The late Mrs. Case, of Leicester. OUR denominational Magazine would be very incomplete without its "cloud of witnesses;" for much of our zeal for work and conflict is inspired by the death roll of those "who have served their generation and fallen asleep." The lines of the countenance may be correctly drawn by the pencil of the artist; but there is something more real and tangible in the life, when correctly delineated by the pen of the scribe. Men may become "living epistles" when they are dead as well as when they lived. Of how many, as well as "righteous Abel," may it be said, "He being dead yet speaketh." Our departed friend whose name heads this paper deserves more than the casual reference that appeared in these pages at the time of her death; for a very large portion of her life was given up to the varied departments of Christian work, both at home and abroad. Ann Case, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Thirlby,* Packington, was born November 3rd, 1804, at Canwell, while her father was in the employ of Sir R. Lawley, of Canwell Hall. At an early age she was sent to a school at Sutton Coldfield, the proprietors of which were Wesleyans, and it is said of the Puritanical order. When she had completed her education she became an assistant teacher in the same school, and afterwards remained for several years as managing housekeeper. Her connection with this pious family must have had something to do with the formation of her character; but home influence seems to have been the most powerful of all. Her parents were patterns of industry, faithfulness, and integrity, and it was this that lifted them to a position they at one time never expected to fill. They honoured God, and God in a signal manner honoured them. The farms they occupied were some distance from the chapels where they attended; but neither distance nor weather, nor casualties amongst their stock, nor visitors of any kind, ever prevented their regular attendance at the house of God. They were General Baptists by profession and conviction, and many of the old ministers received a warm welcome beneath their roof. Numerous as may have been the applicants for money for the building of chapels and kindred objects, it is believed not one was ever sent empty away. They were richly rewarded in the conversion of all their children. In few families do we see a more literal fulfilment of the promise, "Instead of thy fathers shall be the children." It was, however, the judicious and wise counsel of the mother that made our departed sister very much what she was in after life. She was baptized with her younger brother in 1827, in Sheepshed brook, by the late Richard Ball, who always regarded these baptismal occasions as "the days of heaven upon earth." In the following spring she removed to Widmerpool, where she enjoyed the ministry of the late Rev. T. Hoe. In 1838 she was married to Robert Case, when she removed to Leicester, and at once became a member of the church in Friar Lane. In 1854 she was left a widow, and being entirely free from family cares, she gave herself wholly to Christian work. So absorbed did she become in everything connected with her own place and people, that in spirit, at least, "she departed not from the temple day nor night." She was literally "planted in the house of the Lord, and flourished in the *See G. B. Repository, 1850, p. 45. courts of our God." No attraction elsewhere ever took her away from her own sanctuary; she rarely if ever found an excuse in the severity of the weather, and nothing but positive indisposition ever kept her at home. Her pastor had no firmer friend; and it seemed like sacrilege to her for anyone to find fault with the service or sermon. She took a prominent part at the ladies' meetings and at tea-meetings. She seemed to have an idea, which we wish was a little more contagious, that matters would hardly go on right unless she took her own part. She was ever ready to collect contributions, and many a mile has she travelled for this purpose; and weariness in this work seemed to give her joy and rest. Her love for the varied institutions of the denomination was very ardent. The Foreign Mission was very dear to her; she supported an orphan child in one of the asylums, and she regarded the missionaries as her personal friends. Amongst her many virtues her generous consideration for the poor must not be forgotten. Many a chamber of sickness has she gladdened by her presence, almsgiving, and prayers. Her numerous gifts were not the outflow of abundance, but the consequence of great prudence and economy. The last year of her life she must have given one-fourth of her entire income, and we have good authority for saying she never gave less than a fifth. She reaped in her daily life the fulness of the promise, as but few could have done, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." We violate no sanctity when we say that all she leaves for her kindred and the church is the priceless legacy of a noble example and a stainless life. Those who saw her most in her last days can bear testimony to the firmness of her hope, her patient waiting and joyous expectation of her coming Lord. A few days before she died her elder brother visited her. She was then feeble, and the power of articulation almost gone; but she could respond to the name of Christ. "I sat down by her side," said he, "and recited the twenty-third Psalm, to every sentence of which she responded; and when I came to the last verse but one-'My cup runneth over-she shouted for joy." This was the last burst on earth, but was soon followed by a louder song in heaven. She died at her residence in Leicester, July 15, 1876, aged seventy-one. She was buried by the Rev. C. Clarke, B.A., of Ashby, in the family burying ground at Packington, and her death was improved by the Rev. I. Stubbins at Friar Lane, Leicester. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Their works follow them." W. BAILEY. "WRITTEN BY A WOMAN."-A welcome and interesting letter is to hand from one of our lady readers; and with it there comes "the inevitable postscript," which in this case expresses a request that we shall not refuse to print the communication because it is "written by a woman.' Suffice it to say, the dominance of the male sex in the use of the pen notwithstanding, that the words "written by a woman" would be to us an additional charm. Still we have not the courage to print this letter. The eulogy of the Magazine is so thorough and glowing that our editorial modesty blushes, though our gratitude is increased. We are glad, however, to note one part of it as a sample of the wide-spread sympathy, and, we may add, enthusiasm, evoked by the opening article on the "General Baptist Denomination" in the opening number for this year. We knew the faiths and hopes expressed were "general," but did not think they were so strongly held as we find they are. Nor may we withhold the lines by George Herbert applied to baptism "Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone, The Story of Friar Lane Church.* IT has been asserted, and I know not that the statement has ever been questioned, that Friar Lane is the oldest Baptist church in Leicester; that it existed, in some form, during the Protectorate of the glorious Oliver Cromwell; and that in 1651 Coniers Congrave and Thomas Rogers were its pastors. "In At a meeting of "Elders and Messengers" held at Stamford, 1656, William Inge and Thomas Christian were appointed as Messengers" to Leicester to "stir up and assist in the good work." Tradition states that the immortal dreamer, John Bunyan, once preached to these good people "in a meetinghouse situated down a long, narrow, dark entry leading from the street." That this meeting-house must have been excessively obscure, both in position and pretensions, is evident from the fact that " Mr. Samuel Deacon lived in the town three years and made frequent inquiries, and often followed the people as they passed along to the different places of worship in order to find out the General Baptist meeting-house, but was yet unable to discover it." August, 1719, Elias Wallin the elder conveyed to twelve trustees the two cottages or tenements, with their appurtenances, situated in Freer Lane; also all that yard, piece or parcel of ground adjoining and belonging to the said cottages; and also all that newly-erected edifice or building containing three bays of buildings, with the appurtenances standing on the said yard or parcel of ground, and used as a place for Divine worship." One of these trustees, Thomas Davye, is probably the person mentioned in the return of 1709 to the Bishop of the Diocese, as one of the preachers at the Baptist meeting-house in St. Martin's parish. It would appear that this Thomas Davye was an attorney by profession, and a man of great ability and devotedness to God. He sent from the press an able work entitled, "The Baptism of Adult Believers only Asserted and Vindicated; and that of Infants Disproved." He was succeeded in the pastoral office by Mr. W. Arnold, the grandfather of the late Dr. William Arnold, of this town. During his ministry Mr. J. Stanger was baptized from the village of Oadby. Mr. Stanger afterwards became the zealous and devoted pastor of the Baptist church at Bessell's Green, Kent. Mr. Arnold having served the church for upwards of thirty years, fell asleep in Jesus, and was succeded by a Mr. Johnson, who however continued with the church only a few years. After his removal Mr. S. Durance was appointed, but during his ministry the cause greatly declined. After his death Mr. Green, of Earl Shilton, with several other ministers, occasionally supplied the pulpit; but the congregation became so greatly diminished that the ministers only preached five or six times a year. In 1781 an incident occurred which gave new impetus to the drooping and almost extinct cause. A family of the name of Brothers, the heads of which were members of the Baptist church at Loughborough, removed to Leicester. Soon after their arrival one of their children died, and as it had not been baptized the clergyman refused it burial in the consecrated ground. They therefore sent a request to their own ministers to come and assist at the interment in the burial ground of the Old General Baptists. Accordingly Mr. Pollard came and preached to the friends of the deceased, and a few of the ancient members who had been invited to attend. During the evening one of the members of the original church said to Mr. Pollard with great earnestness, "Young man, we are six of us now with you, and we are all apostates." Pierced to the heart, they humbled themselves before the Lord, and in right good earnest set about repairing the waste places of Zion; they arranged supplies for the pulpit, a congregation was again gathered, and heaven smiled upon their work. In September, 1782, Mr. John Deacon became their minister, and so marked was the success that attended his ministry, that the place soon became too small to accommodate the crowds that flocked to hear him. Accordingly the church resolved unanimously to rebuild the chapel upon "a larger and more The writer is indebted to Thompson's "History of Leicester," and a small manual written by the Rev. S. Wigg, for several particulars mentioned in the earlier part of this paper. commodious plan." Mr. Deacon was ordained to the pastoral office in 1786, when the charge delivered by the venerable Dan Taylor was said by no mean authority to have been "one of the best to be found in the English language." In 1794 the separation of a number of members took place, which led to the formation of the church in Archdeacon Lane. About this time a Sabbath school was formed, chiefly through the exertions of the pastor's eldest son, Mr. F. Deacon. This was the first Nonconformist Lord's-day school in the town, and has proved a blessing to many hundreds of the rising race. I should be afraid to say in how many instances I have heard the Friar Lane Sunday school referred to by the aged, the suffering, and the dying, as having been the means of first leading them to the Saviour; and in not a few instances have they given me the Bible to read which they received on their dismissal from the school. Few men have been more beloved, or laboured harder in the cause of Christ, than John Deacon. On the 10th of March, 1821, the following entry was made in the church book:-"On this day, after a long and severely painful affliction, our beloved pastor, John Deacon, departed this life, sincerely and deeply regretted by the whole church and congregation." His remains were interred in Friar Lane chapel by the Rev. Robert Hall, assisted by the Rev. T. Bromwich, in the midst of a crowd of weeping spectators; and when his funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. W. Pickering, so densely was the chapel crowded that thousands had to go away unable to secure even a standing place. The Rev. Samuel Wigg succeeded to the pastorate at the following Michaelmas, and to his honour it shall be said that his first public act was to set on foot a subscription for a monument to his predecessor, and in a few hours collected the munificent sum of £50. Accordingly, the memorial which you there see was erected, the inscription for which was written by the Rev. Robert Hall, “as a mark of esteem and friendship." In the early part of Mr. Wigg's ministry a number of the members separated themselves and formed the nucleus of the present flourishing church in Dover Street. He continued to labour with great zeal and efficiency for forty years, during which time many hundreds were converted and baptized. His failing health during the last two years of his life rendered it necessary to avail himself of the services of the Rev. J. C. Pike, to assist in the various duties of the church, and on the 18th of July, 1861, he was called to meet that Saviour whom he had so long and faithfully proclaimed as the only hope for sinful man. On his decease Mr. Pike was elected sole pastor, and continued with all his characteristic ardour to minister in word and doctrine to the commencement of last year, when shattered health bade him rest awhile before entering on his great reward, on the 11th of August. Never was man more earnest and laborious, and few men have been more useful than he. His memory will be long and fondly cherished, not only by his own church, but throughout the town, the denomination to which he belonged, and to thousands in other sections of the wide-spread Christian church. During his ministry the present spacious and beautiful chapel was erected in 1866; and in 1873 those commodious school-rooms were built by the side of the chapel, with upper and lower entrances into it. The work of these two costly and noble edifices seemed perfectly Utopian, and no one with less energy and self-denial than the late beloved pastor of Friar Lane could have accomplished it. The chapel has since been beautifully decorated at the sole expense of one member of the church, and the magnificent organ erected by the same party joined by two others of the church and congregation. We have thus briefly-too briefly to do justice to our subject-reviewed the history of this ancient church, venerable for antiquity, and yet young in vigour and energy. It has about 350 members, seven local preachers, 560 Sunday scholars, and 52 devoted teachers. Such is the sphere upon which the present pastor, the Rev. James Hudson Atkinson, entered on the 20th of January last, and whose public recognition we all heartily welcome this day, praying that the great Shepherd of the sheep may abundantly bless and long continue the happy union of pastor and people. I. STUBBINS. Getting a New Minister. III.-Books and Boards of Reference. BY A "LIVE" DEACON. I HAVE noticed two methods by which this difficult and perilous process of "getting a new minister" is attempted, viz., miscellaneous "letters of commendation," and personal introductions. The first method may hit the gold of the target sometimes-once in a dozen rounds, or so; the second might be more direct, speedy, and effective, if men could be brought to use it. 66 But I am reminded, of what I could scarcely forget, that there are, as one writer says, "extremely able" men who, owing to their supersaturation with the charming grace of modesty, cannot take advantage of either arrangement, and so by their very "ability" restrict the area and diminish the extent of their usefulness, and suffer churches needing their services to pass them by for men of inferior calibre but of thicker hide. They are as retiring" as they are good; and as acutely conscientious as they are able, accurate, and painstaking; and shrink from "scheming and intriguing" to get an introduction to a vacant pastorate as from a lie; and will rather "die in a ditch" than ascend to a pulpit by any other way than the manifest "call of God." Everybody will commend their fidelity to conscience, blushing modesty, and real heroism, and wish for some well-framed scheme for relieving them of their difficulties. For most men, at present, the method of personal introductions is wholly inapplicable. They cannot bring themselves to intimate that they are "open to a call" to a larger "sphere," and would rather be hung, drawn, and quartered, than send here and there an attractive photograph, a batch of soiled testimonials, and a clipping from the Littleton Gazette, containing a highly spiced description of the fine genius and commanding ability of the shifty minister of Dingle Street chapel. What, then, is to be done? The churches ought to have the opportunity of knowing their men. The men ought to be brought within sight and hearing and acquaintance of the churches. Will not the "big wigs" of the denomination see to it ? May they not be safely left in their hands? I hardly know. I speak here with fear and trembling. I have a solemn dread of "big wigs," and do not like to hazard my pen on such a dangerous theme. But I may say it is possible, that as the clamorous poor get nine-tenths of the charity—and not because of their poverty, but because of their clamour-whilst the quiet poor perish, so the noisy, pushing, clamorous ministers, if there are any, might so fill the visual orb of the denominational "leaders" as to shut out of sight those quieter and stronger souls who will not speak for themselves. A writer, in an interesting correspondence on this subject, which appeared in the Christian World last August, suggests that a register should be kept at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, stating the "particulars of vacant churches, and of unattached and moveable ministers." This plan works well in buying and selling the "livings" of the State Church, and seems to be a profitable arrangement for "getting new domestic servants;" but I cannot fancy that it will assist us in the conquest of the difficulties in the path of a Free Church seeking a pastor. The Book of Reference would be in vain. Churches and pastors would not use it. Advertise, said another. to business." "What steam is to machinery, that advertising is I am not overdone with squeamishness, and am willing to barter pounds of mere sentiment for a few grains of common sense; but I do think it is a sore pity if there is not some other way out of the wood than the pages of "some recognised medium." Advertising will not do. No, no! Appoint a Committee, said a third. This has been done in some quarters, though with what measure of success I cannot speak with the authority I desire. I see from the General Baptist Year Books that in 1865 a "Board of Reference for Pastors and Churches" was established, "to facilitate, where necessary, the removal of pastors from one |