66 DR. DOUDNEY,-As S - is not able to write, I have been a fellowservant with her for a space of twenty-one years and nine months. Having experienced the counsel and advice of Mrs. S- I hope I can say of a truth we have been helpers together in prayer and faith and love, and are able to bear testimony to the truth of what I have said. Please to excuse this, in haste. From yours respectfully,

W. G.

[What more need we add? The facts speak for themselves. We rejoice in the Lord. We bless and praise and adore His great and glorious name, in that He hath been pleased, in His divine faithfulness, all-sufficient grace, and superabounding love and mercy, to bring off our dear departed sister "more than conqueror through Him that hath loved her." We exult on her behalf. We rejoice that her days of mourning are for ever and ever ended. She shall "hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on her nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed her, and shall lead her unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from her eyes.

Dear reader, with what a faithful, gracious, and all-sufficient God have we to do. How true was He to His word, "at evening-time it shall be light;" and how sweet and precious the dying testimony of our dear departed sister: "HAPPY, HAPPY! THE END DRAWS NEAR." Lord, Lord, do Thou, of Thy great mercy, grant that ours may be a similar testimony when we shall be called to "depart this life, and be no more seen."

EDITOR.

[We copy the annexed letters from the Earthen Vessel for July. We are sure our readers will deeply sympathize with our dear bereaved friend and brother, the more so when we apprize them that our son, writing from Sydney, under date May 18, states that Mr. M'Cure had just been summoned to Melbourne, to attend what was quite expected would prove the death-bed of his married daughter there. Thus our dear brother is called to encounter stroke upon stroke, but we are sure the Lord will stand by and sustain him. He has not been brought on and on, and upheld under such a variety of peculiar trials and afflictions, for nought. No, we are fully assured the Lord will bear him up and bring him through the furnace, to the praise of His own great and glorious name.—ED.] THE LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF MRS. JOHN BUNYAN M'CURE.

To my dear Brethren and Sisters in Christ in England.

DEAR BRETHREN,-It is my painful duty to give you some particulars respecting the illness and death of my late dear wife, who entered into her heavenly rest twenty-three days before my arrival in Sydney. Oh, what a sad and sorrowful home I have now come to, after all the trouble and sorrow I endured during my long absence in England, on behalf of our place of worship. It is true that I have been the means, through my mission to England, of saving the Lord's house from being sold; but I have lost my wife, and thus have sacrificed my earthly all.

At present, I can take no pleasure in the work I have had the honour to accomplish. Our chapel is freed, but I am in bonds. Every time I see the chapel I am filled with sorrow, knowing that I have freed it at an immense cost, therefore I fear that I shall never be happy any more in it. At the same time I know that I am in the hands of my ever-gracious Lord, who can sustain me here, or send me elsewhere. Not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done. December 17th, my poor wife, while coughing

violently, ruptured a blood-vessel in her lungs; it was twenty-five minutes before the hæmorrhage ceased, but it came on again the following evening, and continued twenty minutes. Saturday, remained quiet and cheerful all day; Sunday, much worse, bleeding came on worse than ever; doctor pronounced her case very dangerous, no hope of recovering, her left lung being entirely gone, and only a small piece of the right left. During the three following weeks the hæmorrhage continued, and then ceased altogether. All through her illness she was wonderfully sustained, never murmured, but was quite resigned; those who visited her said that they shall never forget her happy state of mind. During the early part of her illness, every morning she inquired as to the state of the weather, if the wind was favourable for the "Nineveh," "How long it does appear before the ship arrives" (it now being over-due). When asked if she did not wish to see her husband, she replied, "Oh, very much; but not if it is not the Lord's will." February 22nd, the doctor informed my daughter that she could not live till morning, and requested that she be informed. A very dear friend, Mr. Mills, was sent for to speak to her upon the solemn subject, that her end had come. Directly she was informed she replied, "I am prepared to go any moment; I have but one earthly wish, and that is, that I may see my dear husband once more; but, if it is not the Lord's will, I am resigned; my will is swallowed up in His." She then spoke of the two youngest children, Lydia and Arthur, aged eight and ten years, and said, "I hope they will be cared for, they are too young to be left without a mother's care." She then told her eldest and fourth daughters, Jane and Jemima, how she wished her personal effects to be divided among the children; and then said, "I am not afraid to die, I am not afraid of death, I shall be with Jesus, and shall be better off." Several times during the night she said she could hear beautiful music and singing, and surprised that they who stood by could not hear it also, holding up her hand, saying, "It is coming nearer." Tuesday 23rd, at half-past six o'clock, p.m., she said to her daughters, "Take my hands," which they did, holding them in theirs. She looked at them with a smile, and said, "I shall soon be gone, in five minutes." Exactly at that time she fell asleep in Jesus, with a sweet smile upon her countenance, which remained enstamped on her face in death. Although it did not please the Lord to spare her life for us to meet once more on earth, I am thankful that she lived to receive my last letter, and to rejoice, which she did, in the success the Lord favoured me with, in the completion of my mission in England; and sometimes expressed a wish if it was the Lord's will that we might spend the remainder of our days in that honoured land.

The following letter was addressed to me by brother Mills, who during my absence, was exceedingly kind and attentive to my dear wife and family, and whose testimony for the Lord was blest to her soul. I will here transcribe it.

"My dear Brother, I feel assured that some particulars relating to your dear wife's state of mind during her illness will be interesting to you, and also to others. I believe the Lord's faithfulness and love was much displayed towards her in the peculiarly-trying circumstances in which she was placed. When her illness became serious, in the early part of December, she expressed a wish to see me. When I called, we conversed about the precious things of Christ, and she informed me that she had derived great spiritual profit from a discourse she had heard me preach about two months previously from John xiv. 23, and part of the

24th verse, 'Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him; he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.' This Scripture was by the Holy Spirit made to her a great comfort; and she wished me to mention it to you, dear brother, as she thought it would be suitable for her funeral sermon. In her case love reigned instead of fear so blessedly, that she could speak with the sweetest composure of anything about her departure to her heavenly home; and the dear Lord never suffered her to want the support of His own gracious presence through the whole of her illness. She said, of course, she longed to see you; but the day before her death, she said, when informed that her end was very near, 'My will is swallowed up in His;' her heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord. On the evening of February 23rd, she passed peacefully away, and on Thursday she was followed by a large number of sorrowing friends to the house appointed for all living. On the following Lord's-day, sermons were preached morning and evening, in improvement of the sorrowful event to large congregations of those who deeply sympathized with your dear bereaved family and yourself. I preached in the morning from Rom. v. 21. In the case of our dear sister, grace did reign, in giving and sustaining spiritual life, and over her special trials, one of which was giving you up to labour in the Gospel the wide world over. Grace reigned over her natural timidity and over her natural desires, that she looked calmly on death as putting off this tabernacle and putting on immortality, and to depart was to be with Jesus, which is far better, so much better that those who loved her most dearly could not wish her back. 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Mr. G. Shepherd, of New Town, preached in the evening from Gen. v. 24, 'And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him.' The particulars of which I cannot give you, as I was not able to be present.-I am, dear brother, yours affectionately, JOHN MILLS."

During her illness she desired one of the friends to ask me, on my arrival, if I had had a presentiment of her illness and death, expressing her own conviction, saying, 'Yes, I believe that he has.' How remarkable! On the 17th of December, the day she was taken ill, those words came to my mind, 'Be ye reconciled to God;' at the time I could not understand the object of their application, but I know it now, and feel my need of the grace to enable me to say, 'My will is swallowed up in His.' And then I dreamed that my wife was dead, and often while in my cabin praying unto the Lord on her behalf, it appeared as though some one was saying to me, 'She's dead!' and thus I have often been stopped while praying. On the Lord's-day before her death, I preached from 'Love is strong as death,' and was very much exercised in my mind respecting her. But I hoped for the best, and looked forward to the time when I should see her face once more, but alas, it was not from the Lord, or it would not have failed. My dear brethren, fare ye well until next mail, when you may expect to hear from

Castlereagh St., Sydney, April 21, 1869.

Yours for Christ's sake,

JOHN BUNYAN M'CURE.

Serving God is like gathering spices or flowers, wherein there is some labour, but the labour is recompensed with delight.

The Protestant Beacon.

A FEW PLAIN WORDS FROM A PLAIN MAN.

To the Editor of the Rock.

SIR,-I sincerely rejoice in the bold and courageous resistance which you continue to offer against the fearful encroachments upon our great Protestant and national privileges which characterize the day in which we live; and I pray God that you may be mercifully sustained and divinely holpen in your momentous position. I rejoice in the fact that His word still stands good, "Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

You have, Mr. Editor, upon more than one occasion alluded to one who has for some time past been a warm advocate of Protestantism in various parts of the kingdom. I allude to Mr. Murphy. In a recent number of the Bristol Times there is a letter from the Rev. S. A. Walker, Rector of St. Mary-le-port, Bristol, defending this much-persecuted man, and proposing that a testimonial should be got up for him in recognition of his self-denying and most perilous labours. I fully sympathize with the movement. A noble zeal and a praiseworthy outspokenness have characterized Mr. Murphy's mission in these days of religious declension, false charity, and unscriptural expediency. Our national mercies and Gospel privileges are being frittered away in an effort by unprincipled men to conciliate Rome. To suppose, however, that Rome will be satisfied with anything short of absolute control is folly. It is contrary to her very nature. She has sought and found in this once free and enlightened country toleration-she is now seeking equality; this obtained, she will be contented with nothing short of supremacy. This secured, what becomes of our freedom of thought and action? Once give her the power, and Rome will prove as intolerant, as tyrannical, and as destructive as ever. She would light the fires of Smithfield, and Oxford, and Gloucester again to-morrow, had she the opportunity. She boasts of her infallibility and unchangeableness; and, if this be the case, it is but natural to ask-Did she ever persecute even unto the death? Let the page of history answer the question; and let our own open Bibles testify whether or not Romanism is that accursed system which has glutted itself in human gore, and the ultimate destruction of which is as clearly foreshown as was the siege of Jerusalem and the scattering of God's ancient people.

Wherever Popery has been fostered prosperity, even in a human point of view, has waned. Surely the present condition of England in a commercial aspect may well lead thinking men to ask, is there not a cause ? There is a cause. Verily, God has a controversy with the nation. That controversy is upon the ground of the disregard of His word, and the encouragement of a system which has been well said to be "Satan's masterpiece."

With regard to Mr. Murphy, as Mr. Walker intimates, he has been instrumental in rousing slumbering England. The men of the northern counties especially see what would be the state of things had Rome supreme power in these realms. Both Mr. Walker and Mr. Murphy well know there would be no more liberty of speech or action here than

in Ireland. They speak, not from hearsay merely, but from actual experience. Popery, to be understood, must be seen in operation in Popish countries. I may, sir, add my feeble testimony to that of Mr. Walker and Mr. Murphy. As an Englishman, I spent nearly twelve years in the sister-country. I laboured to my utmost among both Protestants and Roman Catholics. Through my humble instrumentality, as curate in sole charge of a country parish, infant, industrial, printing, agricultural, and embroidery schools were established. To these were admitted indiscriminately both Protestants and Romanists. There was not the slightest coercion exercised. The Bible was read, and those who chose could attend church; no one was asked to do so. For this simple act of seeking to benefit these poor neglected creatures, I was denounced Sunday after Sunday from the so-called altars of the neighbouring chapels. And, when at length one of the national schoolmasters (although in no way connected with our schools) left Romanism, and attended our Protestant services, I had within a few weeks some six or seven letters, the writers declaring they would have my blood if I did not leave the country. I was carried about, shot at, and burnt in effigy. This was my reward for nearly twelve years' labours, and at a time when I was instructing the youth in useful arts, and circulating in a poor and obscure village £25 per week in wages. Under a priest-ridden influence thus was I treated. These simple facts need no comment. But now, sir, in proof that the people were urged to this line of conduct, and in proof likewise that the Protestant clergy are regarded as friends rather than enemies, and that the Protestant Church in Ireland is not unpopular with the people, I will ask your permission to quote from a letter I recently received from one of the National schoolmasters, adjacent to the parish in which I so long laboured. I had not heard of the writer in question since I left Ireland until I received his letter dated "May 26, 1869." In this letter, in which he asks me if possible to obtain him a situation, he says: "Though I know, from old and past transactions, I don't deserve much favour at your hands, yet I know your principle was always to forgive rather than to return evil for evil, and for this reason I have ventured to write to you. I am not now controlled by any priestly influence, as I was when you knew me, but a free man, and can act in future as I think proper. Now, sir, although this man was a teacher in a National School, under British pay, he once said to me, "I never read a page of the Bible in my life; you know what would be the consequence if I did,” meaning that the priest would very soon dispense with his services.

This is the state of things in Ireland; and give Rome what she craves-continue the course at present adopted by time-serving, unprincipled rulers and speedily England will become as void of freedom of thought and action as the sister-country.

Verily, one trembles for the future of this long free and highlyfavoured land. I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

D. A. DOUDNEY, D.D.,
Vicar of St. Luke's, Bedminster, Bristol.

David seldom met with outward trouble, but he at the same time had a conflict within. There is indeed but a step between discomposure of spirit and spiritual troubles.

K K