"MY DEAR WIFE, 66 "Dublin, 6th of 11th Month, 1752. ***"I trust it is the Lord, the God of our fathers and forefathers, even the Lord who I believe was with us in joining us together in his holy ordinance; he has appeared in my heart at this season, both in public and private, as a refiner with fire, and as a fuller with soap, to the cleansing and purifying my heart, and fitting it for a temple meet for him to dwell in. May thou and I, my dear wife, patiently abide the day and way of his coming, that in due season we may witness our sins blotted out, and the times of refreshment from before his presence; that so, having desired him that he may be the stay of our youth, we may experience him (if length of days be continued to us) to be the staff of our age. "Thy tender, affectionate husband, In the spring of 1754, an afflictive dispensation was allotted to Richard Shackleton. On the ninth day after the birth of his son Henry, he was deprived, by death, of his beloved wife, and left the sorrowful father of four children; viz. Deborah, Margaret, Abraham, and Henry, (the latter died young.) The exquisite distress which he endured at this separation, was proportionate to the sweetness of their union: he had lost the object of his early affections, the endeared companion with whom he had entered into those family duties, which, during the short space of time they had lived together, she had worthily fulfilled. He had lost her when, from youth and health, they might naturally have looked forward to many happy years: but the great Disposer of events, in his inscrutable wisdom, ordered otherwise. R. S. to "Ballitore, 2d of 1st Month, 1755. "I have the comfort to tell thee, without boasting, that I think I grow a little in a sense that death itself cannot separate and divide the union of those spirits whom the Lord hath joined and preserved near himself; and this has been my greatest relief in some late sorrowing seasons, for the loss of my very dear and inwardly-beloved companion, whose spirit I am at times nearly united unto, when in the depth of affliction; and whose better part I fervently pray to rejoin, when my trials, my baptisms, my provings, and solitary sorrows, which are many, shall be over. "R. S." FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. "Ballitore, 29th of 6th Month, 1755. "Outward trials are suffered to come to prove us, whether they will dislocate our minds from that which ought to be their centre. If they effect this, the accuser of the brethren, who obtained permission to put forth his blasting hand upon the outward substance of upright Job, has gained so much of his point; but if such storms only drive us nearer to the shelter of that hand which is full of blessing, then they have a good effect. 'Who sees not Providence all good and wise, CHAPTER II. Memoirs of Elizabeth Carleton's early life-Extracts from Letters.-R. S.'s second marriage.-Some account of the establishment at Ballitore. ELIZABETH CARLETON has been already mentioned, as forming one of the little company of young persons united by the bonds of Christian friendship; and as the circumstances of her early life are fraught with instruction, some narration of them will, it is believed, prove interesting to the reader. She was born the 10th of 10th Month, 1726. When young she discovered a strong inclination for the fine arts; had a musical ear, and a fine voice; and indulged in dress as far as she could. Her person was agreeable, her manners pleasing, and her company acceptable to the gay and thoughtless; though a native delicacy, amounting to timidity, and a sense of decorum, prevented her from taking the latitude she might otherwise have been induced to take. She excelled in skill and ingenuity with her needle, * Elizabeth Carleton was descended from a good stock: her paternal grandfather, Thomas Carleton, of Cumberland, was united to the society of Friends by convincement, became a public preacher; and suffered much, both in property and health, by a long imprisonment on account of his testimony against tithes. He moved afterwards to Ireland, where several of his children were born, and where he died in 1684. Her maternal grandfather, George Rooke, also a native of Cumberland, who joined Friends when a youth, and was a minister amongst them sixty-six years. His only daughter, Rachel, married Joshua, the youngest son of Thomas Carleton, in the year 1710. and was preparing to work a picture for an exhibition, when the ministry of a friend, on a religious visit in Ireland, was made instrumental to discover to her the vanity of the things in which she had delighted. The account of this period of her life is thus related by herself. "As long as I can remember, I think I was of a diffident, cowardly disposition, fearful of doing what I knew was wrong, lest I should be punished; yet, when very young, was fond of play, and at times earned reproof. As I advanced in age, the follies and pleasures of youth allured my mind; and company, though of our own society, with whom I was intimate, strengthened the growth of the wrong seed in my heart: so that I delighted much in many things which, though perhaps not accounted evil by the people, yet were very hurtful, and in danger of destroying the innocent life, which ought to be cherished with great care; such as light airy company, music, and singing; and a great thirst for reading such books as were entertaining to the natural part, with specious titles for promoting virtue and rendering vice odious; yet, like subtle poison, gradually tending to the destruction of the root of virtue and innocence in the mind, and creating a dislike to reading the scriptures, and such other writings as would strengthen and encourage us to live a self-denying life, according to the precepts of our blessed Lord. "These practices of mine were not with the knowledge or approbation of my dear mother and grandfather, the only parents I had left; but concealed from them, and on that account attended with fear and remorse, knowing well that I could not hide from the penetrating eye of Him who beholds the secrets of all hearts. This sense caused a dread of future misery for such conduct, as well as fear of being discovered by my friends to be what I did not appear to be; which, though enticed to join with the temptations when they presented, yet was a character I much disliked. And the sincerity of my heart, I believe, pleaded with Almighty goodness to have an eye to me, and not to cast me off, but mercifully and wonderfully to preserve me from greater evils, of which I was in much danger; and also to awaken me to a sense of my perilous situation: so that when I would retire to bed at night for sleep, his terrors, lest I should be deprived of life in that state, followed me. I feared to think of it, and would often resolve to live more circumspectly; but fresh temptations often falling in my way, and not keeping up the inward watch as I ought, my condition, like that of many others, was to be deplored. But He, whose compassion faileth not, was pleased to visit my soul in a particular manner, in a public meeting in Meath Street, Dublin; I think on the 3d of 9th month, (old style,) 1747, about the twenty-first year of my age, through the living testimony of a faithful servant, Richard Hipsley, from Bristol. "My mind had been awakened, in the same meeting, by the testimony of some other Friend, and I thought how pleasing it would be, if such ministers of the gospel were to continue with us; when Richard Hipsley stood up, and mentioned, as well as I remember, the disciples being for building three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elias, and one for Christ; but these servants were removed, Christ remained, and the voice uttered: This is my beloved Son, hear ye him.' I cannot recollect further of his testimony, but those words had such an effect on me, that my heart seemed changed, tender, and broken-a heart of flesh instead of a stony one; my desires seemed new, a new heaven and a new earth, in which some degree of righteousness was about to dwell. The cross then, in this day of power, which before I could not willingly take up, became easier, and the burden lighter; the practices before mentioned I dare not join with; often being retired, humbled, and broken as it were to pieces. Strength was C |