The Faggot

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER IN THE DRINKING-HOUSES IN IRELAND. Thomas Shillitoe was a Minister in the Society of Friends. Like the other ministers of that Church he believed that his gift of preaching came immediately from Christ, and that in the exercise of it, both as to the time when he should speak, and...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER IN THE DRINKING-HOUSES IN IRELAND. Thomas Shillitoe was a Minister in the Society of Friends. Like the other ministers of that Church he believed that his gift of preaching came immediately from Christ, and that in the exercise of it, both as to the time when he should speak, and what he should say, it was necessary for him to look for the direction and help of the Holy Spirit. Although he travelled much in the work of the Gospel, he never left home without feeling a call to go on each particular mission. In this dependent state of mind, keeping near in spirit to his Heavenly Guide, he visited a large part of Europe and of the United States; and it pleased the Lord to bless his faithful labours, and to give him many seals to his ministry. He was in Ireland at various times from 1808 to 1811, many years before the Temperance Reformation began, visiting the drink- ing-houses in several of the chief cities. His object was to warn the sellers of liquor and their customers of the evil of their ways, and toenter into Christian sympathy with them as men and women especially exposed to temptation. It is to be remarked that Thomas Shilli- toe's introduction to this humiliating service was through a fellow-minister, named Elizabeth Ridgway, who, at Waterford, in 1808, in accordance with the order which prevails among the Friends, laid before her fellow- members a call of duty which had been on her mind for ten years, o pay a religious visit to the drinking-houses in the city and suburbs of Waterford. Thomas Shillitoe was present, and feeling clearly that it was his place to join Elizabeth Ridgway, he offered to do so. They lost no time in commencing their work, and, accompanied by one or more of their friends, called at all the spirit shops in Waterford, C...