departure of the ascending Elijah, we may be moved to cry, under a keen sense of our loss, "My father! my father! the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof," let us be composed and comforted in the assurance that God is able to raise up others of not inferior powers to declare His Gospel with unclouded brightness, and to bear aloft the banner He has given to be displayed because of His truth as boldly and faithfully as the standard-bearer who has fallen. "The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

EDITOR

In Memoriam.

REV. W. COOKE, D.D.

BORN 1806-DIED 1884.

THE love of great men grows up with our growth,
Their names familiar to our ears become;

Almost immortal seem they to our eyes;

Yet comes the blow which breaks upon our peace.
For long our hearts and memories were entwined
Around the name which thousands loved so well;
And we scarce thought God, who alone knows best,
Was whispering softly, "Enter into rest."
Yet was it so, for on the very day

When the Redeemer whom he loved was born
The summons came; stilled was the noble heart,
The useful life had hastened to its end,

And o'er the land the tidings fast have spread

He, who so long with ready tongue and pen
Had spread the truth, is numbered with the dead.
Oh! happy spirit, would that all could find
So many jewels in their heavenly crown!
Such rich reward, for every burden borne

Through all the years which thou hast known below!
Yet, as we mourn the loss each heart must feel,
The mind flies upward to the glorious scene,
When wide the gates of pearl were open thrown,
And angel hosts all waiting, clothed in white,
Look out expectant, whilst celestial choirs
Chant the sweet songs that fill the ambient air.
Christ gives the welcome, "Thou the palm hast won;
Enter My kingdom, for thou hast well done."

SPES.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. WILLIAM
WOODWARD.

WILLIAM WOODWARD was the second son of Gervas and Ann Woodward, and was born at Barton, near Nottingham, January 22, 1837. In his twelfth year he went to Breaston, in Derbyshire, to reside with his aunt, who was a good Christian, and showed concern for William's spiritual welfare by taking him with her to the Methodist New Connexion Chapel. Two years passed without any religious change in his life, but when about fourteen years old he attended a camp-meeting, conducted by the Primitive Methodists, at Breaston; and the earnest utterances of the speakers aroused his slumbering conscience. He now saw his spiritual wretchedness, and was led to cry, "What must I do to be saved?" For several weeks he groaned under the burden of sin, his soul unvisited by a gleam of hope. One morning he rose early, and, in great distress, went to one of the outbuildings connected with his aunt's farm, and prayed most earnestly for salvation. His prayer was answered the clouds dispersed, the burden rolled away, and he came forth a child of God, and could sing :

"My God is reconciled,

His pardoning voice I hear,
He owns me for His child,

I can no longer fear:

With confidence I now draw nigh,
And Father, Abba, Father, cry."

No place is more sacred to the Christian than that in which God first gave peace to his soul. This was William's experience. That humble farmstead was ever afterwards one of the "secret places of the Most High;" often, in subsequent years, did he visit the old farmhouse, and, as he thought of his spiritual birth, prayed to be again "baptized with the Holy Ghost."

Having become a Christian, and possessing a "good hope through grace," he joined the Primitive Methodist Society, met in class, and attended diligently the other services of God's house. Such were his piety, zeal, and intelligence, that at the early age of fifteen he became a local preacher.

Soon after commencing to preach the Gospel he removed to Nottingham, where he again joined the Primitives, and laboured as a local preacher until his nineteenth year, when, at the request of the circuit, he entered the ministry. During his stay among the Primitives he laboured in Ripley, Leicester, Mansfield, and Sheffield.

In 1861 circumstances arose which induced him to leave the Primitive Methodist ministry. At that time the Rev. Mr. Mackonkey had sole charge of Osborne-street Chapel, Hull. It was not affiliated with any denomination, but was conducted on Methodist principles, having class-meetings, love-feasts, and bandmeetings; and its popular and energetic pastor was recognised as an Independent Methodist. As Mr. Mackonkey was getting advanced in life he felt the need of an assistant. Mr. Woodward was providentially brought under the notice of the aged pastor, and after due inquiry into his character and abilities, he decided to employ him as his assistant. The two worked harmoniously together; and the sterling piety, unflagging activity, and zeal of Mr. Mackonkey, even in his declining years, tended to mould our departed brother into that earnest minister of Christ which he remained until death.

Before the death of Mr. Mackonkey, Osborne-street Chapel became the property of Mr. Woodward. In 1866 he sold it to our own denomination, and at the same time entered our ministry. In 1867 he was appointed by Conference to London Second Circuit. This was his first appointment by our Conference, and he realised his responsibilities as a true minister of Christ. He made the following beautiful entry in his diary on leaving Hull: "I look upon my station as a great responsibility, but I am determined to go in the name of the Lord, and do all the good I can." His subsequent appointments were Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Wolverhampton, Blackburn, and Rochdale. In 1877 he returned to Hull, and laboured with acceptance four years, during which time Osbornestreet Chapel was renovated at considerable cost; much of the money for this work was raised by his indefatigable exertions. Since his removal from Hull, Mr. Woodward has been stationed at Hawarden, Clay Cross, and Truro, where he died. In May, 1862, he married Miss Hannah Cooke, of Hull-a lady whose Christian character and attainments rendered her a precious helpmeet to our departed brother. She survives her husband, with a family of four children. They have come to Hull as their permanent abode, and have already joined our Osborne-street Society.

Mr. Woodward worked hard in the Clay Cross Circuit, and when removed to Truro he needed rest very much. The writer of this memoir saw him last May, and could recognise, even then, that his physical energies were well-nigh exhausted. The relaxing climate of Truro district enfeebled him still more, and he had not the physical stamina requisite for his work. On his return from St. Agnes, the Sunday before he took his bed, he was so exhausted that he was compelled to sit on a stone by the wayside to rest. On

reaching home his dear wife was alarmed by his jaded appearance, and on her asking what was the matter, he replied, "I'm done."

The Sunday following he was seized with typhoid fever, and during the three weeks of his illness he was only conscious twice, for a few minutes. On the first occasion he said (addressing his wife), "See! don't you see? Beautiful!" The second conscious moment was about three days before his death, when he said, "Christ is my Friend." These were his last conscious utterances. He fell asleep in Jesus on August 16, 1884.

The Rev. W. Woodward was a hard worker. From his entrance into the ministry until death he sought to enforce the Rev. John Wesley's motto, "At work, all at work, always at work." We can therefore say of him with strict literalness, "He rests from his labours."

He was a popular lecturer and an acceptable preacher. His sermons were scriptural in substance and practical in aim; they were delivered with tenderness and fervour, and were often blessed to the conversion of sinners and to the edification of God's people.

He was diligent in the discharge of his pastoral duties, and would have been the very last to excuse his absence from the homes of the people by the false maxim: "Good visitors preach poor sermons, and good preachers are negligent visitors." He believed that if a preacher would know his congregation, gain their sympathy, and minister effectually to their spiritual wants, he must not isolate himself, and give the impression that he confines his visits to two places-the study and the pulpit; but must go to the people's homes, and acquaint himself with their cares, sorrows, and joys. He acted on this belief, and so endeared the people to him that when he changed circuits his removal was much regretted.

His death will be deplored by all who have known him, for at the time of his decease he was only in his forty-eighth year, an age when the mental powers are well developed, and an experience has been gained which renders a preacher capable of discharging the duties of his responsible vocation with all the more facility and efficiency. But the great Shepherd knows what is best for His flock, and we humbly bow to His will, and console ourselves with the declaration of the Psalmist-a declaration which has given unspeakable relief to our sorrowing sister, Mrs. Woodward: "As for God, His way is perfect."

JOHN SHAW.

He who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does on should never remember it.

STOPPING THE Magazine.

MRS. JACOB WILLIS sat lost in thought, not very pleasant either, judging from the manner in which she knit her brow and tapped an impatient foot. The fact was, Mr. Willis had been complaining that family expenses were increasing-increasing instead of decreasing. Something must be done to cut them down, that was evident, and she, Mrs. Willis, must be the one to devise some plan whereby the income must be made commensurate with the outgo of the family funds.

"The very foot with which I am tapping the floor this minute needs a new shoe," she soliloquised, "to say nothing of Jamie and Jennie, who need not only shoes, but rubbers and mittens to keep out the cold, and to-morrow the milk bill will be left. I owe Mrs. Jenks ten shillings for making Jamie's pants, and next week six shillings must be forthcoming to pay my subscription to our magazine for the year-that is if we continue to take a magazine. I wonder-" here she again became lost in silent thought, but her brow was still knit in perplexity, the impatient tapping of the shabbily booted foot went on.

Pretty soon she broke out again, but more impetuously than before :

"I believe it will have to be done; of course I can't expect James to give up his daily paper; a man wouldn't know where to find himself without his paper, and I would be ashamed of a man who would be content not to know what was going on in the great world from day to day. It will come hard, awfully hard, but really I begin to think it my duty to deny myself the luxury of a religious magazine. With our growing family and increasing expenses, I must make the sacrifice, and might as well go about it at once. Shoes we must have, school books must be bought, food is a necessity, and help in the kitchen I cannot do without; so I see no other way to begin saving, but to write and stop the magazine."

She was not a weak-minded woman by any means, Mrs. Jacob Willis; but once convinced a certain course was the inevitable, or the best one to pursue, she set about pursuing it forthwith. So down she sat and penned a little note to her minister full of regrets, but it said plainly the pressure of unavoidable expenses necessitated the act on her part of stopping her magazine. "And it was my paper, and I loved it," she said, as she closed the envelope; and brushing away a falling tear, she called Jennie, and bade her post the letter on her way to school.

When Friday night came, Mr. Willis remarked to his wife that