as FA A. L. O.E. Miss Tucker, C.E.Z.M.S. Missionary. AR and wide through England and Ireland, the news has spread that the authoress A.L.O.E. is dead. Eighteen years have passed since she went to India, resolved to spend the "sunset of her life" amongst the women of the Punjab. Since then, without any break, except short visits to the Hills by the doctor's order, her strength, her means, her gifts of mind, and above all, the all-pervading love which encircled those about her, have been consecrated to the service of India's Women. Any attempt to express the great loss to our Society would be useless. An In Memoriam will appear in our next Number; in the present one we print extracts from letters received from the Bishop of Lahore, the Rev. Robert Clark, the Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht, and from our missionary, Miss Grimwood. In answer to many inquiries, we would now, however, briefly mention that Miss Charlotte M. Tucker was the daughter of Mr. Henry St. George Tucker, of the Bengal Civil Service, who was connected for sixty years with India, and who, in 1811, married Miss Jane Boswell, of North Caverse in Scotland. LETTER FROM THE REV. R. CLARK, C.E.Z.M.S. CORRESPONDING Amritsar, December 6th, 1893. We buried dear Miss Tucker in Batala yesterday (Tuesday). She died at 3.15 p.m. on Saturday (December 2nd) in Miss Wauton's house, Amritsar, where she had come to be near the doctor. Miss Wauton had been the first (with Mrs. Elmslie and Miss Hasell) to receive Miss Tucker at their house in Amritsar when, eighteen years ago, she arrived amongst us. Miss Wauton has been the last also, with others, to take leave of her, when she left her house in Amritsar to be carried to her grave at Batala, after her spirit had ascended to Heaven. What dear Miss Tucker has done and what she has been amongst us all, both Europeans and Natives, in India, other pens must tell. The story of how she lived, and laboured, and died, amongst the people to whom she was sent at the age of fifty-four, and with whom she remained (without ever once returning to England) till the age of seventy-two, will be one of the most interesting and stirring records in the annals of Missions. How she waited patiently, engaged in true missionary work at home, till she reached the age when most persons are thinking of retiring from work altogether, and then as soon as the way was made plain and clear for her to carry out her cherished hopes, how she began the life of a missionary to the heathen, and carried it on bravely, continuously and persistently till she died in harness in the midst of her work,-should rouse to thought and action many hearts both at home and in India. Her visits to Zenanas, in both town and village, in her little dhoolie, her frequent journeys in native ekkas,* her wonderful influence amongst the boys of the Baring High School at Batala, and her attachment to them, and theirs to her, can never be forgotten. And then her literary labours, where the field was, we may almost say, the world, for her English books are not only read, but are translated into many languages in India and Europe, and will still go on bearing fruit in many lands, long after her death. There were many friends gathered together yesterday in Batala from many places, many English and many Natives, who after the service in church accompanied her to her simple grave, near to her own house, in the Batala cemetery. Hymns were sung by the whole party all along the * A rough country cart, usually two planks on wheels. way from the church to the grave, and there her precious remains, covered with many wreaths of the choicest flowers, were reverently and lovingly laid, till we all meet again on the resurrection day. It seems almost like the leave-taking of some dear friend going home to England, sorrowful indeed at the time, but with hopes of our soon meeting again. In giving dear Miss Tucker, England has given of her very best in the cause of Christ; when will India give of her best to Christ also? The Bishop of Lahore writes from Ambala on December 2nd to the Rev. Robert Clark: : "For the simple yet always aspiring spirit, the change will be a blessed one indeed. Her endurance unto the end, and her constant rejoicing in the Lord, have been a great example which many of us need to follow. . . . "It was a beautiful and consistent life, and she will still speak though out of sight. I should have thrown up my Visitation engagements here to come to the funeral, but that there is a Confirmation on Tuesday evening which cannot be made a day earlier, because there are some candidates coming from a distance to Ambala for it; so to my great regret, I shall not be with you, except in spirit, on Tuesday morning." LETTER FROM THE REV. H. U. WEITBRECHT. Our dear friend Miss Tucker has gone to her rest, and you will like to have a few lines from Batala to tell you of her last days. I am thankful to say that on the whole, Miss Tucker experienced little suffering or unrest. You may have heard that owing to the absence of a medical lady from Batala, Miss Tucker was called back from her summer leave in June last after a bare four weeks' stay at Simla with her relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Mackworth Young, in whose house she had often found refreshment. Nevertheless, Miss Tucker was unusually well during the remainder of the hot weather and the rainy season. In August and September, when I was much with her, the other missionaries being away, she seemed full of life and brightness. She took pleasure in arranging for the children belonging to Batala, who had left Miss West's Orphanage at Clarkabad for their holidays, and in giving them treats, as she always loved to do; and many were the pleasant evenings we spent together whenever I was in Batala. Till she took to her bed in her last illness, the "Auntie" would continue her work of visiting the women of Batala in their homes, besides regular biweekly journeys to near villages, and her classes for the women here and other duties. During the absence of Miss Gertrude Clarke, whose companionship and care the "Auntie” greatly appreciated, she found a bright and thoughtful companion in Miss Lorbeer of Ghazipur, who stayed with her for two months. But in the Miss Tucker's strength was small, and the cold weather tried her more than the heat. She went with many others to the consecration of Mr. Perkins' church at Barhwal, and returned thence with a heavy cold, on October 26th. On Saturday, November 11th, she gave up work and took to her bed, after telegraphing for a nurse in order that her companion might not be burdened. evening she felt better and was out again, and on the next day she went to church as usual. On Monday she had to take to her bed again, the nurse meanwhile having taken another patient to Amritsar. There, by Dr. Clarke's advice, Miss Tucker herself was taken, and lovingly cared for by the ladies at the City Mission House, especially Miss Jackson and Miss Tuting. Mrs. Weitbrecht and myself were out in camp during the whole of November, but I went in three times to see the "Auntie" after she had been taken to Amritsar. On the 20th, I found her still feverish, but clearheaded, and able to hear of things she wished to know, and ready to make humorous remarks. On the 28th, she had rallied from what seemed to be a death crisis, and was clear in her mind, though weak. She then, as always, expressed her longing to go, but I still hoped she might be spared. On the morning of December 2nd, I found the dear patient quieting down after what proved to be the last struggle. There was no fever, but extreme weakness and some restlessness: she seemed to understand the messages I gave and the words I read; but she could not articulate an answer. That evening in Batala, we received the news of her departure in peace at 3.15 p.m. The remains were sent over from Amritsar two days later, and were placed in the Church of the Epiphany here. The boys of the Baring High School, whom Miss Tucker greatly loved, shared the watch by the bier through the night; and yesterday morning it was borne by old boys and present pupils to the cemetery, about a mile from the church. Many visitors, European and Indian, came from Amritsar, Lahore, and other neighbouring places. The first part of the funeral service was read in the crowded church, where the bier stood covered with wreaths and floral crosses, and Mr. Clark preached on Acts i. 8. He dwelt on Miss Tucker's home position, and renunciation, and life and work here, showing how the Holy Ghost had made her a witness for Christ in India by word, and life, and pen. From the church, the funeral went by the road that partly skirts the town of Batala, and passes out by the Mission buildings about the Baring High School, beyond which is the cemetery. It was preceded by a police guard; then came the clergy and the choir, followed by the bier, the mourners and general congregation and visitors. The rear was brought up by the remaining boys of the Baring High School, and by the boys of the Tucker Baring Middle School, which Miss Tucker founded, and still partly supports by an endowment. Many people from the city followed, and at the cemetery, large numbers were gathered. Hymns were sung at intervals along the way, two of those that were used being composed by Miss Tucker herself in Hindustani. After the burial was over, I spoke a few words about her to the many people who had assembled from outside, trying to impress on them the motive power of her life: "The love of Christ constraineth us." After most of the clergy and visitors had left the cemetery, a number of women from the city came to take a last look and to wail at the grave. Times without number, gentlemen of Batala, and men of lower standing, come to EXTRACT FROM A LETTER I should like to tell of our last interesting visit to our saintly friend. We arrived on our way down from the Hills on October 16th, and found her at 7 a.m. just starting to visit and preach in three distant villages. Nothing was ever allowed to interfere with her Master's work, and after a loving welcome, away she went in her little dhoolie, looking very fragile and utterly unfit for such a morning's work. On her return, after twelve o'clock breakfast, she proposed a little time of reading and prayer, at which she tell me how she went to their houses and sympathised with their wives and daughters in joy and sorrow. Not a few will miss her open-handed charity, and far more her bright, ever-ready sympathy, What she was to her Christian friends and fellow-workers of all races is best known to each individual. A heart ever open to share the joys and sorrows of others, an ideally pure and cultivated mind, a will undaunted by difficulties, was hers; a true, unselfish, loving friend, a noble missionary, full of self-consuming zeal and sacrifice, a mother to the poor, and sorrowing, and lonely,-all this she was, and most of all, a humble servant of Christ who sat at His feet and heard His words. Now she sees His face. We glorify Him for His servant, and pray that her life and example may yet powerfully tell on India. Batala, Dec. 6th, 1893. FROM MISS GRIMWOOD. was very bright. Afterwards in conversing with me, she repeated many beautiful little bits and verses, with which I was so struck that I wrote them in my Bible at the time, little thinking it was the last time I should see that thin, wasted form, still so full of life, and the face of keen intelligence and brightness. I think many may love to read those verses. Her now silent lips may speak to others in the words which I regard as a parting message to me. After speaking of trials and difficulties in the way of the Christian life, and especially of service she repeated,— |