Moravian Lives @ Moravian U

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Ful/3/123
Our late Sr Mary Armstrong
was born in Ireland Jan. 18/93
& was taken when a child of 8 or 9 years
of age to our Ladies' Boarding-School
at Gracehill, then under the superinten
dence of our Sr Montgomery at pres't.
residing here. While at school she shewed
great [inserted above line: excellent] abilities & made great progress in
learning. In 1810 she went with Br & Sr
Montgomery to Ockbrook Okbrook, where
she lived in the Sisters' house 1 year. She
then accepted an appointment as Teacher
in our Ladies' Boarding-School at Bed
ford & remained in that situation 10
yrs. In 1821 she went to Gracehill as
Governess of the Ladies' School there;
from thence, in 2 or 3 years, to Wyke, in
the same capacity. She then lived a
short time in a gentleman's family
in Leicestershire; &, after spending
a few months with her much esteem
ed friends Br & Sr Montgomery in [inserted above line: at]
Ockbrook, ??? [inserted above line: entered upon] the office of First
Teacher in our Girls' Boarding-School
here, & held that [inserted above line: which] she held that situation, till
midsummer last year. - About
that time her health began to fail; &
in the course of last summer she gra
dually grew worse, her complaint or
rather complication of ??? complaints baffling
all medical skill. In Septr last
she went first to Kirkstall, then to
Harrogate, to try the effect of change of
air; but the illness [inserted above line: her diseases] gained ground, &

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& [inserted above line: she] returned much weaker than she went
out towards the end of October. She
now grew rapidly worse, & her sufferings
were often severe. At length on ??? ??? day
morning last, about 8 o'clock a.m. it
pleased the Lord to put a period to her
trials & afflictions & she fell gently
& happily asleep in Jesus at the age
of 55 years & 11 mo. (---)
The good seed which was sown in
our late Sisters [inserted above line: her] heart on her hand [inserted above line: at that time]
??? sprang up & bore good fruit through
out her life. (The ministry of the
word - the means of grace public &
private - & the faithful & judicious
training of her much revered go-
verness while she was at school in
Gracehill - were which [inserted above line: greatly] blessed to
our late Sisters soul &) She had
her peculiarities; but she was, beyond
all doubt a true, conscientious &
faithful Xtian - She read the Scrip-
tures diligently & regularly - & not
only read, but studied them, set-
ting a high value for them sacred
voluntary & cordial delighting to search
ed. [inserted above line: them] ??? Her views of divine [inserted above line: ???] truth
were very clear & her convictions deep
& decided; & she was not afraid of
discussing scriptural subjects.
She was faithful in self-examina-
tion & in prayer. In the important
business of educating youth, to which
occupied the greater portion of her
life, she was earnest, & assiduous, [inserted above line: successful] de-

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-voting her fine talents & varied & ex-
tensive knowledge with faithfulness
& concerns to the performance of her du-
ties, & no doubt many of her pupils
feel deep gratitude for her valuable
instructions - but during her last illness she
manifested great patience under acute suffering
& a very delightful & edifying humility of spirit.
While at Harrogate she called in a phy-
sician, who candidly told her he saw no
hopes whatever of her recovery. This led
her as she expressed herself in a letter to
a friend to examine herself more strict-
ly as to her hopes for eternity; The conse-
quence of this serious proving of her
own self she stated to be this, that she
was led on the one hand to mourn
deeply over her unprofitable life, but
that on the other hand when humbly
confessing her sins & imploring for-
giveness - she found a solid peace
in the prospect of death. +
It is a singular [inserted above line: remarkable] feature in one of
the complaints from which she suffered
that it leads the patient almost to
the last to flatter himself with hopes
of recovery; &, in case he is a true
believer, it is not a little singular to
hear him, one moment speaking of
his trust in the Savr & his good hope of
acceptance thro' grace, - of death being
a gain to himself as a child of God -
& the next declaring his expectation that
he will soon be well. [inserted above line: recover] The writer has
met with many instances of this sin-
gular symptom of consumption in

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The course of his ministry - & our
late sister was not the least striking
among them; for frequently after
conversing in such a strain that it
was clear she not only expected
death but rejoiced in the prospect
of it, - she suddenly turned the sub-
ject to her hopes of soon being well
again. But she said to more than one
??? friends "If I die, it will be a happy
exchange - for me - I shall go to the Lord."
On one occasion, addressing [inserted above line: again] her ???
sion she added [inserted above line: said]: "I should wish to live
a few years longer if it were the Lords
will, for [inserted above line: some] reasons you know; [inserted above line: I will be better] but for
me it would be better if I go." H Another
consequence of her complaint was ex-
cessive nervousness, so that she had a
dread of seeing even her friends. Hence
her minister did not see her until it
became apparent that her end could not
be very distant; [inserted above line: but after he had seen her once] he then visited her &
as he had been & being invited in, [inserted above line: he always] was gladly
welcomed, [inserted above line: ??? the ??? ???, he] & had a satisfactory conversa-
tion with her in which she stated, that
she had not the smallest doubt of her ac-
ceptance - & concluded with [inserted above line: The conversation was followed by] a prayer
on her behalf - she frequently adding
Amen to the petitions. Her choir La-
bourer also frequently saw her & had
pleasing conversations with her. Now
too, she admitted other ??? friends
as well as her minister & Labourer
more frequently. The medicine she
took caused her to ramble a good deal;
yet she was almost always collected
when spiritual subjects were brot. be-
fore her, & answered every question
as

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as to her belief & hope in a clear & un-
equivocal manner. To one friend she
declared on being asked that her only
trust was in her Lord & Savr Jesus Xt.
To another, that she felt her Savrs pre-
sence, not uninterruptedly indeed -
but often - & that He blessed & cheered
her most richly. She rejoiced to see her
sister & niece arrive from Dublin on
Sunday evening. - The same afternoon
prayer having [inserted above line: been] offered up with her a
few verses were sung, in which she
joined as well as she could; & in
the lines 'Here comes a sinner who
would fain - Thro' the Lambs entrance
gain,' - she made a strong effort
to sing with us. - She was visited
twice aft. The last time her ???
ter sans her was Tuesday morning;
she was more collected but in great
pain; & she ejaculated a fervent
Amen! at the close of the prayer.
In the afternoon she attempted to
give some directions respecting her
worldly affairs to a friend, but was
unfortunately [inserted above line: ???] unintelligible. He
offered up the last prayer with her
& at length the moment of release
came, & her redeemed spirit took
its flight; she was sensible to the last.
+ She added that her state of mind
& feeling was well expressed in that
verse of Toplady's beautiful hymn: 'No
thing in my hand I bring &c (See No 960)
And, in a conversation she had with
a dear friend shortly after her return
she repeated the same verse, the tears

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flowing down her cheeks & added 'I know
I am a poor sinner - & that language
[inserted above line: that were] suits my case [inserted above line: well] - but I know, too, that
I am forgiven & reconciled thro' grace!'