A Brief Memoir

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Diary, Letters, and Other Remains, of Eliza Southall, Late of
Birmingham, England, by Eliza Southall
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Title: A Brief Memoir with Portions of the Diary, Letters, and Other
Remains,
of Eliza Southall, Late of Birmingham, England
Author: Eliza Southall
Release Date: April 8, 2004 [EBook #11959]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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MEMOIR OF ELIZA SOUTHALL ***
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A BRIEF MEMOIR
WITH PORTIONS OF THE
DIARY,
LETTERS, AND OTHER REMAINS,
OF
ELIZA SOUTHALL,

LATE OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.
1869.
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."--PHIL. 1. 21.
INTRODUCTION
The first edition of this volume appeared in England in 1855, where it
was printed for private circulation only. Many expressions of the
interest that has been felt in its perusal, and of the value that has been
attached to the record it contains, have reached the editor and the
family of the departed. Several applications to allow its publication in
America have also been received; and, after serious consideration, the
editor feels that he ought not to withhold his consent.
In order that it may be more interesting and worthy of the

largely-extended circulation that it is now likely to obtain, additions
have been made, and particulars inserted, which a greater lapse of time
from the occurrence of the events narrated, seems now to permit. A
slight thread of biographical notice has also been introduced.
But it is not to this part, which merely serves to render the volume
more complete, by enabling the reader to understand the circumstances
by which the writer of the Diary was surrounded, but to the Diary itself,
that the editor desires to commend attention, believing that those who
enjoy to trace the operations and effects of Divine grace on the heart
will find much that is interesting and valuable therein, and that the
young may reap instruction and encouragement from the spiritual
history of one who early and earnestly sought the Lord.
WILLIAM SOUTHALL, JR.
EDGBASTON, BIRMINGHAM, 2d mo. 12th, 1861.
BRIEF MEMOIR
OF

ELIZA SOUTHALL.
Eliza Southall, wife of William Southall, Jr., of Birmingham, England,
and daughter of John and Eliza Allen, was born at Liskeard, on the 9th
of 6th month, 1823.
As she felt a strong attachment to the scenes of her childhood, and an
interest in the people among whom she spent the greater part of her
short life,--an attachment which is evinced many times in the course of
her memoranda,--it may interest the American reader to know that
Liskeard is an ancient but small town in Cornwall. The country around
is broken up into hill and dale, sloping down to the sea a few miles
distant, the rocky shores of which are dotted with fishing-villages; in an
opposite direction it swells into granite hills, in which are numerous
mines of copper and lead. There is a good deal of intelligence, and also
of religious feeling, to be met with among both the miners and
fishermen, Cornwall having been the scene of a great revival in religion
in the time of John Wesley, the effects of which have not been suffered
to pass away. A meeting of Friends has been held at Liskeard from an
early period in the history of the Society; but, as in many other country
places in England, the numbers seem gradually to diminish, various
attractions drawing the members to the larger towns. Launceston Castle,
so well known in connection with the sufferings of George Fox, is a
few miles distant.
The family-circle, until broken a few years before her own marriage by
that of an elder sister, consisted, in addition to her parents, of five
daughters, two of whom were older and two younger than Eliza. Her
father was long known and deservedly esteemed by Friends in England,
and her mother is an approved minister. John Allen was a man of sound
judgment and of liberal and enlightened views, ever desirous of
upholding the truth, but at the same time ready to listen to the
arguments of those who might differ from him in opinion. Moderate
and cautious in counsel and conduct, firm, yet a peacemaker, he was
truly a father in the Church. For many years he took an active part in
the deliberations of the Yearly Meeting, and was often employed in
services connected with the Society. He was known to many Friends on

the American continent, from having visited