Obituary of the members of the Society of Friends in Great Britain and Ireland, for the year 1850/Hannah Chapman Blackhouse

HANNAH CHAPMAN BACKHOUSE.

Died 6th of 5th month, 1850.

Hannah Chapman Backhouse was the daughter of Joseph and Jane Gurney; she was born at Norwich the 9th of 2nd Month, 1787. Of her very early life she has left but little record. She disliked study, and was fond of boyish sports, until about the age of thirteen, when she began to feel enjoyment in reading.

Possessed of a naturally powerful and energetic mind, with talents of a very superior order, she soon began to take great delight in study, and was ambitious to excel in every thing that she undertook. Drawing she pursued with intense eagerness, and in this and other acquirements, she made great proficiency. Until about the age of seventeen, her highest enjoyment was derived from the cultivation of the intellectual powers, and in the endeavour to raise these to their highest perfection, she imagined the greatest happiness to consist. In her journal she writes:--"My thoughts have been this week, one continued castle in the air of being an artist; the only reality they were built on, was my having painted in oils better than I thought I could, and a feeling that I shall in a little time succeed, and an unbounded ambition to do so. I have had many arguments with myself, to know if it would be right. I think it would, if I could make good use of it."

But gradually she found that no object which had this world for its limit, could satisfy the cravings of an immortal soul. She began to feel that she was formed for higher purposes than the gratification of self in its most refined and plausible form, and in 1806, we note the gradual unfolding of that change of view, which through the operation of the Holy Spirit, led her to the unreserved surrender of her whole being to the service of her Lord;--a surrender that in so remarkable a manner marked her unwavering path through the remaining portion of her dedicated life. Speaking of this period, after her first attendance of the Yearly Meeting, she says,--

July, 1806. "This time, for almost the first in my life, I seem come to a stand in the objects of my darling pursuits, which I may say have been almost entirely the pursuit of pleasure, through the medium of the understanding. This I feel must be a useless search, for the further I go, the more unattainable is the contentment which I hoped a degree of excellence might have produced;--the further I go, the further does my idea of perfection extend; therefore this way of attaining happiness I find is impossible. Never in my life was I so sensible of the real weakness of man, though to all appearance so strong; for I am persuaded that it is almost impossible to conduct oneself through this world, without being sincerely religious. The human mind must have an object, and let that object be the attainment of eternal happiness. * * * After such considerations, can I be so weak as not to make religion my only pursuit? That which will, I believe, bring my mind into beautiful order, and, rendering all worldly objects subservient to its use, harmonize the whole, and fit it to bear fruit to all eternity, and the fruit of righteousness is peace. I have felt my mind very much softened of late, and more and more see the beauty of holiness, but all the progress I can say that I have made towards it, is in loving it more;--yet I feel I have a great way to go before my heart is entirely given up."

Feb. 9th, 1807. "To-day I am twenty; let me endeavour to describe with sincerity what twenty years have effected upon me; how difficult self- love and blindness make answering the questions, What am I? How far am I advanced in the great end of being, the making such use of my time here, that it may bear fruit when time with me is over? When I look upon myself with the greatest seriousness, how ill do I think of myself! I see myself endowed with powers, which I often, (I hope, with a pure and unfeigned heart,) wish may be applied aright. But in my mind, what strong 'bulls of Bashan' compass me about! What I fear most, and that which sometimes comes upon me most awfully, is, that my will is not properly brought into subjection. * * * Often when clothed with something of heavenly love, do I feel that I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than dwell in king's palaces, but I fear the general tendency of my pursuits would make me more fit for the latter than the former. What I want and do most sincerely wish for, is, that I may be truly humble, and that where pride now reigns, humility may prevail; and where ambition, contentment."

In 1808, the death of a favourite first cousin appears to have been the means of greatly deepening her serious impressions, and of increasing the desire to "relieve herself," as she expresses it, "from the miserable state of inconsistency in which a gay Friend is situated." A short time subsequent to this period, she writes:--

May, 1808. "With my father and mother I left the Grove this morning, with a mind much softened, though not afflicted by parting with those I love, earnestly wishing that what I was going to attend,--the Yearly Meeting, might stamp more deeply the impressions I had received. We reached Epping that night. I felt very serious; Love seemed to have smitten me, and under that banner, I earnestly hoped that I might be enabled to partake of whatever might be set before me in the banqueting house. I saw that it would be right for me to say thee, and thou, to everybody, and I begged that I might be so kept in love as to be enabled to do it,--that love might draw me, not fear terrify me."

"How deeply I felt to enjoy First-day, and was strengthened at meeting. For the first time, to-day I called the days of the week numerically, on principle, it cost me at first a blush. This day has afforded me deeper and sweeter feelings than any I have yet passed; surprise and ridicule I have felt to be useful!"

"Left Bury Hill early: I can look back to the time I have spent here as the happiest in my life; and I have earnestly wished that my example and influence in future life, may be useful to those whom, never before my mind was so altered, did I love with so sweet or so great an affection."

After alluding to some further change, she writes; "I felt increasingly the weight of advocating the cause I have engaged in; oh! may no word or action of mine, stain the character I am assuming, and may no self-exaltation be the consequence: the mind, I feel, must be kept deep indeed, to avoid the rocks that do every where surround."

6th Month, 1808. "Went to meeting--thought that by observing the commandment, and confessing Christ before men, we should only be showing the beautiful effect of obedience, in the fruit of the Spirit it produces,--that it does not consist in speech, dress, or behaviour, but that by being obedient in these and all things, to the law written in our hearts; we should be overshadowed by that sweetness and quietness of spirit, the fruits of which would prove whose government we are under."

7th Month, 1808, Cromer. "Walked on the shore, the sky was illuminated by the setting sun the scene was of nature's greatest beauty, I could not speak, but it was not the effect of the scene. Such scenes in which I used to revel, have lost much of their influence in the inferior peace they bring, to that which a few small sacrifices, the effect of obedience, produce."

Grove, 11th Month, 1808. "Patience tried, and censoriousness of mind and some words allowed to have too much dominion. The higher we rise, the more we feel the foibles of others; and then the more need have we of the spirit of love and charity, to be patient with them; and if we are not, it is not excellence, but only the sight of it we have gained."

12th Month, 1808. "I fear I have not sufficiently this week, wrestled for the blessing of peace. I am sensible of having the power of pleasing, of having stronger natural powers and more acquirements than most women,--I am conscious too, of having with all my might, sought that which is highest, and that my heart has been made willing to sacrifice all for the attainment of it, and wonders have I already known; if I do not now diligently seek that which can make me feelingly ascribe all the glory, where alone it is due, fruitless must all my talents be, and great my fall."

12th Month, 12th, 1808. "--- came, the conversation in the evening, softened my heart in the deduction I drew from it, of what a prize was our possession,--how anchorless the world seemed to be,--and I loved dear Friends!"

2nd Month, 9th, 1809. "Twenty-two years old. Through the mercy of everlasting kindness, great is the change that this year has wrought in me; the power of Love has enticed me to begin that spiritual journey which leads to the promised land: I have left, by His guidance and strength, the bondage of Egypt, and have seen His wonders in the deep. May the endeavour of my life be, to keep close to that Angel, who can deliver us through the trials and dangers of the wilderness of this world.

I have not studied much this year, yet I have almost every day read a little, and never was my sight so clear into the intellectual world. The works of the head may, I believe, usefully occupy such portions of time as are not necessary for discharging our relationship in society. * * * But above all things be humble, which a love of all perfection is, I believe, not only consistent with, but the root of."

In 1811, Hannah C. Gurney married Jonathan Backhouse, and settled at Darlington. The early years of her married life appear to have been much devoted to her young family. For a time, her journal was entirely suspended; but in 1815 she writes: "These last four years, are perhaps best left in that situation, in which spiritual darkness has in a great measure involved them; it may be the sweet and new objects of external love, and necessary attention in which I have been engaged, have too much drawn my mind from internal watchfulness, after the first flow of spiritual joy began to subside; or it has been the will of the Author of all blessing to change the dispensation, and taking from me the light of his love, in which all beauty so easily and naturally exists, to teach me indeed, that the glory of all good belongs to Him alone, and that He is jealous of our decking ourselves with His jewels."

In 1820, she first spoke as a minister, in reference to which she writes: 3rd Month, 1820, "Had felt for some time, and particularly lately, a warm concern for the interest of our family, which to my humiliation, surprise, and consolation, I was strengthened to express to them in a private opportunity, before I left Sunderland. On our ride home, I felt the candle of the Lord shine round about me, in a manner I had not done for years, accompanied with much tenderness and some foreboding fears. I felt I had put my hand to the plough, and I must not turn back, but I remembered the days that were past, and I knew something of the power of Him in whom I had believed; though fear often compassed me about, and too much imagination."

1820. "My heart has burned as an oven, internal and external supplication has not been wanting to ease it; may I endure the burnings as I ought." Speaking of attending the Yearly Meeting soon after, she says: "I saw many dangerous enemies of my own heart near me, yet was there mercifully preserved a germ of truth, in which met the hearts of the faithful, and which was an encouragement to me; I afterwards spoke twice in the Yearly Meeting, and the composure at the moment, and after a time the peace that ensued, seemed to assure me that I had not run without being sent. The remembrance of former days came strongly before me, and in thus again publicly manifesting the intent of my heart, I felt the comfort of being no stranger to that Hand, which, as it once fed me with milk, seemed to me now after a long night season, feeding me with meat."

After her return home, she writes: "Opened my mouth in Darlington meeting, on First-day afternoon. A mountain in prospect! The meetings now became very interesting to me, and as the reward of what I was induced to believe was faithfulness, often greatly refreshing."

In the course of this year, she lost her eldest son, a child of great promise, and the suffering attendant upon this deep sorrow, in addition to close mental baptism, at times greatly prostrated her physical powers.

11th Month 4th, 1820, we find the following-memorandum: "'Oh how great is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men.' In looking back to the last two or three months, I feel I may adopt this language: in them I have known the greatest portion of suffering that it has yet been my lot to taste."

3rd Month, 1822. She writes, "In the afternoon meeting, a subject seemed so clear before me, that I ventured to speak; but oh! the evil of my heart, the consciousness of having, or supposing I had, chosen my words well, was like the fly in the ointment of the apothecary, the baneful effects of which, I felt many days after. The more I see of my own mind, the more may the breathing of my soul be,--'If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.' Sometimes to believe that it is His will, is sweet to me, but we must maintain the fight, for though the victory is His, the fall is ours."

"The constant and deep consideration for others in the most minute actions of life, how I love it, and feel myself 'as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.'"

5th Month, 6th, 1822. "Days and nights of much spiritual conflict, or rather perhaps the sight that there was much to conflict with; weak in body and weak in mind! In my ministry more patient and deep deliberation wanting. Last night, believed I had not kept close enough to my Guide in prayer, with which I felt some distress,--perhaps not altogether wrong,--but had not stopped when I ought, nor waited at every moment for clearness and strength in the exercise; I hope I shall not hurt others."

6th Month, 1822. "A month is now passed in which I have been sweetly enabled to enjoy the love of God in my heart. I trust we shall experience preservation, though we may well fear for ourselves, and be the subject of fear for others. Oh! that, without affectation, we may live deeply in the root of life!"

4th Month, 1823. "I have much to bind me to this earth, but perhaps more power of gratefully enjoying its blessings is wanted, and may be in store for me before I leave it; some minds seem deeply anchored in the truth, meekly and patiently bearing the trials of the day, with firmer faith and greater purity, but each heart alone knows its own bitterness, and I believe there is never much attainment without much suffering;--a chastened habit of thought, how desirable to be the habit of early life! riches and indulgences how inimical to it!"

4th Month, 1825. "My mind enjoyed a liberty, and something of the light of the glorious gospel, a state which I often pant after, and am so generally a stranger to; in each day a religious engagement seemed peculiarly blessed to myself. A sense of being liked and loved, is gratifying; at the same time I acknowledge, it has its dangers; it is, however, a stimulus to do good and to communicate."

4th Month, 25th. "A poor body, and a weak restless mind! How the sword does wear the scabbard! but this world is not to be our paradise; perhaps I lose some little strength in striving to make it so. Oh! my God, have pity upon me; thou alone canst know how much I suffer;--if my children ail anything, what it costs me."

In 1826, she visited the families of Friends in Darlington Monthly Meeting, in company with Isaac Stephenson; and in allusion to this engagement, she writes: "Entered last week on a visit, with I. Stephenson, to the families of this Monthly Meeting. Ministry is surely a gift! may the vessel be purified by using it in faith."

3rd Month, 1826. "After many cogitations and some provings of faith, I went with Isaac Stephenson to Manchester, Lancaster, and Leeds: I felt it like leaving all to follow what I believed to be my divine Guide; it cost me some heart-sinkings and tears, but my mind was sweetly preserved in peace and confidence; and, though I had times of depression and fear to pass through, I have been thankful that I made the sacrifice. It has endeared me to many individuals; and at times, in the undoubted belief that it was a divine requiring, it has strengthened my faith, and excited some degree of thankfulness for being so employed."

4th Month, 16th. "A sweet day of rest and peace, such as I do not remember to have known for years."

4th Month, 18th. "Monthly Meeting one of perplexity and fear, Oh! for dwelling deep and lying low! and waiting in quietness for the 'little cloud!' but it seems as if my faith were to be tried by things coming unexpectedly upon me, and to be humbled by feeling ill prepared."

From this time she went on advancing rapidly in the work of the ministry: her truly catholic spirit expanded in love to her fellow-creatures; the inmates of the palace as well as those of the prison, shared alike her Christian zeal and interest. Her naturally powerful and refined mind, deeply instructed in the things of God, rendered her peculiarly fitted to labour amongst those, who being invested with wealth and influence, she regarded as stewards, deeply responsible for the right occupation of their various gifts: with many of these, in the upper classes of society, she sought and obtained opportunities for conveying religious counsel; and in not a few instances there was a deep response in the hearts of her hearers, to the truths which she had to proclaim.

The public meetings which she held were very numerous,--many of them very remarkable. Her fervour in seeking to arouse to a sense of their condition, those who were "dead in trespasses and sins,"--her sound and convincing arguments, in controverting the views of the infidel,--her zeal against the lukewarm professor, and her earnest affectionate invitations to the humble believer in Jesus, to "lay aside every weight," and partake, in all their fulness, of the blessings purchased for them by the dear Son of God; will long be remembered by those who felt the truth and unction of her appeals. She dwelt upon the glorious scheme of redemption, through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ Jesus upon the cross, for the sins of the whole world; and of the absolute necessity of sanctification of spirit, through the effectual operation of divine grace on the heart, as one, who had herself largely participated, in the blessings and mercies of her God. She was, however, no stranger to deep mental conflicts, both in the prosecution of her religious labours, and in the more retired sphere of domestic life, as some of her memoranda show.

In 1827, after visiting with her husband, the counties of Devon and Cornwall, an engagement which occupied them nearly two months, and included a visit to the Scilly Isles, she writes:--

7th Month, 1827. "I felt it a day of favour when we gave in our account at the Monthly Meeting, the third day after our arrival at home, but in returning from this journey, I have been made remarkably sensible, that the business of religion is the business of the day, and that the exercises and strength of any past day, are but as nothing for the day that is passing over us; and many of these days have been passed in much mental conflict, and much bodily weakness and languor."

1828. "Many, and many have been my fears, lest the good things that others may see us surrounded with, should be as a stumbling block leading to covetousness; how hardly shall they that have riches lead the life of a humble follower of the dear Redeemer! These thoughts often beset me, and sometimes make me fear, if ever I have a right to open my mouth to advocate His cause."

"I could wish I had a heart, a head, and a mind fit for all I could embrace, but that may never be: however, altogether my mind has been of late, less covered with clouds than it used to be, and my health revives with it. 'What shall I render for all thy benefits?' may well be the language of my soul."

In 1829 she was again joined by her dear husband in a visit to Ireland; after which she writes:--

10th Month, 1829. "We passed through many deep baptisms, many sinks both of body and mind, and in the course of three or four months, attended all the particular meetings; I think we did too much in the time to do it as well as we might; there was much exercise of faith, but patience had not its perfect work:--may my daily prayer be for patience, and the daily close exercise of my spirit to obtain it; for want of it, I get into many perplexities, that might be avoided; yet with all the omissions and commissions that I can look back upon with shame, I can number this journey among the many mercies of my life, being at times in it, introduced into a more soul-satisfying state than I had perhaps ever known before, and I was never more fully persuaded that we were commissioned to preach the gospel. The company of my dear husband was truly a comfort and support, as well as very endearing, and this journey has enlarged my heart in love to hundreds, and has written many epistles there, which I trust may never be blotted out."

In 1830, she laid before her Monthly Meeting, a prospect of going to America. This concern was cordially united with, and she and her husband were liberated for the service in that land. In reference to this very weighty engagement, she thus writes to her dear cousin, Elizabeth Fry:--

Darlington, 2nd Month, 4th, 1830.

"My dearest Betsy,

I believe some of thy tenderest sympathies will be aroused, on hearing of the momentous prospect now before us of visiting North America. I dare say many, many years ago, thy imagination sent me there,--call it by that name, or the more orthodox one of faith,--so has mine, but I saw it without baptism; now, I pass into it under baptism, which in depth far exceeds any thing I have known before; the severing work it is to the ties of nature, to my dear Father, Mother, and Children, breaks me all to pieces, but I have much, if not entirely, been spared from doubts; all I seem to have had to do was to submit; this is a great comfort, for which I desire to be thankful, and for that peace which in the midst of deep suffering has so far rested upon it.

Thy very affectionate

H. C. BACKHOUSE."

Her labours in America were very abundant, and there is reason to believe, blessed to very many. During the five years she spent on that Continent, she visited the greater part of the meetings of Friends, and in doing so, shrank from no hardship or privation consequent upon travelling in districts recently settled.

In 1833, Jonathan Backhouse thus writes of her labours--

"I do think my wife's labours in these parts, have been of essential service;--helped some sunken ones out of a pit, strengthened some weak hands, and confirmed some wavering ones, as well as comforted the mourners. She has no cause to be discouraged about her labours, they have been blessed."

Her husband thinking it desirable to return for a while to England, Hannah C. Backhouse was provided with a most faithful valuable companion in Eliza P. Kirkbride, and for her as well as for many other beloved friends to whom she had become closely united in America, she retained a warm interest and affection to the close of her life.

In 1835, they returned to England, and in the bosom of her beloved family and friends, great was, for a time, her domestic happiness. But home endearments were not permitted to interfere with her devotion to Him, to do whose will, was not only her highest aim, but her chief delight: and whenever the Lord's call was heard, she was ready to obey. Many parts of England, and Scotland were visited between this time and 1845. During this interval some of her nearest domestic ties were broken; her eldest surviving son, an engaging youth of seventeen, her beloved husband, and a precious daughter, the wife of John Hodgkin, of Tottenham, were all summoned to their eternal home: whilst under the pressure of sorrow occasioned by the removal of Ann Hodgkin, the following letter was penned:--

Tottenham, 12th Month, 9th, 1845.

"My losses have been many and great, but the greatness of this, I am increasingly coming into the apprehension of. She was lovely in her life, and in death may we not be divided! or by death, but may her sweet spirit be very near in my remembrance, to the end of my days, and then may I join Father and Mother, Brothers and Sisters, Husband and Children,--how many of the nearest ties now, we trust, in heaven, and how few on earth comparatively. On this subject I cannot now dwell,--when I can view her free from all weakness, corruption, and suffering, in the enjoyment of that rest, she knew so well how to appreciate, I could smile with a joyful sorrow; but few of such moments have been given; in general a patient bearing of the present moment, is the most we have arrived at, under the blessed unmoved confidence that all is well.

Your very affectionate sister,

H. C. BACKHOUSE."

From this time a cessation from labour was granted, and after having thus devoted the meridian of her life to the service of her Lord, she was permitted for some years previous to her decease, to enjoy a season of almost uninterrupted repose. Love, meekness, gentleness, and peace were eminently the clothing of her spirit; and like Moses viewing from the Mount the Promised Land, she seemed almost to live above the trials and temptations of time; nothing appeared materially to disturb or ruffle the repose of her soul, deeply centred in God. Her ministry was often strikingly beautiful and impressive, especially exhorting to unreserved dedication, and dwelling on the glories of the heavenly kingdom.

During the latter part of 1849, her health, which had long been delicate, began increasingly to give way; at the end of the 3rd Month of 1850, she was seized with alarming illness, from which little hope was entertained of her recovery; from this she so far rallied as to leave her bed-room, and go into an adjoining sitting-room, but never was able to go down stairs. It was evident her strength was very small, but no immediate danger was at this time apprehended. She was at times, cheerful, always tranquil and full of repose, and able to enjoy the company of those immediately around her; at other times illness oppressed her, and prevented the power for much exertion of mind or communication of thought. But words were not needed to declare her faith or her love, when through having faithfully occupied with the grace that had been given to her, her whole life might almost be said to have been one act of dedication to God.

On the night of the 5th of Fifth Month, increased illness came on, she continued conscious almost to the last, and alluded with perfect calmness to the fresh symptoms of danger. On her sister remarking to her, that "though it was a dark valley, it would soon be all joy to her," she responded by a beautiful smile, but power of articulation soon failed, and on the morning of the 6th of Fifth Month, 1850, she most gently expired.

We cannot close this account more appropriately than in the language of a dear friend who had long known and loved her.

"A character of such rare excellence, such singleness of purpose, such true devotedness, in which the intellectual and the spiritual were so well balanced, and well developed together:--a character in which, with all the occasional undulations and agitations of the surface, there was such a deep, such a clear, such a calm and steady under-current of sterling piety, of unwavering attachment to the cause of our God and of his Christ, of close adherence to the leadings of his Spirit, and strong desire to do his will;--a character in which the woman, the Christian, and the Quaker were so fused into one, did truly adorn the doctrine of God her Saviour. It was conspicuous that by the grace of God she was what she was; though nature had done much, grace had done much more, and it was evident that she humbly felt that she was not her own, that she was bought with a price; that amidst all that surrounded her of the perishing things of time, she did not live unto herself, but unto Him who died for her and rose again, who was her Alpha and Omega, her all in all. In our little and afflicted church, the loss is great: she was one of our stakes, and one of our cords! The stake is removed, the cord is broken, but our God abideth for ever."