The life of John Birchenall : including autobiography, extracts from diary, sketches, aphorisms, etc. / by the rev. A.J. French ; with a portrait, and introduction by J.H. Rigg.

  • French, Alfred J.
Date:
[1881?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The life of John Birchenall : including autobiography, extracts from diary, sketches, aphorisms, etc. / by the rev. A.J. French ; with a portrait, and introduction by J.H. Rigg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    ever, the true Christian love which was at the basis of his own character, his untiring henevolence, his unceas- ing and unstinting generosity, both in the way of service and of charitable gifts, his remarkable and unaffected modesty,—a more humble and retiring man I never knew,—these qualities, combined with and perfectly humanizing, if I may so speak, the almost other-world character of'his piety, furnish the explana- tion of the fact that, saint as he was, few, if any, ever spoke evil of him. He was reverenced not only by Christians, but by the whole x^opulation. He was among them as an angel of goodness. He was a superior and powerful preacher, instruc- tive and impressive, a fervid prayer-leader, a class- leader of great penetration and of amazing influence with the members of his classes. He was not only a skilful medical attendant, but an assiduous spiritual pastor, visiting not only his own members, but the poor and needy in all directions, and any, of whatever degree, to whom his way was opened, and who needed his spiritual counsel. The following pages show him as he was, and trace his career clearly throughout. In this volume Methodist biography gains a new treasure,—we have but few great treasures of this kind. Modern Method- ism has possessed—and has lost—in Mr. Birchenall one linking it not unequally with the saintliest histories of early Methodism. The town of Hester Ann Eogers is now also the town of John Birchenall, I