CONTAINING: A FULL SKETCH OF HER LIFE, WITH VARIOUS SELECTIONS FROM HER WRITINGS AND LETTERS; ALSO CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BISHOP CAMPBELL, D.D., PROF. B. F. LEE, OF WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, B. T. TANNER, D.D., EDITOR OF THE Christian Recorder , REV. T. GOULD, MRS. ELIZABETH LLOYD, AND WM. STEWARD, BY REV. T. G. STEWARD. The motto I taught my boys was "Aim at the Sun! If you do not bring it down, you will shoot higher than if you had aimed at the earth."— Rebecca Steward. "Her children shall rise up a

A life finished, is a proper subject for contemplation and study. To the Christian, whose eye is ever turning to the end of life, nothing can be more interesting than the life and death of the saints. It is never difficult to secure a large congregation to the funeral services of a well known Christian. In looking upon a life closed, from a Christian standpoint, we see the Divine and the human blended. We see human nature moulded by divinely cast circumstances; we see character developed and dis

BY WILLIAM STEWARD ("WILL.") "They are love's last gifts, bring ye flowers, pale flowers."— Mrs. Hemans....

Life and Character....

ANCESTRY AND PARENTS. In Cumberland County, in the southern part of the State of New Jersey, may be found a little settlement called "Gouldtown." It contains a church, a school house, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, two stores and a post office. The community is made up almost entirely of farmers, and is of course very conservative as to modes of thought and expression. It takes its name from the large family of Gould's who have so long occupied the place. There are, however, three other

BIRTH, HOME, MARRIAGE, CONVERSION. Rebecca Gould, afterwards Rebecca Steward, was born in Gouldtown on the 2d of May, 1820. But Gouldtown a half century ago was not what it is now. It was then almost unbroken forest. The early childhood of this family was passed in a rude little log house, in which one room answered for kitchen, dining-room, parlor and bed-room for eleven souls. A brave and stalwart father, a slight and sickly mother, seven girls, and two boys, made up that household. A little u

WIFE, MOTHER AND WRITER. On the 21st of March, 1869, my mother was taken with a serious illness, which confined her to her bed for two years, and to her house for five years. During the period of her convalescence, in which for most of the time she was unable to walk a step, she kept her pen employed; and always upon Christian themes. Having read the Bible with great patience and care, she could glean from its inspired pages, thoughts not unworthy a place in our best religious journals. It was w

On Monday, June 11th, 1877, a large concourse of people met in Trinity A. M. E. Church, Gouldtown, to pay their last acknowledgements to this modest and excellent woman. The corpse was neatly dressed and in the coffin lay quite a profusion of freshly blown roses. The services at the church were conducted by Rev. Redman Faucett and Dr. B. T. Tanner; those at the grave by Revs. E. J. Hammet, G. W. Boyer and Dr. H. M. Turner. All spoke eloquently of the virtues of the deceased. After the coffin was

RETROSPECTION. Shall we not now pause a moment by the side of this fresh grave, and look back over the pathway trod by the modest woman, whose form lies sleeping here, embalmed in flowers, and call to mind anew the virtues she possessed. We have seen her in the midst of a large family, performing the duties of wife and mother. Shall we not for a moment regard her in that larger sphere of Christian labor, which she filled in the church and in her community. In 1846 she became an earnest and zealo

BY BISHOP JABEZ P. CAMPBELL, D. D. Mrs. Rebecca Steward , wife of James Steward, was the daughter of Benjamin and Phoebe Gould, of Bridgeton, Cumberland County, N. J. She was born May 2d, 1820. Her father, Benjamin Gould, was the son of Abijah Gould, whose father's name was Benjamin, who was either the son or grandson of Elizabeth, a granddaughter of Sir John Fenwick, one of the proprietors of New Jersey in its early colonial times. Rebecca, the subject of this sketch, was married to James Stewa

President of Wilberforce University. Among the persons earliest and dearest in my recollections is she, whose name stands at the head of this article. In my childhood, I associated her with my highest ideas of perfection; in my youth, I looked upon her as one especially interested in my well-being and well-doing; in my manhood I knew her to be a devoted Christian, who was always anxious for all men to know Christ and to keep His commandments, and I never thought otherwise than that she was prayi

Exactly when or where the writer first made the acquaintance of the subject of this memoir, is forgotten; but he deems himself exceedingly fortunate in the fact itself. To know Rebecca Steward now , may not seem much; but in after years, when the real greatness of her character will have become known, as we doubt not it will, to have known her, will be accounted a most happy incident in one's life. It is so easy to talk of personal greatness, when the fact is, the truly great are as rare as pure

What I have to say is after thirty years' observation, to say nothing of my early boyhood days, when I used to visit her house with my father, who esteemed her as his own daughter and her husband as his own son. To me they both seemed as elder brother and sister. It appears to me that I can remember when I knew but little difference between her husband and my own brothers. He being the oldest and the first married out of the household, to me it was my oldest brother getting married, and I was wo

I cannot remember the time when I did not love and revere Aunt Rebecca; but my most precious remembrances of her are connected with the sabbath school, where, to my mind, she was incomparable; and even now, after the lapse of twenty-five years, the precious lessons that she taught her class are still in my mind and heart, and have greatly influenced my life and kept me from forbidden paths. You must know, as long as I attended Gouldtown Sunday School, which was from the reorganization of the sch

Containing: "Two Years on the Brink of Jordan," with Letters on Sanctification and a Story for Little Folks; the last named written expressly for Two Little Nephews, BY MRS. REBECCA STEWARD....

Early one spring morning, as I was going about my work, a messenger arrived, saying my Father wanted me. So I made haste and finished up all my work, looked over my wardrobe, picked out and packed up such articles as I thought I should need, and started on my journey, my guide going on before. We had not traveled far before we came to a broad, dark river, whose waters at the time were very much swollen. My guide said, I would have to wait awhile till a ferryboat could come and take me across; so

Can we be sanctified and live? I have often heard it questioned: Can we live in a sanctified state? I ask first, is not Christ able to keep us in a sanctified state? Did God ever break a covenant that He has made? Every covenant He has made with man has been sealed with blood; and the Apostle says, without the shedding of blood is no remission of sins . When God made His promises to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed, He made Abraham take an heifer of three

When God had finished His work of creation, He set apart the seventh day, and sanctified it to Himself. In it no one was to do any work; it was to be holy. The day in itself was like all other days; nothing different; just as long, just as short; but He chose it to himself. He chose the whole of it, and all of it at once . He did not say, half shall be yours and half mine; or, I will sanctify a part now and the rest on next seventh day; but as soon as the day dawned, it was hallowed to the Lord

A father, while making provision for his children, whether rich or poor, will naturally expect love and obedience from them in return; and an unkind or disobedient act in them must be a cause of great sorrow to the father's heart, yet it is very seldom that he will go so far as to turn the child away from his door. So with our Heavenly Father. He has done all for us that can be done; He has laid up an eternal Inheritance for us; He has prepared for us "many mansions," and preserves for us a crow

Dear Jim and Charley: Here is one of my stories for little folks. It is about a giant, that lives about here, and in fact I guess he lives in a great many places. He is a monstrous big fellow, a great deal larger than the King of Og, whose bed it was said was twelve feet long and eight feet broad. He is bigger than Goliath whom David killed, in fact larger than any giant you ever heard of. And if you ever meet with this big fellow, I hope you will kill him , rather than become his subjects. For

Thoughts suggested by the Return of Spring. The Inscription to this is simply "Written after a Time of Affliction." To a Sister on her Birthday. To a Minister on his Return after a long Absence....