in the Lord's name. I believe he spoke first at Henley, where he supplied monthly for more than 40 years. He preached his last sermon at Wallingford on Nov. 23rd; was taken ill the Thursday following, and died the next Tuesday.

I saw him on the Saturday, and found him in a blessed frame of mind, perfectly resigned to the will of God. He said the hymn commencing: My soul, with joy attend "

had been so precious to him that morning; and repeated it all through. I saw him again on Monday, and found him then very ill; and in reply to a question, he said he had not lost his hope. The following words and others had been very precious to him: "When I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not."

On the morning of his death, he said to his daughter, "I have had a dreadful conflict;" but soon afterwards a friend arrived, and found him exceedingly happy. He said, amongst many other precious things, the following: "The dear Lord is going to take me to himself. I shall not get better, but shall be glad to go, not to be a trouble here. I long to see him face to face. He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. I am not ashamed of my hope. And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee; and again repeated the hymn above mentioned all through. He also said,

"Whate'er men say, the needy know

It must be so; it is the way.

Just before breathing his last he said, "No condemnation."-J. P. K. The friend who sent us this obituary accompanied it with a letter containing the following remarks, to which we need only add that the obituary of this good man and respected minister would have appeared sooner in our pages if we had not waited for a fuller account, which we had some reason to expect would be sent.

"Friend Savage worked on this farm 45 years; and a more honest or consistent man it would be difficult to find. I intended saying in the notice that for some years he was very much tried in circumstances; and after working hard the whole of the six days, very often walked 30 to 40 miles on a Lord's-day to preach the gospel."

ELIZA DUNHAM.-On Sept. 30th, 1879, Eliza Dunham, aged 76. She was a member of the Particular Baptist church, Haynes, Beds, having joined that church in August, 1852, and continued as a consistent member in union with it until her death.

I cannot say much about our departed friend's call by grace; only this I can say, that she was very zealous in the things of God, and contended for a free-grace gospel. Nine years previous to her death she had a paralytic stroke, from which she never recovered, and seldom could get out to chapel. In the present year she had another stroke, which took away very nearly all the use of her limbs. In this sore trial, and as she drew near her end, the dear Lord very much favoured her. O how she longed to be gone, and leave her clay tabernacle behind! She could say with dear Newton: "My soul, this curious house of clay,

And again:

Thy present frail abode,

Must quickly fall to worms a prey,
And thou return to God."

"I feel this mud-wall'd cottage shake;
And long to see it fall;

That I my willing flight may take

To him who is my All."

She would say in an ejaculatory manner, "Come, my precious Jesus; I

want my precious Jesus." When I have gone into the room to see her, she would look towards the Bible, and make a motion with her lips for me to read a portion of the Word of God, and spend a few minutes in prayer. She was often melted into tears, and when her son-in-law, Mr. Roberts, one of the deacons, has gone in to see her, she has kept on until exhausted, talking, as far as she could be understood, about her precious Jesus. I spoke to her about Toplady's sweet hymn:

"When langour and disease invade

This trembling house of clay," &c.

These lines were very sweet to her:

"There shall my disimprison'd soul
Behold him and adore;

Be with his likeness satisfied,
And grieve and sin no more.
"Shall see him wear that very flesh
On which my guilt was lain;
His love intense, his merit fresh,
As though but newly slain."

But she had to undergo another sore trial. The dear Lord withdrew the light of his countenance, and again she was in trouble; whilst the devil hurled his fiery darts at her, and she mourned in her complaint and made a noise. She had to prove, like all poor sinners, that we are saved by rich grace and sovereign favour, and that no man hath power over the joy of faith to retain it. But her religion had a root which held fast in the time of her affliction; and “a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.". She, through grace, had dug deep, and her foundation was upon a rock; and when the floods came, and the storm arose, and blew and beat, it could not overthrow the building. "I will see you again," says Christ," and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man taketh from you." So it was with the departed. Thus the dear Lord brought her through many afflictions, and she proved that as her days were, so her strength was, and that the arms of everlasting love were underneath her, to bear her up. Thus she proved him

faithful unto the end.

A few days before she died, she seemed to take very little notice of anything, but gradually sank into the arms of death.

"One gentle sigh her fetters broke;

We scarce could say, She's gone,
Before her willing spirit took

Her mansion near the throne."

Stevenage, Herts, Nov. 21st, 1879.

ELI FOX.

MEDITATIONS ON Christ's sufferings produce a deadness towards sin, and a life unto righteousness. For, while the believer seriously considers the sufferings and death of Christ, he undergoes in his own soul some of the bitterness, pain, and torture, though mingled with sweetness, which Christ suffered in a greater degree. He views the melancholy scene, and utters groan for groan, and sigh for sigh, till his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow and grief; and this produces a kind of death within. And again, when he sees the mighty Conqueror rising triumphant from the tomb, his soul is transported with joy, and ascends with him to the mansions of bliss. Thus we die and live, with and through Christ; and thus we are enabled to mortify sin. See Rom. vi. throughout. Sin will never appear in its own deformity and horrid nature, tillwe see it in its effects on the Son of God, till we behold the Lamb of God taking it away. Christ crucified, like a magnifying glass, exhibits to view every feature of this hideous monster.-T. Charles,

THE

GOSPEL STANDARD.

MAY, 1880.

MATT. v. 6; 2 TIM. I. 9; ROM. XI. 7; ACTS VIII. 37, 38; MATT. XXVIII. 19. SPECIAL PRAYER-MEETINGS.

To the Editor of the " Gospel Standard."

Dear Brother in Christ, and Fellow-labourer in the Lord,-I so fully fell in with the remarks made by your correspondent in a neighbouring town, and with your reply, that, although during the past year we have had sundry days set apart in this parish with a view to humbling ourselves before God, and beseeching him, "in the midst of" deserved "wrath to remember mercy" in regard to our guilty land, yet I at once resolved to unite with you in your proposal for a special prayer-meeting on Monday evening, the 5th of April.

I was confirmed in this intention by the following circumstance. Just prior to the service this morning, one connected officially with the church came into the vestry, and, whilst speaking for a moment of the exciting electioneering scenes of the past week, he said that a son of his-a deaf and dumb, but most intelligent youth-had laid his head upon the table and actually wept at hearing that an avowed infidel had been sent to Parliament as the representative of an important constituency. I had previously heard that such was the case, but could not believe it; and, in the list to which I referred, found no such return. Upon the fact, however, being confirmed, I felt humbled indeed. The words of the prophet Jeremiah at once came to my mind: "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

From the reading-desk I therefore announced the prayermeetings which you, as the editor of the "Gospel Standard," had proposed, and stated my intention of seeking to co-operate with you and with all those upon whose hearts the Lord the Spirit might graciously operate, at this most solemn crisis of the nation and among the professing churches.

I am sure, dear brother, if ever there was a time when it behoved us to sink minor distinctions, and, where we agree one with the other in the grand essentials of our most holy faith, to unite together in oneness of heart to plead with the Lord for his continued forbearance and long-suffering, it is at the present most critical juncture.

No. 538.

O! how does it behove us to give heed to this word: "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, 0 LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" And do mark, dear brother, what is added to this merciful and condescending exhortation: "Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people." Observe how emphatic "His people!" Does he not preserve the land, yea, the world at large, for the sake of the salt-"His people" -that are in it? Further, we read, "Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith." (Joel ii. 15-19.)

And have we not been the eye-witnesses, dear brother, as well as again and again read in the history of our country, that, in spite of all the abuse to which such days may have been subjected, the Lord has countenanced the times which have been set apart professedly to humble ourselves before him as a nation, and to plead with him that, in the midst of all our ill- and helldeservings, he would still exercise towards us that mercy in which he delights.

Well do I remember such a day as that to which I have referred being appointed, in connection with the famine which was then raging in Ireland, and towards the relief of which your readers so generously contributed by the hand of the then editor, the late lamented Mr. Philpot. By those very means, and others of a similar character, I was enabled, in the most timely and effectual way, to minister to the all-but perishing multitude. I was about, however, to remark that a "day of humiliation," so called, was announced from the throne; and was duly observed throughout the United Kingdom. Whether such an act was regarded by the Lord acceptably I will leave you to judge from the following fact: The very day after the one to which I allude, a fleet of ships, laden with bread-stuffs, arrived in the Cove of Cork, with which the poor famine-stricken people were sup plied. Moreover, it comes to my recollection at the moment of writing that the sermon attended with the most blessing, as far as my knowledge goes, was one which I was permitted to preach in a church in your town of Leicester, upon one of these officiallyappointed days.

Permit me to add one thought which has pressed itself upon my mind since I sat down to this letter. Is there no way in which we can set the example about sinking differences with respect to those secondary matters to which I have referred? I cannot, under existing circumstances, ask you to my pulpit, nor

am I at liberty to accept your invitation, should you make such a proposal to me'; but I can, notwithstanding, ask you to speak or to take part in a united gathering or prayer meeting in our School-house or Mission-hall; and this invitation I give you with all my heart. In that School-house I have listened with a glowing heart to the beloved Sears, and to the beloved son of my old and valued friend, the late John Warburton. I have likewise listened with similar interest to my dear brother-in-law, Mr. Densham, whose name appears on your cover from month to month, when he has taken the service at our Mission-hall.

Most gladly, therefore, do I throw out this invitation to you, to your co-editors, or to any who, in the spirit which I suggest, are prepared to waive minor distinctions, and to hold out the right hand of fellowship to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. O how gladly would I hail such a day and such a gathering, in sweet and blessed anticipation of ere long sitting down, as one united and redeemed family, in our Father's house above, there "to know even as we are known." No party names nor petty distinctions there! No, never! never! blessed be God! Your affectionate Brother and Fellow-labourer in the Lord, St. Luke's, Bedminster, April 4th, 1880. D. A. DOUdney.

We gladly insert the above letter of Dr. Doudney. We wonder not that the young man wept. We only wonder that our own heart and the hearts of the truly godly are not more affected when we see the most notorious infidels and avowed Socinians, whose principles pronounce the Lord of glory accursed, returned to represent this nation in Parliament. "O my soul, come not thou into their secret." "Gather not my soul with sinners. Lord, keep thy dear children and the writer aloof from such things as have so evident a tendency to put contempt upon thy Name, and to provoke thy judgments."

66

We quite agree with our brother in the two things to which his letter refers,-1. The advisability and usefulness of special and united prayer. Our prayers may not be answered just as we expected. Nay, it may be the very reverse, at any rate, at first, and in appearance; but they will not prove in vain. By terrible things in righteousness God answers us. He is wiser than we are. When the Angel's intercessory prayer, enveloping and perfuming the prayers of all saints, had gone up with acceptance to God, there were thunders aud voices, and an earthquake upon the land from whence the prayers of saints had ascended; and the first trumpet sounded. Still, let us pray. God can either, in reply, avert evils, rolling back the torrent of ungodliness and sin from our country, or he can set upon us individually his secret preserving mark; so that when calamities abound, we and ours shall be preserved and hidden. (Ezek. ix.)

2. The desirableness of sinking as much as possible minor differences, and uniting in the common object of defending and holding forth the truth of God in such a day and generation. This