Evesham, by T. E. Cleworth, on behalf of the "Evangelization Society." At the evening meeting, on First-day, Ninth month 8th, God sent home to his heart the words, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. vi. 13).

A few days later he wrote to his mother, "You must be interested to know that your son has had his sins lifted from him. He has for years resisted what his conscience told him was right, but he could no longer go on. He hoped that these meetings might be the means of his being brought to Jesus, and the Lord was pleased to have the story of Lady Ann Erskine and the Auction Sale told for his especial benefit. Though at the time in great doubt whether it would not be well to resist, as before, these thoughts were removed on Monday, and I confessed to God, with many tears, and have been forgiven. I desire to thank Him for what He has done for me so far, and I know I shall yet experience a closer walk with Him."

From this time there came new desires and ew thoughts. Most emphatically in his case a

new life commenced at his conversion.

There were conflicts and struggles, battles within and without, but he was enabled to accept salvation, through Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in its fulness.

Under date of Ninth month 15th, 1878, he wrote to one of his sisters :-"I have never liked to write to you, as you belonged to Jesus, and I did not. I could hardly bear to hear Him spoken of, as I knew I was living in wilful opposition to His wishes. I could never read any serious book, as every word of it rebuked me, and I was glad to be able to escape going to a place of worship when I could find any excuse, because I was determined to hold out. I always felt I must sacrifice all my dearest amusements and employments to live a kind of monkish life; and though many of these thoughts have been removed, there are many doubts and fears yet left, and I am inclined to be discouraged. I wish I had long ago decided when I had some one with me to advise me."

And again, on the 22nd, to his mother:"Oh I know but little yet, but I know enough to be confident of this, that the pleasure of doing wrong is as nothing compared with the pleasure of doing right. I feel that I can do

everything, especially my office work, better now. I desire to be a thorough out-and-out Christian, not ashamed to confess that I am His. I am very glad that I learnt passages from the Bible when at school, as many are recalled to me.”

He soon felt it to be his duty to make confession of his conversion to God in the Friends' meeting-house, and failure to obey this call was attended by sorrow and loss. He says, "The sad experience brought on by my refusal to confess in public that I was on the Lord's side in the meeting-house here the Sunday after I was converted, will always make me very strong in my opinion as to the duty, and I believe in almost every case, absolute necessity, of young people doing so at once. It has been a great blessing to me within the last four months to have to do it, not only at meeting, but at Park Street, yes, and in the streets of this city. If I had been whole-hearted for Christ from the very beginning, where I should have been now I don't know. Do pray for me that I may not be choosing my own times and seasons, and may do everything to God's glory only."

.

He frequently ministered to the congregation, and spoke in the streets of Gloucester; was one of those who, with the concurrence of the

D

Preparative Meeting, held meetings in the Friends' Meeting-house at Painswick, was foremost in bringing T. E. Cleworth to Gloucester for a mission, became interested in the Band of Hope Union, and took an active part in the mission work which he and others commenced in the neighbourhood of Park Street. Subsequently he was very active in raising money for the building of Sherborne Street Mission Room, where he was instrumental in bringing souls to God; and this Mission had his sympathy and help throughout his life. His letters in the following year show that he was feeling much interested in the question of the "higher Christian life," and that he "longed and looked" for a deeper baptism for himself. In his case this came not as he looked for its coming; but in after years there did come, with some modification of theological views, the God-given power to live among his fellows at Evesham a life without reproach, a beautiful life," strikingly

66

consistent in all its details.

666

On Ninth month 5th, 1880, he writes:"We walk by faith, and not by sight,' is the grand lesson I learn more of every hour, and when this has been learnt thoroughly then will come the light and fruits of the Spirit. When

I was converted it was for some time an unsettled trust which finally settled down into a firm conviction that all was well." And on Eleventh month 27th:-" How blessed a thing it is to feel that we are nothing, and that Christ is all. I have been in heaviness through manifold temptations, trials and difficulties; but still have felt that it has been well with my soul. God never lets us be exalted above measure, and in our times of deep abasement do we ever find fresh springs in Him, and He is still to us our Shadow from the burden and heat of the day."

In 1881 he returned to Evesham and entered into his father's business, and it was very characteristic of him that though his heart was never fully in the work, he did his part most efficiently. It seemed impossible for him to do anything in a slovenly or untidy way. All his tastes were artistic (he once thought of making art his profession), and it has been remarked that the notes in his interleaved Bible are 66 a work of art."

He was an earnest Bible student, his Bible being his constant daily companion; but his reading was not confined to religious literature, and he was always gathering up information on