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acting upon my advice by stopping to read over more of my thoughts. I wish I may have now just hit the right nail on the head. In the hope I have done so, I will say till January 1870 (D.V.) Farewell, Farewell!

RECOLLECTIONS

OF A BELOVED

SUNDAY-SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT,

WHO DIED AT TUNBRIDGE WELLS, AUG. 8TH, 1869. MR. EDWARD BARNARD, the subject of the following short account, has long been a lover of, and subscriber to the LITTLE GLEANER, and was the means of introducing it into the school where he was then a teacher, and for rather more than the last three years the superintendent. His attendance there was frequently interrupted by illness, as for nearly nine years he had scarcely known what it was to have a well day; but love to the Saviour, and a desire to speak of Him to others, has prompted him to go when he was very unequal to the work; and often has he got up from his bed and gone to the school, and then again to his home to lie back in his easy chair worn out with the day's exertions.

But those who have heard him speak will not soon forget his earnest manner, or the theme which was always uppermost with him, namely, Christ. Christ was indeed in him the hope of glory, and that glory we feel assured he is now enjoying, and praising that dear Saviour he so loved to speak of while on earth. For him to live was Christ, and to die gain, as the writer has often heard him say, ""Twill be a happy day for me when my dear Saviour comes and takes me to

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Himself; then all my sorrows will be over, and I shall be with my precious Christ." His only wish to live was that he might be useful in the church with which he stood connected; he has often said, I have nothing else to live for." May the dear children who have heard him speak be reminded of his words, and grow up to fill a similar place in the Church of Christ; but let them remember they must experience the new birth, must be brought to repent of sin, and fly to Jesus for refuge, before they can become His willing servants. Perhaps they would like to know how this change was effected in him of whom we are writing. We cannot tell much about it, but have heard him say that the death of a younger brother was the means first made use of to awaken him to a sense of his lost condition. He was for some time in great distress of soul, so much so that he could not sleep, and in agony of mind would pace backwards and forwards in his room, and sometimes would wander about the streets mourning over his lost state; and it was on one of these occasions, between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, that Christ was first revealed to his soul, and he was enabled by faith to lay hold on Him. He was at times sorely tried by doubts and fears, thinking what he had experienced was all a delusion; but the ministry of Mr. J. Austin, who was then pastor at the place where he attended, was greatly blessed to him, and in 1853 he was received by him into the church, of which he continued a member, and the last three years a deacon, till he was called to join the Church triumphant above. During one of his many severe attacks, he repeated with great emphasis, the words

"What from Christ that soul can sever,
Bound by everlasting bands;

Once in Him, in Him for ever,
Thus the eternal covenant stands.
None shall pluck thee

From the strength of Israel's hands;"

and then said, "If I die, tell the people that is all my hope."

At the commencement of a severe illness, last March, he was speaking of death, and when asked if he felt any fear, replied, "Nature a little shrinks from it, but I try to look beyond to Jesus—

"And can He have taught me,
To trust to His name,

And thus far have brought me
To put me to shame ?'

Oh, how much have I to be thankful for, such a vile, hell-deserving sinner! He has snatched me as a brand from the burning! Oh, I do love Him! I do love Him! I say sometimes if He were to send me to hell I should love Him there! One night he awoke dreaming he was singing the words

"My soul, this curious house of clay,

Thy present frail abode,

Must soon return to worms a prey,
And thou ascend to God.

"Canst thou by faith with joy survey,
The change before it come,

And say, let death this house destroy,
I have a heavenly home."

The whole hymn was afterwards very sweet to him, and he requested it to be sung after his death. But prayer was again heard on his behalf, and for a short time he was restored to us, and took his accustomed place in the school. The "Editor's Address to his Young Friends," in the May num

ber, attracted the attention of the writer forcibly, in consequence of one of her scholars, who was evidently drawing near eternity by that disease which blights the fond hopes of so many parents, and makes so many early graves. Her teacher visited her many times, and requested Mr. Barnard to do the same, which he did; and many an earnest prayer was presented at the footstool of mercy, that she might be prepared for the solemn change which we felt persuaded was fast approaching. Sunday morning, 18th July, just three months from the time she was last at the school, her teacher said to Mr. Barnard, "R- is fast sinking, and wishes to see you once more. ." He went at once, and when he returned to close the school, gave out the hymn beginning with-

“Pause, my soul, and ask the question,

Art thou ready to meet God?"

telling the children it was suggested to his mind by having just visited one of their number who, in a very short time, would be called to stand before God. The next Sabbath, R- having been buried the day before, he addressed the children on the subject of death, reminding them that they too must die, and telling them, as he had told the dying one before, that they could only enter heaven as washed in the blood and clothed in the righteousness of a precious Christ; and concluded by giving out the hymn—

"Death has been here and borne away

A scholar from our side," &c.

Ah, how little we thought it was the last time we were to hear his well-known voice in that chool, the last time that most then present ever aw him, and that in one fortnight he would be

stretched a lifeless corpse on the bed. The following Tuesday he was downstairs for the last time. His sufferings at times were very great, arising from inflammation, but his mind was kept calm and composed. He was often saying, "I want to go to my precious Christ; I hope I shall soon be in heaven." To one he said, "Go on to seek and serve the Lord," adding, with peculiar emphasis," He's worth serving." During his last night he was very restless, and rather wandering, but once said, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." When asked if he felt perfect peace, he replied, "Yes, I do." About three hours before his death we asked if he thought he was going. He said, "Yes, it won't be long now.' Have you any fear?" No." The last words that could be understood were, "My presence shall go with thee."

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He evidently felt the presence of his Lord, though not able to speak for the last two hours. Thus he exchanged an earthly Sabbath for an heavenly at half-past two in the afternoon.

And now, dear Little Gleaners, may we each and all be followers of them who have come through great tribulation, and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that when death stands at our door we may experience the same solid peace through the peace-speaking Blood of Jesus. A TEACHER.

NOT to give to the poor is to take from him; not to feed the hungry if thou hast it, is to the utmost of thy power to kill him. That, therefore, thou mayest avoid both sacrilege and murder, be charitable.-Quarles.

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