Part 10 (1/2)

RESOLUTIONS OF THE ALLEN STREET CHURCH.

NEW YORK, March 2, 1887.

_Whereas_, It has pleased Almighty G.o.d, our kind and compa.s.sionate heavenly Father, in the solemn dispensations of His providence to remove from our midst by death, our dear and highly esteemed friend and brother, Elder James Knowles, and his wife, Matilda Knowles, of the Allen Street Presbyterian Church; and

_Whereas_, It becomes us not only as brethren in Christ, but as a Session of said church, to express our hearty appreciation of their work in and worth to the cause of Christianity, which they so dearly loved; and while we bow in humble submission to the Divine will, nevertheless we strongly realize that, as co-workers together with them in the Master's vineyard, we have sustained a severe and irreparable loss by this sad bereavement;

Therefore be it _Resolved_, That as a Session now a.s.sembled, we do hereby tender our heartfelt sympathy and sorrow to the bereaved family in their great grief; and we do earnestly and sincerely commend them to G.o.d and the Word of His grace, that is able to keep them from falling, and to give them an abundant entrance into His everlasting kingdom; and be it further

_Resolved_, That the Clerk of Session be requested to enter these resolutions on the records of the church, and that a copy be immediately forwarded to the family of the deceased.

(Signed),

DUNCAN M. YOUNG, _Pastor._

J. H. ALLEN, M.D., J. M. MORRISON, J. R. BATTY, MARTIN BRAITMAYER, _Elders._

JEROME H. OWENS, _Clerk of Session._

[Ill.u.s.tration: MATILDA KNOWLES]

GATHERING JEWELS.

MATILDA KNOWLES.

BEING THE RECORD OF A CONSECRATED MISSIONARY WOMAN'S WORK FOR OVER A QUARTER OF A CENTURY IN THE TENTH WARD OF NEW YORK CITY.

”She hath done what she could.”

CHAPTER VII.

BRIEF MEMOIR OF MATILDA KNOWLES.

They walk with G.o.d whom none can shame From trusting in His holy name; Who looking for a glorious morn, Shrink not before the lip of scorn.

The subject of this memoir was born in Tichon, near Ballymena, County Antrim, in the north of Ireland, March 22, 1811. Her ancestors fled from Scotland during the dark days of persecution, ”when the minister's home was the mountain and flood.” Little can be gleaned of her early history. Her mother died when she was six years old, leaving a sister older than herself, and a brother, a baby eight months old. Her father died shortly after her mother. When she was only eight years old, she went to the corner of the house, and asked the Lord to be a father and a mother to her. She was ultimately taken to her uncle's, at which place she resided until she came to America.

During her stay with him, she became acquainted with a young girl, who told her of the love of Jesus, and shortly before her death, she would frequently say how good G.o.d was to her, in bringing her in contact with her friend, who early told her of the life of the Saviour, and His never-dying love. At the same place, being filled with those desires, and having those Christian principles instilled into her heart, and not having conveniences to study and pray in the house, she would repair to the barn, to attend to her devotional duties, experiencing the truthfulness of G.o.d's Word, ”They that seek me early shall find me.” At this time she committed to memory the Psalms, and the Book of Proverbs, and several pa.s.sages of the New Testament.

It seems that certain influences were brought to bear upon her, for the purpose of getting her settled in life, contrary to her own wishes; but the party so chosen was without Christian character, and although every inducement was offered, so far as wealth was concerned, she remembered the injunction of the Scriptures, ”Be ye not unequally yoked to unbelievers,” and like Moses, who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but chose rather to suffer affliction, penury, and loss with the people of G.o.d, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, she declined to enter into the proposed matrimonial connection.

And then she decided to emigrate to the United States, friendless and alone.

In 1833--the time of the great cholera epidemic in this country--she was left by herself, in a house where all its occupants had fled through fear. Trusting in the G.o.d of Israel for protection, she experienced the full force of those sublime words of King David: ”He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day.” On arriving in New York, she immediately connected herself in church fellows.h.i.+p with the Ca.n.a.l Street Presbyterian Church, under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. McCarthy, and became a Sabbath-school teacher. Some of the first impressions made on her mind by her pastor were continually repeated, even up to the hour of her death.