DEATH OF MRS GIRLING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2239, 13 November 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

DEATH OF MRS GIRLING.

Mns Girlino, the mother ot the English Shaker*, and their chief priestess, whose firm belief and constant teaching was that she would " never die," expired at Hordlo on Saturday morning, September 18th, after a long and painful illness, borne under great privations in the bhaker encampment at Hordle, near Lymington, Hampshire. The deceased was well-known in Es=tex, where .she spent the early ye.irs of her lite. It is believed th it she was b >m at Ipswich a little more thin seventy years ago. As a strange and religious onohiihiist few in we remarkable women have lived, for though she was of but very slender form, she seomjjil to p-v*s3ss i-emarkable vivacity and strength of mind. She asserted that she was tlu .special and divinely-called instrument of (rod, ch/neii to proclaim the second coming of the Marian. Hjr husband was a builder of Ipswich ; other members of her family were formerly in the coal trade. After her professed conversion she endeavoured to bring her huslund o\cv to her dh'i) faith. In the day* of her early preaching she usod to minutely describe her var.ou* visions, and the fearful shapes the devil as-sumt'd when in the night-time he u>ed to sippo.tr to her. Then she used t-> state how she wrestled with him in the sph it, and how she vanquished him in the cud. She seemed to know the Bible by heart, and could well maintain her ground upon .my point of doctrine. When she placed hernolf at the head of the Shaker community she had bat few followers ; for mostpoplo, like her husband, thought she mad. What few followers, however, sin had wore vsvy devoted, and paid her implicit obedience. About the year 1871-2 they attracted great attention at Chelsea, where they formed an encampment, under a railway arch. It would be impossible to exaggerate the excitement caused by the hysterical dancing and gesticulations of tho vaiious members of the community. Young girls and men, and boys of all ages used to dance and s-pung about in their enthusiasm till they dropped from exhaustion. After going to the south and other parts of London they finally removed to what was considered to be their Garden of Eden. Thb was at Hordle. It was called New Forest Lodge, and they were here very liberally supported, as in Lonion, by a Miss Wood, a wealthy lady, and who purchased for them their first residence, though she. herself was not a regular membet of the sect. One tenet of the body is that they ought not to pay tribute. They purchased GO acres of land, and then mortgaged it for £4000 ; but when the in tere.st became due they refused to pay it. 'On De'jomber 15, 1874, down came the landlord, mortgagee, and tax man. AftPi 10 days' notice the estate was seized, and tho Shaker community were turned into tho roadside. When the eviction took place it was bitter weither. Twenty men and 111 woman and children were turned out with all their furniture. Shelter was offered them, but they refused ifc, and stayed iv the ro-id all night, singing and praying. They had but little to eat ; their food consisting chiefly of boiled carrots, potatoes, turnips, and onions. A farmer named Beazley eventually gave shelter to somo, and the Rev. E. Clissold rendered them assistence. The Hon. Auboron Herbert also espoused their cmse. Some ftf the children, owing to the dreadful privations, fell sick, and their lives were only saved by taking them to th«. Union. Mrs Girling in the meantime maintained hec determined position, and was eventually proceeded against as a lunatic. They failed, however, to establish ihe charge against her, and die was released. All efforts to induce her to gi\o up the faith «he had adopted prned fruitless. Tier followers, numbeiing about GO, refuted to leave her, and maintained their faith that she w.is to be the one who was to lead them to the promised land. Their depressi m after her death is said to have been extreme ; and some think the strange community will now break up. The funeral took phce on the following Wednesday at Hordle church at 11 o'clock. About 500 persons were present at the church, where the impressive burial service of the Established Chinch was read by the Rev. — Fisher and Travers Garrick. Tho deep grief of the Sha'cers was loudly manifested, and it was with leluctance that they left the grave of her whom they had so faithfully followed, aud for whose sake. they had endured so many privations.

And does the new minister give satisfaction?' "I should say he did. Why he's just opened his second barrel of sermons. — Tit Bits.

A Windfall. — A furnace- man named William Pottuey, employed at Tnustall furnaces, Staffordshire, has received information that ho has become entitled to a large estate in the south-west of England, oompnsiug over 1,000 acres, together with some £20,000 in money.

Thk Heilelberg festivities have como to an end. It may be stated as a curiosity j in conurcbion therewith that the celebra- [ ted Heidelberg giant cask, which holds Ino less than 250,001) litre*, or 250,000 j bottles of wive, was on the occasion of the i late anniversary of the Heidelberg Aca- ; demy completely filled. But notwithstanding the enormous thit&tof the irnny visitois still the huge vessel is only emptied one third, -md about 160,000 litres of Rhine wine remains for future visitois. A contemporary says that diamond earrings for fiivotitp horses are the latest extravagance of wealthy range owners in the Far West. They s p rve both as ornaments and as means of identification in case of the animal strawng away, as no respectable person would think of .\ppropii.iting the earrings. A small gold tu'ie i» inserted in the ear, like a lady's ser-'-.v uuiug — with a di)C a* each end, cuntaiiiin? a good sized diamond m tlio e< ntre, liile t!n % horse's iiiMte And ig«' and 1 lit* ow net's narie and^addross are engiaved rouud the edge,