gratitude to God, for His goodness manifested to them, in calling their four eldest children to a knowledge of Himself. Although it pleased Him to call the -fourth away from earth, they know it is a Father's hand that holds the rod; ; they desire to say, "Thy will be done.' "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." On the following Thursday, all that remained of poor Thomas was interred in the graveyard belonging to the chapel; our dear pastor officiated. After reading suitable, comforting portions of the Scripture, and delivering a very appropriate address, our pastor fervently commended the sorrowing ones to Him who is able to comfort and sustain in all places and under all circumstances, praying also for a blessing to rest upon the companions the deceased had left behind. A hymn was sung, the benediction pronounced, and we left the body of our loved one to its rest, rejoicing that Jesus had said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life, he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Amen.

P. B.

MRS. ELIZABETH DAINES. On the evening of the 30th December, 1849, the writer conducted a religious service at Barrow, near Bury St. Edmunds, and in the little congregation convened that wintry Sabbath, near the pulpit sat a Christian matron with her two daughters, the eldest of whom is the subject of this sketch. Prior to the above date, the devoted Christian, John Sabine, a chemist, of Bury, of the Independent denomination, at his sole expense had built the chapel, and had for years laboured to benefit the aged and the young. His loving commendation of the grace of God in Christ Jesus had attracted more than the attention of our young friend, and she felt the value of her immortal soul, her need of saving mercy; and ultimately, as led and taught of the Spirit, to peace and joy in believing.

Elizabeth Fenton was afterwards

baptized by the late Cornelius Elven, of Bury, and united with the church under his pastorate, and was specially favoured with Christian intercourse with many now in glory.. In the leadings of Providence she left the locality for Ipswich, where, after some of the chequered scenes of life and death, she became united in marriage to a respected farmer, Mr. John Daines, and shared Gospel fellowship with the the church at Stoke Green, under the pastorate of the late James Webb.

Twenty years having elapsed, in 1869 the writer finds himself at Blakenham, five miles from Ipswich, in the humblest ecclesiastical edifice he had seen in Suffolk, and that only hired by a village shoemaker, whose memory is revered. There was no regular Sabbath preach. ing, Sunday-school, or church organisation, or even "anniversaries" to enlist pulpit talent or neighbourly sympathy. But, however, with all its modest sursoundings, and so little to attract the young, of course the aged seemed to preponderate; but, in this little group were some of Zion's pilgrims, with weak hands and trembling knees, and harps, may be, oft on the willows; yet the presence and blessing of Emmanuel was felt, and His statutes were their songs in the house of their pilgrimage. With these the writer had sacred fellowship, several of whom are now before the throne. Such, then, were the attractions which led the present pastor to Blakenham ; and soon after, our friend and her esteemed husband took an occupation in the village, and at once attended the little chapel, which became too strait; hence a new chapel, with many fears and much trembling, was projected. The "memorial stone" being laid by Mr. Daines, on Bank holiday, August, 1873, and opened in October by the late revered Samuel Collins, Thomas Poock, and the still beloved Charles Hill. It was a season of special blessing.

Although our friend retained her membership at Ipswich, she almost invariably attended the Sabbath services twice; and was ever ready to aid the writer by her genial hospitality, and the cause itself in any way needed.

Being in comfortable circumstances, she had both heart and hand, and, without exacting any conditions, was most ungrudgingly a friend to this village interest.

Our now deceased sister had not, therefore, the anxieties pressing upon many of Zion's children, nor the bereaving strokes that "widows in Israel," with fatherless children, often deplore; in addition to which, she enjoyed no ordinary share of physical health and vigour. She, being but fifty-four years of age, had not much passed the meridian of human life, and the prospect of death might seem remote. But the rising morning cannot assure that we shall end the day, for, without any premonitory symptom, being in the garden, on Friday forenoon, March 2nd, giving instructions as to spring planting, she suddenly fell from an apoplectic attack. There seemed slight consciousness, but medical remedies proved of no avail, and she expired the same afternoon, to the intense grief of her husband and family, reminding us that "in the midst of life we are in death." This little tribute of Christian affection is

Our bereaved friend, and somewhat more aged brother is not forgotten in his "hour of lonely woe by the Lord's people, who pray he may find the consolations of Jehovah not few or small, and that

"When all created streams are dry,

Christ's fulness is the same."

Yet we have thought it well to note the kindly helpers labouring with us in the Gospel,and thus to note the void that death makes by thinning our ranks, and look to Him who only can do good in His good pleasure unto Zion, and build up the walls of Jerusalem.

It may be stated that the parents of our departed friend came from Clare or Hundon, about the year 1830. W.H. Ipswich.

SYMPATHY WITH THE TRIED

FRIENDS AT HADLEIGH.

OUR God we own Thy sovereign sway,
Teach us in silence to obey,
Grant us submission, and impart
A truly sympathising heart.

Deacons and ministers must part,
Deep calls to deep to rend their heart;
Members and friends the stroke must
feel,

Lord, send Thy gracious balm to heal.

Fill up
the vacant places, Lord,
Direct Thy children by Thy Word,
That they may see Thy loving Hand
Is leading to the Heavenly land.

My sympathy I humbly send
To every sorrowing loving friend,
And though we' dwell so far apart,
I've felt the pang that rends your heart.
Lord, bless the church that's left below,
On them Thy choicest gifts bestow;
When storms and dangers all are past,
Safe may they gain the port at last.
Give Thy dear servants grace, O Lord,
Richly to feed upon Thy Word;
May they hold up their pastor's hand-
In every conflict with him stand.

Be strong in faith to trust their Lord,
Resting upon His faithful Word,
And He will guide them safely through;
Glory and praise to Him are due.
SARAH GRIMWOOD.

CEYLON.

MR. HENRY NOBLE (whose character corresponds with his name) is now well established at Wellawatte, about four miles from Colombo; and, since the dismissal of Mr. Andriesz, has, to a great extent, united his work with his own; for, although he resides at Wellawatte, he visits Colombo three or four times a week, and hence the cause there will not be neglected. His labours embrace preaching, teaching, evangelisation, visiting, and distributing tracts.

Preaching.-A place of worship has been obtained at Wellawatte, where our brother statedly preaches the Gospel, both in English and in Tamil, with considerable encouragement, and, it is expected, a small church will shortly be formed. A baptistery has been constructed, and no sooner was it completed than our brother had the pleasure of using it for the purpose of baptizing an aged disciple, who had long had a desire to obey his Lord's command, but lacked the opportunity of doing so. The following is Mr. Noble's account of the service :

"Saturday, January 27th.-This day was to me and others, I trust, one of solemn importance. The new baptistery having been completed, it was dedicated to the Lord to-day by the burial of one whose natural life has already been extended to the age of seventy-eight years. It was solemn and impressive indeed to witness this our aged brother standing beside the watery grave open to receive him. After the usual service had been performed, and prior to our entering the water, I requested the candidate to state briefly, before all present (a goodly number), his reasons for taking the step he was about to take; when, with tremulous voice and deep emotion, he spoke to the following effect:

of

"Friends, I am an old man, in the decline of life, and in all human probability have not many days to remain in this world; but ere I go the way all flesh, it is my earnest desire to manifest my faith in, and obedience to, the command of Christ. This desire has long been uppermost in my mind, and is now on the eve of being accomplished.

do not submit to this ordinance with the view of being saved thereby; but, being saved already, I am desirous of publicly acknowledging the same by following my Lord and Master through the baptismal flood,' &c., &c.

"The poor old man was overcome by emotional feelings before he could conclude his remarks. A short prayer having been offered, and the usual questions satisfactorily answered, I requested the candidate to accompany me down into the water, and, after guiding his feeble steps thereto, I immersed this aged brother, in the name of the Triune God. On his emerging from the water the doxology was sung, and this interesting and solemn service was closed with the benediction."

Teaching."The Anglo-vernacular school here continues to be increasingly encouraging. There have been a few additions to the number of scholars, and the children are making fair progress in their lessons."

Mr. Noble further reports:-"The Sunday-school is also very encouraging, and it affords me much pleasure to observe the attention the scholars pay to what is taught them, as well as the promptness with which they reply to such questions as I put to them from time to time."

Evangelisation. Besides out - door preaching, and house-to-house visitation, our missionary regularly visits the Government Civil Hospital, at Borella, where he goes from bed to bed, and converses with the poor sufferers, directing

them to the Good Physician. Many interesting accounts of these visits have been received. Take the following as samples :—

"In one of the wards, I found a few Hindoos and other Tamil-speaking persons sitting together, and, taking a seat near them, from the contents of a handbill, 'The Burden-bearer,' I commenced to address them. The number was soon increased. They listened attentively, and, at the close, gladly accepted the tracts offered them. One of the number, a Roman Catholic, wishing to possess a copy of the Scriptures, or a portion of the same, I promised to supply him with one on a future visit.”

On another occasion, Mr. Noble says:-"In the seamen's ward, I found men of various countries, who were suffering more or less. The first was an English sailor, suffering from dysentery. After hearing his tale of suffering, I spoke to him words of sympathy, and directed him to Jesus, the Good Physician, and gave him a suitable tract. Thus I went from one to another. Amongst the foreign seamen were the following-a Dane, two Bengalis, and a Chinese; to whom I spoke as well as I was able, but I had no tracts in their own tongues to offer them. The Danish and Chinese sailors knew a little broken English. The former was reading the Scriptures in his own language, which I was glad to observe, and the latter tried to explain to me how the accident happened (a severe cut in his hand) which brought him there. Among the English sailors were two or three who had been injured in the collision which took place on Sunday evening, October 15th, about 360 miles off Colombo, when the barque Glenroy (conveying about 400 coolies), from Mauritius to Calcutta, collided with the P. & O. mail steamer Peshawar. Tract Distribution.-Our brother is very energetic in this department. Not only does he avail himself of these silent messengers by the wayside, and as a means of introducing himself when

visiting, but he frequently takes short trips by rail, and sets all his fellow passengers reading, getting out almost every time the train stops, and changing his seat, with a view of distributing his tracts as far as possible throughout the train.

He also frequently visits the fort, the wharf, and the jetty, where he has ample opportunities of conversing and of distributing tracts to a large number of Tamil-speaking boatmen, coolies, and others, as well as to numerous sailors from all parts of the world. He says, “I am so well known, and my purpose too, that in this as well as in different parts of Colombo, when walking along, I am frequently applied to for tracts, a goodly supply of which I always carry in my hand or pocket.

Recently his stock was well-nigh exhausted; but application was made to the Baptist Tract Society, who at once liberally granted five pounds' worth-a large proportion being in the various continental languages. Thus our brother will have the opportunity of sowing the good seed, not only in English and Tamil, but among the sailors from various countries who put in to the port of Colombo.

On March 11th, two sermons were preached by Mr. S. K. Bland, at Wellingborough, on behalf of our Mission, who also addressed the school, giving a descriptive account of the schools in Madras and Ceylon. The sum of £10 6s. was collected for the object—nearly half of which was contributed by the scholars, who have also made several little articles for the Madras and Ceylon schools. On the following evening Mr. Bland gave a lecture on Italy, describing his tour from west to east, and from north to south, through that beautiful and interesting country, and having special reference to the evangelistic work now carried on in Florence, Rome, Naples, Spezzia, &c.