within the vail; all is well, there will be no shipwreck; all is calm." Calm indeed it was. Not a ruffle appeared on the surface of his soul; not a doubt of safety expressed. Christ's promises his support, and waiting to enter the haven of rest. We recounted together the labours of past years, and talked of the amazing love of God to the sons of Raratonga. It was a soul-cheering visit to one just entering the invisible state. "What shall I say to the church after your dismissal ?" "Tell them," he replied, "to hold fast their confidence to the end-that faith in Christ is absolutely necessary to salvation," and quoted, as strength would allow and his quivering lips repeat, John iii. 36. "This may perhaps be our last meeting below." "Well," said he, "ere long we shall meet again in the far brighter world above, to dwell for ever with the Lord, there to see the King in his beauty,' and that land (pointing to the heavens) which is afar off." Prayed with him, and left his humble cottage.

Just as I was going to the out station, was sent for to see our dying friend. Quite sensible, but hardly able to speak. Replies to questions truly satisfactory. His meditations wholly on Christ; there his affections centre...." You will soon leave us." Yes, the chariot is at the door; the body is the clog which keeps back my spirit, but soon the thread will be cut, then shall I fly away beyond restraints." "Have you any fear in the prospect of separation ?" "None at all." What is the reason of this tranquility of mind as death approaches ?" "Christ is mine. To him I have committed my soul; why should I fear?" "Is your trust entirely on Christ?" "On Christ alone I trust for salvation; he is the true foundation-the way-the door." As I prayed with him and supplicated the divine presence with his soul through the valley, he responded to it with much emotion. I then took my leave. Next day his son came to say that he was near death. I went. Pulse scarcely perceptible; breathing short. "How is it with you?" I asked. He replied, "With Christ is my soul." "Entirely?" "Yes, entirely." "No fear?" "None at all." "This is the hour of our separation." Unable to speak, but a significant squeeze of the hand. After a while he came to and opened his eyes. I said, "You will, I trust, soon be with Christ." "Yes, I shall." "To-morrow," I said "is the Sabbath." He replied, "I shall be in heaven." "How great the love of God in not leaving you in the ignorance of heathenism!" Raising his eyes upwards, he said, "Great, great! With his son-in-law and daughter I then conversed on the difference be

tween the death of a saint and sinner, all of which he heard and understood, as a reply he made fully evinced. I left him to go to dinner, but ere I could return his spirit had fled, to be with Him who had redeemed him with his precious blood.

Thus died Kaisara, one of the first members of the church in Ngatangaia, and one of the first deacons. A good man; a consistent follower of Christ; born a heathen, died a christian.

At our next church prayer-meeting one of the members, alluding to his death in his prayer, said, How often have we heard his voice exhorting us to flee from wrath and lay hold on Christ as our Saviour, as he perambulated our districts when we were living without God; but now we shall hear his voice no more. This is true. For twenty years past, in company with his brother deacons and others, has he visited almost every family throughout the districts, affectionately entreating the different classes of whom they are composed to an abandonment of what is evil, and to "seek the Lord while he was to be found." Of the good effects of these visits we have had frequent proofs from the testimony of not a few admitted into the church. work is now finished on earth-his Master has called him home.'

Death of a Young Chief.

His

"In my communication to you, Nov., 1851, mention was made of the remarkable change produced in the heart of a young chief, from a conversation with Maretu, on one of these visits; our departed brother, Kaisara, was also present. That young man in January last was called away by death. From the above period, till the time of his decease, he gave full proof that the change was real. He subsequently joined my Bible. class, and evinced a great desire to understand the fundamental truths, and be enriched with the blessings of the Gospel. My visits to him during his short illness were frequent, and I found him in a pleasing frame of mind in reference to the future. One of our lay native preachers, who resides near his dwelling, and was often with him, informed me that so eager was he for religious conversation, and such delight did he take in it, that he would not talk on any other subject. If allusion was made to his lands, he said he had done with all these things. He was asked, if leaving his possessions, friends, wife, &c., did not cause any painful sensations? Not in the least,' was his reply, for he had long had his mind weaned from earth.' 'Are you under no fearful apprehensions of death?' 'None at all.' 'How is it that you seem so lost to the things of this world?' 'Be

cause they are not that on which my soul can repose. Ever since my heart was convinced of the evil nature of sin, and I perceived the reality of Scripture truths, and that Christ alone is the true foundation of a sinner's trust, my desire for salvation has wholly rested there; there alone have my thoughts been fixed, and nothing on earth besides is worth possessing. I wish to be with Jesus. I do not waver. My heart is fixed upon Christ. Earth and all it contains are insignificant in comparison with the prospects beyond.' In this frame of mind he continued till the last, and nothing else yielded him delight. He (the teacher) was with him till within a few hours of his death. Soon after he last saw him, his friends told him that he suddenly sat up, and mustering all the strength he possessed, sang one of our hymns with a loud voice, and then prayed with much energy, which exercise quite exhausted him, and sinking down, he spoke but little after. His spirit took its flight, and sped away to that Saviour

whom he loved.

Thus died one of the oldest and one of the youngest of our members. Both of them brands plucked out of the fire.' To the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ they ascribed salvation, and through the infinite merits of the Redeemer have, I trust, entered through the same 'gate into the city' as their believing brethren in more highly-favoured christian countries. Many more instances might be recorded, but the above are sufficient to call forth united thanksgivings to the God of all grace, who still condescends to smile upon

our feeble efforts to advance Messiah's empire."

BURNLEY, Enon Chapel.-On Lord's day, June 25th, two sermons were preached by the Rev. J. Buckley, in behalf of our foreign missions. On the following evening a Public Missionary Meeting was held,; Henry Kay, Esq., in the chair. Addresses were delivered by the Revds. R. Evans, P. B.; J. Stroyan, Indep.; J. Buckley; A. Strachan, Wesleyan; R. D. Wilson, Indep.; and J. Batey. These were the first missionary services in Enon Chapel. We had an encouraging beginning. Collections £9 9s 41d. J. B. B.

LOUGHBOROUGH, Wood-Gate. — The Annual Meeting of the Juvenile Sabbath School Missionary Association was held on Lord's-day afternoon July 16th, it being "Quarter day." After the usual details of the school had been gone through, Mr. B. Baldwin, the superintendent read the subscriptions from the classes during the past year, when it appeared that the boys classes had subscribed £4 13s 84d; and the girls, £3 16s 3d; making a total of £10 0s 34d. The pastor of the church then delivered an interesting and impressive address to the children, in which he encouraged them to give of their little monies to the mission-because thus their knowledge of the world and its wants would be increased-their sympathies would be extended and enlarged-they would acquire a higher sense of the value of their own priveleges--they would form the respectable and christian habit of giving they would become more interested in the cause of missions, and of religion-they were thus helping in God's cause, the best of all-and that it would be pleasant for them to reflect on when they grew old, that all their days they had been identified with God's cause and doing good. The school, teachers, and friends, joined in singing several suitable pieces and hymns; and the whole meeting was delightful. On the following Sabbath the pastor visited the school and read an account of a poor orphan girl just received into the asylum at Cuttack; and suggested that as their funds had increased, this juvenile association might adopt the orphan "Mary" as their child in addition to the two others they now have. One of the elder boys then rose and purposed a resolution to that effect, and another seconded the resolution, which the pastor put to the school in the usual way, when every little hand was lifted up to pass it. It was pleasant to learn that the half-pence and farthings of the children, amounted on that day to 6s 4d. May all our children and Sabbath Schools be blessed, and be a blessing.

MEMOIR OF MR. WILLIAM NUMEROUS and constant are the mementoes given us of the instability of all temporal possessions, and that our life is even as a vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. To all former remembrancers of these weighty but much neglected truths, we have now to add another, presented in the sudden and unlooked for removal of the subject of the following brief memoir. The late Mr. William Norton, of Cauldwell, in the county of Derby, was the third son of Joseph and Ann Norton, of the village already named. Mr. Norton was one of the very few persons to whose lot it falls to end their days where they began them for he died in the same village, and nearly on the same spot on which he was born. His birth occurred December 25th, 1789, and his death, November 21st, 1853; so that when he died he had nearly completed his sixty-fifth year. Our friend's course, though it occupied almost sixty-five years, owing to the circumstances in which he was placed, supplies but few remarkable incidents; yet it would be improper to suffer him to pass away entirely unnoticed, both on his own account, and on account of his estimable connections. In a religious point of view, Mr. Norton VOL. 1,-N. S.

*A

No. 9.

NORTON, OF CAULDWELL.

was favoured in early life with privileges which are not very common even in these days of comparative advancement. At that time the General Baptist interest was not only as it is at present-the only dissenting cause in his native village, but it was the principal one in the immediate vicinity, and was, moreover, in a flourishing condition. The parents of the deceased were at that period amongst the leading members of the church; and his mother in particular appears to have been distinguished amongst her contemporaries, both on account of her mental capacity and her piety. Every one who reflects on the strength of maternal influence in a family, either for good or for evil, over sons quite as much if not more than over daughters, will justly esteem it one of the highest of privileges to be favoured with a mother truly characterized by wisdom and holiness. Those young persons who either abuse or neglect to profit by so great an advantage, doubtless incur the displeasure of Him who has said, "Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise." There is reason to conclude that our brother owed much to this salutary parental influence. Parents such as those that we have

described would naturally be anxious for the spiritual and eternal welfare of their children, and would manifest that solicitude not only by protecting them as much as possible from exposure to evil communications of every kind, but also by bringing them within the reach of those sacred influences by which youthful piety is promoted: such as a constant attendance on public worship and the ministry of the Gospel, and also that domestic discipline which is indispensible to bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But whatever means may have been used for the spiritual welfare of their children by the persons in question, it is pleasing to reflect that they were crowned with considerable success, inasmuch as with only one exception, all their children who attained maturity became connected with the church of Christ, and several of them, of whom our departed friend was one, have been prominent and useful in the cause of the Redeemer. The subject of this brief sketch passed his earliest years under the paternal roof, probably in acquiring such an education as was possessed only by the more favoured of the rural population upwards of fifty years ago, and in rendering himself serviceable in the family as opportunity might enable him. However, for reasons respecting which we have no certain information, it was decided to send him to business at an age much younger than is customary at present. Accordingly, in the year 1801, when he was still under twelve years of age, our friend was apprenticed to Mr. Thos. Yates, senr., who had recently commenced business as a tailor, in Birmingham. Our aged friend, Mr. Yates, who survives his younger brother, bears honourable testimony to his character as " a steady and faithful young man;" and subsequently to his making a profession of religion, as a con

The

sistent and worthy christian. rustic youth's residence in the populous and busy town of Birmingham was not destined to be of long continuance, as shortly after his removal there, Mr. Yates accepted an invitation from the General Baptist church at Hinckley, to serve them in the ministry in conjunction with Mr. Freestone. At that period, the Hinckley church comprehended also Earl Shilton, Thurlaston, and Wolvey, which accounts for its requiring the services of a second stated minister. The time of Mr. Norton's abode at Hinckley, which extended some years beyond the term of his apprenticeship, was certainly one of the most eventful of his life. During those years events transpired which without doubt materially influenced his after course. It was then that his conversion to God and his union with the church took place—things of far greater moment, and exerting a far more powerful influence, both on our temporal and eternal interests, than any merely secular or social changes. We cannot at this distance of time, and in the absence of any written record relative thereto, ascertain the means by which the saving change was effected in its youthful subject, nor can we describe the features by which his early piety was distinguished; whether he was greatly alarmed while under conviction of sin, and deeply distressed by the sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation; whether he was filled with all joy and peace in believing, suddenly and at once, as is sometimes the case, or by a more gradual process, which is the experience of many.

Nor is the decision of these points essential to our purpose. We may safely refer the proof of the reality and completeness of the change, of which our brother avowed himself the subject, to the undeviating perseverance of his subsequent course. He was baptized and united