It was at our own special request that we asked permission to present our readers, at the commencement of this year, as a frontispiece to the Earthen Vessel & Gospel Herald, a portrait of our venerable and much-valued friend, Mr. Charles Wilson. In the April number for the year 1889, a portrait of Mr. Wilson was inserted from a very imperfect photograph; as we were very dissatisfied with the production, we give it again from a photo by Messrs. Russell. Mr. Wilson concludes his second year of office in March next, as President of the Metropolitan Association of Strict Baptist Churches, which office, as a sincere Christian and devout man of business, he has filled with assiduity, combined with the warm and loving approbation of…

Delivered At The Annual Meeting Of The Metropolitan Association Of Strict Baptist Churches, On March 12, 1889 By Mr. Charles Wilson, President Beloved Friends,—Most heartily do I thank you for the honour conferred upon me in electing me as president of the Metropolitan Association of Strict Baptist Churches. Through the blessing of God upon the noble efforts of our forefathers, men of God who dared to die for their principles, and to suffer the loss of all things rather than belie their consciences, we are allowed to meet here, none daring lawfully to make us afraid, and shall we, or shall we not, be worthy successors of those brave men? Brethren, we have the same God to sustain us: King Jesus was their King, and…

On the last day of the year, Saturday, December 31st, 1898, we followed the mortal remains of brother C. Wilson to the grave. As a natural consequence, owing to the high esteem in which Mr. Wilson was held by the Strict Baptist Denomination, a large concourse of friends from the metropolis and suburbs gathered on the solemn occasion, the large chapel of the Paddington Cemetery, where the funeral took place, being crowded. The funereal procession consisted of a hearse, conveying the body, enclosed in a polished elm coffin, covered with floral wreaths, a large number of mourning coaches and private carriages conveying the more immediate members of the family, deacons of Mount Zion, Hill-street, deputations from the various Societies connected with the Denomination, the employees…

Dear Mr. Editor,—At your request I send you a few particulars of my life. I was born in the parish of Stradbrook, in the county of Suffolk, on the 13th of May, 1817. My father was a schoolmaster, and my mother was a godly woman, a member of the Baptist Church in the village. Being much afflicted, she became deeply anxious about the souls of her children, and would often talk and pray with and for us. On one occasion, when father was out, and just before her last illness, she gathered us around her, and kneeling down, poured out her soul with intense earnestness, the big tears falling on the sanded floor, and the words fell into my heart, although I was only seven…

Charles Wilson, our dear father, was born at Stradbroke, in Suffolk, on May 22, 1817. His father kept a boys' school in that village, and, though a good schoolmaster, was not a Christian, nor a kind father. His mother was a member of the Baptist Church, and, though she died when he was very young, her Christian character influenced him through life. Once he was jumping over a ditch, and fell in. To escape punishment, he told an untruth. When she heard of it, she burst into tears, and cried, "Oh! Charles, if you had died with a lie in your mouth!” Seeing her weep so bitterly, he realised how wicked he had been, and his hatred of falsehood dated from that period.