An extract of Miss Mary Gilbert's journal. With some account of the Lady Elizabeth Hastings, &c. : [Four lines of Scripture texts]

GEORGE PARKER* A SHORT ACCOUNT OF Miss MARY GILBERT.

THE ensuing Account, it is hoped, may animate those who are in the Morning of Life, to a due Improvement of their Time, in remem|bering their CREATOR in the Days of their Youth; so that they may offer him the first Fruits of those precious Moments, in which they are Probationers for an awful Eternity: And which when past, whether they have been employed in the important Task or 〈◊〉〈◊〉, are irrecoverably gone.

IF it has this happy Effect, the desired End will be fully answered, which is, that GOD'S Grace, and saving Power, may be manifested, in additional Instances, both of living and dying Witnesses.

Miss MARY GILBERT, was the eldest Daughter of Nathaniel Gilbert, of the Island of Antigua,Esq by his Wife Elizabeth, both Persons of good Families, and eminent Piety; whose chief Study it was to train up their Children in the Knowledge of GOD and his Ways, according to the established Religion of the Church of England.

SHE was born in the same Island, on the 28th of Fe|bruary, 1751, under the happy Circumstance of having Parents, who as they were wanting in no Act of Care and Tenderness to their Offspring, so took care in parti|cular to make them, like young Timothy, acquainted from

their Infancy with the Holy Scriptures. In the earliest Dawn of Reason she discovered an extraordinary Capa|city, and uncommon Understanding; a great Willingness to learn, and a Desire of being instructed, which often occasioned her to ask the most pertinent Questions. Such a Genius was observed by her Parents with much Gratitude to Him, who is the Author and Dispenser of every good and perfect Gift. Her natural Disposition was a Mixture of Good and Evil. She was a strict Ob|server of Truth, which appeared to arise from a Noble|ness of Mind, which made her incapable of those Mean|nesses from whence the Vice of Falshood springs. But as every Flower in Nature's Garden, however blooming, needs improving, so did this Principle in her: For as it was productive of some Virtues, so it no less occasioned the greatest Blemishes in her Temper; such as High|spiritedness, Pride and Self-will; which notwithstanding the shining Example of her Parents, and their Care to restrain, would, while she was very young, often gain an Ascendency.

IN the Year 1757, her Father and Mother made a Voyage to England (bringing this Daughter and their other Children with them) entirely upon a religious Ac|count, and in order to enjoy the Company of some who were esteemed Persons of remarkable Piety, and extensive Usefulness, and with them to partake of those sacred Privileges, with which their native Island was not yet favoured. During their Residence in England, she shew|ed the greatest Delight in reading religious Books, and in receiving the Instruction of serious Christians, who were frequently entertained at her Father's House. So that what was recorded of the ROYAL PSALMIST, might be asserted of her; All her Delight was in the Saints upon Earth. Her Father's Affairs calling him back to Antigua, he, with his Family, left England in the Beginning of the Year 1759, taking with them a Person whose Sentiments and Abilities they approved of, to whose Care they com|mitted the Education of their Children, for whom their Daughter MARY soon contracted a very tender Affection; far from shunning the Company of one that was to cor|rect

her Faults, and whose Presence must restrain the lit|tle Levities of Childhood. She, for these very Reasons, delighted in being constantly confined with her, even in those Hours which she might have spent at Play with her Sisters. These Seasons she employed in improving her Mind; and having the Liberty of retiring into a Closet within her GOVERNESS'S Chamber, she would continue in it for a long Time every Day reading, praying, and meditating, and her Remarks upon what she read, were often just and instructive.

AS soon as she had learned to write, she seldom failed nothing down whatever appeared useful in any Author she read; and having a very retentive Memory, she stored it with SCRIPTURE TRUTHS, so that many of her Re|latives and others, were greatly surprised at her Readi|ness in repeating, and finding out almost any Text in those sacred Pages. She likewise wrote several Books of well collected Texts, in Proof of some of the Fun|damental Doctrines of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, such as, The fallen State of Man, the Necessity of Repentance, and the new Birth, and of Holiness. Before she was twelve Years of Age, she corresponded with some Per|sons in England, and her Letters were much admired; though, as she grew older, her Stile greatly improved, so that she had acquired both an easy and elegant Manner of addressing different Persons, and upon various Oc|casions, though Religion was her constant and favourite Theme; herein, as in other Instances, endeavouring to redeem as much as possible the golden Moments of her contracted Span.

THUS she gently and profitably passed five Years of her Pilgrimage, without Variation, and exempt from Vicissitudes under her Parent's Roof; till in the Year 1764, they thought it most for her Advantage to send her to England, to finish her Education. Here she ar|rived the 28th of May that Year; from that Time board|ing with an Aunt, and being under the Care of the same Tutoress, who had before gone with her to Antigua. This Separation from the best of Parents, could not but prove an afflictive Circumstance to one of her great Sen|sibility,

and who was a most dutiful and affectionate Child; but this was alleviated by the pleasing Hopes they gave her, that they themselves would soon come and reside in England; a Thought which as it enabled her chearfully to bear their Absence, so it animated her to a more than ordinary Improvement of Time, in or|der to render them the utmost Satisfaction, when she should have the Happiness of being restored to them; a Period, which she often mentioned with the greatest De|light; but which the infinitely wise Disposer of Events saw right never to indulge her with. It was with great Pleasure that we observed, as her Years increased, her good Understanding, and the Power of Religion, entirely prevailed over those Tempers, which have before been mentioned, so that she became every Day more amiable, and was more endeared to all that knew her. On the first of January, 1765, she began to keep a Diary, chief|ly consisting of the LORD'S Dealings with her Soul. This will give a juster Conception of her Understanding in the Way of Godliness, of her improvement of Time, and the Propriety of her Sentiments on many Occasions, than any Thing that could be said upon the Subject. She was one of those happy Few, who are not afraid of be|ing singularly Pious, and was deeply convinced that the Service of GOD is no Impediment to, but the greatest Augmentation of true Happiness, in every Period and Circumstance of Life. She had learned to disdain the Follies of the World, always chusing Plainness and Neat|ness in Dress, rather than Gaiety and Extravagance, and prefering an Hour's Solitude, spent in communing with her own Heart, or in searching the Word of GOD, be|fore all those trifling Amusements, which so much engross the Attention, and waste the Time of the Generality of Persons of all Ages.

THUS, tho' young in Years, she contemplated her latter End, and applied her Heart unto true Wisdom, and is now reaping the vast Advantage in a blest Eter|nity. She was so exercised in the needful Duty of Self|inspection, as to discern the Imperfection of her best Performances, and utterly to disclaim every other Hope of

obtaining the Divine Favour, than that built on the sure Foundation, JESUS CHRIST, and Him crucified. An Interest in his atoning Blood, was what she sincerely sought after; being truly sensible of the Necessity of being born again, before we can enter into the King|dom of Heaven. She thought the Time long ere she was admitted into the glorious Liberty of the Children of GOD; and would greatly deplore her own Instability, Levity, and want of Earnestness, to which she attri|buted her LORD'S Delay; but these Things, tho' felt by her tender and enlightened Conscience, did not ap|pear to others; and the LORD was not slack concerning his Promise, as her following Experience proved, when He came suddenly to the Temple of her Heart, never to leave her more. Some Weeks before her last Sick|ness, she told a Friend, that she had been greatly led out in the Meditation of Death; that she formerly con|sidered it as very dreadful, but had of late seen it in a different View: So that if it would please GOD to finish his Work in her Soul, she could be content, young as she was, to give up all that were dear below, in Hope of receiving them again in that eternal Day. A few Days before her Disorder seized her, being asked by a Friend, concerning the State of her Soul, she said,

She had a Confidence that GOD would not long with|hold the Blessing, that she soon should know his par|doning Love, and that she was patiently waiting up|on Him.

As soon as she was taken ill (which was on the 10th of January,1768) she was asked how she found her Mind? She replied,

Quite composed, that she believed the LORD had visited her in Love, and that whether it terminated in Life or Death, it would be greatly to her Advantage.

During the whole Time of her Illness, not a Doubt seemed to disturb her, nor did she ever lose her stedfast Hope, that if she was ta|ken, the LORD would perfect his Work in her Soul. She was also endued with a constant Spirit of Prayer, and to all around behaved with the utmost Patience and Meekness. She seldom complained, and declared she had not a murmuring Thought, though she appeared to

suffer exquisitely; her Disorder being a putrid Fever, with a sore Throat, which mortified some Days before her Dissolution: It was likewise attended with a Deaf|ness, that encreased gradually, till at last there was no conversing with her. She was also deprived very early of Speech, which, as she retained her Senses, rendered her Situation very trying, as well as deprived her Friends of that Profit and Satisfaction, which might otherwise have been expected. But on Thursday, the 14th (before the Disease had made so great a Progress, though even then her Speech was thick, and her Hear|ing dull) she desired the whole Family would come and pray with her, and to some of her Friends made this good Confession: That she had found CHRIST, that she loved GOD, knowing that He had first loved her; that she was now neither afraid nor unwilling to die; and that she experienced unspeakable, and, till now, unknown Happiness. From this Time she spoke but little, except about two Days afterwards, when she said to one who desired her to speak to her, that she was perfectly resigned to the Divine Will; this she uttered with Difficulty, and could add no more; but though her Lips were thus closed to all below, it was evident her Heart was open to GOD in Prayer, which was dis|cernible from the frequent lifting up of her Hands and Eyes with great Devotion: In this Posture she sweetly yielded up her Spirit on the 21st Instant, at the Age of near 17 Years.