never forget the first time I visited Angelina Hobson during her affliction. When I saw how calm and resigned she was in prospect of death, and with what confidence she looked forward to her heavenly home, I was ready to chide myself that I did not more frequently visit the chambers of the sick." On one of my visits I questioned her respecting their temporal circumstances. She said, "We have but little to live upon, but the Lord is very good to us, and his people are very kind; the Lord always sends us some kind friend to help us, and we never want. And I feel that I can say, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."" I talked with her frequently about her spiritual state, and found her experience clear and satisfactory. On one occasion she said, "I do feel so thankful that I have not religion to seek now when I so much need its supporting influence. I feel the best of all is, that God is my friend." On another occasion she said, "I do not know what the Lord is about to do with me. Sometimes I think he will raise me up again; at other times I feel as if I were gradually sinking to the grave; but I can say, 'Not my will, but thy will be done.' I know in whom I have believed, and if I die I shall be with Jesus for ever. I know that religion is a reality, or it could not make me so happy as it does." Once, when visited by Mr. Lynn, he asked what were her prospects as to the future, and she promptly replied, "Oh, I am not afraid to die; I know the Lord will take me to himself." Mr. Lynn asked her on what foundation she rested her hopes, and she satisfied him that she rested her hopes on the atonement of Jesus, believing that for his sake God had graciously accepted her, and matured her for her change, and would take her home to heaven. She was never heard to murmur at her lot, but patiently resigned herself to the will of her Heavenly Father. She would say, "He knoweth the way I take, and when he hath tried me he will bring me forth as gold. I know he does all things well and wisely, and he knows the end from the beginning, and he is either preparing me for a more holy life here, or he is fitting me up for heaven. Not my will, but thy will be done." In this happy frame our sister continued until the 10th December last. On the evening of that day she ap peared much weaker and worse, and it became evident that her end was approaching. Her relatives were summoned to her dying bed; she could not talk much, but assured them that Christ was precious. During the night she rallied a little, and appeared much engaged in prayer; and early on the next morning, being the Sabbath, she sweetly breathed away her happy spirit, and was borne away on angel wings to heaven. J. RIDGWAY. Stalybridge, Jan. 31st, 1854. LUKE GILES. OUR late brother was born in the village of Aston-Cantilo, Warwickshire, in 1787. It was not his lot to be born of pious parents, and receive from them religious instruction; he had not, therefore, the benefit of being "trained up in the way he should go, according to the direction of an inspired penman. God, however, by his Providence and grace, can produce a change in the views and conduct of the most ignorant and profligate; for what is too hard for Omnipotence to effect? The Redeemer of mankind is "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." Our brother, when about the age of 25, removed from this country to Ireland, and resided in Dublin. Through some instrumentality, now unknown, he was led to attend the Wesley Chapel in that city, and it was there that his mind was first brought under a religious influence: approving and feeling the power of the Gospel, he continued to sit under the preaching of the word of life, and to associate with the people of God, until he returned to England. On his return to his native land, he entered into business; a business which led him frequently into the company of the wicked, men of irreligious principles, by whose conversation and habits he lost ground in religion, and for a number of years remained destitute of the vital power and consolations of real piety. He was, however, brought to see the danger of losing his soul if he continued longer in his former course of life; and having succeeded in obtaining a small competency, he relinquished his trade, resolving to labour "for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." At this time (1844), Mr. Poxon was in the circuit, when our late brother Giles commenced attending the preaching of the Gospel in Oxford-street Chapel. The word was accompanied with power; our brother soon joined Mr. Hawkins' class, and became a member of the church, in which he continued unto the day of his death. He was an ardent lover of Zion, and of all the means of grace. Never, I have been told, was he absent from our religious services, except two or three times, owing to affliction, or distance from home. In attention to the ordinances, he was a model for all to copy after. At the preaching of the word, prayer meetings, class meetings, love-feasts, fellowship meetings, and the Lord's Supper, he was to be seen; his voice also was heard frequently in prayer, and singing the praises of the Most High. He loved the gates of Zion, and could fervently say,— "My soul shall pray for Zion still, While life or breath remains; It is not contended that our brother was without blemish or fault; for to have been that, he must have been more than human. His hope of salvation did not rest upon his regular attention to gospel ordinances. He saw himself a sinner, and in need of an atoning Redeemer; his hope of heaven was founded upon the blood and righteousness of Christ. JESUS was the name that charmed his fears, and bade his sorrows cease. Often did he say, "I love Jesus." His affliction, which continued more than half a year, he bore with resignation to the Divine will, feeling assured that the Lord does all things well. I had the pleasure at various times of seeing him during his affliction, and always found him in a comfortable state of mind, expecting an entrance would be given him "into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Brother Giles has now finished his course, and the writer has no doubt of his spirit having reached that happy world where affliction is unknown. His decease took place December 18th, 1853. Birmingham, Feb. 17. S. W. EDWARD BENNETT, OF STALYBRIDGE. OUR departed brother, Edward Bennett, was born at Stalybridge in the month of October, 1800. His parents were both religious persons, and were among the earliest members of the Methodist New Connexion in Stalybridge. John and Mary Bennett endeavoured to train up their family in the fear of the Lord, and in an habitual attendance at the house of God; but the father being remarkably kind and indulgent, his sons broke loose from parental restraint, and often spent their Sabbaths in sinful folly and amusement, instead of attending the house of God. But Edward has often been heard to say that he could not always resist his father's counsels and his mother's prayers, and often when he had purposed to join his sinful companions in desecrating the Sabbath, the pious counsels of his father prevailed, and instead of going with his Sabbathbreaking companions, he turned his feet to the house of God. But whatever there might be of religious feeling in the early part of Edward's history, as he advanced in life he found that the beginning of sin was as the letting out of water; and as he grew up to manhood, he became hardened in sin, so that even the outward observances of religion were neglected, and his companions were those who knew not God, and who despised alike his people and his ordinances. Now even his house was neglected, and the tavern and the card-table became his places of resort, and the sons of Belial his chosen friends. About the year 1823, being then in his 24th year, he entered into the married state with her whom he has left to bemoan her loss. For some years after their marriage Edward continued to pursue his sinful course, and he and his associates became bold and hardened in sin. On the Sabbath morning a band of Sabbath-breakers would call to draw away our brother from his family and his home to their haunts of wickedness, and too often the solemn hours of midnight were spent at the card-table or the tap-room. This interfered with domestic quiet, and sister Bennett promptly remonstrated with her husband, and so far convinced him of the folly of his ways, that he promised her he would lead a new life. For the next three Sabbaths, when his old companions in sin came to lure him from his home, Edward kept out of the way, and would not be seen by them; but before the return of the fourth Sabbath, he was so well satisfied that to forsake their company would greatly contribute to his domestic comfort and peace of mind, he resolved boldly to meet his old associates, and tell them that he had resolved upon leading a new life. At the usual time they made their expected call, and began to taunt Edward with cowardice, and with allowing himself to be governed by his wife. Edward listened to their insulting remarks with considerable forbearance, and then calmly told them that he had resolved to forsake their company, as he found domestic peace and the comforts of home better than anything he had found in their company; "and," said he, "I mean my house henceforth to be called the Cottage of Contentment." As Edward's companions knew he was a man of principle, and not easily moved from his purpose, they left him. And it was a happy day for Edward Bennett; for from that time he became a family man. He loved his wife and his children, and his own fireside; and for these were exchanged the card-table, the tap-room, and his bacchanalian friends. But whether his cottage really answered the import of its name we think very questionable. Edward and his partner were still living without God; they were still in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; and if Edward did not go to the same length in wickedness, he was still at enmity with God. He still desecrated his Sabbaths and neglected his ordinances. He now began to keep poultry, and his Sabbaths and leisure hours were spent in these pursuits, to the entire neglect of heavenly things. In the year 1835 our brother had a family of six children, and, for the first time, death made its inroads into the domestic circle. He lost one of his children, and now Edward felt the hand of God was upon him. When he was requested by his family to go and select a place for the family burial, he wept, and exclaimed, "How strange it seems that I should go to seek a place to bury my body, when I have never sought a place of rest for my soul." His convictions became deep and lasting, and he was brought in true penitence to seek mercy and forgiveness at the hands of God. He saw himself a guilty, hell-deserving sinner, and anxiously inquired, "What must I do to be saved?" He attended a love-feast, and heard a man who had once been a card-player relate his experience in that love-feast. He was so powerfully wrought upon, that the perspiration stood in great drops on his forehead, and chased each other down his face. He said, "the experience of that man was like daggers to me." The arrows of conviction stuck fast within him; for many months he was in great heaviness; his natural cheerfulness forsook him, and he appeared at times gloomy and melancholy, and often complained to his leader that he could not feel the assurance of the Divine favour; that he felt himself bound down as with a chain; and, to use his own familiar expression, he would say, "Jesse, I cannot get on." About this time he went to receive his quarterly ticket from the hands of Mr. Batty, and, after relating his experience and expressing his doubts to the minister, Mr. Batty, in his kind, affectionate way, said to him, "My lad, get thy soul soundly converted, and then all will be right." He said, "I went away from this meeting, and began to think of what the minister had said, and I thought, Why, Mr. Batty must think that I am still in an unconverted state; but I will set about the work in greater earnest; and if I am not converted, I will pray the Lord to convert me." And he did so; and he did not pray in vain. "When he went again to his class," says his leader, "he appeared an altered man; he was so full he could not wait to be questioned concerning his religious experience, but, in the fulness of his soul, he gave out"Now I have found the ground wherein Sure my soul's anchor may remain." And with holy fervour and simplicity he declared to his brethren what God had done for his soul." Edward was a new man, and he now found indeed, as Mr. Batty had told him, that all would be right. His natural cheerfulness returned, and more, he had now a peace within to which he had before been a stranger. His partner also gave herself to God, and now Edward found his home was really the "Cottage of Contentment." Our brother now enjoyed true religion, and resolved to adorn his Christian profession by a life of earnest piety and consecration to God's service. In the class meeting, or the love-feast, he was simple as a little child. His experience was rich and clear, testifying that he had the root of the matter within. In his devotional exercises he was earnest, short, and pointed, and he wished his brethren to be so too. Hence, to those with whom he could make free he would say, "Let us have something to the point. The occupation of our brother was a somewhat difficult and unpleasant one, and one in which it was almost impossible to act so as to satisfy all with whom he had to do. When talking with his family on the subject, he said, "I have great faith in the golden rule, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." "" He would say, "I will endeavour to act by this rule, and I know it will be all right." And few men similarly situated have been more respected by their fellow-workmen. When surrounded by those who made light of religion, Edward was not ashamed of his Master or his cause, but firmly and fearlessly avowed his principles. On one occasion, when a person in a superior situation at the works where he was employed was using profane language, making a jest of Edward's profession, and demanding of him that he should preach to him, our brother turned round upon him, and with great seriousness addressed to him the language of Solomon,"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment. The young man went away abashed, and had not another word to say. A word spoken in season, how good it is! He was remarkably careful of injuring the character of others by circulating evil reports; and if such reports were brought to him, he would check them by saying, "I hope it is not true; don't publish it unless you know it is true; and if it is true, go and tell the person of his fault, instead of publishing it to others." Hence our brother was never embroiled in quarrels and tale-bearing, but lived in love and charity with all men. In the neighbourhood where he had lived for thirty years he was universally respected and beloved. But it was in his family that our brother was seen to the greatest advantage. After he got religion, his home was indeed a happy home, and he loved his home and his family. He had, like Joshua, resolved, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;" and he walked before his family as became the Gospel of Christ, com manding his children, and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord. In the year 1848, our brother and his family were visited with a very painful affliction; his eldest daughter, Martha, a very amiable and interesting young woman, under peculiarly painful and trying circumstances, was taken from the evil to come. This was the greatest of all his earthly troubles; but at length he was enabled to bow with resignation to the Divine will, saying, "Not my will, but the will of the Lord be done." But this was a shock, the effects of which he felt as long as he lived. For several years his health had been on the decline, and early in the month of November last, at the request of his family, he gave up his employment. Still disease continued to prey upon his frame, and, in the latter end of the same month, his affliction began to assume a very serious form; but Edward was prepared for the trial: he had not religion to seek when he most needed its consoling influences. In the furnace of affliction he felt divinely supported, and with calm resignation he said, "It is the Lord; let him do as seemeth him good." Speaking of his affliction, he said, “If my whole life had been a life of pain and suffering, the peace of mind I now enjoy, and the hope of heaven which I feel, would far outweigh them all." As a husband and father our brother had attended well and faithfully to the affairs of his household, and to his wife and children he was bound by ties of strong affection; but, as he became sensible of his approaching end, he cheerfully resigned them into the hand of the Lord. To his two eldest daughters he said, "The Lord in heaven bless you, my girls, and enable you to walk circumspectly before him, and to serve him more faithfully than your father has done." To his son, who is married, he said, "Get religion, my lad; nothing but Christ can sustain the soul in a dying hour." When visited by Mr. Lynn, and other Christian friends, he was greatly refreshed and encouraged. On Mr. Lynn's asking him if he felt Christ precious, he exclaimed, "He is my transport and my trust." Sometimes he would raise his hands towards heaven and exclaim, "Oh what it is to be a Christian! Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." On his daughter's asking if she might not read for him, he said, "Yes; read the 91st Psalm; it is mine-it just suits my case." He said to his family, "If my brethren want to say anything about me when I am gone, tell them to preach Christ a willing and all-sufficient Saviour; tell them to publish it to all the world that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." At his employment he was often assailed by a young man who endeavoured to shake his confidence in the great cardinal doctrines of our holy religion. But Edward did not shrink; he stood forth boldly as a witness for Jesus, and told the man that the preaching of those doctrines had been made the power of God unto his salvation, and that he could say with the apostle, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." A few days before his death, feeling conscious that his end was approaching, he summoned his family into the room, and with great solemnity proceeded to give them each his parting blessing. To his wife and daughters, who were journeying together with him in the heavenly way, he spoke in the most encouraging manner, urging them to live so that they might be sure to meet him in heaven; and those out of the way, he urged to give themselves to God; and then, with all the energy he could command, he said, "Oh tell my sons," (who were absent) "tell my sons to be Christians; tell them it is their father's dying request that they should give themselves to the Lord." The scene was truly affecting, and the Divine power and glory seemed to fill the room and pervade every heart. Our brother, in raptures of heavenly transport, continued to shout Jehovah's praise, and extol the wonders of redeeming grace, until his strength was exhausted. While in this heavenly frame he said to his wife, "I feel Jesus is with me he lights up the dark valley; the fear of death is taken away; no evil can touch me; his rod and his staff comfort me." He said, "Oh that the young man (mentioning his name) that denies the divinity and atonement of my Saviour-Oh that he were here, that I could tell him what I now feel; that I could tell him how Jesus gives me the victory. I think I could convince him." That young man was reared in our Sabbath-school; was the child of pious parents; was once a promising member of our society. In an evil day he gave ear to unsound doctrine; began to reason on the doctrine of the Trinity; the authenticity of some parts of the Scriptures; and thus, by gradual and easy steps, he pursued his downward course, until he denied the divinity and the atonement of the Saviour. Let our young friends beware. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. The race of our brother was now nearly run; but, as his strength would permit, he would still raise his voice, exclaiming, "All is well; my Jesus is precious; all is well." For two of the last days he spoke but little, but still was remarkably calm and placid; and on Monday, the 2nd day of January, 1854, without a sigh or a groan, he sweetly fell asleep in Jesus. "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." J. RIDGWAY. Stalybridge, Jan. 31st, 1854. MRS. MARTHA BEEVERS. THE subject of the present brief memoir, was born at Deighton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the year 1812. The early part of our sister's history may be told in a few words. Her parents, were strictly honest and industrious, and endeavoured to train her up, with the rest of their children, in habits of industry and frugality, inculcating in the minds of their charge the principles of sound morality. Nothing extraordinary seems to have taken place in the experience of our sister, till after her marriage with our respected brother, Isaac Beevers, which took place in the year 1836. For some time after their marriage they lived with her parents at Deighton, and from thence removed to a place called Skelmanthorp, in the West Riding. Here an event took place (though exceedingly painful to both Mr. and Mrs. Beevers) which was intended by Divine Providence to bring them both to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Still they could not discover at the time that unseen hand which guides and controls the events of time for the accomplishment of his own mighty purposes. Their affections were fixed, supremely fixed, upon their offspring; these were the idols of their hearts; but Jehovah, in giving children, never intended them occupy such a position in the soul, and when allowed this pre-eminence, He frequently, either removes the to |