Extracts from "The Blacksmith of the Peak; or, village piety and usefulness, exemplified in the life of the late John Hallam, of Sparrowpit, Derbyshire"
Printed and published by J. Taylor, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, 1848
Preface
The writing of this little Memoir was undertaken at the request of the Blacksmith’s daughter (Mrs. White) from materials which she almost exclusively furnished...
Though not insensible that he [the writer] has fallen far below the subject, he rejoices in having had the happiness of attempting to rescue from oblivion a few particulars in the life of so eminent a saint...
Chapel-en-le-Frith, January, 1848.
Though not insensible that he [the writer] has fallen far below the subject, he rejoices in having had the happiness of attempting to rescue from oblivion a few particulars in the life of so eminent a saint...
Chapel-en-le-Frith, January, 1848.
Chapter 1: Early life and conversion
To a locality of comparatively small interest I proceed with my reader, and emerging from the beauty of Hope-Dale, or climbing in the opposite direction from Chapel-en-le-Frith, then abruptly descending a little hill, we reach barren, bleak Sparrowpit, the residence of John Hallam, whom we shall term the Blacksmith of the Peak. Here John was born, on the 20th January, 1780. His parents, George and Hannah Hallam, though moral, and respectable, were not religious characters. In their family consisting of nine children, John was the second son, and he was trained to the laborious employment of his father, the village blacksmith, though he occasionally worked in the limestone quarries of the neighbourhood. As he grew up, he sought his happiness in the follies and vain amusements of the world, and being of a warm temperament, he engaged in the round of pleasure with characteristic ardour...
A surviving companion of his in these days of darkness, asserts, that a short time previous to his conversion, he undertook to mow a field of two acres in eight hours; and not withstanding the heavy crop, he accomplished the herculean task within the time proposed, and that evening attended a neighbouring wake not too much fatigued to prevent his fighting several battles...
At the age of twenty-six he began to feel the emptiness of the world, and the sequel will show that the change which at that time took place in his mind was of divine operation...
His reflections shortly resulted in so deep a conviction of the wretchedness of his present state of mind, and course of conduct, as brought him to the resolution, “to lead a new life”...
It was a thrilling moment which one day witnessed the entrance of John Hallam, in the midst of these struggles, into the study of a neighbouring clergyman, in the character of an “anxious inquirer”. Here had arrived the hero of many a tavern brawl, formidable to all the country round, from his bodily strength and courage, and irritable vehemence, to ask the question, “what must I do to be saved?”...
Hitherto his pride revolted at the idea of such a humiliation as associating himself with the people called Methodists: he scorned, he has since said, “to hang up his hat among them”...
At this crisis, while one night solitarily watching in the cowhouse with a beast which was ill, a last expedient for obtaining relief was suggested to his mind, - to kneel down and pray to God...
His mind was too unhappy to hesitate: the memory of past defeats, united with the prevalence of present sin, misery, and helplessness overpowered the objections of false shame, and for the first time, he fell upon the earth to implore the aid of Almighty God. This was on Easter Monday, April 7th, 1806...
A suggestion most terrible to his mind was presented in the form of the passage “I will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation”; for John had received a current tradition that his great-grandfather was of a disposition so depraved, that it obtained for him the epithet “Cruel Ellis”: and as he was led to consider the wickedness of his forefathers in connexion with his own, it is not wonderful that he had a lively sense of spirit in the verses - ...
This state of mental anguish had arrived at its highest pitch, when he was mournfully returning home one evening, from his work in the adjacent stone quarries. The gloom of that night, was but a faint type of the horror of darkness which rested upon his spirit. Arrived at a certain point in the homeward path, not far distant from a lane through which his road lay, on looking forward to the entrance of the lane, he thought he saw the terrific person of the Angel of Darkness...He then fell on his knees by the wall, and in extremity mightily cried to God, and continued wrestling, no doubt with all the vehemence of Jacob, when in circumstances of peril not more heart-rending, until “the Angel of the Covenant” who redeemed the Patriarch, owned that he, also, had prevailed with God...
His spirit rejoiced in God his Saviour with exceeding joy: and as regards the apparition, he has been heard to say, with heaven beaming in his countenance, that he thought he could then have passed through the lane, if it had been full of Devils...
A surviving companion of his in these days of darkness, asserts, that a short time previous to his conversion, he undertook to mow a field of two acres in eight hours; and not withstanding the heavy crop, he accomplished the herculean task within the time proposed, and that evening attended a neighbouring wake not too much fatigued to prevent his fighting several battles...
At the age of twenty-six he began to feel the emptiness of the world, and the sequel will show that the change which at that time took place in his mind was of divine operation...
His reflections shortly resulted in so deep a conviction of the wretchedness of his present state of mind, and course of conduct, as brought him to the resolution, “to lead a new life”...
It was a thrilling moment which one day witnessed the entrance of John Hallam, in the midst of these struggles, into the study of a neighbouring clergyman, in the character of an “anxious inquirer”. Here had arrived the hero of many a tavern brawl, formidable to all the country round, from his bodily strength and courage, and irritable vehemence, to ask the question, “what must I do to be saved?”...
Hitherto his pride revolted at the idea of such a humiliation as associating himself with the people called Methodists: he scorned, he has since said, “to hang up his hat among them”...
At this crisis, while one night solitarily watching in the cowhouse with a beast which was ill, a last expedient for obtaining relief was suggested to his mind, - to kneel down and pray to God...
His mind was too unhappy to hesitate: the memory of past defeats, united with the prevalence of present sin, misery, and helplessness overpowered the objections of false shame, and for the first time, he fell upon the earth to implore the aid of Almighty God. This was on Easter Monday, April 7th, 1806...
A suggestion most terrible to his mind was presented in the form of the passage “I will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation”; for John had received a current tradition that his great-grandfather was of a disposition so depraved, that it obtained for him the epithet “Cruel Ellis”: and as he was led to consider the wickedness of his forefathers in connexion with his own, it is not wonderful that he had a lively sense of spirit in the verses - ...
This state of mental anguish had arrived at its highest pitch, when he was mournfully returning home one evening, from his work in the adjacent stone quarries. The gloom of that night, was but a faint type of the horror of darkness which rested upon his spirit. Arrived at a certain point in the homeward path, not far distant from a lane through which his road lay, on looking forward to the entrance of the lane, he thought he saw the terrific person of the Angel of Darkness...He then fell on his knees by the wall, and in extremity mightily cried to God, and continued wrestling, no doubt with all the vehemence of Jacob, when in circumstances of peril not more heart-rending, until “the Angel of the Covenant” who redeemed the Patriarch, owned that he, also, had prevailed with God...
His spirit rejoiced in God his Saviour with exceeding joy: and as regards the apparition, he has been heard to say, with heaven beaming in his countenance, that he thought he could then have passed through the lane, if it had been full of Devils...
Chapter 2: Working out his own salvation
To a lively inhabitant of the alpine region of the Peak, a level country is dull, and uninteresting. His eye from infancy has been met by interminable hills which ever change their aspect as he moves, and vary in their hues with the revolving seasons...Such scenes as these become, as it were, part of the being of a mountaineer; and when banished from them, though his place of exile be the city, abounding in wealth, learning, and magnificence, he sighs for the cottages of his mountain home...
The writer...passed the cottage and smithy of John, and began to ascend the acclivity along whose slope the village stretches...
John Hallam was probably of the class above referred to, previous to his conversion. The retiring disposition of the humble Christian was unintelligible to him; and he has been heard to declare that he attributed the distance which was observed by religious people towards men of his character, to motives of pride...
Unhappily the pious neighbours of John were not free from this imputation; for to his subsequent astonishment, no Christian during his career of sin, ever acted towards him the part of a kind reprover...
An opportunity of mentioning this wish soon presented; and Thomas Bennett, the village Classleader, on taking his horse to John’s smithy, had the happiness of accepting a modest application from the young blacksmith, to join his little band, on the next Sabbath morning...
It is needless to speculate on what were the feelings of John Hallam, on his first introduction to this means of grace...He ever after considered the event as one in his life to be remembered with thanksgiving; and often on the annual return of the day, he has remarked with deep emotion, “It is – years, this morning, since I first entered a class meeting” and added –
“With tears of joy my eyes o’erflow
That I have any hope of heaven;
Much of love I ought to know,
For I have much forgiven.”
The last time he mentioned it was the fourtieth anniversary...
The fatigues of a laborious calling, and the wants of a large family, did not prevent his constant retirement from the bustle of business, for secret prayer. His great liberty and happiness in the social and public means of grace, and of the universal integrity for which he was remarkable, doubtless may be ascribed...to his devoting a portion of every day to solitary worship...
An old companion of his, now living, says that sometimes when the labours of the quarry, or the later toils of the anvil were ended, he would hint “we have five minutes to spare,” and down they knelt in some deep indentation of the earth, where
“Both turn’d and under open sky ador’d
The God that made both sky, air, earth & heaven.”...
When John had concluded his address, he entreated his less spiritual brother to continue- “Thou pray-if only a word or two-if only ‘Lord help me’.” This individual regarded him almost as an angel from heaven...
The Bible was his daily companion, and the short, but pithy remarks which frequently fell from his lips on scripture subjects, proved that he both pondered, understood, and treasured in memory, divine truth. This love of the scripture was rendered a blessing to his fellow-workmen in the quarries...
Round him sometimes reclined a little group of workmen, seriously attentive while he read a portion aloud; and if any one dared to interrupt, a gentle and dignified expostulation from John reduced him to silence. Even “Bob” in the midst of his imprecations, exclaiming “Hallam we’st ha none o’ thy preaching to-day,” was overawed and obliged to submit...
He was a hospitable man; but to the preachers of the gospel his heart and house were particularly open...The last time the writer with another friend sat at his table, his eyes glistened with tears, and his frame seemed touched with the deep feelings within, when he broke silence with – “bless God for laying poor sinners near our hearts!”...
The writer...passed the cottage and smithy of John, and began to ascend the acclivity along whose slope the village stretches...
John Hallam was probably of the class above referred to, previous to his conversion. The retiring disposition of the humble Christian was unintelligible to him; and he has been heard to declare that he attributed the distance which was observed by religious people towards men of his character, to motives of pride...
Unhappily the pious neighbours of John were not free from this imputation; for to his subsequent astonishment, no Christian during his career of sin, ever acted towards him the part of a kind reprover...
An opportunity of mentioning this wish soon presented; and Thomas Bennett, the village Classleader, on taking his horse to John’s smithy, had the happiness of accepting a modest application from the young blacksmith, to join his little band, on the next Sabbath morning...
It is needless to speculate on what were the feelings of John Hallam, on his first introduction to this means of grace...He ever after considered the event as one in his life to be remembered with thanksgiving; and often on the annual return of the day, he has remarked with deep emotion, “It is – years, this morning, since I first entered a class meeting” and added –
“With tears of joy my eyes o’erflow
That I have any hope of heaven;
Much of love I ought to know,
For I have much forgiven.”
The last time he mentioned it was the fourtieth anniversary...
The fatigues of a laborious calling, and the wants of a large family, did not prevent his constant retirement from the bustle of business, for secret prayer. His great liberty and happiness in the social and public means of grace, and of the universal integrity for which he was remarkable, doubtless may be ascribed...to his devoting a portion of every day to solitary worship...
An old companion of his, now living, says that sometimes when the labours of the quarry, or the later toils of the anvil were ended, he would hint “we have five minutes to spare,” and down they knelt in some deep indentation of the earth, where
“Both turn’d and under open sky ador’d
The God that made both sky, air, earth & heaven.”...
When John had concluded his address, he entreated his less spiritual brother to continue- “Thou pray-if only a word or two-if only ‘Lord help me’.” This individual regarded him almost as an angel from heaven...
The Bible was his daily companion, and the short, but pithy remarks which frequently fell from his lips on scripture subjects, proved that he both pondered, understood, and treasured in memory, divine truth. This love of the scripture was rendered a blessing to his fellow-workmen in the quarries...
Round him sometimes reclined a little group of workmen, seriously attentive while he read a portion aloud; and if any one dared to interrupt, a gentle and dignified expostulation from John reduced him to silence. Even “Bob” in the midst of his imprecations, exclaiming “Hallam we’st ha none o’ thy preaching to-day,” was overawed and obliged to submit...
He was a hospitable man; but to the preachers of the gospel his heart and house were particularly open...The last time the writer with another friend sat at his table, his eyes glistened with tears, and his frame seemed touched with the deep feelings within, when he broke silence with – “bless God for laying poor sinners near our hearts!”...
Chapter 3: Family religion. Church Fellowship
Three years before his conversion he had entered the marriage state, but as nothing beyond good morality was known to Sarah his wife, the great change in his character was far from pleasing to her...
The idea of assembling with the despised Methodists was perfectly odious; and now were the wits of Sarah set to work, to prevent so glaring an outrage against her rules of reputable life...accordingly, as the time grew near when John statedly laid down the hammer to prepare for the meeting, the affairs of his sober housewife somehow, had become so disarranged, that the usual meal was not in course of preparation. Oh, but though “hunger will tame a lion", John with all his meekness was not to be overcome to easily: to Sarah’s great disappointment, when the moment arrived, he calmly walked out, and in the assemblies of the saints soon forgot the ill-natured tea kettle, assured that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”... His domestic persecutions did not continue long, ere God was pleased to open the eyes of Sarah, and she was glad to avail herself of the those once detested means of grace...and now, that forty years have since slipped away, and her ears have almost ceased to convey the sound of speech, she still keeps the precept – “not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together.”...
“Art thou ready, if it should please God to take thee before morning?” was sometimes his affectionate and solemn inquiry as they [John and Sarah] closed the day...
In the paternal relation he was no less exemplary. Nothing was too arduous to be undertaken for the comfort of his family. A full day’s work in the stone quarry was preceded in the morning, and followed at night by the labours of the anvil. “I remember” says his daughter Jane, “often to have grieved on waking, to hear the sound of the same hammer usher in the dawn of the day, which served for the evening’s curfew during part of my night’s repose.”...
...he had the happiness of seeing several [of his children] truly brought to God...
...the burnt back of an old armchair still preserved in the family, testifies, with what serious earnestness he read...
He long sought the conversion of a sisterinlaw* [*Elizabeth Warhurst, Sparrowpit], and not long before death, had the fruit of his labour. As this individual was unable to read, it had been his practice to visit her house...
Not long after his conversion, the removal of Thomas Bennett induced him to accept the office of Leader to the little flock...and he faithfully retained this position till the end of his life...
The brotherly love of John Hallam extended far beyond the Christians of his native village...
Of all the prudential means of grace among these people, none is more affecting than the Love-feast...John had a peculiar relish for the Love-feast...Could he wend down the deep defiles, beneath the tremendous crags of the Winnets, without the passing thought, that the place of his defence was the munitions of rocks; and when the lovely vale of Hope environed with the eternal hills, and fostering in her bosom several of his beloved churches, burst upon his view...; how many holy recollections would visit him!...
He was present, though unwell, at a Love-fest in Peak Forest, not long before his death; and while he was speaking in that occasion, the impression, alas too true ! was made on his daughter’s mind, “this may be the last time my father will be with us”...
The idea of assembling with the despised Methodists was perfectly odious; and now were the wits of Sarah set to work, to prevent so glaring an outrage against her rules of reputable life...accordingly, as the time grew near when John statedly laid down the hammer to prepare for the meeting, the affairs of his sober housewife somehow, had become so disarranged, that the usual meal was not in course of preparation. Oh, but though “hunger will tame a lion", John with all his meekness was not to be overcome to easily: to Sarah’s great disappointment, when the moment arrived, he calmly walked out, and in the assemblies of the saints soon forgot the ill-natured tea kettle, assured that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”... His domestic persecutions did not continue long, ere God was pleased to open the eyes of Sarah, and she was glad to avail herself of the those once detested means of grace...and now, that forty years have since slipped away, and her ears have almost ceased to convey the sound of speech, she still keeps the precept – “not forsaking the assemblies of ourselves together.”...
“Art thou ready, if it should please God to take thee before morning?” was sometimes his affectionate and solemn inquiry as they [John and Sarah] closed the day...
In the paternal relation he was no less exemplary. Nothing was too arduous to be undertaken for the comfort of his family. A full day’s work in the stone quarry was preceded in the morning, and followed at night by the labours of the anvil. “I remember” says his daughter Jane, “often to have grieved on waking, to hear the sound of the same hammer usher in the dawn of the day, which served for the evening’s curfew during part of my night’s repose.”...
...he had the happiness of seeing several [of his children] truly brought to God...
...the burnt back of an old armchair still preserved in the family, testifies, with what serious earnestness he read...
He long sought the conversion of a sisterinlaw* [*Elizabeth Warhurst, Sparrowpit], and not long before death, had the fruit of his labour. As this individual was unable to read, it had been his practice to visit her house...
Not long after his conversion, the removal of Thomas Bennett induced him to accept the office of Leader to the little flock...and he faithfully retained this position till the end of his life...
The brotherly love of John Hallam extended far beyond the Christians of his native village...
Of all the prudential means of grace among these people, none is more affecting than the Love-feast...John had a peculiar relish for the Love-feast...Could he wend down the deep defiles, beneath the tremendous crags of the Winnets, without the passing thought, that the place of his defence was the munitions of rocks; and when the lovely vale of Hope environed with the eternal hills, and fostering in her bosom several of his beloved churches, burst upon his view...; how many holy recollections would visit him!...
He was present, though unwell, at a Love-fest in Peak Forest, not long before his death; and while he was speaking in that occasion, the impression, alas too true ! was made on his daughter’s mind, “this may be the last time my father will be with us”...
Chapter 4: Efforts for the conversion of sinners
In all the engagements which the fellowship of the saints furnished him, the converted blacksmith never forgot “the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he was digged;” nor the multitude of men, who like his former self, still lay there, “and never saw the light”...
The weapons which he wielded most successfully were faithful reproof, earnest entreaty, and instant prayer...
So far from this, that “I remember when in the first stage of my religious life,” says his daughter, “if any fault of mine required animadversion, a time was chosen when I was quite alone; and in the conversation which ensued, it was impossible to detect his intention kindly and gently to reprove, till conscience, by the light cast upon it, had made the desired application...
“It is strange,” exclaimed a man, waiting with him, with his weights for inspection, in a crowded room at Chapel-en-le-Frith-“It is strange,” swore he, “that we come here to pay our money, and must be pressed to and fro in this manner!” “Friend,” said the good blacksmith, close behind, “I have been in the same situation for a good length of time, but they have not yet managed to press an oath out of me.”...
His modest respect toward superiors in station did not shield them from a firm rebuke from this faithful servant of Christ...
For the sake of comforting the afflicted mind in the hour of sickness, he would rise on a Sabbath morning, after the hardships of the week, at five o’clock, and travel several miles; returning in time to meet his class...he has frequently been the only person, whom the contagion of a fatal disease did not intimidate from performing the last office of kindness to the deceased...
For the few last years of his life, the conversion of the heathen became an object of increasing interest to him...
It was a favourite remark of his, that “it is easier and cheaper to support the cause of God, than that of the Devil.” The lesson of Christ-“it is more blessed to give than to receive,” was carefully imprinted on the minds of his offspring; one of whom says, that in its communication, her father has “left an inheritance to his children, and to his children’s children.”...
The weapons which he wielded most successfully were faithful reproof, earnest entreaty, and instant prayer...
So far from this, that “I remember when in the first stage of my religious life,” says his daughter, “if any fault of mine required animadversion, a time was chosen when I was quite alone; and in the conversation which ensued, it was impossible to detect his intention kindly and gently to reprove, till conscience, by the light cast upon it, had made the desired application...
“It is strange,” exclaimed a man, waiting with him, with his weights for inspection, in a crowded room at Chapel-en-le-Frith-“It is strange,” swore he, “that we come here to pay our money, and must be pressed to and fro in this manner!” “Friend,” said the good blacksmith, close behind, “I have been in the same situation for a good length of time, but they have not yet managed to press an oath out of me.”...
His modest respect toward superiors in station did not shield them from a firm rebuke from this faithful servant of Christ...
For the sake of comforting the afflicted mind in the hour of sickness, he would rise on a Sabbath morning, after the hardships of the week, at five o’clock, and travel several miles; returning in time to meet his class...he has frequently been the only person, whom the contagion of a fatal disease did not intimidate from performing the last office of kindness to the deceased...
For the few last years of his life, the conversion of the heathen became an object of increasing interest to him...
It was a favourite remark of his, that “it is easier and cheaper to support the cause of God, than that of the Devil.” The lesson of Christ-“it is more blessed to give than to receive,” was carefully imprinted on the minds of his offspring; one of whom says, that in its communication, her father has “left an inheritance to his children, and to his children’s children.”...
Chapter 5 - Characteristics
It is to be regretted that John did not commit to paper some account of the progress of the work of grace in his heart...“Sally,” said he to his daughter when conversing on the subject, “I think I am quite guilty ; for when these things slip out of the mind, they come no more...
He was poor in spirit. This was beautifully shown on one occasion, when in reply to the malicious calumnies of some enemies of the cross, he only quietly remarked – “I think worse of myself than they can.”...
He was conspicuously a meek man. This was the more admirable, from his being formerly so much under the influence of passion... His wife avers, that in all the course of his forty years’ pilgrimage, she never knew his temper in one instance conquered by the aperities of the way!...
A violent sickness some years ago threatened to carry his wife immediately into eternity. Strong conjugal affection, and the distress which seized all around him, however it might have influence a weaker Christian, did not disturb the holy equanimity of his mind...
Experiencing the Divine mercy so richly himself, an eminent trait in his character was mercy to others...
It was a saying of John’s, worthy his benevolent heart, that “It requires more grace to see others suffer, than to suffer oneself.”...
If he suspected a neighbour to be in difficulties, he would delicately enquire into the true state of the case, so that by some machination of love, he might afford him some assistance...
The hope of benefiting others, led him, for the last few years of his life, to embrace the principle of total abstinence from intoxicating liqours...
Tobacco would have suffered the same proscription as its yoke-fellows, ale and spirits, had not its use been advised by his friends, as a remedy for an affliction under which he laboured, for when he enjoyed an intermission of suffering, the pipe was suspended...
In this retired village saint the sacred lineaments were more than ordinarily discernible, and a common observer might easily remark a strictness in all his conduct, of no earthly origin...
...the member of his family before alluded to, states, that she does not remember ever to have heard an unbecoming expression proceed from his lips...
Mr. John Longden, an experienced local preacher who enjoyed his friendship, says, he never knew a more uniformly holy man in the whole thirty years of their intimacy...
He was a peace maker... The writer, in a conversation at Sparrowpit, heard a person remark, with reference to a lawsuit in which some parties had been involved, that it would not have taken place, had John Hallam been living...
He was rigidly just...
The individual with as little regard to infringing on holy time, as to punctuality in his payments, rising up, said – “John, you have had a bill standing against me now for a great while, I will settle it.” “No,” instantly replied John, “as I have trusted you so long, I can trust you till to-morrow now!”...
John worked many years for the Peak Forest Canal Company ; and such was his integrity in a subordinate capacity, that a much superior situation under the Company was offered him. This would have emancipated him from severe labour, and placed him at once in easy circumstances, had he not declined the proposal, from the belief, that its acceptance would subject him to participation in the sin of Sunday travelling...
He was evidently a happy man...
He was poor in spirit. This was beautifully shown on one occasion, when in reply to the malicious calumnies of some enemies of the cross, he only quietly remarked – “I think worse of myself than they can.”...
He was conspicuously a meek man. This was the more admirable, from his being formerly so much under the influence of passion... His wife avers, that in all the course of his forty years’ pilgrimage, she never knew his temper in one instance conquered by the aperities of the way!...
A violent sickness some years ago threatened to carry his wife immediately into eternity. Strong conjugal affection, and the distress which seized all around him, however it might have influence a weaker Christian, did not disturb the holy equanimity of his mind...
Experiencing the Divine mercy so richly himself, an eminent trait in his character was mercy to others...
It was a saying of John’s, worthy his benevolent heart, that “It requires more grace to see others suffer, than to suffer oneself.”...
If he suspected a neighbour to be in difficulties, he would delicately enquire into the true state of the case, so that by some machination of love, he might afford him some assistance...
The hope of benefiting others, led him, for the last few years of his life, to embrace the principle of total abstinence from intoxicating liqours...
Tobacco would have suffered the same proscription as its yoke-fellows, ale and spirits, had not its use been advised by his friends, as a remedy for an affliction under which he laboured, for when he enjoyed an intermission of suffering, the pipe was suspended...
In this retired village saint the sacred lineaments were more than ordinarily discernible, and a common observer might easily remark a strictness in all his conduct, of no earthly origin...
...the member of his family before alluded to, states, that she does not remember ever to have heard an unbecoming expression proceed from his lips...
Mr. John Longden, an experienced local preacher who enjoyed his friendship, says, he never knew a more uniformly holy man in the whole thirty years of their intimacy...
He was a peace maker... The writer, in a conversation at Sparrowpit, heard a person remark, with reference to a lawsuit in which some parties had been involved, that it would not have taken place, had John Hallam been living...
He was rigidly just...
The individual with as little regard to infringing on holy time, as to punctuality in his payments, rising up, said – “John, you have had a bill standing against me now for a great while, I will settle it.” “No,” instantly replied John, “as I have trusted you so long, I can trust you till to-morrow now!”...
John worked many years for the Peak Forest Canal Company ; and such was his integrity in a subordinate capacity, that a much superior situation under the Company was offered him. This would have emancipated him from severe labour, and placed him at once in easy circumstances, had he not declined the proposal, from the belief, that its acceptance would subject him to participation in the sin of Sunday travelling...
He was evidently a happy man...
Chapter 6 - Last Days. Death.
Twelve months before John was called home, his friends with sorrow perceived his constitution sink under the ravages of disease...
Early in the morning of the last Christmas day he spent on earth, according to the good old English custom, he had the pleasure of passing with a little company through the village, and awaking the cottagers with a well-known carol to “salute the happy morn”...
Up to the Sabbath before his death he continued his manual labour, and on that day led his class as usual...
On the Lord’s day above mentioned he attended the funeral of his uncle, the simple and primitive Stephen Jowle of Stony-Ford, who was for nearly forty years a local preacher in the Buxton circuit. It fell to the lot of John to give out the dirge which in the Peak is commonly sung as a corpse is carried to the grave...It was noted that John gave out the hymn with unusual energy and strength...
His family did not anticipate the sudden blow which was impending. On Friday, the day but one before his death, he attended his work as usual. On Saturday morning he was ill, and his daughter Sally remarks, that on entering her father’s house, she was struck with the altered appearance of his countenance...
His friend Matthew Goodwin calling, a conversation ensued in which John with cheerfulness, though evidently in pain, dwelt in delightful language on the great and precious promises of the gospel...On saying ‘good bye’, his friend expressed the wish that he might find him better when he returned on Monday – “O,” said he, “if it is God’s will, and for my good, I shall be better.”...
The same enduring magnanimity which marked his life, dignified his last hours. About half-past one, on walking across the room, he sank upon a seat and fainted. On reviving, such ineffable sweetness of expression appeared in his countenance, as pierced the very soul of a relative who was present...Addressing his wife, he said – “I think the Lord is going to take me, is he not think’st? If I had gone then, I should have gone nicely – but perhaps I have a great deal more to suffer.”...
This was indeed true ; for the painful messenger of dissolution was English Cholera, and he now grew worse. Medical skill was resorted to, but in vain...
One young man, a carpenter, who had just left the house to fetch medicine, was recalled to receive a warning from the dying man...he suggested that when making his coffin, he should save the time usually occupied in ornamenting, and appropriate it to reading on his knees a chapter or two of the bible...
He turned to his Christian friends present, and exhorted them to be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”...
He now suffered extremely, and frequently fainted, yet his pain elicited no complaint...
Till now he was below stairs, but having made all arrangements he thought necessary, requested to be removed to bed – but begged they would all first kneel down, observing that he had never omitted this duty since his conversion...
When composed, he said – “It has been hard work,” and several times exclaimed – “glory, glory!”...
The dying saint spent a long time in counselling one of his sons, and giving him assurances that if he made God his refuge, he would be supported in every vicissitude, and be more than conqueror at last...
Expressing a desire to be got up and placed in a chair, his wish was complied with, and he swooned – and recovered no more – not a struggle or a groan showing that the immortal spirit had left her ruined abode for a mansion in the skies. This was Lord’s day morning, August 16th, 1846. His age 66 years...
Mr. John Longden improved his death by a sermon preached at Sparrowpit in the open air, from 1 Cor. xv. 20, which was listened to with solemn interest by a congregation too numerous to be constrained by an building in the village...
The last religious ceremony connected with John Hallam reverberated from his native fields...
When the shades of night close on your dales – and your tapers gleam through many a clump of trees – when the old church clock sighs through your dells in the hour of repose – think of the men who trod these mountains, and whose dust in yonder silent congregation waits for yours beneath the clods of the valley...and when the sun first gilds your mountain tops, and you go forth to your labour till the evening, pray that you may as faithfully witness in the world of Christ, as your once pilgrim, but now translated brother Hallam did.
Early in the morning of the last Christmas day he spent on earth, according to the good old English custom, he had the pleasure of passing with a little company through the village, and awaking the cottagers with a well-known carol to “salute the happy morn”...
Up to the Sabbath before his death he continued his manual labour, and on that day led his class as usual...
On the Lord’s day above mentioned he attended the funeral of his uncle, the simple and primitive Stephen Jowle of Stony-Ford, who was for nearly forty years a local preacher in the Buxton circuit. It fell to the lot of John to give out the dirge which in the Peak is commonly sung as a corpse is carried to the grave...It was noted that John gave out the hymn with unusual energy and strength...
His family did not anticipate the sudden blow which was impending. On Friday, the day but one before his death, he attended his work as usual. On Saturday morning he was ill, and his daughter Sally remarks, that on entering her father’s house, she was struck with the altered appearance of his countenance...
His friend Matthew Goodwin calling, a conversation ensued in which John with cheerfulness, though evidently in pain, dwelt in delightful language on the great and precious promises of the gospel...On saying ‘good bye’, his friend expressed the wish that he might find him better when he returned on Monday – “O,” said he, “if it is God’s will, and for my good, I shall be better.”...
The same enduring magnanimity which marked his life, dignified his last hours. About half-past one, on walking across the room, he sank upon a seat and fainted. On reviving, such ineffable sweetness of expression appeared in his countenance, as pierced the very soul of a relative who was present...Addressing his wife, he said – “I think the Lord is going to take me, is he not think’st? If I had gone then, I should have gone nicely – but perhaps I have a great deal more to suffer.”...
This was indeed true ; for the painful messenger of dissolution was English Cholera, and he now grew worse. Medical skill was resorted to, but in vain...
One young man, a carpenter, who had just left the house to fetch medicine, was recalled to receive a warning from the dying man...he suggested that when making his coffin, he should save the time usually occupied in ornamenting, and appropriate it to reading on his knees a chapter or two of the bible...
He turned to his Christian friends present, and exhorted them to be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”...
He now suffered extremely, and frequently fainted, yet his pain elicited no complaint...
Till now he was below stairs, but having made all arrangements he thought necessary, requested to be removed to bed – but begged they would all first kneel down, observing that he had never omitted this duty since his conversion...
When composed, he said – “It has been hard work,” and several times exclaimed – “glory, glory!”...
The dying saint spent a long time in counselling one of his sons, and giving him assurances that if he made God his refuge, he would be supported in every vicissitude, and be more than conqueror at last...
Expressing a desire to be got up and placed in a chair, his wish was complied with, and he swooned – and recovered no more – not a struggle or a groan showing that the immortal spirit had left her ruined abode for a mansion in the skies. This was Lord’s day morning, August 16th, 1846. His age 66 years...
Mr. John Longden improved his death by a sermon preached at Sparrowpit in the open air, from 1 Cor. xv. 20, which was listened to with solemn interest by a congregation too numerous to be constrained by an building in the village...
The last religious ceremony connected with John Hallam reverberated from his native fields...
When the shades of night close on your dales – and your tapers gleam through many a clump of trees – when the old church clock sighs through your dells in the hour of repose – think of the men who trod these mountains, and whose dust in yonder silent congregation waits for yours beneath the clods of the valley...and when the sun first gilds your mountain tops, and you go forth to your labour till the evening, pray that you may as faithfully witness in the world of Christ, as your once pilgrim, but now translated brother Hallam did.