patience and fortitude. His death was sudden,
but peaceful.
W. G.

Sept. 19th.-At Bishop-Auckland, in the Bar-
nard-Castle Circuit, in the fifty-fourth year of
his age, Mr. John Wilkinson; a man of great
worth and piety. He was brought to the
knowledge of the truth when young; and by
the power of divine grace, has been, through
life, a consistent Christian. He was twenty-
five years a respectable and successful Local
Preacher; as a Class-Leader he was faithful,
affectionate, and diligent, and he excelled in
every good word and work. It was owing to
his exertion, through the divine blessing, that
we have a Chapel in that place. Believing
himself to be in the place appointed him by Pro-
vidence, no prospect of a worldly nature, how-
ever flattering, could prevail upon him to
leave it. He was much respected and beloved,
not only by the members of the Methodist So-
ciety, but by those of other denominations.-In
his last illness he possessed solid peace and
strong confidence, and his dying testimony
was, "God is mine."
J. S.

Sept. 17th-At Pentonville, London, Mary Townley, wife of the Rev. Dr. Townley, one of the General Secretaries of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society, in the fifty-seventh year of her age. She was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile;" and endeared herself to every one who enjoyed the privilege of her society. As a daughter, a wife, a mother,

a sister, her excellencies have been seldom pa-
ralleled, and perhaps never exceeded. She was
the daughter of the patriarchal John Marsden,
of whom a memorial is given in the Methodist
Magazine for January, 1808. At the early age
of seven years, having previously been made a
partaker of the grace of God, she was ad-
mitted into the Methodist Society, by Mr. Wes-
ley, with whom she was always a favourite, and
whose decease she long and deeply lamented.
In September, 1798, she was united to her now
irreparably bereaved husband, with whom she
lived for nearly twenty-nine years, a pattern of
whatever is "lovely and of good report." Her
health, which was always delicate, had gradu-
ally failed; and for some years had declined so
much, as almost constantly to deprive her of
attendance on the public services of religion,
and restrict her in that general association with
her Christian friends, for which she was so
peculiarly fitted. But in the midst of suffering,
her equanimity, resignation, and cheerfulness,
attached her friends to her society with no com-
mon interest. Her last illness, which was long
and painful, was borne with patience and uni-
form dependence on the merits of Jesus Christ;
in whom was all her trust, and all her hope.
Her elosing days exhibited the delightful con-
sciousness that God was her father and her
friend, and her dying moments marked her
victory through the blood of the Lamb. "I
think I am going," said she cheerfully, a day or
two before her death; "I feel so much peace,
and resignation, and comfort."
J. T.

POETRY.

INSCRIPTION UNDER THE PICTURE OF AN AGED NEGRO-WOMAN,
BY JAMES MONTGOMERY, ESQ.

ART thou a Woman ?-so am 1, and all
That woman can be, I have been, or am;
A daughter, sister, consort, mother, widow.
Whiche'er of these thou art, O be the friend
Of one who is what thou canst never be !

Look on thyself, thy kindred, home, and country;
Then fall upon thy knees, and cry,

"Thank God,

An English woman cannot be A SLAVE!'

Art thou a man?-O! I have known, have lov'd,
And lost, all that to woman man can be ;
A father, brother, husband, son, who shar'd
My bliss in freedom and my woe in bondage.
A childless widow now, a friendless slave,
What shall I ask of thee, since I have nought
To lose but life's sad burden; nought to gain
But heaven's repose?-these are beyond thy power;
Me thou canst neither wrong nor help ;-what then?
Go to the bosom of thy family,

Gather thy little children round thy knees,
Gaze on their innocence; their clear full eyes,
All fix'd on thine; and in their mother, mark
The loveliest look that woman's face can wear,
Her look of love, beholding them and thee:
Then at the altar of your household joys,
Vow one by one, vow all together, vow
With heart and voice, eternal enmity

Against oppression by your brethren's hands;
Till man or woman under Britain's laws,
Nor son, nor daughter, born within her empire,
Shall buy, or sell, or hold, or be a slave.

Printed by Mills, Jowett, and Mills, Bolt Court, Fleet Street.

Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine,

FOR NOVEMBER, 1827.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF JOHN RICHARDSON,

Of Barwick, near Leeds:

BY MR. WILLIAM DAWSON.

THE late John Richardson was not an ordinary character, either before or after his conversion. He was the son of parents who truly loved and feared God: but though nourished and brought up under the eye of parental piety, and the sound of parental admonition and prayer, he lived for many years in aggravated rebellion against his parents, and against his parents' God.

His natural disposition was uncommonly light and volatile. He eagerly plunged into all the whirlpools of what some improperly call innocent amusements, and ran the giddy round of worldly pleasures at a rapid pace. In music, dancing, and buffoonery, he took great delight; and in his own neighbourhood, in every jovial party of his equals, of the same taste as himself, he was generally present. On some occasions he assumed the character of a dancing-master; and not unfrequently would mimic the theatrical actor. Sometimes he would touch the strings of the violin; and then figure away with the jingles of the tambourine. He gladly took a part in the musical band of a neighbouring corps of volunteers, and was the leading fifer to the company. Thus he "walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” until he was thirty years of age.

He had often very powerful impressions from the Holy Spirit; but he trifled them away. Frequently has he been heard to say, "When my mother reasoned and expostulated with me, I did not regard her; but when she used to kneel down, and pray for me, I was deeply affected." By the infinite mercy of God, the prayers of the parents prevailed, and the thoughtless man began to consider. The Lord took away his wife; and the death of one so near to him produced a temporary effect upon his mind. He went once to the Methodist Chapel at Thorner, when the word came with unusual power to his heart; and from that time he ceased to write out his accounts on the Sabbath-day; which for some years had been his ungodly practice. After this, the convictions of his guilt and danger became more deep and frequent: he therefore began VOL. VI. Third Series. NOVEMBER, 1827. 3 F

to attend the Methodist Chapel with some regularity, and to read religious books. The Pilgrim's Progress" engaged his attention. was much delighted with Bunyan's description of the "house of mirth;" and particularly with the remarks upon it by the elder matron. When he read, as quoted by her, the following passage in Isaiah, (v. 12—14,) the words went to his conscience like a sword: "The harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands: therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure, and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." The secrets of his heart were made manifest; he fell down on his face, and worshipped God; and, with all the sincerity and earnestness of the Publican, he cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Without any invitation, he came to the Classmeeting. His terror of mind was so great, that at times he scarcely dared to pray. His fiddle and all his follies were laid aside. Since that period he has been often heard to say, that he wept till his eyes were sore; so pungent was his distress. The first Class-meeting that he attended was on June 27th, 1808; and on the day following he found peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He was truly brought "out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay; his feet were set upon a rock, his goings were established, and a new song was put into his mouth, even of praise and thanksgiving to God." His joy bordered upon ecstasy. On the Sunday following, the Rev. Joseph Taylor, sen., held a Love-Feast at Barwick, when John had some difficulty to restrain the joyous feelings of his heart till the service was opened; when he rose, and to the joy of believers, and the surprise of all, he declared what the Lord had done for his soul. I believe, that, to the day of his death, he never, for one hour, lost the assurance of his acceptance in the Beloved.

His late comrades in sin and folly heard of his conversion with astonishment; but concluded that his religious feeling would soon evaporate. They were never able, however, to reason with him on the subject; for as soon as they came within the reach of his voice, (which was not a feeble one,) he instantly began to warn, or reprove, or exhort them to turn to God; assuring them that they would otherwise be lost for ever: so that they were generally glad to make the speediest retreat from his presence.

His decision of character was truly exemplary. Although there were many eccentricities about him, yet his enemies, if he had any, could never bring a shade upon his moral excellencies. In the eyes of some persons he might appear to be " a very odd man," as he used to designate himself; yet in the view of his keenest observers he never lowered