MEMOIR OF THE LATE MRS. YATES.

BY THE REV. JAMES HOBY, D.D.

MRS. MARTHA HODSON YATES, widow of the late Rev. William Yates, D.D., of Calcutta, departed this life on Friday, Nov. 12th, 1858. She had recently returned from India for the fourth time. The climate of Bengal suited her constitution so much better than that of her native land, that she decided, in 1856, to bid a final farewell to England, intending to finish her days in the East. The alarm produced by the Sepoy revolt, however, so affected her enfeebled frame that she resolved rather to encounter the severity of an English winter than to remain in an Indian home.

On the voyage a terrific storm threatened to be as fatal as the mutinous outbreak, and from the effects of it Mrs. Yates never entirely recovered. She was therefore ill prepared for the severe cold which set in so early; and after only two days' illness she fell asleep in Jesus. Her end was peace. She repeatedly said, "I am happy," "very happy," "quite happy," and quoted the verse,

"Why was I made to hear his voice," &c.

She listened with calm satisfaction to a reference made by a friend to the death-bed scene of her first beloved husband, Mr. Pearce, when Sujaatali stood by him and said, in the native tongue,"Fear not, fear not, the Lord is standing by thee"-this thought afforded the same satisfaction as that which the dying man of God felt when a smile spread over his countenance and he once more opened his closing eyes to look upon the Mohammedan convert! It was beautiful to watch the last moments of the voyage of life, when, after the tossings of the recent tempest on a stormy sea, she glided so calmly into the celestial haven.

Mrs. Yates was the last of that band of brothers and sisters known as "The Calcutta Union of Baptist Missionaries." None were ever associated for a nobler purpose, and no voluntary brotherhood was ever more nobly sustained. All the brethren of the Union, and their wives, contributed to the signal success of the great enterprise of giving, through the press, the Word of God to the millions of Hindustan; and, as its design and aim was attained, they were in succession called home to their rest and reward: the last of their number was just spared to the very day in which it was determined to relinquish the establishment they founded for this end.

The maiden name of Mrs. Yates was Blakemore; she was one of a highly respectable and esteemed family in Birmingham, who belonged to the congregation in Cannon Street, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Pearce. His son William married Miss Martha Blakemore before he left England as a missionary to Bengal in 1817. Having resided a short time at Serampore, they removed to Calcutta, and there consecrated themselves to the service of Christ.

Mr. and Mrs. Pearce returned to England in 1837, and during their stay of nearly three years the successful effort was made to obtain ten additional missionaries, and a native chapel at Intally. After only five months from their landing in Calcutta, Mrs. Pearce was a widow. In 1841 she was united to her late husband's friend and fellow-labourer, Dr. Yates, and was thus enabled, pursuant to the advice of the dying

Pearce, to "stay in the mission and do what good you can." She was again a widow in 1845, when Dr. Yates was removed by death, and committed to the waves in the centre of the Red Sea. With his daughters she visited England, in 1848, and with them returned to India in August, 1850. After a residence of about three years she decided to make England her final home, but the severe climate of her native land induced her to alter that decision, and she returned to Calcutta, for the fourth time, in 1856.

Those who knew Mrs. Yates only during these short intervals, can form but an imperfect idea of what she was at the outset of her career. She used occasionally to refer to the experience and habits of a forty years' residence among the natives of India! Forty years ago she was the happy and active wife of him who was honoured to originate the great missionary printing establishment of Calcutta, often called the "Clarendon" of India! After his decease she was united in matrimony with the learned man whose literary labours supplied so much to employ that press; but in the earlier period of their history and amidst numerous trials, she herself was enabled to contribute much to the domestic well-being of the Union, as one family compact, by her own effective labours in a school for young ladies, kept by herself and her missionary sisters.

It was to the young ladies of that school Mr. Pearce delivered his printed address on the subject of native female education, by means of schools for native girls, probably the very first address on this important topic; it was in 1819. This work has progressed but slowly, yet the day will come when woman shall be raised from present ignorance and degradation in India! It is conceivable that even ere long some one of India's daughters, bright in intelligence, shall be raised up to narrate the history of her sex. Gifted with poetic genius, as well as enlightened by the Holy Ghost, she may describe the dark history of the past, and the means by which her Hindu sisters and herself have been elevated to that happiness which then shall be attained. Among the loved and honoured names of the British women whose holy sympathies and devoted labours shall then be extolled, as having achieved the blessed triumph, that of the deceased Christian lady will receive special mention. It may not indeed be strictly true that with her originated the happy thought of schools for the education of native heathen girls, but it would be difficult to prove that the project existed in any mind earlier than hers. Wherever the heaven-born idea first existed, it is certain that, in the early and active days of her missionary life, it may be said of her, who spent nearly forty years in India with this thought living in her heart, that she and her associates in the work did what they could.

BRIEF NOTICE OF THE LATE REV. WILLIAM HENRY DENHAM, OF SERAMPORE.

ANOTHER missionary has gone to his rest. A few short months ago we commended him to our Master's care and blessing. But in His infinite wisdom He has seen fit to- remove our esteemed brother, when just treading the threshold of the land to whose evangelisation he had devoted

the best energies of his life. The mission has lost, in Mr. Denham, a devoted servant, and the youth of India an able and most efficient instructor.

Mr. Denham was left an orphan in the first year of his life, his father, an officer in the East India Company's service, with the entire crew and all the passengers of the ship "Ocean," finding a watery grave in the mighty deep between China and Bencoolen, in the year 1809. Weak in health, his mother removed with him to the west of England; but so soon as sufficiently strong he was placed under the vigilant inspection of Father Michael Ellis, of Lartington, in the north of England. He was educated in the principles of the Church of Rome; but even under these circumstances he was conscious of yearnings for immortality. As a child he exhibited a religious disposition, and was struck with the incongruity which existed between his religious instructions and the gaieties he was encouraged to share. He could not reconcile attendance at mass and vespers on the Sabbath afternoon, with the card-playing and gross worldly amusements which filled up the later hours of the holy day.

Such thoughts as these the child dared not cherish. To think was sinful. The idea of heresy, and the known antipathy of friends, debarred the free exercise of thought. By degrees the superstitious tales, the frightful judgments which were said to follow heresy, and the conviction that out of the pale of the Church of Rome there was no salvation, overpowered the lurking suspicions of his mind, and, at the age of fifteen, Mr. Denham's scruples were neutralised, and he was prepared to enter without reluctance into every gay scene which the metropolis afforded, whither he was now removed.

When about the age of eighteen or nineteen, Mr. Denham formed the acquaintance of a person whose mind was deeply tinctured with infidelity. "As a Romanist," says Mr. Denham, when referring some years afterward to this period of his life, "I was defenceless. His bitter sarcasms filled me with the deepest emotion. My total ignorance of Scripture rendered me incapable of reply. Was Christianity, was the Bible upon which it was founded, a delusion? I was, emphatically, without God, without Christ, without hope in the world'! What was I to do? To read the Scriptures, I dared not. To meet his arguments, I could not. In this state of mind I remained and settled down in infidelity."

Mr. Denham, nevertheless, maintained his usual attendance on Romish worship. Having no religious principle, he was not prepared to make a stand for his new creed, or rather unbelief. In this state of mind he remained till the year 1830. The manner in which a change of heart was effected he relates in the following manner:-"A friend who was much interested in my welfare begged me to accompany him to the chapel of which he was a member, (Rowland Hill's). A stranger preached. His text was Acts ix. 11, Behold he prayeth!' I was struck with the mode of worship, and the solemnity of the discourse. I felt that I had never prayed; but I smiled with inward contempt when I was pointed to a simple reliance upon a Saviour. I felt convinced I was wrong. I felt if his doctrine was in accordance with the Bible, and it was true, I must be lost! Rosary trammels and prescribed confessions had lost their hold upon my mind. I determined to procure a Bible, and to give the book a prayerful and impartial reading. In about four months I had read its contents nearly. This course God blessed to my couversion." At this time Mr. Denham was twenty-one years of age.

Some nine or ten years were now employed by Mr. Denham as the

principal of a school in the vicinity of Kennington, during which time he made a religious profession, and was baptized. About the year 1840, circumstances led him to Faversham, in Kent, where he became the pastor of a Baptist church, raised through the blessing of God by his labours. This office he sustained till his departure for India early in the year 1844. These thirteen years were years of diligent study, which richly prepared his mind for his future engagements in Hindustan. He had acquired a knowledge of Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Latin, and Greek, and was not unacquainted with Rabbinical lore. Theoretical and systematic theology also engaged his attention, and a considerable course of reading had been pursued in philosophy and history, and whatever may be deemed necessary to the general exegesis of the Bible.

In July, 1813, the question of devoting himself to a missionary life was brought before the mind of Mr. Denham. He took up the matter in a spirit of humility and prayer. "Should the judgment of the brethren," he said, "and the providence of God seem to suggest the propriety of my removal from the humble sphere and affectionate charge over which I am now placed, I will willingly, cheerfully, and devotedly dedicate my days, in Jesus's name, to the heathen." Again, he said, "No home claim could receive countenance from me for a moment; but the cry of those whose sorrows are multiplied' (Psa. xvi. 4) is thrilling, their danger imminent, and to their help I am willing to consecrate myself."

With mutual affection and sorrow Mr. Denham parted from the church at Faversham, and in the spirit of a true servant of Christ set sail for India, in the month of February, 1844. The affecting and impressive service at Blandford Street Chapel, when he was set apart for the missionary's life, is yet remembered with deep emotion. His friend, the Rev. J. B. Bowes, preceded him to the rest of God; but had the happiness of renewing Christian intercourse on Mr. Denham's return to this country in 1856.

On arriving at his destination Mr. Denham became the colleague of the Rev. G. Pearce, at Intally. The Intally Benevolent Institution was soon raised in numbers and efficiency by Mr. Denham's exertions. But the decease of the Rev. J. Mack, on the 30th April, 1845, led to his removal to Serampore. In August of that year, Mr. Denham commenced his life's work at that "ancient station," as he called it. With intense interest he entered on the work of repairing the college, of reconstituting the mission, of spreading the gospel in the villages around, and carrying on English services both in the Mission chapel and the Danish church. Aided by the liberality of Mr. Marshman it was his happiness to see his labours crowned with success: the college buildings were put into a state of substantial repair, the school was enlarged, and in due time he obtained the help of a highly qualified colleague in the Rev. J. Trafford. In the pastorate of the mixed native and English church he was assisted by the Rev. J. Robinson.

Failing health, with that of his beloved wife and family, led him to seek the invigorating climate of his native land, in the year 1856. We need not recount the labours in which he engaged on his return. The interest he awakened in the spiritual welfare of India will not soon be forgotten by those who listened to his fervid and earnest appeals, or were privileged with his society in private life. In the month of September of last year he set forth again on his errand of mercy, leaving his family to rejoin him at a later period. But that reunion must now take place in

heaven. In Egypt disease assailed him. At Aden the symptoms were worse. Before reaching Galle some improvement took place; but he was recommended to go on shore, with the hope of recovery, and then after a few weeks delay, proceed to Calcutta. Amid the kindest Christian attentions of the Wesleyan missionary, the Rev. J. Rippon, and the Rev. J. Clarke, the Presbyterian chaplain of the station, the complaint finally obtained the mastery, and he was borne to his lamented grave, but where he would have wished to be, in a heathen land. The letter written by Mr. Rippon to his mourning widow, which she has kindly placed at our disposal, will best convey the circumstances of the closing scene:— "Point de Galle, Ceylon, 30th October, 1858.

"Dear Madam,—It is my painful duty to announce to you the death of the Rev W. H. Denham, who expired at this place, on Monday last, 25th October. He first began to feel unwell whilst passing through Egypt, and when at Aden, or thereabouts, he was seized with acute dysentery, and was so seriously ill on the passage from that place to Galle, that, by the advice of Dr. Mackinnon, of the Madras service, he was landed here on the 21st instant. Dr. Ewart, of the Scotch Free Church Mission, Calcutta, who was one of his fellow-passengers and a personal friend, was exceedingly kind to him during his affliction, and the passengers of the "Simla" subscribed £58 to defray his expenses at Galle. Accommodation was secured for him at the "Lighthouse" Hotel, and Dr. Anthonies, one of the most skilful doctors in Ceylon, was immediately called in, and watched over him with unremitting care. Dr. Ewart requested the Rev. Mr. Clarke, the Presbyterian chaplain, and myself to pay Mr. Denham all the attention in our power; and I need scarcely add that we did all we could to promote his comfort and cheer his mind in the trying circumstances in which he was placed. He lingered in great weakness from the Thursday to the Monday, but was comparatively free from pain, and was generally in full possession of his faculties. Throughout his affliction he conversed freely on religious subjects, and expressed his firm reliance on the Atonement, and his entire resignation to the will of his heavenly Father. His mind was filled with joy and peace in believing. When I first visited him I questioned him on these subjects, and he replied, "These things are not a question of to-day or to-morrow with me; it has been the great purpose of my life for many years to give my heart wholly to God, and now I have no new resolutions to form. I am His in life and death.' On a subsequent occasion, when I alluded to these points, he said, 'It is scarcely necessary for me to repeat my convictions on that subject.' Some of his expressions were- They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.' I have sown in tears, and I shall reap in joy. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' About five o'clock on Monday afternoon he sent for Mr. Clarke and me, saying he was very ill. We found him rapidly sinking, and fully conscious of his approaching change, but in a very calm and peaceful state of mind. In answer to my inquiry as to whether he felt worse? he replied, 'I am dying; but death has lost its sting.' He delivered over to us his watch, pocket-book, &c., and requested us to take charge of his luggage; after which he spoke on various religious topics, and rejoiced in prospect of the resurrection of the just. He said, 'In my pocket-book is a letter written to my wife in a season of great pain and anxiety; please to forward it to her.' The letter is written in pencil on the leaves of the pocket-book, which I send by post with this. He also said, ' Give my love to my poor, dear girls, and to my precious wife; and tell my boy that up to this very day-and mention the date-my constant prayer for him has been, that he may give his whole heart to God.' After this he did not seem disposed for further conversation, but prayed aloud for a considerable time, expressing the strongest confidence in the Saviour. At ten o'clock he ceased to speak, and at eleven he calmly and peacefully expired. On the following day I committed his remains to the tomb, and he now rests in the Presbyterian burial-ground at this place, 'in sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection.'"