We are anxious that our Biographical Department should contain important facts illustrative of the history of our churches, and a faithful exhibition of that exemplary piety and public usefulness which have happily characterised the lives of so many of their leading members. Memoirs of ordinary private Christians will not, therefore, usually accord with our plans; we, however, cheerfully except the following sketch of an excellent lady, as it not only pourtrays an admirable character, but also contains several facts which deserve to be recorded.-Editors. MRS. MARTHA RITCHIE was born on the 17th of March, 1760, in the township of Sharples, in the parish of Bolton, Lancashire. She descended from a pious nonconformist family. Her great grandfather, Mr. John Walker, was ejected from Newton-Heath Chapel, Lancashire. After his ejectment, he preached first in his own house, which he licensed, and afterwards in Rivington Chapel, Horwich, to a good old age. Mr. Palmer has the following remark respecting him: "He was a con * When the Conventicle Act was in force, the good people at Rivington frequently assembled to worship God, according to the dictates of their consciences, in the open air, at a place called Winter Hill. Seats were cut out of the side of the hill, so as to form an amphitheatre, which are still visible, in the centre of which was a stone pulpit. Mr. Walker died in March, 1682, aged about forty. When Arian sentiments were introduced at Rivington Chapel, two of the pious people, distressed at the change, called a child of their's, born at the time, Ichabod, because they considered the glory as departed. The chapel and its endowments are now amongst the many unrighteous possessions of Socinianism.-Palmer's Nonconformist Memo rial, vol. 2.—The Manchester Socinian Controversy, page 154. N. S. No. 35. siderable man, and a good preacher, and was one of the Bolton Lecturers." Rivington Chapel, which, it appears, was built for him, is now, amongst many others, awfully perverted from its original design, by the Socinian doctrines which are taught in it. That such was not the intention of its founders, will appear from the will of its first minister, an extract of which is as follows:-"I, John Walker, give and commit my soul unto Almighty God, my Saviour, in whom, and by whose merits, I trust and believe assuredly to be saved, and to have free remission and forgiveness of all my sins, and my body, at the general day of resurrection, shall rise again with joy, and both soul and body, through the merits of Christ's death and resurrection, shall possess and inherit the kingdom prepared for me, and his elect and chosen people before the foundation of the world," &c. These orthodox opinions were first slighted, then gradually opposed, and at length openly impugned, till in a generation or two the congregation sunk into confirmed Socinianism. That unscriptural creed 4 D was professed at Rivington Chapel, when the subject of this memoir was born. She was taught from her infancy that such doctrines were consistent with the word of God. But these instructions were given more in the family circle, than in the pulpit. The excellencies and advantages of virtue, contrasted with the disgrace and misery of vice, were the general topics of discussion there, without the recognition of evangelical principles, to excite to the former, or dissuade from the latter. Before the age of twenty, Mrs. R., though conscientiously moral in her conduct, and exceedingly amiable in her spirit and deportment, was convinced that she was a sinner condemned by the holy law of God. This excited a careful investigation of those theological opinions in which she had been trained; and having been favoured with a good education, and possessing a strong and inquisitive mind, she would receive nothing as truth without rigid examination; suspicious of error, and afraid of innovation, she paused at every step of her inquiry, that she might be satisfied of the cogency of every argument she examined. With these mental qualifications, and with a deep conviction of her need of a Saviour, she brought the Socinian system to the word of God, as the exclusive standard by which all religious opinions ought to be tried; and after much research and prayer to God for direction, she arrived at the conclusion, that she had been educated in dangerous errors, and that there was nothing to be found in Socinianism which could relieve her spiritual necessities, or bring peace to a conscience labouring under the accusations of guilt. She learned from that pure source of truth, how "God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." From the peculiar prejudices of her own family, she had little or no intercourse with the professors of other religious denominations; hearing only a few sermons at a Methodist chapel, which not according with the views she had received as scriptural, she attended no more. Thus, in the seclusion of her own chamber, she was led cordially to receive Christ as her only Saviour, and faith in his atoning sacrifice brought lasting comfort to her mind; she trusted in the Redeemer's righteousness for acceptance with God, and daily sought the influences of his Holy Spirit to give her a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. In a conversation which the writer of this paper had with her a few years ago upon this subject, she said, "I thought I had formed a creed of my own, because I knew not that any other people had views and feelings such as mine, till I went to the ordination of the Rev. R. Simpson, at Bolton, when, as that worthy minister was giving a statement of his religious experience and theological opinions, I exclaimed, these are my views of the Scriptures, and this is the influence the truth has had upon my mind.” From that period she sought communion with the people whose religious principles coincided with her own, and which she had derived entirely from the Scriptures. How often are Trinitarians accused by those who lay claim to superior mental powers, and boast of "calm inquiry," and rational investigation, with having derived their religious creed from their forefathers, and of submitting to the prejudices of education, without giving themselves the trouble either to reason or to think. The subject of this memoir, however, affords an instance in which the influence of education had no power to bias, and calm inquiry terminated in that change of sentiment which they would, doubt less, depreciate. And was she respected for this exercise of her independent mind, in daring to think for herself? This was not the case; she made a declaration of her views of the doctrines of the New Testament to her Socinian connexions, as the result of her own calm inquiry, when she was haughtily told that "she must not presume to differ from the religion of her forefathers!" But having given herself to Christ, she was determined to call no man master on earth, and firmly maintained her sentiments. This created no small opposition, which she bore with that submission which marked her character, under the many afflictive dispensations of providence which attended her through life. When certain individuals have been recovered from gross immoralities or dangerous errors, they have often felt a temptation to a relapse, sin has struggled to regain its former domination, and error has again troubled the mind with doubts, to reduce it to its previous vassalage. But our departed friend remained always firm in her belief of the orthodox doctrines she had embraced; and never had a doubt as to their consistency with the general testimony of the inspired volume; her deep convictions of the evil of sin, bore away her early prejudices, and prepared her mind to receive the truth with humility, and to hold it with firmness. In the year 1791, she entered into the marriage state; a kind providence directed her union with a man, who saw and felt as she did, and with whom she lived for nearly forty years, and who survives her, to deplore the loss of a woman whose exemplary prudence and ardent piety will never be erased from his memory. The result of this union was two daughters and a son, who are still living to venerate the name of a mother whose constant and well-timed instructions, in connexion with her pious example, have been the means, in the hand of God, of forming in them the Christian character; she did look well to the ways of her household, and it is hoped that her children will rise up at the last day to call her blessed. When amidst her own family cricle, unrestrained by the presence of visitors, she engaged on the Sabbath day in domestic worship with her husband and children, and her gifts and fervour of spirit in prayer were felt by all that surrounded the family altar. Her concern for the salvation of mankind was great, and especially did she manifest solicitude for those amongst whom she had been educated. On one occasion she purchased some books to be distributed amongst her former connexions, saying, "I feel much for them, because I know their prejudices against the truth, and their great aversion to the essential doctrines of the gospel." Mrs. Ritchie's excellent great grand-father, in the spirit of his time, no doubt, prayed fervently for the salvation of his children, but for two generations, at least, there was very little evidence of real religion among them; but after the conversion of his great grand-daughter, her prayers and Christian conversation, in union with a holy life, brought several of his relatives to the knowledge of the truth, who maintained a good confession and persevered to the end. She enjoyed much of the presence of God in the public means of grace, and was so constant in her attendance, that it might be said of her, as of David, that she had "loved the habitations of God's house, the place where his honour dwelleth." Many times, when affectionate relatives wished to dissuade her from going to the sanctuary, on account of her frequent infirmities, she would reply, "I will go, I have need of all the means of grace, I shall not enjoy them long;" though she frequently continued with difficulty to the end of the service, yet at other times the consolations of the gospel raised her above the weaknesses of the body, and constrained her to say, "I would rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness;" in keeping Jehovah's command she found a present reward. Mrs. R. was under the pastoral care of the writer for nearly twenty years, and he can bear witness that, through the whole of that period, she conducted herself with such Christian propriety as excited the highest esteem of all who knew her, and caused her to be regarded as a pattern of Christian prudence, humility, and consistency. As the wife of a deacon, she answered the description given by the apostle Paul to Timothy-" she was grave, not a slanderer, sober, faithful in all things." A spirit of liberality was always a striking feature in her religious character, and as she drew nearer to eternity this grace increased. Exempted from the guilty parsimony of many old professors, she gave to the utmost of her power, yea, and sometimes beyond her power; and cases of distress have sometimes been withheld from her knowledge, lest her feeling heart should carry her beyond the bounds of prudence. To increase her means of benevolence, she acted with great economy in her family, and frequently practised much self-denial, that she might aid his cause whose she was, and whom she affectionately served; she was, indeed, dead to the world, that she might live unto God. As her bodily infirmities became more oppressive, she grew more lively in her affections, and manifested a more ardent concern for the glory of God, and the welfare of her fellowcreatures. A few days before the last Anniversary of the East Lancashire Auxiliary Missionary Society, her pastor asked her if she would not like to attend that meeting; she expressed a great desire to go, adding, "I shall not live long, and should be gratified in attending an annual meeting before I die." She went at the appointed time, and there experienced the presence of the great Head of the Church. The sacred impressions made upon the minds of the people, and the holy delight then felt, will ever be cherished with feelings of gratitude to Him who gave his people a willing heart and a ready mind to support his cause. After our return from this antipast of heaven, two Sabbaths only elapsed before she was confined by that illness which closed her sufferings. She had a severe attack of bilious fever, in connexion with other disorders, which had for years made great inroads upon her constitution. A few days after the attack, her pastor said to her, during a paroxysm of pain, "I wish I had not induced you to go to the Manchester Missionary Meeting; I am afraid it has been the means of bringing on this disorder." She replied, "I have never repented it yet-I think the Lord greatly favoured me, in allowing me to attend the best meeting that ever was held." Some, perhaps, may be ready to expect much elevated feeling and ecstacy of mind, in the dying experience of a woman of such decided piety; but this was not the case; such feelings may be often traced to physical causes, rather than to religion. A temperament naturally lively and sanguine, in union with a pious mind, will often produce the most lively emotions of joy and delight, when, probably, the attainments of its possessor in religion are not so great, as in some who are the subjects of depression, and are altogether unacquainted with extraordinary joy. This amiable woman, throughout her Christian course, walked a middle path, neither verging to the extreme of sorrow or of joy. She usually experienced a solid peace, and almost uninterrupted serenity of mind, which blessings were mercifully continued in her last moments. Occasionally her mind was confused from the force of her disorder, but when recollection returned, she expressed an unshaken confidence in the Son of God, and a persuasion of the security of her soul in His hands. For years before her death, she feared she should be called to endure a great conflict with the last enemy. Knowing this, her pastor said to her not long before she died, "The Son of God will not forsake you in the trying hour;" she replied, with great earnestness of "that Saviour whom I have served for many years past, will not forsake me in this trouble." An earnest desire for greater conformity to the image of Christ, had been the prevailing disposition of her mind for some months before her illness, and during the intervals of her pain, she expressed a hope that this desire would be granted her soon. The Lord was gracious in saving her from what she feared. A short time before she departed from the body, an affectionate daughter raised her upon the pillow, when she breathed with less difficulty than she had done for some hours before, and then, after a few minutes, she fell asleep in Jesus, without a convulsive movement or a distorted feature, on Tuesday morning, August 8, 1827, in the 67th year of manner, her age. Her remains were conveyed to the grave on the Saturday following by "devout men," who felt a high regard for her on account of her christian virtues while she lived, and who deeply lamented her loss to her family and the church of God when she died. Her death was improved by her pastor and son-in-law on the following Sabbath, to a large and weeping audience from Zech. xiii. 9. Reader, in the conversion and perseverance of this departed saint, you have a striking illustration of the sovereignty of divine grace, and remember that the same grace must form in you the Christian character, and give you a meetness for heaven, or you perish for ever. VERSES WRITTEN ON THE DEATH OF Mother! is thy spirit fled! Yes, thy pain no more is known; Art thou sleeping with the dead? Christ has borne thee to his throne. Long my memory will record Virtues such as reign'd in thee; Sweet submission to the Lord, Faith, and love, and verity. Meek and lowly was thy mind, Humble follower of the Lamb; In thy words and actions kind, Worthy of the Christian name. Thou did'st feel another's woe, Didst his joy and sorrow share, And thy own repose forego, To beguile his anxious care. But to Him thy soul was given, Who redeem'd thee with his blood; In his love thou had'st a heaven, Ever cleaving to thy God. In his image thou didst grow, Longing for His blest abode, Who had brought thee here below To the knowledge of thy God. Wrestling still, but never faint; |