Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1853-06-22
For the Register.
Iemoir of Mis-. Catharine Golf.

II
For the Register.
Memoir of Mrs. Catharine Gof.
!" Why all this toll for triumphs of an hour,
What though we wade in wealth, or soar IN
Fame, -,
Earth,s brightest joys but end in HERE HE LIES
The above lines were written by man s ..
great ambition, of great talents and o. oyas the
one who from experience could well express Sne
vanity of all earthly joys or ac9ullerIL;i ,5 the
survey of the general course OF mank in-..aat
folly of the most of their p9rsul1s-t to tSem |
anxieties and vexations they heap up 70 hnnor
selves Inv an Unsuitable thirst after wealth. honoi
and preferment and the many and gries, t
,1r ofs trnents which they meet with IN the Puf-
f tii severaI Objects forced upon his I'M
willing mind the solemn contras1 WnIcn Is.aI
between the affected grandeur ana moral 91tie-
Dess of man-between the lofty promise and de-
SION of Ills creation and the bitter sorrow which
FOO often is the only harvest he eultivates and
reaps from it-between his glorious capabilities
and the usually sullied meanness OF his real at
tainments.
Such review, not perhaps the most welcome,
and yet by no means the least profitable in
which we might indulge, is forcibly suggested to
the mind by the recent decease of the truly esti
mable and christian lady whose name stands at
the ad of this article. In her pure, consistent
life and peaceful death, were strikingly present.
ed those traits ofcharacter which form a marked r
contrast between the children OF God and those
of this world-between such as through grace ami
holy obedience to their Saviour seek for happt-
and heaven, and such as prefer TO I'VE IN sln'
Ii ned eternity Mrs. Golf was born in Morgan
town, in the year 1907. With constitution de-
fcately sensitive by nature to all that is beaut-
full and tender and nicely fitted by education to
enioy whatever is lovely and pure, it yet not
until about twenty two years of age that she was
constrained to publicly espouse the cause of her
Redeemer. She joined the Methodist EplscoPadl
church in her native place IN 1928, and in lo29
she was most happily converted to God and OBJ
tanned through his Spirit the witness of pardon
aud assurance of her acceptance in the beloved.
| ~ ,Ina = In TnIn in
marriage to her bercaved and much afflicted hus-
band. Nathan Golf, Esq. of this place, with whom
she lived in the bonds of sanctited affection until
her deceasc in the 47th year of her age June 18TH
1858.
| Such in u few words are the material facts and
outlines of her life, life indeed of not much
more than ordinary duration. yet fruitful of re-
I suits which not time but eternity Is required TO
| fully unfold and estimate their value. From the
hour in which she gave her heart to God and her
name to the church, among an nssemblage of eX-
celencicS such us is rarely found i'll one person
she was especially distinguished for an intelli-
gent, humble and consistent christian plety toun-
ded on the word OF God and the institutions of
the church to which she belonged. Hers was no
religion of circumstances, righteousness ofcon-
| venience which accommodates ltsel to fashion 5
| ftful fancy, or the tainted breathot unhallowed
public sentiment. The lukewarnness, inditter-
ence, backsliding detection of others only
served to make her cling more closely to the Sn-
| viour, and the christian body through whose
agency she had first been brought to 4 saving ac-
quaintnnce with him. That her attachment to
these did not consist in mere half hearted, spi-
ritless, profession and pretension, let her uni
| form appreciutive attendance Mt tho class and
prayer meeting, and the preaching of tho word
| testify let her faithful labors, up to the last
day that she was able, as teacher of the infant
class in Sabbath School, her generous kindness
| to the way-woru ;tenerant, many otwhom found
welcome and refreshment at her frcSide, and in.
| structiOn and encouragement from her counsel
and friendly conversation and not to mention acts
of moreprivate charity 1t home, let her efforts in
ICOD wit 20 cheer
only through the contribution of her means, but
by the labor of her hands, those who, like Mrs
Wilkins in Africa, toll in personal effort for the
salvation of tho world, all bear witness to the
| truthfulqess and strength of herdevotlon to, and
! love for God and his cause. During the last
| three or four months Immediately proceeding her
decease she was IL subject of complicated and
great Attic tion and of excessive physical pros
tration, from which the mind, through its con
nection and ultimate sympathy with tGe 39dy
was not altogether exempt, but during the lattel
days of her pilgrimage, her sky was serene and
clear, and her spiritual comfort immcasurabiy
gr ,at. The closing scene was indeed one ''pTl-
vileged beyond the common walks of Hfe." The
day before her death, Mr.. Golf having been alb
sent few moments from her room, was asked
| on his return where he had been, and on saying
! that he had taken walk in the garden among
! the flowers &c., which it had been their mutual
pleasure to cultivate with their own hands, she
exclaimed, witha thrill of Joy, "Ah, 1 shall soon
see brighter flowers and hear sweeter songs
than these Next morning, us the writer, by
her request repeated many appropriate and
comforting Bible promises, and endeavored t.
engage in singing and prayer, sweet and hea-
venly radience beamed from herexpressive coun
tenance, now paled by the near approach o
death, and in feeble, yet distinct and frequen
accents, she expressed the strength of her trus
and confidence in God. She had formerly assn
red her beloved husband that her only reSre
was that he ''must be left solitary behind. :" ant
now, when told by him that she was just enterini
the gates of death in reply to his inquiry to thu
state of her mind. she fIintly answered, g am
not afraid to die, Jesus is my friend, and strong
in this assurance, exhorting weeping fren d
| who stood around her couch to ''seek religion :
and % to be faithful" she in few moments
calmly met the summons of death, who ap
preached her not the king of tcrrors, but ns
the peaceful porter of the skies.
| ''fThy force alone, Religion, death disarms,
Breaks every sting, and every viper charms"
| The writer of this atfectionate tribute to he
memory, has no fear of unduly eulogizing Mrs
Golf. The touching grief manifested by the lnrg
concoursS of friends and neighbors and children
at her funeral, while it was 4 free will offering o
their love, bore emphatic testimony to her rea
worth. Blessed be God for that grace whicl
made her what she was, and that glory viii
makes her what she is, and will forever be.
| ALEX. MARTIN.
! Clarksburg, June goth, 1858.