The Life And Death Of Alexander Taylor

Gospel Standard 1887:

The Late Mr. A. B. Taylor

Our dear and deeply-lamented friend, Mr. Alexander Barrie Taylor, was taken to his rest early in the morning of August 7. He was born October 18, 1804, and was therefore within a few weeks of being 83. He was born in a cottage on the banks of the Shopie, near Lindock, Perthshire.

As he lived at an inconvenient distance from Manchester it was deemed advisable for the friends not to meet at the house, but at the chapel, and for the body to be taken there in the morning of the day of interment; and this was accordingly done, the time of meeting being fixed for half-past one. Mr. Moxon occupied the pulpit and gave out hymn 468, then read 2 Kings 2 and engaged in prayer; then hymn 470 was sung. After which Mr. Moxon addressed the friends.

Mr. Moxon said: My dear Christian friends. We are met together on a very memorable occasion. I look around on this great concourse of people, and when I look upon your sorrowing faces I feel persuaded that the things we witness this day will not soon be obliterated from our minds. If any ask what is our business, what is our object, I would briefly remind you that it is to convey to the house appointed for all living, to consign to the earth all that is mortal of our brother A. B. Taylor. If any ask who this Mr. Taylor is, I answer that he has long been a faithful minister of the gospel, and a faithful shepherd over this church and congregation. I answer that he has been to many here a faithful and affectionate friend, and I also answer that he has been a kind and indulgent and affectionate parent. When I take into consideration these things alone I am not surprised that there should be signs of weeping. It would indeed be strange if you did not weep and if there was no real felt sorrow in your hearts. When you contemplate the many labours, the many services that have been rendered on your behalf from this very desk where I now stand, and to think that these things are past to be heard no more, to be seen no more, I say it is enough to fill all our hearts with deep, unutterable grief. When we also think that from this large city, from this neighbourhood another standard bearer has been taken away when we think that another solemn witness for God has been for ever removed from our midst, and that of no mean order, I can join with you in expressions of grief, for it does feel to me to be a loss which is irreparable. I know that we live in a gospel-despising age, and that many of God’s true servants are undervalued, but I thank God that it is not so with us this day.

We are come to pay a tribute of profound respect to our departed friend, and we testify to all around the high honour we put upon his name and memory. We regard his removal from our midst as a greater calamity than the removal of a statesman from our parliament, or a general from our army. His wisdom and courage, his counsel and firmness, we feel greatly to need. He has often stood by us in our trials and difficulties and we have always felt secure in confiding to him the perplexing scenes through which we have been called to pass. But not only as a confidential friend, but also as a Christian man, do we revere his memory. Some of us envy the grace bestowed upon him; for it is evident that the beginning, the carrying on, and the consummation of his profession was of God.

When a young man he was fond of gayety and pleasure, and sought his amusements as some of us have done in the intoxicating cup and the charming song; but when in the height of his revelry taking part in a concert, the Holy Ghost arrested him, by speaking conviction and condemnation to his soul. So terribly was he wrought upon that he could proceed no further, but was obliged to abandon his appointed song. He went home from that concert-room, like Belshazzar from the feast, weighed in the balances and found wanting. The words which were applied to him were: “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.”

From that hour he was made to feel himself to be a miserable sinner, and continued in that lamentable condition until the same blessed Spirit showed him that Christ had redeemed him from the curse of the law, being made a curse for him. The blessing of peace and joy which flowed into his soul, through a sense of pardon and justification, so endeared the Lord Jesus to him, that his language was, “What wilt thou have me to do?”

After this he travelled many miles to hear the gospel preached, and frequent were his attendances upon the means of grace. From all that we can gather, he was a zealous, warm-hearted, truly devoted, and consistent Christian; and thus he continued to his journey’s end.

But it is more in the capacity of a Gospel Minister that most of us have felt him endeared to us. There are not many amongst this large concourse of people but can testify to some benefit or blessing received through his ministrations, and, what is still more important, many of you date the work of grace upon your hearts through some word spoken by him with divine power and energy; and I can truly say that, wherever I have gone, in whatever county, east, west, north, or south, I often heard inquiries concerning his welfare and anxious expressions to hear the word of life from his lips once more. His ministry was faithful and comprehensive, he dwelt,

1. Upon man’s entire alienation from God by reason of transgression.

2. Man’s utter helplessness to turn to God while in a state of nature.

3. That salvation is of God’s free grace, from first to last.

4. That the operations of the Holy Ghost are discriminating and uncontrollable.

5. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the covenant Head of the church, the foundation of the building, the Shepherd of the sheep, who gave his life a ransom for them.

6. That the whole church is saved in him with an everlasting salvation, washed from all her sins in his atoning blood, and clothed in his spotless righteousness.

7. That the gospel is the believer’s rule of life, containing every doctrine to be believed, every ordinance to be observed, every precept to be practised, and every privilege to be enjoyed.

8. The glorious Trinity in Unity, the Three distinct, co-equal and co-eternal Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

9. And latterly he dwelt much upon the resurrection of the dead, and the everlasting glorification of the saints in heaven.

His last text was Matt. 15:13: “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” When on his dying bed he said to friend Chandler and myself, “I never saw so much in a text before. I saw right to the bottom of it and all the way round it.” He said, “My friends must talk about Christ, not about me. I have talked about him until I have been hoarse, haven’t I? and I shall see him as he is; not as he was, as he is, with all his wounds, bruises, and nail marks; it looks too much.” What a thing it is to see Calvary’s cross, love and atonement, mercy and justification with sanctification.

“Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood,
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransom’d church of God
Be saved to sin no more.”

During the night when under hard strugglings, when all was quiet he said, ‘”Man goeth to his long home, the mourners go about the streets,’ Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Men rest in their beds and sleep together in the dust.”

His last words were those on the card:

“Far more precious to the soul
The Rock prepared of God.”

His abilities to set forth these truths were such as few are endowed with. Order ran through every discourse; choice, chaste language characterised every sermon, solemnity and deep feeling pervaded every subject, and all was prefaced and supplemented with earnest prayer to God. He contended for an experimental religion and an apostolic worship. He was a real lover of Zion, and rejoiced in its welfare. He was a friend to the poor, a sympathizer with the afflicted and distressed; and his praise is in all our churches.

But his labours are ended, and what gives pleasure in grief is this, that they are ended as we have desired and prayed for of our God. Our supplications have been that he might have a smooth passage, and a peaceful and triumphant end. These have been granted. The dark valley lost its gloom and death its sting. He was more than a conqueror through Him that loved him. He said, “God Almighty knows that it is all right.

“‘I shall soon be landed
On yonder shores of bliss;
There, with my powers expanded,
Shall dwell where Jesus is.'”

On another occasion he exclaimed,

“‘Hail, blessed time! Lord, bid me come,
And enter my celestial home,
And drown the sorrows of my breast.'”

Here he paused, and then said, “I have no sorrows!” The battle was won, victory was obtained, the enemies were routed, and peace proclaimed. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.”

But where is he now? The body is here before us, lifeless and cold, and soon will become a prey to worms. It needs no cremation to reduce it to ashes; it is enough that God has said, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” But let me remind you that the body is a part of the man, and a sacred part, so curiously wrought and fashioned, so compounded and compacted together, that nothing on this wondrous globe of ours can excel it. We therefore have a respect for it and a duty to perform concerning it. Joseph, when he lay dying, gave commandment concerning his bones, and they were placed in a coffin, and embalmed in Egypt; but eventually they were to be carried into the land of promise. Our dear brother’s bones are now placed in this coffin, and we are about to consign them to the tomb in yonder cemetery; but this we testify, that as sure as we commit them to the grave so sure shall they come forth again and be carried to a better Canaan than that promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even to the Canaan of everlasting rest and peace which God hath prepared for them that love him. This body is not to be imprisoned for ever; it is but seed cast into the ground, until all the wintry dispensations of time are past. Then it will burst forth in the spring time of eternity and grow and expand in unceasing songs of rapturous praise, and reverent adoration, unto Him that hath loved him and washed him from his sins in his own blood, and made him a king and a priest unto God; to whom be glory for ever and ever.

We have just said that the body is here; but we cannot say that of his immortal soul. No; that has fled; but, blessed be God, we are not at an uncertainty where it has gone. The Scriptures assure us that, as the dust returns to the earth as it was, so the spirit returns to God who gave it; absent from the body, present with the Lord, “For me to die is gain.” No annihilation; no insensibility; no interim; but “this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.” The only conclusion that we can draw from these divine testimonies is that while we are here, sowing in tears, he is in that upper world, reaping in glory; that while we are clad in mourning he is wearing the garments of everlasting praise, having obtained the victory through the blood of the Lamb.

In conclusion, permit me to say a few words concerning your widowed state as a church. This is a change that few of you can remember; but those that do can tell a sad tale of sorrow, when dear Mr. Gadsby was taken away. Many loving hearts were well- nigh broken, and deep grief filled every soul. Some said, “None can ever fill his place again.” “O! What shall we do?” but his place has been filled, and filled for the same length of time, that is to say for 38 years. The same gospel which was preached in 1807 was preached in 1887, and that same God that raised up William Gadsby also raised up Alexander Barrie Taylor, and both have been highly honoured of him.

Now what I desire to urge upon you is unity, forbearance, patience, perseverance, and prayer. Remember that nothing is too hard for the Lord to do. I confess that I don’t know the man at all likely to fill the place of your dear departed pastor; but God may even now, have one hid among the stuff. He may, like Moses, be at the mountain of Horeb; but God can send him here; he may be like Paul in the Jewish Sanhedrim, but Jesus can send him far hence unto the Gentiles; or he may be like Luther, shut up in a convent; but even there can God find him out, and bring him forth if he be a chosen vessel unto him.

May the blessing of Almighty God rest upon you and prepare us for death and glory.

Hymn 466 was then sung, during which the body was taken to the hearse; the mourners and friends following shortly afterwards.

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There appeared to be upwards of 800 people in the chapel. There were about 50 carriages to convey them to the cemetery about two miles away; but the trams, omnibuses, and waggonettes, which run along the road every two or three minutes were quickly filled, the trams carrying 50 persons each. Hundreds of persons lined the road to the cemetery about two miles distant. On arriving at the cemetery we found some hundreds already assembled, waiting the arrival of the carriages. Police were present to prevent confusion, and the chapel doors were kept closed until the mourners and those from the carriages had entered.

Mr. Standeven went into the pulpit and addressed the friends as follows:

It is not desirable to occupy your attention very long, but I would like to ask what meaneth this service in which we are engaged? It is not for the dead, but for the living; that is, so far as eternity is concerned; it is you that we have before us. The departed one is beyond our reach; we cannot any more breathe a sigh for him; no more can prayers be offered for him; no more anxious desire. He is past all these, and gone. What a mercy to be delivered from a doctrine like some hold respecting that matter.

But while we are here for a few moments we may just like to say this: May the Lord grant to you, his family and his children, the same grace that he had. May your lot be the lot of him when you come to lay down your sinful bodies, and may the same grace support you that supported him. I am fully persuaded of this, that there is not one here but will say of him that by the grace of God he was what he was, and surely it was made manifest in death that he had not trusted nor preached the grace of God in vain.

We find at one time in the beginning of his affliction he had great pain of body, much more so than in the latter part of his affliction, and though he suffered so much, yet he was blessedly composed. May you and I be so blessed likewise. O what patience he was favoured with on that bed of affliction, and with what feeling he said,

“My Father’s hand prepares the cup
And what he wills is best!”

You see he rested in the sovereign will and purpose of that wise Father in whose presence his spirit is now, among the spirits of the just made perfect.

Again, we find when he was much concerned for his family and people (and from what I have heard in this matter he did not seek the Lord in vain), and I believe from what did drop from him, though it was in much weakness at that time, yet that the Lord gave him promise concerning some of them; so that it was a great consolation that the Lord did not forsake him, nor leave him to the power of the enemy or a spirit of infidelity; but blest him with much fellowship and communion whilst on a bed of affliction.

On another occasion he said the wine of his youth was nothing to be compared to that which he had been favoured with while he had laid upon that bed of affliction; so that he must have been favoured and greatly blessed in that he was enabled to drink of the everlasting consolations of that gospel which he had maintained so long. During this affliction he was supported by the blessed prospect of what awaited him. As you have already heard how his thoughts went before, how his mind was placed above, and he expressed himself to a friend, that had he only wings that he could have flown out of the window of that room in which his body was confined, how soon he would go and take his flight into those eternal realms where he ever hoped to be with his Lord and Master; and this blessed anticipation followed him throughout that affliction. He was blessedly favoured with a spirit of patience in the midst of much pain and affliction, for he said,

“Tho’ painful at present, ’twill cease before long,
And then O how pleasant the conqueror’s song!”

You and I cannot tell what it is. What would we give if we could only realize what he is doing now! I remember his countenance, and I think I hear his voice. He is now before the Lord singing his praises, serving him day and night in purity, holiness, and bliss, being made even like unto Him whom his soul loved and panted after. His spirit has now returned to God who gave it, so that being absent from the body, he is present with the Lord; for he could say, “For me to die is gain.” No annihilation here, no insensibility here; but this: “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” The only conclusion that we can draw from these Divine testimonies is this, that while we are here sowing in tears, he is in that upper world reaping in glory. He is gone now. His loss will never be made up I am fully persuaded; but then there is the consolation, and let us with a grateful spirit remember that the Lord spared him so long. His life has been lengthened out to a great length, 83 years, and 38 years to the church of God at Manchester. Is not that a mercy and a blessing? Take heed to the words you have heard from him; may they not have been heard in vain, or to no profit. You may rest assured that if you take heed of these things that it will not be in vain that you have heard, neither in the past nor in the future that lies before you. We only hope that the Lord will sanctify the affliction to us all, and in the midst of it may we remember the mercy and favours that he and we have enjoyed at the hands of our God, and be grateful.

The coffin was then conveyed to the grave, and after being lowered into the earth Mr. Chandler delivered the following address:

In committing all that is mortal of our departed brother to its last earthly resting-place, we say, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust;” for “dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.” In reflecting on past facts in connection with our brother, facts which bear upon them the impress of God, we can add that it is in “sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection from the dead.” Those who have the form of godliness without the power have an idea that something can be accomplished by human effort, and so a preparation made to meet this great event; but this is not God’s method of saving sinners. Everything short of Divine life will leave man a miserable wreck exposed to Divine justice. These were things into which our brother was well instructed. If we look at him from any stand point, he was a most remarkable man. A Divine Providence endued him with an original and productive mind. His countenance beamed with intelligence, his eyes sparkled with animation, and he had a rich sonorous voice. When God’s grace, especially ministerial grace, takes possession of such a person’s heart, they will leave some mark on the sands of time and in the affections and hearts of God’s people.

The early life and history of our brother has been told by himself with greater force and pathos than any one else could do, because he could speak from a real, practical stand-point. His early life was spent in gayety; for, being of a cheerful turn of mind, he had many inducements to indulge in the pleasures of the world, One remarkable, and perhaps one of the earliest impressions, one that time could not erase, was that whilst sleeping at an inn in Preston, a voice of extraordinary power spoke the following words to him: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Ps. 37:5.) He rose from his pillow, thinking to see the person who spoke them; but it was a Divine and not a human voice. “The Lord speaketh once, yea, twice, in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.” God began to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, and that law which he once thought to be unto life, he found to be unto death; for it was spiritual, while he was carnal, sold under sin.

The Lord at length raised him to a hope in his mercy; and then, like the disciples of old, being let go, he went to his own company. He found companions in Robert Hindle, Joseph Hanson, and a few others whose hearts God had touched. I have stood by the open grave of these men in company with our departed brother. These men wanted clean provender that had been winnowed with the shovel and the fan; and they found it under the ministry of the late Mr. Worrall, of Blackburn. In storm and sunshine these good men were seen wending their way thither to worship God, who hath promised, saying, “In all places where I record my Name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” Shortly it was seen by others (perhaps somewhat more plainly than by himself) that God intended to make him useful to his church.

Allow me one word here. God’s Zion has much to try her, and this is not one of the least of her trials that some are determined to preach whether they are sent or not; whether they feed the flock or starve it. But our friend was not one of that caste. On one occasion he played the part of a Jonah and ran away, concealing himself until the course was clear, and then stealing into a chapel, evidently where the creature and not the Creator was held up before the people. I have heard him say he never heard more untruths in his life. This stirred our brother, and he began to think, poor as his preaching was, surely he could do better than that. He did not make great haste; for it is written: “The Lord shall go before thee.” The word was commended to the hearts of those capable to judge betwixt letter and spirit. He received encouragement, and went on, knowing that if God set his seal upon the word spoken, it would be worth more to him than all man’s applause. At length he took the pastorate of the church at Manchester, where he has ministered for the past 38 years. But what was the nature of that ministry? Putting it in few words, he would first feel after the life of God in the souls of the people; for few men knew better than he that this is the foundation of all real, experimental religion. Having this, a person has everything; destitute of this, a man has nothing, whatever he may suppose he possesses. Having established this fact he would then encourage, coming down to the lowest evidence, remembering the injunction of Christ to Peter: “Feed my lambs.”

Allow me to relate one little fact here in relation with my own humble history. When I first began to look after the truth, I used to walk from Stockport to Manchester to hear our friend preach the word of life. Being a poor country youth I knew little of town life, nor yet of men and things. The Gospel to me was everything. Not being over rich in this world’s goods I used to take my morsel in my pocket and eat it alone on a warehouse step in Mosley Street, and God sweetened all by his grace, and filled my heart with his love and mercy; so that, during the following week, like the clean beast, I was enabled to chew over again what I heard on the Lord’s day, proving that word true: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4) This gave our friend a larger place in my heart than any other minister living.

Perhaps the leading feature in our friend’s ministry was the Person, work, sufferings, blood, righteousness, and offices of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing full well that a sermon without Christ is only as a cloud without rain. It was also an instructive ministry, informing the judgment of those that sought knowledge as well as food for the living. He was a true expositor of the Word, and used no strained interpretations to make it fit some ideas of his own, nor did he keep back those discriminating doctrines, such as special redemption and electing love; so that we may say as Paul did to Timothy, “Rightly dividing the word of truth.” He had no novel views or private sentiments, but was open, honest, faithful, and affectionate, seeking God’s glory and the good of souls, illustrating his subject with chaste and suitable figures, often throwing in some beautiful original idea, which gave fresh interest.

Many may wish to know something of his latter days. On June 26th he preached his last sermon from the words: “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” (Matt. 15:13.) On his sick bed he said, “I saw through it, under it, and all round it. It will often be found that the portion that takes the ground from under the mere formalist does something to build and establish God’s people. This text clearly implies that every plant that he does plant shall not be rooted up.”

During the two first weeks of his sickness he was favoured much with the Lord’s presence. To give it in his own words, he said, “I never before had such joy and peace, such power and blessing. No, not in the time of my spiritual youth.” The pathway to death is often attended with sore affliction and strong pain; and so it was with our brother; but God’s blessing and grace sustained him. The Divine presence which he realized brought a sacred feeling around his dying bed. To say he had no clouds would not be right, but they were not dense or of long duration. During the last few days of his life he sank fast. Some time before he died one remarked to him what a nice breaking of day it was. He replied, “Ah! There will be a grand dawn of morn for me soon.” Just at the dawn of the morning of the Lord’s day he passed away in the arms of one who is now standing near his grave.

We have heard read in the adjoining chapel the grandest truth ever written on the resurrection of the dead. It is a doctrine handled purely by faith. The Christian experiences many things, such as the pardon of sin and the promise sealed upon the heart; but the experience of the resurrection of the dead he cannot have in this life; yet Paul hangs everything upon it, saying, “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins;” but he leaves it no longer a disputed point, saying, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept;” and if the firstfruits be gathered so shall the whole harvest be. He shall present the whole church to the Father, saying, “Here am I, and the children which thou hast given me.” We now sow the body of our departed friend with all the deformity of the fall upon it; but it shall be raised like unto Christ’s glorious body. So that we can use, with truth and propriety, the language of the poet, and say,

“Earthly cavern, to thy keeping,
We commit our brother’s dust;
Keep it softly, softly sleeping,
Till our Lord demand thy trust.”

There are here many persons who have come from a distance at some inconvenience to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of the departed. In the name of the family, and the church and congregation to which he ministered, I desire to thank you for your presence, as also for your kind attention to these broken and unconnected remarks. May it be our happy lot at last to join him in the song of Moses and the Lamb, where the wicked cease from troubling, and God himself shall wipe all tears from every face, and take away the reproach of his people for ever.

Hymn 466 was then sung, commencing, “Why do we mourn departed friends?” and the service was closed with prayer. “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?” (2 Sam. 3:38.)

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On July 6th Mr. T. dictated the following to Mr. J. Gadsby, one of his daughters, Mrs. Benson, writing it, and he signing it with his own hand.

“Early and faithful Friend,—Our first acquaintance was on that memorable day when your dear father was entombed for the resurrection. You took me to Stockport the same night, to hunt out an old lady who was a member of the church when your father took the charge of the church at Manchester. Many smiling mornings we have seen since then, and sometimes showers before noon. Nevertheless, the almighty power of attraction has kept us looking unto Jesus, and now his wisdom and sovereignty has laid me on the shelf. My last discourse was preached on the last Lord’s day in June, from Matt. 15:13. I spoke only about half- an-hour and was completely done; but I felt then, and I do now, that I never was led more completely into the bottom of a subject in all my life than then. I was completely wearied out when I had concluded my half-hour and have not regained my strength. And now I am suffering from, asthma, bronchitis, and heart disease. The kind friends in Rochdale Road yesterday sent, in company with my own doctor, a doctor, Sir William Roberts, who thoroughly examined me and pronounced the case as named. And here I am, waiting my little while, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. To relate all the way the Lord God has led me would require as many years as I have lived. Your father, in prayer, was the means, in God’s hand, of bringing my soul into gospel liberty, a time not to be forgotten even when worlds shall have passed away.”

Then follows in his own handwriting, “You may see I cannot write. A. B. TAYLOR.”

Again on July 17th, one of his sons wrote: “Father is just able to bid me to ask you not to come to-morrow, as he is altogether incapable of conversation. It would delight him to only look at you, so it is a hard task to bid me write as he does. He knows his days are numbered; but he does not know the number, so may yet see you again. ‘And do say,’ he said, ‘not one good thing has failed of all the Lord promised me. As to those who cannot rise above hope, hope, faith, and charity abide, and are all three graces of the Spirit, and are God’s gifts to sinners, flowing through the wounds of God’s Eternal Son. O that the Lord may pour upon the churches a spirit of grace, that her servants may be more distinctly seen feeding the flock of slaughter and entering into the deep things of God. Ministerially we are in a very, very low place. A note would please me. Christian love to Mrs. Gadsby.” [Mr. G. was not able to go afterwards.]

Aug. 4. “I know you will be glad to hear how father is. Last night he had a bad night. This morning he said,

“‘My Father’s hand prepares the cup,
And what he wills is best.’

On Tuesday morning it was thought he was going. He said ‘It is all right. What a mercy to be kept in the hollow of his hand.” I could not write you half what he said; but it was good to hear him. He is weaker, but is resting on that Rock which supports the dying Christian. What a mercy to be there!”—E. T.

Aug. 7. “I have just come back from the farm. Dear father died this morning, at 3.45; so peacefully. He has been clear in intellect all the time, though not always able to speak; but it was good to hear him when he could. He has been wonderfully supported; so calm and yet so strong in his mind. I felt it an honour to be with him, and I can truly say I felt I had an interest in his last sermon, six weeks ago to-day. He finished his preaching on a Lord’s day, and he finished his earthly course on a Lord’s day, to drink new wine with Him in His kingdom, who was his Redeemer and his guide even unto death. ‘Yes,’ he said; ‘I would not have anything altered, and if I had to preach for another fifty years I would preach the same Christ, the same truths, and the same doctrines.'”

In the afternoon before he died, Mr. Whittaker called, and desired to see him, but was told he could not. Afterwards, however, he was allowed to do so. Mr. T. put out his right hand and took hold of Mr. W.’s and put his left round Mr. W.’s neck and looked at him. “O that look and those eyes,” says Mr. W. Then he whispered,”It is well!It is well!”…As Mr. W. was leaving him he lifted up his left arm heavenward, waved it, and said, or rather whispered, “I am going!”

He died in his chair, his daughter Sarah at the back and Mary at the front, Mr. Benson (son-in-law) at the side, so peacefully they hardly knew when.

We have been requested to add that the immediate cause of death was syncope. The deacons were sent for specially by him, and his remarks affected them very much, and assured him they hoped to take heed to his solemn advice. He was perfectly calm to a few minutes of his death. We had expected an account of his interview with the deacons; but it had not arrived when we were compelled to go to press.

After the funeral some hundreds of the friends went to the Sunday School room, behind the chapel and took tea together. After Tea they held a friendly meeting.