 or the efforts which are now making to send the 
 Gospel to them. Many, having little or no geo- 
 graphical knowledge, and being too indolent to at- 
 tempt to gain it, and believing that every part of 
 the earth is about as well off, in regard to the Gos- 
 pel, as our own country, cannot be induced to feel 
 an interest in the efforts which some Christians are 
 now making to send the Gospel to six hundred mil- 
 lions of mankind, who have never heard of the 
 way of salvation. And many, who have some 
 knowledge of the world, have so parsimonious a 
 spirit, and so little desire to know the progress of 
 the kingdom of our blessed Redeemer on the 
 earth, that they are unwilling to pay the paltry 
 sum of two or three dollars, annually, to procure a 
 good religious newspaper! Such was not Miss 
 Linnard's spirit. No intelligence was half so ac- 
 
180 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ceptable to her as that which informed her of the 
 increase of Christ's kingdom. A revival of religion, 
 the sending forth of a faithful missionary, or the 
 conversion of one soul any where in the world, 
 was an item of the most joyful news to her. And 
 there was no sacrifice which she would not have 
 preferred to make, if necessary, rather than be 
 without the means of obtaining such intelligence. 
 
 From her conversion until her death, no object 
 was half so desirable to her heart, as the complete 
 and speedy establishment of Christ's kingdom on 
 the earth. For this she prayed day and night ; for 
 this she literally exhausted life itself. And in all 
 the plans which were adopted in Philadelphia dur- 
 ing that time, to raise money to send the Gospel to 
 the heathen, in which female hands could do any 
 thing, her co-operation was always to be found. 
 No toil or sacrifice was shunned. Time, and money, 
 and effort were cheerfully given to forward the 
 good work : whilst at the monthly concert of pray- 
 er, for the conversion of the world, her presence 
 was always expected with confidence. No in- 
 clemency of weather, nor press of business, nor 
 company prevented her, when in health, from en- 
 joying those delightful seasons, when " those who 
 feared the Lord, and thought upon his name," 
 met to unite their supplications for the coming of 
 his reign upon the earth. 
 
 With several of the missionaries in the East 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 181 
 
 Indies, and in the Sandwich Islands, she was well 
 acquainted, and kept up a most valuable corres- 
 pondence. It is deeply regretted that it has not 
 been possible to obtain any of her letters to these 
 devoted brethren and sisters, for the present edition 
 of this memoir. At a future time, it is probable 
 they will appear. Some of these letters must have 
 been extremely valuable. For instance — she was 
 in the habit of writing for the Sandwich Island 
 Mission, a regular journal of all the important re- 
 ligious events which occurred in this country, and 
 transmitting them to her early and beloved friend, 
 Miss Maria Ogden. Many of the letters which 
 she received in answer have appeared in the Chris- 
 tian Advocate, conducted, as is well known, by the 
 Rev. Dr. Green, and in other papers. 
 
 The following paragraphs, on the subject of 
 missionary efforts in behalf of the Mohammedan 
 nations, are extracted from her sketch book, and 
 were written in 1821. They will be read by every 
 one with interest. They display a mind capable 
 of examining subjects in a very able manner. 
 
 " If ever I felt inclined to be a missionary, it 
 was the other day, when reading the Alcoran. 
 My patience did not extend through one-third of 
 it; and nothing but the great desire to judge of the 
 book on which the belief of so many thousands is 
 founded, prevented me from throwing it aside after 
 
1 82 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the first or second chapter. I was greatly disap- 
 pointed. I had expected that that great deceiver, 
 in misleading so large a part of the world, had em- 
 ployed all the beauty of eastern allegory, and the 
 glowing colouring of eastern imagery. But on 
 the contrary, I found the lowest ideas, the poorest 
 language, the greatest string of absurdities and 
 nonsense. I really felt all the sympathies of my 
 nature excited in pity for the wretchedness of 
 beings, whose hopes of eternal happiness have no 
 better foundation than that book ; for which they 
 have rejected the pure word of life. Oh, how does 
 our Bible rise in comparison with the Koran of 
 Mohammed ! Taking it merely as a human pro- 
 duction, there is so much purity and sublimity in 
 it, and such a moral beauty is diffused over its 
 pages, it is astonishing that irreligious persons of 
 genius and taste, who are always on the search for 
 the beautiful and sublime, do not delight in the 
 study of it on that account alone. There is a 
 touching simplicity and pathos in the historical parts 
 of the Old Testament, unequalled by authors of 
 ancient or modern times. I have been so much 
 struck on reading the Psalms, with the grandeur 
 and dignity of the ideas and the beauty of expres- 
 sion, that I have sometimes entirely lost sight of 
 their devotional intention, in admiration of the com- 
 position. But the Bible is not the work of man. 
 Every page bears the impress of divinity, where 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 183 
 
 the purest precepts, and the most important lessons, 
 are conveyed in the simplest, yet most sublime 
 language. 'It is a lamp to our feet, and a light 
 to our path.' The evidences for its genuineness 
 and authenticity are strong and clear. And 
 whether we take the power of its miracles, or re- 
 markable fulfilment of its prophecies — itself a never- 
 ceasing miracle — we must acknowledge the Bible 
 to be the true, unerring Word of the living God." 
 
 But there was no subject, connected with the 
 universal spread of Christ's kingdom, on which 
 Miss Linnard's views were more enlarged and 
 truly enlightened, than on the duty of the church to 
 make continual intercession in behalf of all who 
 are in authority among the nations of the earth. 
 She viewed the immense influence which they 
 may, and do, exert, either for good or for evil, and 
 also the exposure of their own souls to endless 
 ruin, as reasons calculated to enlist her tenderest 
 sympathies for them. And the apostolic injunc- 
 tion was ever before her. " I exhort, therefore, that, 
 first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, 
 and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; for 
 kings and for all that are in authority, that we may 
 lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and 
 honesty." And many a fervent prayer did she 
 offer up in her closet, as well as in the social prayer 
 meeting and the church, not only for our own 
 rulers, but for the kings of the earth, often present- 
 
184 M EMOIR O F 
 
 ing them individually, and spreading out before 
 her mind the peculiar and important circumstances 
 of the case of each, that had a bearing on the cause of 
 Christ in his dominions. Was this fanaticism ? 
 No. No well informed Christian would dare to 
 call it such. 
 
 If we wish to see the mountain-like obstacles 
 which now stand in the way of the spread of the 
 Gospel, removed, we must pray more for those 
 who are in authority among the nations. How 
 easy it is for God to incline the hearts of rulers to 
 favour his cause, or so to order things in his pro- 
 vidence, that such men will be placed in authority, 
 who, from some cause or other, (and it will always 
 be in such a way that their own free agency will 
 be apparent) will be favourable, or at least not op- 
 posed to the progress of the kingdom of God. 
 And as to our own country, its real benefactors 
 are certainly not only those who expend their time 
 and make personal sacrifices in its behalf, but also 
 those who intercede day and night before God, that 
 His blessing, like a shield, may be over us. They, 
 in an important sense, move the hand that governs 
 the universe. " God is a sun and shield for 
 us." " In his arm is strength." " He ruleth 
 over all." He is our refuge and strength, a 
 very present help in time of trouble." Let our 
 confidence be reposed in him alone. 
 
 We have no doubt that much prayer has ascend- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 185 
 
 ed to God in behalf of the rulers of the earth, 
 within a few years, and that, in answer to these 
 supplications, remarkable changes are taking place 
 in the feelings and conduct of some of them, in re- 
 lation to the spread of the Gospel. It is truly won- 
 derful to see how, what were considered insur- 
 mountable obstacles, are becoming removed, with- 
 out any direct human effort. Look, for instance, 
 at the state of things in China, Turkey, Egypt, 
 some of the South American States, and many 
 countries where ignorant and despotic princes rule. 
 Why is this relaxation of rigid measures of exclu- 
 sion, this disposition to tolerate the entrance of 
 the Bible and the missionaries of the cross ? It 
 has been in answer to the prayers of devoted, 
 humble Christians, who have been pleading, in 
 the seclusion of their closets, for the merciful in- 
 tervention of Jehovah's arm. 
 
 But we wish to call the attention of the reader 
 of this memoir, to what we consider by far — if we 
 may be allowed to make a comparison between 
 them— the most important of Miss Linnard's efforts 
 to do good. We mean her visits to the poor and 
 ignorant in Philadelphia, during the twelve years 
 which elapsed after her conversion, until she was 
 prevented by disease from prosecuting her benevo- 
 lent work. She imitated her blessed Saviour, 
 who " went about doing good." It was her de- 
 light to do acts of kindness and mercy ; and above 
 Q 2 
 
186 MEMOIR OF 
 
 all, to instruct, in her visits, the poor and ignorant 
 in those things which relate to their eternal wel- 
 fare. In this sense, she was indeed a " preacher 
 of righteousness" to vast numbers. 
 
 This course of beneficence she commenced im- 
 mediately after her conversion. And she pursued 
 it with a steadiness which knew no abatement de- 
 serving of exception, as long as she was able to do 
 it. And it would be found, upon proper examina- 
 tion, that few women have accomplished so much 
 within so brief a period. She acted upon a sys- 
 tem, and her zeal was always burning. For she 
 lived really for the glory of God. It was no tran- 
 sient feeling that led her to do this. It was a de- 
 gree of love to God, and of devotion to his cause, 
 such as few, very few indeed, possess. 
 
 For years after her profession of religion, it was 
 her uniform practice to observe a fast every week, 
 and sometimes two. The forenoons of these days 
 she spent in her chamber, in reading the Scrip- 
 tures, self-examination, meditation, and prayer. 
 The afternoons were spent in visiting alone, gene- 
 rally, though not always, the abodes of poverty and 
 wretchedness. Besides these days, she usually 
 spent one or two other days, or part of days, each 
 week, in visiting the poor. And, during the last 
 year or two of her life, previously to her fatal ill- 
 ness, she spent, not only two or three days every 
 
ANNA JANE L1NNARD. 187 
 
 week, but the chief part of every day, except the 
 Sabbath, in this work of mercy. 
 
 Her plan, on these occasions, sometimes was to 
 go out after nine or ten in the morning, and return 
 about five or six in the afternoon. This was in- 
 deed often the case. It was no uncommon thing 
 for her to spend six, eight, or even nine hours in 
 this laborious business, and return exceedingly 
 fatigued before tea-time. Generally, perhaps, the 
 time which she spent in this work, was shorter 
 than that named above. Very frequently she did 
 not return for dinner, but ate a morsel, if she ate 
 at all, with some of the poor families which she 
 visited, thus gratifying their earnest desire to do 
 her some act of kindness and gratitude, and to 
 show them her regard for them by this act of 
 friendship. 
 
 In these visits she had various objects in view, 
 and accomplished one or another, as circumstances 
 afforded her the opportunity. Sometimes she car- 
 ried copies of the Word of God, which she gave 
 to families destitute of the heavenly treasure. In 
 other cases, she distributed tracts suitable to the 
 characters and circumstances of the families which 
 she visited. She did nothing at random. She ex- 
 ercised great judgment in her distributions of these 
 small messengers of mercy. Sometimes she car- 
 ried some provisions for the poor, or sent them 
 afterwards by a servant. She gave away thus 
 
188 MEMOIR OF 
 
 what cost much money. This she was enabled to 
 to do in many ways. For, although she was not 
 possessed of great pecuniary resources, yet, with 
 economy, considerable was saved, and appropriated 
 in this manner to doing good. Such, too, was 
 her great plainness and economy in dress, that 
 much was saved for charity, which, in the case of 
 others, is lavished upon their persons.* And when 
 she needed pecuniary means for the purpose of 
 doing good, she was seldom long without them. 
 But it ought to be remarked, that she often laboured 
 in behalf of charitable associations for the relief of 
 the poor, and, of course, received the means of 
 supplying their wants, in some measure, from that 
 source. And it should also be added, that she distri- 
 buted her alms so judiciously, that a little went a 
 great way ; for she never gave aid in such a way, 
 as to lead the persons receiving it, to depend 
 upon eleemosynary relief, but to rely rather upon 
 their own exertions ; thus cutting off the tempta- 
 
 * On the subject of dress, her views were very decided 
 and rigid. She held it to be a duty incumbent upon Chris- 
 tians in affluent, as well as those in more moderate, circum- 
 stances, to dress with becoming simplicity and plainness, 
 not only for the purpose of enabling them to have greater 
 means wherewith to do good, but also to induce poorer 
 Christians, and hired young men and women, to avoid ex- 
 travagance, and to live economically, and in a manner suit- 
 able to their limited resources. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 189 
 
 tion to indolence, which is so baneful to every vir- 
 tuous feeling. 
 
 Oftentimes her visits were for the purpose of 
 gathering poor and neglected children into Sunday- 
 schools, or to persuade their parents to attend some 
 place of public worship. And often her sole ob- 
 ject was to endeavour to do good to the immortal 
 souls of those whom she visited. This was indeed 
 the great and higher object which she always had 
 in view, although, in many cases, the others men- 
 tioned above, were not only collateral and highly 
 important, but primary as it regards time. 
 
 In her visits, no house was shunned into which 
 it was proper that she should go unattended. The 
 poverty, filthiness, sickness, and wickedness of 
 the inmates, were not obstacles which prevented 
 her from executing her errands of mercy. She 
 entered the most wretched and disgusting abodes 
 of human beings, and sitting down, would discourse 
 on that brighter and better world above, where 
 there is no sorrow, nor sickness, nor tears, nor sin. 
 She listened to their affecting tales of misery, and 
 often of guilt, and gave the needed lessons of in- 
 struction. Often she read a tract, or part of one ; 
 but more frequently a portion of the Word of God, 
 adding some remarks by way of explanation, and 
 many solemn, tender, and faithful warnings. 
 Wherever it was practicable, she kneeled down 
 and prayed with them in the most earnest and 
 
190 MEMOIR OF 
 
 affecting manner. Those who accompanied her 
 sometimes in these visits, speak in a most interest- 
 ing manner of her earnestness, her faithfulness, her 
 tenderness, and her persuasive manner of address- 
 ing hardened and wicked men and women. 
 
 During a long period, she was also in the habit 
 of visiting the alms-house, and spending hours in 
 conversing with the inmates of this Bethesda. 
 Many interesting facts are remembered respecting 
 these visits, which ought to be mentioned; but 
 they would occupy too much space. 
 
 It would be no exaggeration to say, that this one 
 devoted young lady, during twelve years, visited 
 several hundreds of families in this city, many of 
 whom were poor and truly wretched. The amount 
 of good done by these visits, is known only to 
 God, and cannot be revealed until eternity deve- 
 lopes the events of time. There is every reason 
 to believe that many souls were brought to the 
 knowledge of Christ by her efforts, and many 
 more brought within the pale of instruction in the 
 Sunday school, or the house of God. Facts are 
 almost daily occurring which make known some 
 good deed done by her. 
 
 Not long since, her sister met a poor woman in 
 the market who recognized her, and inquired after 
 Miss Anna, as she called her ; and when told that 
 she was dead, exclaimed, " O, how sorry my hus- 
 band will be to hear this, for it was a conversation 
 
ANNA JANE LINN A RD. 191 
 
 which she had with him which led him to care for 
 his soul, and seek salvation until he found it." 
 
 One of the most affecting cases which the author 
 of this memoir ever knew of her efforts to do good, 
 relates to a poor coloured girl of about twelve or 
 fourteen years of age, who lingered a long time, 
 and then died. Miss Linnard visited her day by 
 day for weeks, and carefully instructed her in the 
 way of eternal life, prayed with her, and had the 
 pleasure of seeing her die in peace ! 
 
 Many poor women in the district in which she 
 laboured, cannot speak of her to this day without 
 weeping, calling her that " good young lady," who 
 cared so much for them. 
 
 The reader recollects, doubtless, the letter which 
 she wrote from the " Pines," in New Jersey, 
 which closes the third part of this memoir, in 
 which she gives an account of the family in which 
 she boarded. They were very ignorant. They 
 were not in the habit of going to any church. The 
 wife could not read, and the husband had no dis- 
 position to do it. As might be supposed, Miss 
 Linnard felt deeply concerned for them. She read 
 the Scriptures to them, exhorted them to seek after 
 God, to attend the church in the neighbourhood. 
 She did more : she wrote to them, and sent them 
 tracts ; and God heard her prayers, arid blest her 
 efforts. The wife, (Mrs. P.) there is good reason 
 to believe, became truly pious. A letter from her 
 
192 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to Miss Linnard, dated in January, 1827, and 
 written at her dictation by another person, proves 
 her deep-felt gratitude for her faithfulness to her 
 soul, and to her family. 
 
 In her visits to the poor and wretched, Miss 
 Linnard was not more remarkable for any thing 
 than for her uncompromising faithfulness in re- 
 proving sin. Indeed, it was owing to this, that 
 she never could rest as long as any person in the 
 neighbourhood where she lived, would, by keeping 
 open a shop, violate the Sabbath. She would go 
 to them, and reason with them in a mild and de- 
 cided manner upon the sin and danger of their 
 course, and seldom failed of persuading them to 
 give up the iniquitous traffic. In one case where 
 she failed, it was not a long time before the man 
 expostulated with, bitterly regretted his not having 
 followed her advice ; for a circumstance occurred 
 in his Sunday business, and which was a natural 
 result of it, which caused him a very heavy loss. 
 
 When she travelled, even if it was but a short 
 distance for pleasure, it was her habit to seek 
 every suitable opportunity of doing good by distri- 
 buting tracts, as well as by conversing with the 
 servants at the inns at which she stopped. Many 
 opportunities were thus embraced for doing good, 
 which many wholly overlook. But with her, it 
 was a habit to do good. 
 
 And here we would remark, that such was the 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 193 
 
 dignity, kindness, and persuasiveness of her man- 
 ner, united with the power which truth always 
 gives its fearless advocate, that no instance, we be- 
 lieve, ever occurred, in which Miss Linnard was 
 insulted by any person, when she was engaged in 
 these visits, which were generally performed alone. 
 She set out upon them always after special prayer 
 — often after fasting — and the God of mercy and 
 of power went with her. 
 
 We shall relate but one more instance of her 
 efforts to do good in this way, not because there 
 are not more which might be mentioned, but be- 
 cause we do not wish to take up more space, 
 when those which have been stated are deemed 
 sufficient. 
 
 There was a family living in V street, 
 
 in the spring of 1830. They were very poor and 
 wretched. The husband was a drunkard, and did 
 literally nothing worthy of being mentioned to 
 sustain his wife and children. His wife, who 
 had supported the family by hard working, was 
 sick, dying gradually of the consumption, and they 
 had four little helpless children, who were very 
 ragged and almost without food : they occupied 
 a garret of a small house, in the lower rooms of 
 which lived, we believe, some very decent coloured 
 people. In this state of things, Miss Linnard, in 
 one of her visits of mercy, found them. She at 
 once began her labours of love among them. She 
 
 R 
 
194 MEMOIR OF 
 
 provided medicine, food, and a comfortable bed for 
 the sick mother, clothed and provided for the chil- 
 dren, expostulated with the husband, and engaged 
 the people below to take care of the children as 
 much as possible, and keep them from distracting 
 their mother with their noise ; and also to prepare 
 victuals for all. She then commenced her spiritual 
 instructions, and persevered in these efforts for 
 months. The woman was extremely ignorant, 
 had seldom been in a church, and could not read a 
 word. With inimitable patience and perseverance, 
 Miss Linnard explained to her the relations which 
 she sustained to God, her sinful estate, the way of 
 salvation through Christ, &c. and had the pleasure 
 of soon perceiving the attention and conscience of 
 the poor sufferer aroused. It was the happiness 
 of the writer of this memoir to accompany her on 
 one of these visits, and to sit down and converse 
 with this woman about her soul. And he will 
 never forget the admirable manner of giving in- 
 struction to this ignorant, yet deeply serious wo- 
 man, which Miss Linnard pursued. She explain- 
 ed to her what faith is, in the most simple way. 
 Said she, " Do you know what faith is?" " No 
 ma'am." " Well, I will tell you. If I were to 
 say that I will come and see you to-morrow, and 
 bring you something, you would believe me." 
 " Yes ma'am." " Well, this is faith, or belief in 
 what I say. Now, God s*ays many things in the 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 195 
 
 Bible, and I want you to believe Him. You be- 
 lieve what I say, who am nothing but a poor sinful 
 creature ; I want you to believe what the great and 
 blessed God says. He is good, and never says 
 what is not true." And then she proceeded to tell 
 what God says concerning his willingness to save 
 those who come to Him, feeling that they are sin- 
 ners, and asking for pardon for the sake of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 She persevered in these instructions from time 
 to time, until she had the privilege of seeing this 
 woman rejoicing in the hope and peace of the 
 Gospel, in which she lived some weeks, and then 
 died. And yet, when she began these visits, this 
 poor woman was so ignorant of religion as scarcely 
 to know what to say. And when asked if she 
 knew any thing about God, she said, " She knew 
 very little about him, but had always believed that 
 he was the greatest man in the world." But 
 under the faithful and simple instructions of her 
 devoted friend, rendered effectual, as it is believed, 
 by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, she made rapid 
 advances in divine knowledge, and ended her days 
 in a very comfortable manner. 
 
 After the death of the mother, Miss Linnard 
 took the little children, and found suitable places 
 for them in families, where they are now doing 
 well. The husband, deeply affected by the death 
 of his wife, and probably by the exhortations 
 
196 MEMOIR OF 
 
 which he heard from her spiritual instructer and 
 benefactor, reformed his ways, abandoned the dram- 
 shop, became a steady, industrious man, and died 
 some time since. 
 
 The preceding is a very brief and imperfect ac- 
 count of the course of beneficence which Miss Lin- 
 nard pursued, from her entrance upon the Chris- 
 tian life, until disease prevented any further 
 efforts. What an example has she set! Her 
 career was short, but how eminently useful ! And 
 although "she hath given up the ghost, and her 
 sun has gone down while it was yet day," her 
 memory will long live, and the blessing of many 
 " who were ready to perish," will rest upon it. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 197 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 HER LAST SICKNESS: AND TRIUMPHANT DEATH. 
 
 And to die is gain. — Phil, i. 21. 
 
 We come now to comtemplate Miss Linnard in 
 her last sickness, and eminently peaceful, and hap- 
 py death. 
 
 Miss Linnard could not be said, at any period of 
 life, to have had very firm and robust health. Her 
 constitution was naturally delicate, and not calcu- 
 lated, apparently, to endure great hardships; so 
 much so, that it is truly wonderful that she could 
 undergo such painful self-denial and fatigue, as 
 she often did, in her efforts to do good. Yet her 
 health was what might be called good, in general, 
 until the summer of 1831. 
 
 During the month of August in that year, she 
 was attacked, while on a visit to Woodbury, in New 
 Jersey, with the bilious remittent fever. This at- 
 tack, though not considered dangerous at that time, 
 and though it apparently, at first, left her constitu- 
 tion unimpaired, was probably the foundation, in 
 a good measure, of her subsequent, gradual decline 
 through a pulmonary affection. Her health, how- 
 ever, was such, during the succeeding autumn and 
 r 2 
 
198 MEMOIR OP 
 
 winter, that she continued, without any considera- 
 ble abatement, her visits to the poor and suffering, 
 as well as her other benevolent exertions. 
 
 During that winter she was very much engaged, 
 as a member of the Union Benevolent Association, 
 in visiting, and relieving the wants of the suffering 
 poor. A very large portion of her time was be- 
 stowed upon these efforts. And in making them, 
 often amidst very inclemeent weather, and when 
 she was ill able to encounter the fatigues and ex- 
 posures which were unavoidable, in the service 
 which she performed, she did her health irrepara- 
 ble injury. 
 
 In particular, a visit which she made on the 13th 
 of March, in that winter, was doubtless the proxi- 
 mate cause of her last sickness. The circumstan- 
 ces of this case were exceedingly affecting, and dis- 
 play the deep concern which she felt for poor, 
 hardened, and careless sinners. They were as 
 follows : She had visited, at a former time, a very 
 wicked, ignorant, and degraded family of white 
 people, which was living in her district. She had 
 endeavoured, in vain, to call their attention to the 
 subject of religion. Nothing which she could say 
 seemed then to produce any effect. But God 
 visited them with sickness and death. Miss 
 Linnard heard of it, and hoping, that at least in 
 the hour of deep affliction, they would listen to her 
 warning and entreaties, she hastened to see them, 
 
ANNA JANE LINNA8D. 199 
 
 and spent nearly or quite two hours in their miser- 
 able residence, in a damp cellar, in reading the 
 Scriptures, exhortation and prayer. When about 
 to leave them, she felt a heavy chill coming upon 
 her; and she returned home deeply impressed, 
 that her work was near its close. It may be re- 
 marked here, in regard to this wretched family, 
 that all her fears seemed, a few months after- 
 wards, to be realized ! The Cholera came in the 
 succeeding July, and the father, and one or two 
 of the other members of it, were among the earli- 
 est victims of that fatal pestilence. 
 
 From the effects of this attack of intermittent 
 fever, Miss Linnard never fully recovered. After 
 two months, she was able, indeed, to go out again ; 
 but during all the succeeding summer and winter, 
 she continued gradually to sink under the pressure 
 of disease. In the spring following she became ex- 
 ceedingly feeble. In the month of May and early 
 part of June, she visited, in company with her sister 
 and brother-in-law, the springs near Orange, in New 
 Jersey, and several other places in that State and 
 'the neighbouring portions of Pennsylvania. She 
 lived but about a fortnight after her return ; and 
 closed her course on earth on the morning of the Sab- 
 bath, June 16, 1833. 
 
 The reader will, of course, be anxious to know 
 what was the state of Miss Linnard's mind during 
 this protracted illness, and especially in view of 
 
200 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the approaching scenes of a dying hour. This de- 
 sire shall be gratified so far as circumstances will 
 admit. Such facts will be stated as may be deem- 
 ed proper. Brevity will be carefully studied. 
 Were all the details relative to her death given, 
 they would themselves constitute a considerable 
 volume. 
 
 It will readily be supposed, that, to Miss Lin- 
 nard's mind, the subject of death was no stranger. 
 She had made it the business of life, after her con- 
 version, to become prepared for it, by being pre- 
 pared to glorify God both on earth and in heaven. 
 She judged that complete preparation for the latter 
 is nothing different, from that for the former, the 
 service of God being the same, in its nature, every 
 where; and that the best preparation for death, 
 is to possess, habitually, sincere and ardent love 
 to Him, and delight in his service. The beautiful 
 remark of Howe, in regard to the proper object of 
 life, was truly exemplified in her case. " This 
 we ought to be constantly intent upon, as the busi- 
 ness of our lives — our daily work — to get our 
 spirits so attempered and fitted to heaven, thaf 
 if we be asked what design we drive at, what we 
 are doing, we may be able to make a true answer, 
 We are dressing ourselves for eternity " 
 
 During the whole of her Christian life, Miss 
 Linnard was in the habit of speaking of death in 
 the most calm, cheerful, and even joyful manner. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 201 
 
 This was emphatically so, during the latter portion 
 of it. She often said to her intimate friends, that 
 the prospect of death was to her mind truly de- 
 lightful. She often exulted at the thought, that it 
 would not be long until her immortal spirit should 
 be released from the clogs of sin which oppressed 
 it, and that her redeemed and emancipated soul 
 would soon ascend to the sight and enjoyment of 
 her blessed Saviour. And this desire of death was 
 not the result of any morbid sensibility on the sub- 
 ject of the trials, disappointments, and sorrows of 
 this life. In this respect, few persons enjoyed 
 greater freedom from low spirits. She was ha- 
 bitually cheerful. She had much to attach her to 
 this world. She was surrounded by numerous 
 and dearly beloved friends, and she felt it to be a 
 privilege to have the opportunity of labouring to 
 bring others to the knowledge of salvation through 
 the Lamb. But she still felt that, " to depart and 
 be with Christ was far better:" To serve him 
 even in this world of sin, and trial, and sorrow, 
 was a glorious privilege, as well as a duty in her 
 estimation. But to dwell where he displays his 
 blessed face, in the community of saints and angels, 
 and where holiness reigns, was far more desirable 
 and glorious. 
 
 Her long continued sickness was greatly sancti- 
 fied to her, and was, throughout, a blessed season. 
 She remarked to her sister and brother-in-law during 
 
202 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the journey which they took with her just before 
 her decease, "that the more feeble she became, 
 the more graciously did her Saviour manifest him- 
 self to her." And upon her return home, when 
 informed, on the next day, or within a very short 
 period afterwards, by her physician, that she must 
 not expect to live more than a few days, she re- 
 ceived the intelligence with perfect composure, 
 and even satisfaction. A little while after the 
 physician had left her, her eldest sister entered her 
 room and found her sitting alone on the sofa, and 
 in tears. With much concern she inquired, 
 " Anna, what is the matter ? Whac troubles you ?" 
 She replied, "Oh, sister, these are tears of joy. 
 Am I indeed so near my heavenly home ? And 
 shall I see my blessed Saviour so soon ?" 
 
 Her sickness, bringing with it debility rather 
 than excruciating pain, (though at times her 
 sufferings were great,) and her mind retaining its 
 energy until the last, her situation was as favour- 
 able, on the whole, for religious enjoyment, as 
 could be expected, amidst the circumstances of final 
 dissolution. She had the privilege of holding 
 sweet communion with many dear Christian 
 friends, who visited her almost every day. And 
 within the bosom of her own family she found 
 several who could sympathize with her, and mingle 
 their prayers and praises with hers before the 
 throne of grace. Had a record been kept of her 
 
ANNA JANE L I N N A R D. 203 
 
 remarks during this period of more than a year, it 
 would have been a most profitable chapter in this 
 little work. No such record, however, was made. 
 But it is the testimony of this circle of Christian 
 friends, that she enjoyed the most perfect tranquil- 
 ity of mind, an eminent degree of peace and joy 
 in believing, sweet resignation to the divine will, 
 which called her to protracted suffering, and a 
 never failing confidence in the time-tried promises 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 The characteristics of her religious state were, 
 emphatically, peace, love to God and to his cause, 
 and abiding, uniform repose in the merits of the 
 Saviour. It could hardly be said that a doubt con- 
 cerning her own salvation, for any length of time, 
 occupied and distressed her mind. And yet there 
 was but little ecstacy, or great excitement of feel- 
 ing. Indeed, this was never the character of her 
 religious experience. Her peace was like a river, 
 deep and perpetual. She had a hope full of im- 
 mortality, a full assurance of hope, but it was the 
 fruit of a full assurance of faith in the truth of the 
 promises of God, through Jesus Christ. Her re- 
 ligion was truly the religion of principle. It re- 
 gulated every thing — the principle of faith in God. 
 It was the secret of her eminently happy Christian 
 life. She had a strong, abiding, overcoming faith 
 in the veracity of the ever blessed God. She be- 
 lieved that he is sincere in inviting sinners to re- 
 
204 MEMOIR OF 
 
 turn to him, and in promising forgiveness to all 
 who penitently confess and forsake their sins, and 
 heartily receive the merits of Christ, and rest upon 
 them for acceptance with him. And she acted 
 upon this belief, and went " boldly unto the throne 
 of grace, and obtained mercy, and found grace to 
 help in time of need." And the life wbich she 
 lived, she lived by faith in the Son of God, who 
 gave himself for her, that she might live unto him- 
 self. This, it may be added, is the kind of reli- 
 gion which alone can banish our fears, overcome 
 our sins, support us under labours, trials, and temp- 
 tations, and sustain us in the dark and gloomy 
 hour, when flesh and heart are ready to fail, and 
 all earthly sources of consolation are terminating 
 forever. 
 
 And living by faith as she did, is it wonderful 
 that her mind enjoyed tranquillity and a constant 
 expectation of eternal life ? She desired no better 
 foundation on which to rest her hopes, than the 
 oath and promise of her God. What better could 
 she have had? He invited her to come to him 
 with all- her sins, and promised her pardon for 
 them all, if she came penitent for them, and rely- 
 ing on the blood-bought expiation which his Son 
 has made for sinners of mankind. And she 
 did, through his grace, go to him daily, and cast 
 herself at his feet, and she did it with confidence ; 
 confidence not in herself, but in Him. And her 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 205 
 
 confidence did not disappoint her. What more 
 did she need? The joy and peace, which she so 
 habitually felt, were the fruits of this faith ; but 
 they were not the ground upon which she trusted, 
 or by which she was sustained in view of death 
 and eternity. No : the ground on which she re- 
 lied was the word of the ever-living Jehovah. 
 
 She never seemed to seek after " comfort" or 
 joy, with half the earnestness with which she 
 sought for conformity to the will of God. To obey 
 God, to do his will perfectly, to grow in holiness, 
 was the aim of her life. And true peace in be- 
 lieving, she rightly supposed would bear some good 
 degree of proportion to her obedience to the com- 
 mands of God. On this point her religious opin- 
 ions and experience were widely different from 
 those of many professors of religion, who are 
 always seeking comfort, but not by the way of holi- 
 ness, sincere repentance, and renunciation of every 
 known sin, and by doing the will of God, in every 
 respect, so far as they can ascertain it. 
 
 During the whole of Miss Linnard's sickness, 
 religious exercises occupied much of her time 
 every day. It was her delight to read, or hear 
 read, the sacred Scriptures, for which she had the 
 most profound veneration, as the following fact 
 will show. Only a few days before her de- 
 cease, whilst she was reclining on a sofa, exceed- 
 ingly feeble, one of her friends proposed to read 
 
206 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to her from the Bible. Under the influence of the 
 low and uniform sound of the voice she was almost 
 lulled to sleep. But she roused herself up, and 
 said with much earnestness, and surprise, " What, 
 shall I fall asleep whilst God's blessed Bible is 
 read?" 
 
 She enjoyed, in the richest manner, the singing 
 of hymns, or the reading of them by her sisters, 
 and other persons. She had a great taste for 
 sacred poetry, and was familiar with the best 
 hymns in the English language. She had many 
 favourite ones, in which she delighted to the last ; 
 perhaps in none more than the two which begin 
 as follows : 
 
 " Begone, unbelief! my Saviour is near, 
 
 And for my relief will surely appear; 
 
 By prayer let me wrestle, and he will perform, 
 
 With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm !" 
 
 And, 
 
 " Rock of ages cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in thee.' 
 
 Often did she repeat these lines, and with great 
 delight. She could not, however, endure the 
 change which has been made in some of our books, 
 so as to make it read " Rock of ages, shelter me." 
 She said she did not want simply to be sheltered, 
 but to be hidden in that rock. And no language 
 could convey more fully her views of the way of 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 207 
 
 acceptance with God, than the stanza beginning 
 with, 
 
 "Nothing in my hand I bring - , 
 Simply to thy cross I cling." 
 
 Thus she passed through her sickness, down to 
 the Jordan of death ; spending her time in religious 
 exercises and duties, exciting her Christian friends 
 to greater diligence and activity in the cause of 
 their Saviour, and with the tenderest affection and 
 fidelity beseeching impenitent persons to make no 
 delay in seeking reconciliation with God. 
 
 A sense of her own sinfulness, however, was 
 never absent from her mind. On the Sabbath 
 preceding that on which she died, her intimate and 
 
 dear friend, Miss J C , called to see her. 
 
 The first expression which she uttered when seeing 
 
 her was, " my dear J , so near heaven, and yet 
 
 so much sin !" — expressing both her full assurance 
 of eternal life, and her sense of her own unworthi- 
 ness and imperfection. And there was, throughout 
 her sickness, and in death itself, the most affecting 
 manifestation of her sense of her unworthiness on 
 the one hand, and of her exalted views of the ful- 
 ness of salvation in Jesus Christ. And in propor- 
 tion to her meetness for heaven, and the shortness 
 of the intervening space, (if one may so speak,) 
 was her abhorrence of sin increased. 
 
 But we must hasten to the closing scenes of her 
 life. And as the author of this memoir was absent 
 
208 MEMOIR OF 
 
 from Philadelphia, on official duties, during this 
 interesting period, and consequently had neither 
 the privilege of ministering to her sufferings, nor 
 of witnessing her triumphant death, he will give 
 the affecting account of them written by a be- 
 loved friend, who was with her constantly, during 
 the last four days and nights of her life. 
 
 " She returned from travelling about the first of 
 June. I did not see her till the following Monday. 
 I had heard she was much worse than when leav- 
 ing home, but was not prepared to see so great an 
 alteration. She received me with more than her 
 wonted affection, extending her arms to embrace 
 me. Seeing I was much affected, (though she re- 
 mained perfectly composed,) she remarked, " you 
 cannot bear to see my poor emaciated body ; I 
 was afraid to see you." And when I was about to 
 rise, she begged that I would leave the room, so 
 fearful was she of distressing me. 
 
 " But on the Wednesday following, I heard that 
 her two sisters were both taken sick, and unable to 
 attend her. I went directly there; I found her 
 lying on a sofa asleep, an esteemed friend sitting 
 by her ; her countenance serene and placid, and a 
 bright bloom on her cheek ; and if it had not been 
 for her short and laboured breathing, I could almost 
 have thought that death was not so near at hand as 
 we had feared. In a little while she awoke. She 
 
A N X A JANE L I N N A R D. 209 
 
 welcomed me with evident pleasure, while she re- 
 marked to J , how could you let me sleep when 
 
 B was here. I spent part of the day alone with 
 
 her. She conversed a great deal. She asked me if I 
 thought her end near, observing, that she did not 
 think that it was — that she had not yet passed 
 through the last stages of the disease — that her 
 throat had never been very sore, &c. &c. I told 
 her that I had known persons in dying circum- 
 stances, that never had those symptoms. She 
 then pressed me to tell her what my opinion was. 
 I told her, hesitatingly, that I did not think she 
 would continue much longer. At which, her 
 countenance brightened with joy, and she exclaim- 
 ed, "and is it possible I am near my heavenly 
 home, which I have been looking forward to, as 
 something a great way off? And shall I soon see 
 that Saviour whom I so ardently long after ?" She 
 then conversed freely on the subject of death; 
 remarking, that for a long time, it had had no ter- 
 rors to her — that when in perfect health, she had a 
 longing desire to depart — that from the commence- 
 ment of her sickness, she had never entertained 
 any hope of recovering — that she had marked the 
 slow and sure progress of her disease — and though, 
 at times, she thought she might be spared for 
 some years, yet she had always believed that it 
 would eventually end in death; nor had she, at 
 any time, felt any wish to recover, nor ever, even 
 s2 
 
210 MEMOIR OF 
 
 in thought, offered up a desire for it, excepting 
 once, when she prayed the prayer of the Psalmist, 
 "0 spare me, that I may recover strength, before 
 I go hence, and be no more." She then spoke 
 with pleasure of meeting her friends in heaven, 
 that had died in the Lord, and her joy that so many 
 others would soon follow her, and expressed her 
 great anxiety for those that had not, as yet, turned 
 their faces Zion-ward — said that she trusted that 
 her death would be blessed to them, that she 
 might be enabled to give her dying testimony to 
 the truth of religion, and that her last breath 
 might be spent in pleading with them. 
 
 " She rested little through the night, and appear- 
 ed worse the next day. Her mind was calm and 
 happy. She frequently requested that portions of 
 Scriptures and hymns might be read to her. On 
 Thursday night, she rested better than on the pre- 
 ceding one ; and on Friday morning, was so much 
 revived, that we began to think she might yet be 
 spared a little, longer. Mr. Neagle had made two 
 or three unsuccessful attempts to take her likeness, 
 (owing, as he said, to his feeling so much on her 
 account,) and had finally given it up. Knowing the 
 anxiety of her friends to have it, she again con- 
 sented to his being sent for, and when told he had 
 succeeded in taking the outlines of her face on the 
 canvass, appeared pleased, remarking that she 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 211 
 
 knew it would be a gratification to her friends to 
 have it.* 
 
 " She continued throughout the day easy, was calm 
 and happy, conversed much, her heart being filled 
 with love to all. She frequently spoke of her sis- 
 ters and friends, with the greatest affection. She 
 would say, ' I always loved them, but now they are 
 
 inexpressibly dear.' On her sister C entering 
 
 the room, this morning, after being prevented by 
 sickness from so doing, for a day or two, she re- 
 ceived her with joy, and said she was one of her 
 * sweet comforters.' There was not the most tri- 
 fling office of kindness performed for her, that did 
 not call forth her gratitude and love. I never 
 smoothed her pillow, or wiped the cold damp from 
 her face, that she did not, in some way, express her 
 feelings, frequently by kissing me, or some other 
 expression of affection. Every thing done for her, 
 pleased her. ' Job's friends,' she remarked, ' were 
 poor comforters, but mine are all ministering 
 spirits.' She received her nourishment with ex- 
 pressions of the warmest gratitude. On one of 
 her sisters' giving her some fruit, she said, ' you 
 prevent all my wants. I sometimes fear you make 
 me pamper my poor body too much.' A drink of 
 
 * The engraved likeness which accompanies this me- 
 moir was made from that portrait, and is as good a one as, 
 under all the circumstances of the case, could be expected. 
 
212 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cold water would fill her with praise. ' How good 
 the Lord is, in providing such a refreshment.' 
 And then would speak of the freeness and fulness 
 of the salvation of the Gospel — ' a fountain, opened 
 for sin and uncleanness. I will pour water on 
 them that are thirsty,' &c. And often spoke of 
 that ' river, whose streams make glad the city of 
 our God.' A rose was given her — she admired its 
 beauty, spoke of the goodness of God in so richly 
 decking the earth with such a variety of beautiful 
 flowers — then adored and praised him as the Creator 
 of all things. In her was verified that saying, 
 * God is love, and he that dvvelleth in love, dwell- 
 eth in God, and God in him.' 
 
 " On Friday night, she rested easy till about 
 midnight, when she said to me, ' I know you love 
 to wait on me, will you rub my feet.' They were 
 much swollen, and cold. As I sat by her bed rub- 
 bing them, and endeavouring to cause a circulation 
 of the blood, and ease the distress they gave her by 
 their numbness, she said, pleasantly, * well, my 
 poor feet I am done with.' I remarked, that it was 
 pleasant to think, that for some years past, she had 
 made so good a use of them ; that they had carried 
 her on many an errand of mercy, and had run 
 with great delight in the ways of God's command- 
 ments. She said that it was ; then, after remain- 
 ing still a few moments, added, 4 Nothing in my 
 hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.' Towards 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 213 
 
 morning, she became much oppressed for want of 
 breath — begged me to open the windows and door. 
 
 "As the day dawned, she requested that she 
 might be helped up. She was placed in an easy- 
 chair, at an open window. Throughout the morn- 
 ing, though she uttered no complaint, there was a 
 restlessness which had not been observed before. 
 She was moved from the chair to the sofa, and 
 from the sofa to the bed, and so back again. Dur- 
 ing the morning, a friend called to see her ; she re- 
 quested that she might be left alone with her, 
 which was done, and she conversed with her some 
 time. About one o'clock, her friends were alarm- 
 ed by the cold sweat trickling down her face, which 
 increased so rapidly, that, in a short time, her hair 
 and clothing were completely drenched. This con- 
 tinued throughout the afternoon. She was cold 
 and faint. 
 
 " At the close of the day, a friend called to see 
 her. She asked him to pray with her; while 
 praying, he offered the petition, that the Lord would 
 be with her in going through the dark valley, when 
 her feelings of ecstacy became so great that she 
 praised God aloud, and begged that the prayer 
 should cease. After some time she said, ' the 
 Lord was so near and present with me, and I had 
 such a view of his glory, that I could bear no 
 more.' She then desired her friend to pray that 
 
214 MEMOIR OF 
 
 strength might be granted to her to speak to im- 
 penitent friends. 
 
 "On this day, her affection for her sorrowing 
 friends was so great, that she could scarcely restrain 
 her feelings on beholding them. On one occasion 
 in particular, as her aged father was bending over 
 her with tearful eyes, she appeared to be much 
 overcome, and exclaimed with a voice of deep 
 emotion, as she gazed tenderly at him, ' Oh, there is 
 my dear father.' 
 
 " During the night she appeared to be dying, but 
 towards morning fell into a refreshing sleep. Her 
 first question on awaking was, if it was not the 
 Sabbath ; being informed it was, she said, ' I have 
 always loved God's Sabbaths on earth, and I shall 
 love them in heaven.' She then inquired why 
 the family were up and with her at so early an 
 hour. On being told by her brother-in-law, that 
 her time upon earth appeared to be very short, 
 she asked what grounds there were for believing 
 so — he replied, ' My dear, your cough has en- 
 tirely gone, and your pulse indicates death.' 
 With her wonted firmness, she desired to be raised 
 in bed, remarking, ' Am I dying? I thought I was, 
 during the night ; let me look upon death.' After 
 taking a little drink to strengthen her, she request- 
 ed that those in the room would leave it for a while, 
 in order that she might converse with a dear rela- 
 tive alone. Her voice, which was before low and 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 215 
 
 almost inarticulate, now became loud and distinct. 
 She then desired that her nephews might stand 
 around her bed ; and addressing them individually 
 by name, said, « Boys, I cannot see you, my eyes 
 are dim with death ; I am happy — What do you 
 think could make me so?' and impressively added, 
 ' Seek, seek, seek' — as if she would have said, 
 seek the Lord, that you also may be happy. Her 
 voice was then raised in praise and thanksgiving, 
 until the moment of death. 
 
 " Throughout the whole conflict with death, her 
 countenance remained calm and happy, and never 
 was it ruffled, excepting when taking her last leave 
 of her beloved and aged parent, after which a 
 gloom was observed to rest on it for a few moments, 
 which gradually passed away, and it again assumed 
 its wonted brightness. 
 
 " A few moments before the spirit fled, her phy- 
 sician called. When she was told that he was in the 
 room, — for she could no longer see, — she requested 
 him to come to her. He took her cold hand: she said, 
 with reference to the time of her departure, * how 
 long?' he answered, ' I cannot tell Anna,' — 'pro- 
 bably" (meaning how long is it probable,) — he said, 
 1 1 cannot tell' — she asked, ' hours or minutes ?' 
 — he again answered " I cannot tell." It was evi- 
 dent to all, that though her outward senses were 
 all failing, her mind retained all its vigour." 
 
216 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Thus died, in the peace and hope of the Gospel, 
 this eminently devoted Christian, in the beginning 
 of the thirty-fourth year of her life. So happy, so 
 triumphant was her death, that it seemed, as one 
 of her intimate Christian friends well remarked, 
 " to take away the gloom which, in her apprehen- 
 sion, had always gathered around the subject of 
 death and the tomb." Her death is finely por- 
 trayed in the following beautiful lines, which she 
 used often to repeat, with great interest, as ex- 
 pressive of the way in which she wished to die. 
 
 Fade away, decaying earth ! 
 
 Things of time now disappear; 
 Home of friends, place of my birth, 
 
 Ask me not to linger here. 
 
 Let me, let me sink away 
 Sweetly in thy arms, O death ! 
 
 Thy hand upon my bosom lay, 
 Gently stop this fleeting breath. 
 
 An appropriate sermon was preached at her fu- 
 neral by her former and greatly esteemed pastor, 
 the Rev. Dr. Neill, who is now settled in the Pres- 
 byterian Church in Germantown. 
 
ANNA JANE LINNAKl). 217 
 
 PART VIII. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 And they glorified God in me. — Gal. i. 24.^ 
 
 A few very brief remarks, suggested by a re- 
 view of the life, character, and death of Miss Lin- 
 nard, will close this Memoir. 
 
 1. The life of Miss Linnard shows the amaz- 
 ing power of the Christian religion to make man- 
 kind happy, even in this world. She was, as has 
 already been remarked, before her conversion, a 
 woman of much pride of intellect and ambition. 
 She was gifted by her Creator with a mind of a 
 very high order. She was desirous of knowledge, 
 and she rapidly acquired it. But she also had an 
 unbounded desire after what was unattainable, a 
 never-ceasing aspiration for something great, but 
 which was not perhaps well defined, even in her 
 own imagination. Nothing satisfied her. Every 
 thing was too little to meet her desires. No pre- 
 sent situation, no future prospect in life, came up 
 to the imaginary grandeur and excellence which 
 she aspired after. Such a mind, excited and fed 
 by reading works of fiction, expecting what the 
 
 T 
 
218 MEMOIR OF 
 
 future never supplies — pursuing the rainbow of 
 hoped-for bliss, but never finding it — is, of all 
 others, likely to be unhappy, unless religion come 
 to its relief, and the ever-blessed God fill it with 
 his own infinite fulness. 
 
 It was so with Miss Linnard. She would cer- 
 tainly have been unhappy in this life, had it not 
 been for religion. For she had a mind whose ex- 
 panded desires, and acute sensibility, could not be 
 satisfied with the scenes and prospects of this 
 world of imperfection, disappointment, sin, and 
 sorrow. But when God revealed to her his love 
 in Jesus Christ, she found a heavenly object which 
 could fill her desires ; an object which is bound- 
 less as his own nature and perfections, and which 
 can never be exhausted. This was just what she 
 needed to make her happy. And when she be- 
 came reconciled to God, she became reconciled to 
 all his allotments in life. Every arrangement in 
 his providential dispensations was good, because 
 He, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, orders 
 all things. How, then, could a mind, which had 
 known the ever-blessed and infinite God, and had 
 been reconciled to Him, and filled with his love, 
 be otherwise than happy ? 
 
 Here, then, we find the true source of happi- 
 ness, — in the religion of the Bible, in the infinite 
 God, reconciling the world unto himself, and ren- 
 dering us happy with his own fulness. What other 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 219 
 
 religion can do this ? None. In the Bible alone 
 can be found a religion which meets and satisfies 
 the desires and wants of the human mind. And 
 here, all who have made the experiment have found 
 the true solace for all their miseries. It alone says, 
 and says effectually, to all who embrace it — 
 
 " Come, ye disconsolate, 
 
 Where'er you languish ; 
 Come, at the mercy-seat fervently kneel : 
 
 Here bring your wounded hearts, 
 
 Here tell your anguish : 
 Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal." 
 
 2. In the life of Miss Linnard we have another 
 striking instance of the transforming influence of 
 true religion upon the heart and conduct. She was 
 naturally possessed of a powerful intellect, which 
 became highly cultivated by education. She had 
 also many interesting traits of character. But it 
 could hardly be said, that she was very amiable, be- 
 fore her conversion. There was too much of a rigid 
 and decided independence of disposition, to allow 
 her to be generally very agreeable in her inter- 
 course with others. No doubt this was, in a mea- 
 sure, owing to her having lost her mother in her 
 childhood. But much more was probably owing 
 to her natural disposition. 
 
 But behold what grace can do ! It seemed as if 
 her whole nature was transformed by the power of 
 
220 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 religion. Her meekness, humility, liberality, af- 
 fection, simplicity, self-denial, and generosity were 
 truly remarkable. She became one of the most 
 amiable and lovely of persons, and the object of 
 universal and cordial respect and affection, in the 
 circle in which she moved. 
 
 In her the fruits of the Spirit, enumerated by the 
 Apostle, abounded, and formed her character: — 
 love, joy, peace, long-sitffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance. 
 
 From her fifteenth to her twentieth year, she 
 was, as has already been stated, very fond of dress 
 and fashionable society. But when she had learn- 
 ed, by the grace of God, the beauty of that inward 
 adorning, which consists in meekness, humility, 
 and love, she became a pattern of simplicity in 
 dress, worthy of the imitation of all. On this point 
 her views were mature and decided. She held it 
 to be, not only ill becoming women " professing 
 godliness," to conform to the world in extrava- 
 gance and expense in dress, but also exceedingly 
 sinful, as wasting money which might be appro- 
 priated to the building up of the kingdom of God. 
 It may be truly said of her — which it is feared 
 can be said of few comparatively — that she acted 
 most conscientiously in this matter. To throw 
 away a dollar upon an unnecessary ornament, or 
 article of dress, when it might send a Bible to 
 some benighted family of immortal beings, was, to 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 321 
 
 her mind, no trifling sin. She, therefore, pursued 
 the most rigid economy, and regulated her expen- 
 ditures for apparel by a conscientious, deliberate, 
 and rigid rule, and was not easily moved, either 
 by the opinion of the world, or that of fashionable 
 professors of religion. And her strict economy in 
 dress gave her many a dollar, which she expended 
 for the relief of the poor, or to send the Gospel to 
 those who were destitute of it. 
 
 But whatever Miss Linnard became, as to the 
 great subordination and discipline of her natural 
 desires and feelings to which she attained, or as to 
 the consistent external deportment which she uni- 
 formly exhibited,' divine grace was the author of it 
 all. This she always, with humility and gratitude, 
 acknowledged. To grace alone let the honour of 
 all be ascribed. 
 
 But, if the question be asked, as it may well be, 
 why it is that religion seems to effect so slight a 
 change in the natural tempers and feelings of Chris- 
 tians, and that we see so little of the loveliness and 
 holiness of religion in the conduct of professors 1 
 It may readily be answered : it is because so few 
 Christians make it the grand object of life, and the 
 business of every day, to grow into a gracious con- 
 formity to the divine image and will, and to bring 
 the whole heart — including every species of feel- 
 ing and passion — under the holy, subduing, and 
 controlling influence of the requirements of the 
 
222 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Gospel. This being the case, is it wonderful that 
 the great majority of Christians appear to have so 
 much of the spirit and conduct of the world about 
 them, and exhibit so much that is imamiable in 
 their intercourse with one another, and with the 
 world ? With regard to the subject of this memoir, 
 it can, with truth, be asserted, that she pursued a 
 very different course, and hence it was that she be- 
 came so happy a monument of the transforming 
 and lovely influence of religion. 
 
 3. Miss Linnard's life also shows how much 
 can be done by one individual, holding no station 
 of peculiar influence or advantage in the church, for 
 the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Here 
 we see the assiduous employment of time, talents, 
 and property in a glorious co-operation with God 
 in the work of building up his kingdom in the 
 world. What an instance of untiring industry and 
 perseverance in the blessed work of doing good to 
 our fellow men, is here exhibited! Who can 
 read it without profit? Who does not feel stimu- 
 lated, by the account of such labours, to seek for 
 a similar spirit, and the attainment of similar suc- 
 cess ? How much do we here see accomplished 
 in twelve years ! And yet, we see but a small 
 part of what will be the final result. But few of 
 her efforts for the poor and ignorant were witness- 
 ed by any one but those who received their bene- 
 
ANNA JANE LINNARD. 223 
 
 fits, and by Him who seeth all things. The ob- 
 ject of writing this book will be accomplished, if 
 it excite, in some good measure, those who may 
 read it to devote themselves with similar zeal and 
 love to the service of God, and to employ all their 
 talents in labours for the salvation of those who 
 are now exposed to endless ruin. 
 
 4. Finally: the life of Miss Linnard shows 
 the blessedness in a dying hour, which the faithful 
 serving of God will bring with it. Here we be- 
 hold the death of the righteous, and see that it is 
 peace ! God will sustain his faithful children 
 when they come to pass through the Jordan of 
 death. Whatever variety there may be in the cir- 
 cumstances of their departure from this world, 
 there will always be the comfort and support of his 
 rod and staff. There may not be equal degrees 
 of visible, or enjoyed consolation; but there will 
 be a good measure of peace, tranquillity, and hope. 
 And who does not desire to die such a death as she 
 did, whose memoir now closes? Who then will 
 seek preparation for this event with an earnestness 
 and constancy such as she maintained ? O, this 
 is a subject which should come home to us all. 
 May it not only be our wish, but also our earnest 
 prayer and unceasing effort, that we may " die the 
 death of the righteous, and that our last end may 
 be like his." ' 
 
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