Little Abe, or, the Bishop of Berry Brow Being the Life of Abraham Lockwood   By: F. Jewell

LITTLE ABE;

OR,

THE BISHOP OF BERRY BROW .

BEING THE LIFE OF

ABRAHAM LOCKWOOD,

A Quaint and Popular Yorkshire Local Preacher in the Methodist New Connexion.

BY

F. JEWELL.

TWENTY SECOND THOUSAND.

London:

PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR,

ROBERT CULLEY,

25 35 CITY ROAD, AND 26 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.

Abraham Pilling, Esq.,

ASTLEY BRIDGE,

BOLTON,

I DEDICATE TO YOU THIS RECORD OF THE

LIFE AND LABOURS OF ONE WHOSE WORTH YOU KNEW

AND APPRECIATED, AS A

MARK OF ESTEEM FOR YOUR ZEALOUS EXERTIONS

TO

ADVANCE THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.

PREFACE.

I desire to express my thanks to all those friends who have kindly assisted me in collecting materials for these pages; and I am especially indebted to my friends the Rev. T. D. Crothers and the Rev. W. J. Townsend for the cheerful services they have rendered me in preparing the little work for printing.

Whilst trying to give a faithful account of the life and character of Abraham Lockwood, I have done my best to make the narrative both readable and profitable; but I am sensible that there are many faults in the volume. Such as it is, however, I humbly offer it to the public, with the earnest prayer that it may prove a blessing to many.

F. JEWELL.

BETHEL VILLA,

HULL, 1880.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH AND PARENTAGE

CHAPTER II.

EARLY INCIDENTS

CHAPTER III.

HIS CONVERSION

CHAPTER IV.

ABE A NEW CHARACTER IN THE VILLAGE

CHAPTER V.

IN MEMBERSHIP WITH THE CHURCH

CHAPTER VI.

"FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE"

CHAPTER VII.

WIND AND TIDE AGAINST

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CLOUDS BEGIN TO BREAK

CHAPTER IX.

SALEM CHAPEL

CHAPTER X.

ABE BECOMES A LOCAL PREACHER

CHAPTER XI.

IN PRACTICE

CHAPTER XII.

"BUTTERFLY PREACHERS"

CHAPTER XIII.

VARIOUS WAYS OUT OF DIFFICULTIES

CHAPTER XIV.

ABE'S TITLES AND TROUBLES

CHAPTER XV.

A BASKET OF FRAGMENTS

CHAPTER XVI.

"I AM A WONDER UNTO MANY"

CHAPTER XVII.

ABE AS A CLASS LEADER

CHAPTER XVIII.

"WORKING OVERTIME"

CHAPTER XIX

METHODIST LOVEFEAST

CHAPTER XX.

PATIENT IN TRIBULATION

CHAPTER XXI.

"THE LIBERAL DEVISETH LIBERAL THINGS"

CHAPTER XXII.

USED UP

CHAPTER XXIII.

"BETTER IS THE END OF A THING THAN THE BEGINNING"

CHAPTER I.

Birth and Parentage.

Abraham Lockwood was born on the 3rd November, 1792. His birthplace, also called Lockwood, is situated about a mile and half out of Huddersfield.

It makes no pretensions to importance in any way. The only public building which it boasts, is the Mechanics' Institute, a structure of moderate size, yet substantially built. Its one main street is lined with some very excellent shops, some of whose owners, report says, have made a nice little competency there. It still boasts a toll bar of its own, which is guarded on either side by two white wooden posts, that take the liberty of preventing all cattle, horses, and asses from evading the gate, and of unceremoniously squeezing into the narrowest limits every person who prefers pavement to the highroad. Lockwood is also important enough to receive the attention of two or three 'buses which ply to and fro between there and Huddersfield, as well as to have the honour of a railway station on the L. and Y. line. Of course years ago, when Abraham Lockwood was brought into the world, this locality was not so attractive as it now is; only a few cottages straggled along the level or up the hill towards Berry Brow, mostly inhabited by weavers and others employed in the cloth manufacture of the neighbourhood. Among these humble cottages there stood, on what is known as the Scarr, one even more unpretentious than the rest: it boasted only one story and two or three rooms in all; it was what Abe used to call a "one decker."