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tion , and bee resolution vas not to be shaken ; she freely ? gaVe ^ up slll , p beii ^ p assured **¦ t hat whoso 4 br saketh ^ jiot fa * ther or mother , for the great cause © X Christ is unworthy of him . ** to
orderto shew the serious nature of her undertaking , it may be observed , that to worship God agreeably to I he dictates of her conscience , was not only generally at the risk of personal assault , but more than once at the imminent hazard
of her life . ' In , or about the year 1780 , she , together with her husband , was baptized at Battle , and joined the Calvinist Baptist church in that place , under the then pastoral care of Mr W . Vidler , ( now of Parliament Court , London . ) In this
communion she lived for some years , in sentiment a Calvinist , and nothing- particular arising to agitate the-question of orthodoxy , a quiet acquiescence in the received dogmas df Calvinism precluded the deadly crime of heresy . This calm was not always to continue .
A circumstance in the course of Divine Providence occurred , which , while it xoused in her breast , all the tender feelings of a fond f mother , shewed her the fallacy of her religious sentiments , as a refuge in the hour of distress . This was the loss of a beloved and only daughter , snatched off in her childhood . Her
affliction was deep : and while her habitual piety induced' submission , it also naturally solicited her attention to the Divine character for support *¦ under this . severe , stroke of his hand . But here , instead of consolation , she found herself plunged in tenfold douJbt and misery * She dared not look to heaven , lest her child should be Aliasing from that seat of bliss . The grave Was dark : futurity was dreadful
44 , '' she would exclaim , " can assure me , in the small number of the elect , my child is included ?~ " Ah , me ! miserable ! can I bear the thought ? There is a doubt ! nay , a high probability she is not !•—What ! is this dear
infant , for whom 1 have suffered all a mother's pains , for whose existence my willing kriees have often bowed in grate ** ful homage to the Father of Spirits , whose sick couch I have nightly watched * mud from the overflowings of an aching heart bedevred with unavailing tears , — and whose tmtkacly death I now so deeply mojor ** ,- * - ** * hc ; formed for no other purpose tluut ^ endlc ** damnation I ¥ <** y et * it may be wy \ n > t G& * £ 4 ffcl * res
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it , an d ^ oh , dreadful thought ! I must hear : and approve the sentence of the Judge ! must laugh at her tribulation and anguish !; the mother xuust exult ] m the unending torments of her child i " Such reflections , ( thenatural conflict between her better feelings and the horrid doctrines of Calvinism ) reduced her mind
to a situation little short of distraction , and insanity or infidelity must have been the consequence , bad not some friendly voice whispered in her eary * - ^* The allbountiful God will some way _ find a means to exempt those from punishment who have not actually sinned , " . ¦¦ .
Although she had na , clear conception , according to her pareconceived ideas * how the Deity could be so bountiful , yet the sentiment afforded a booyancc to her mind ; atxl in . this state of doubt and hope ( the lam i ly having removed to
Brighton ) she joined the Gal vinist Bap ? tist church there m 1 ^ 90 * under the then pastoral chargeof Mr . Thomas Viae ^ ( thf present respected member q&& supppiU $ of the Unitarian cause to r Jhat : cft l a ^ c ^
It tpay be worthy of refn # r ^\ W > at her husband was still soundly -orth&dojr ; so that sbe stood quite unsu ^ pov ted ^ till about the yea * . - } 3 g $ i 4 > r 3 > $ h * t & 9 * ¥ > &i Qt hereby began t ® insinuate ifc £ &f ipt& r fifc orlhodox church ; % h $ ^ ympt ^ m ? wexc of no doubtful ^ a ^ rfc * and S ^ e -. iti&fflh
s ^ readiqg wUh < wpidi ty , ^ mpxitation wa ^ deemed absalttt ^ ly , n <* Ges $ ^ ry , and , fh ^ - ing to relate , tb ^ p * 6 tor ; s | i 3 nie standiitHi ftrst pf eighteen , xv . h < Kwei ^ o *^ fttite «\ be ? c 4 incurable and ^ h onxno £ hr $ afcs t > r intrca t * ies could . prevail on to ** gn thfe Jaww * ite article in their creed . ^ Tbat Pllfi ^
died for the elect " | and Ite elect only Among this number is to be fouct 4 the name of the dubject of t ^ is memoir The doctrine of God ' s universal } o ?« was congenial to her mild and benetoent temper ^ hertje ^ rt had ^ Jong bcc « ia a state of . preparation to receive it | . -W 4 hope , and joy , and peace were the h ^ p-
py consequence ^ . The opposition of tbe o ^ thqdox parti * as before pbserVed , waft very violent i their arguments indeed nwfju b » t conclusive ; their zeal making ample amends for such trifling deficiencies ; all with one voice declaring " the doctrine , ( viz . universal restoration ) to |> e a damnable error , sj&ung rrbm h ^ l ^ and one , to give the finishing stroke an 4 scC rr i ^ q » je » tion focjevef at . « BK ^ twnl » **^ it i | . jv 4 io ^ M pJwt .-Wfl *!* ?!^ : $ ** ^ hell , h * u >< w ( 4 / wP ; mWM ***< ySW ^ '
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74 t Obituary . **~ Mrm * Ann Smith *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1813, page 742, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2434/page/50/
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