• Home                                       
• Articles Page
• From a Friend
• Cochlear Implant
• Loving your Deaf Child
• Muhammad vs. Jesus
• Love or Lust?
• What is Baptism?
• Who is a Fundamentalist Baptist
• What's an Independent Baptist?
• Who asks this question?

There is no date in this wonderful little booklet by John G. Ridley, M.C.. Most Baptists can tell of the great saints from the denominations and yet they are ignorant as to the founders of the Baptist movement. This little booklet names just some of those that have helped in laying upon that foundation which is built upon Jesus Christ.

FOREWORD

In "Who Are These?" Mr. Ridley has given us a splendid book that stirs one in the reading. It is a production that ought to be in the hands of all the young people of our Baptist Churches. It will give them a rare thrill when they read it, and will fill them with a justifiable pride when they discover what notable men and women are numbered among the people called Baptists. They will realise that they have an ancestry of which they need never be ashamed. And the older folk will find in it a liberal education regarding our Baptist Worthies, and will find it difficult, once they have started the book, to put it down until they have come to the last page.

The writer has not attempted to deal with the principles and practices of the Baptist Denomination, but has aimed to display "A Gallery of Baptist Worthies"--to portray their characteristics and to give some small conception of their contribution to the Church and the world.

I am afraid that very few really know what that contribution has been; or how profound the influence of outstanding Baptist leaders has been upon such movements as World Missions, Evangelism, Religious Liberty, Social Reform, and even Hymnology. It will come as a surprise. to many .to learn, for example, that not a few of their loved hymns were written by Baptists.

The writer calls his book "A Cavalcade of Baptists," and it is a fitting term, for it unfolds a grand march-past of truly notable men and women, and every lover of the Baptist Faith will feel a glow of holy pride as he keeps pace with the review.

Mr. Ridley is well known in all the Churches as one of our outstanding evangelists, and has spoken in the .great Conventions and United Missions, where all sections of the Christian Church are represented, but he has not attempted to proselytize or antagonize the leaders and workers of other Christian bodies. A: gracious brotherly spirit breathes throughout the whole book. He has sought the rather to make his book a contribution to all Christians and to stir up the fires of holy enthusiasm with the story of these Baptist Worthies. Many of them are already recognized as the heritage of the whole Church of God.

For our own people the book meets a very felt need. It is the kind of book that many have been looking for for years, and will be eagerly welcomed by our youth workers for .the inspiration and information that it will supply--the more so--as it is written in such a readable form; one that will capture the interest of the young people. We wish for it, what we feel sure it will have, a very wide sale, and commend it wholeheartedly to all our churches. And we hope that it will not only find its way into the churches of our own land, but find its way across to Great Britain and America.

C. J. TINSLEY,
Vice-President, Baptist World Alliance.

INTRODUCTION

During a lengthy evangelistic ministry I have endeavored to keep to the great foundations of the Christian Faith, and to avoid, as much as possible, controversial subjects. Why then this booklet on Baptist Worthies? Mainly for the instruction and encouragement of my younger brethren, who may be called on to face a similar challenge to that which was delivered to me in a critical moment of young manhood.

On my return from the First World War I was baptized by immersion in Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle by the Rev. William Lamb, who, years before, had been used of God to lead me to the Saviour. Soon after my baptism, I offered myself as a candidate for the ministry of Christ among the Baptists of New South Wales. Immediately this became known, a gentleman of high esteem in the legal profession in the city of Sydney, who had already shown a kindly interest in my army career, asked me to lunch with him for the purpose of a serious talk concerning my future. At that interview, my middle-aged friend urged me strongly to discard my decision to work with the Baptists, and to app|y to some other Denomination of "higher status" in the community. In the course of his conversation, he referred to the Baptists as "an obscure" and "little-known sect." At that time my knowledge of Baptist history was small and I could but defend my decision on the ground of spiritual conviction through the study of Scripture. Had I known then some of the facts gained in following years I could have reinforced my plea of conviction to. my friend with some illuminating revelations concerning those "obscure" people, called Baptists.

Maybe some young people anxious to serve the Lord. Christ in the ministry or mission field under the. Baptist banner will find in this little "Cavalcade" of history some enriching inspiration of soul and some added support to their deepening convictions of spirit, I pray it may be so.

It will be noticed that I have not attempted to discuss the theological question -- "What is Christian Baptism?" To many that will be a debatable matter until the dawning of Christ's day. Although "fully persuaded" in my own mind as to the Scriptural answer to that question, my references to godly men of other Christian communions will, I trust, prove to all fair-minded readers my sincere appreciation of the worth of many brethren in Christ, who differ from me in the matter of Baptism. I have striven to write this story "with malice toward none," but "'with charity for all" who name the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour; and to impart no sneer, sting, or stab to any who read its pages. Brave Baptists of the past battled so well for religious liberty, that it ill-becomes any of the modern-day brethren to betray their trust in denying to others what they so ardently desire for themselves. At any rate, the great Apostle, speaking by the Holy Spirit, unveils the one acceptable attitude in the. sight of God for all debatable matters: "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth... Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ .... So then every one of' us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14: 4, 5, 10, 12).

JOHN G. RIDLEY.

Who Are These?

One of the greatest thrills of my boyhood was to recline in our lounge-room and listen to my father singing some of the popular, patriotic songs of that period; He had a rich tenor voice, and I seem to hear him now, throwing all his soul into Frederic Weatherby's "Deathless Army," which ever stirred every loyal emotion and stimulated every martial ambition within my breast. In rapt attention I drank in those well-known words:

Yes, with the poet, I could see it all, and, in those days, I never doubted the truth of his triumphant vision; but the years passed away and, in the good purposes of God, I was brought to the Saviour and received of His Holy Spirit, and saw, according to His promise (Acts 2: 17), vaster visions and richer revelations of the Lord (2 Cor. 12:1). Truly He showed me "The Deathless Army," but it was not composed of war-scarred veterans from the battlefields of this old world, but of blood-washed souls, who had surrendered to the Saviour, and who marched in white uniforms, some with crowns upon their heads, some with palms of victory in their hands, and who cried with loud voice, saying: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain .... and has redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation .... And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne." Yes, and the voice of many multitudes: "and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand. and thousands of thousands" (Rev. 5: 9-12).

Thrilled and dazzled with this vision of the real, Divine "Deathless Army," I cried aloud: "Who are these, clad in white robes? Where did they come from?" Illuminating, indeed, was the answer: "These were redeemed from among men out of every tribe and kindred and nation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and so have right to enter in through the gates into the city. They have fought in the good-fight, they have finished their course, they have kept the faith, they have gotten the victory. Yea, these are they who overcame Satan by the blood .of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and have come through great tribulation to triumph." Not "the great tribulation," at the end of the Church age, but a tribulation common to all true Christians, who faithfully follow "the Captain of their. Salvation"; that "tribulation" spoken 'about by our Lord in John 16: 33, when He said to the disciples: "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Thus these soldier-saints of the Church have, by His power, overcome, even as He also overcame, and they sit with Him in His throne. (Rev. 3: 21). They have proved the truth of the inspired words, "that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14: 22), and now they rejoice with all their "companions in tribulation" (Rev. 1: 9), who "endured, as seeing him who is invisible" (Heb. 11: 27); and were not separated from the love of Christ. by tribulation (Rom. 8: 35); but were delivered from every evil work and preserved unto His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18). Now they are with their we11- loved Leader in heavenly glory. No personal wound in battles below has won for these a place in this "Deathless Army" above. No! a thousand times -- No! They are there, as they all gladly acknowledge, hy fhe merit and blood of their conquering Captain, called "The Lamb." Hearken again! "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by THY BLOOD" (Rev. 5:9)! And once again! "Unto Him that 1oved us, and washed us from our sins in His own BLOOD"' (Rev. 1:5)!

LOOK AT HIM,

"in the midst of the throne!" He has come through His own great tribulation, and scars of the warfare are still upon His glorious form, The days of His humiliation are ended, and tie is now enthroned in the seat of power. "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour." (Heb. 2:9). He has tasted death for every man, and He is now leading many sons into glory, and is rejoicing with them in triumph. "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." (Heb. 2:9-11).

Every soldier of that "Deathless Army" shouts his personal praise and tribute to this glorious. Captain. Hearken to that shout which seems to shake heaven and earth!

Look! Do you see one, standing near the throne, with radiant face and glowing eyes? Why is he stirred even above his fellows? Well, long, long ago it was his honour to introduce the Redeemer, in His lowly guise, to a waiting world, and right royally he did so with the words, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29). How he recalls that distant day from the midst of this dazzling, Divine Glory! Yes, and that Other day when, somewhere about the age of thirty, Jesus of Nazareth had come to him to be baptized. He had protested; but when Jesus replied "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," he had obeyed, and baptised Him in Jordan. Ah, could he ever forget what followed? .There was a dripping Redeemer coming up out of the water; a descending Spirit, like a dove, and a Divine voice saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (MatL 3:13-17).

Yes, "there was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (John l:6). They called him "John the Baptist"; but Jesus called, him "A prophet..Yea, . . and much more than a prophet, . . . Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist" (Luke 7:20 and 26-28).

Years ago, when working on an out-back station, I was frequently greeted by an old squatter with the words: "Here comes John the Baptist." I knew not if he intended his words to impart sincerity or scorn, and I cared little, but rather rejoiced to be linked by the lips of man to him of- whom Frederick Myers wrote:

Turn back again to "the Heavenly Vision." Let me :direct you to a noble figure standing very near the throne. Behold, another "man sent from God, Whose name was John!" You ask, "Who is he? And where did he come from?" Let me reply to your questions in the words of Rudyard Kipling, which he penned in 1917, in the midst of World War No. 1:

True, from the lowest rank of sinners, John Bunyan has come to an honored place in "The Deathless Army" of Saints. Look at him well. He has come out of great tribulation. Long years of imprisonment and suffering "for the Gospel's sake," because he would not surrender the right to preach God's Word as a Nonconformist. They did their best to silence him, but God confounded their politics and, long centuries after his death and translation to Glory, Bunyan is still preaching through his matchless books. Apart from the Bible, there are few, if any, volumes in the world to equal "The Pilgrim's Progress," "The Holy War" and "Grace Abounding."

God used the pen of this saved tinker to tell "the glories of His grace" to countless multitudes of men, women and children, whom his eyes would never see in this world. Even the mighty mind of Dr. Johnson paid homage to "Pilgrim's Progress" saying, "This is the great merit of the book, that the most cultivated man cannot find anything to praise more highly, and the child knows nothing more amusing." Also, a missionary from Uganda once said: "There are thousands of folk in obscure corners of the earth who will never meet an Englishman in this life, but in the next there will be one Englishman whom they will all greet as an old friend and companion -- John Bunyan, the Tinker of Bedford."

Yes, a tinker, but a teacher of the first order. One writer links him with Richard Baxter as "the two greatest spirits in Puritanism, its two most famous preachers, and its two most influential writers." Professor Masson, in his "Life of Milton," refers to John Bunyan, saying, "Here and there, up and down 'the country, people had heard of a vehement Baptist preacher of his name, who had been a tinker, a Parliamentarian soldier, and one knew not what else."

Crowds flocked to hear him when he visited London. On one occasion it was estimated his congregation numbered about three thousand, while half that number turned away for lack of room. He loved and preached the Gospel. Once he told his judges, "If I were out of prison to-day I would preach the gospel again to-morrow, by the help of God." So they kept him in prison. To "the princes of this world" he was a base fellow; a tinker; an uneducated upstart, and a despised Baptist. There is little doubt that he was a Baptist. Southey thinks that Gifford baptized him in the river Ouse, and Dr. Hutton, dean of Winchester, in his late biography, definitely states: "Now the roll of Baptist members of this church (Bedford) has been kept from 1650, and on it the name of John Bunyan stands nineteenth." For the rest, he has outlived and outgrown his persecutors and now is in the front rank of "The Deathless Army" of God, "with Christ," of Whom he once wrote: "'Oh, me thought Christ, Christ! There was nothing but Christ before my eyes!"

Look away from Bunyan's glorified face to that other mighty man of his day whose name was also John. His eyes, that were dimmed to darkness in the tribulation of this world, are wide open now, and fixed with fervent gaze upon "the Lamb of God." Oh, "Paradise Regained" forever now! JOHN MILTON, Latin Secretary to Cromwell and "sweet singer of England," is "forever safe, forever blest" Ah, who can measure the mighty influence of Milton? Let another poet speak. In 1802 William Wordsworth paid this sublime tribute:

Where did this "Star," who "dwelt apart," come from? Out of great tribulation. He was a lonely man. His home was not very happy. Few understood him or gave the sympathy he craved. Then, at last, he was plunged into the bondage of blindness. Yet he loved the Bible. He never doubted its Divine authority. He testified that if only England would become a Bible-reading, Bible-believing, Bible-studying nation its distress would quickly vanish and its wounds be healed. Yet they persecuted him.

Mark Pattison said, "Every Philistine leveled the contemptuous epithet of Anabaptist against Milton most freely." What! Was this great man, like Bunyan, linked with that "obscure sect" called "the Baptists"? Well, it seems most likely he was; and it is certain his widow was a member of the Nantwich Baptist Church in Cheshire. But, what does it matter, after all? He served his day and generation well. He "washed his robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." He passed into Paradise through great tribulation, and now, maybe, he sings his own beautiful hymn in a higher realm and with a holier love:

Look deeper into the ranks of that "Deathless Army." There is yet another by the name of John -- COLONEL JOHN HUTCHINSON, a soldier of Cromwell's Army, and one-time governor of Nottingham Castle. It was there that he and his noble wife, Lucy, after searching the Scriptures, united with the Baptists, and were immediately-plunged into tribulation. Lucy tells how they were reviled, called fanatics and Anabaptists; "and not only the ministers, but all their zealous sectaries conceived implacable malice against them upon this account." Nevertheless, they stood firm, and Colonel John even befriended his opponent, George Fox, when the latter was a prisoner at Nottingham. On the Restoration, the Colonel was imprisoned, and died through bitter.and cruel treatment. It is all forgotten now, and John and Lucy are re-united with one another, and with some who reviled them, and all are joyful at the throne of God.

Away behind John Hutchinson, we may catch a glimpse of one of the greatest soldiers of "The Commonwealth" period. MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS. HARRISON was for a time Commander-in-Chief of Cromwell's Army and enjoyed many favors at the hand of the great Protector. He commanded the escort that accompanied King Charles as a prisoner to London, and he acted so tenderly toward the defeated monarch, that the king commented on the kindness and care of the general.

Alas for Harrison! Believing in the Fifth Monarchy and looking for the reign of Jesus Christ on earth, he tried to force it by the sword, and fell from favor. On the Restoration, he was arrested, given a mock trial and hurried to execution. We are told that he gave evidence of true Christian character before the fatal hour of death. Now, we see this Baptist Commander-in-Chief, stripped of his fanatical zeal, humbly waiting at the throne of his long-loved King, until that unknown hour, when he will gladly follow Him to earth -- "At His coming and His Kingdom."

We must hasten on, or time will fail us to tell of many other worthy names in that distant "Deathless Army." Yes, pass by those great saints of the Anglican, Presbyterian. and Congregational bodies, and .all other companies of Christ's brethren. We love them and honour them, and will rejoice to dwell forever with them one day, but we are seeking to sight some of those of our own earthly company called "Baptists."

Look! There is ROBERT HALL of CAMBRIDGE, free at last from the pitiless pains which tore his poor body in his "great tribulation" of earthly years! No longer does he need a sofa at hand on which to cast his tortured frame. No, he has "come out of great tribulation," and is now swelling "the new and holy song" with the tongue of his matchless oratory. What! You never heard of him before? Never heard of Robert Hall? His name was known nation-wide in his day. He was called "the Chrysostom of the English pulpit." Great and small flocked to his feet to listen to his mighty messages, ministered in magnificent language. His famous sermons, when England awaited Napoleon's invasion, were said to rival the best oratory of Greece or Rome.

In the biography of General Sir Henry Lawrence, we read how young Henry and his sisters would walk many miles over meadows and mountain to hear Robert Hall, in the latter days of his ministry; and how Henry was deeply stirred in soul beneath his words. His influence was very great, and did much to raise a new note of respect and esteem for the Baptist witness throughout England. At his zenith he was the spokesman for the Free Churches of England and, on occasions, for English Christianity. Now he speaks for himself with loud and lofty praise at "the throne of God and of the Lamb."

Not far from Robert Hall you may notice a gallant group of glorified missionaries, "Who climbed the. steep ascent of heaven through peril, toil and pain."

Foremost amongst those heavenly heroes See WILLIAM CAREY, the one-time cobbler of Northampton; then the poor Baptist preacher, who once listened to his fellow-laborer, Andrew Fuller, with a happy heart but a hungry stomach, not having a penny wherewith to buy a meal; then, later, the famous father of the Modern Missionary Movement. Look well at "this mighty man of valor," who led the great invasion force to establish "A Second Front" for Jesus Christ in a well- nigh impregnable heathen world; and this in the face of William Pitt's words, that "The greatest disaster that could happen would be to disturb and introduce new elements in India." Prime Minister William Pitt looked at the strong heathen world and the political problems of such an invasion and said "It can't be done." The Established Church 1ooked..at the tremendous task, then at the little interest of the home people, and listlessly repeated: "It can't be done."

There were many Free Churchmen and Baptists who looked at the barricades of Satanic blackness, and, feeling it could not be done, echoed John Ryland's hasty retort to William Carey's courage and hope, by saying, "Sit down, young man. When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." But William Carey would not "sit down," and no human discouragement could put him down. He looked at the grim battle-front of the heathen world; he saw the barricades and battlements of Satanic darkness; :but: he also looked up and saw Almighty God; and, in spite of cutting criticism within the Church :amid bitter abuse without, he volunteered for the great venture, crying: "See what the Moravians are doing,.... cannot we Baptists at least attempt something in fealty to the same Lord?" Then he gave his battle cry -- "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" -- and moved out .with one other noble soul beside him -- Naval-Surgeon Thomas -- and stormed the ramparts. No wonder General Seeley (Lord Mottistone), himself a hero of the First World War, declared: "Carey had the zeal of a Crusader with the valour of a Viking."

Onward he battled against "great tribulation." Thomas was wounded early in the fight; but WARD, the humble printer, and JOHN MARSHMAN, the school teacher, and HANNAH MARSHMAN, the heroic woman who could bury six children and still fight on, came swiftly to the rescue; and the little band of braves won the well-fought day. Seven years of struggle and then the first convert, Krishna Pal, was baptised. Yes, in spite of the furious madness of the Indian mob, he was baptised, and later became a preacher, and, with Carey's band, helped to point multitudes to the Christ of God. Lo! I fancy Krishna Pal is not far from Carey, Marshman and Ward in. the ranks of the "Deathless Army."

It is all over now. The "Second Front" is established in power, and all true Christians agree with Sir George Adam Smith when he said: "It is no exaggeration to call Carey one of the greatest of God's Englishmen. He broke the way for us all in Ash, and gave his life, without an interval, for its people." Rich praise this for the cobbler! Yes, but the cobbler became a conqueror and more than a conqueror through Him Who loved him. What would he say to us to-day if permitted to speak to those who follow on? Listen! Methinks he is speaking from the front rank of the "Deathless Army," and his words. are those of his death-bed long ago: "Speak not about Dr. Carey; but speak about Dr. Carey's Saviour." Good words indeed:--

Turn slightly from the "Missionary Group" for a few moments and look at a soldier-saint, who seems to be somewhat connected to that brave band that broke the heathen barrier and blazed the trail of Divine Truth into Asia. His name is HENRY HAVELOCK, and his hand clasps the hand of one, who, on earth, was known as the daughter of John and Hannah Marshman. Stranger than any fiction fable is the romance of Henry Havelock and young Hannah Marshman. William Carey hated the military profession. A red coat was to him as a red rag to a bull. They oft told the tale, at the Mission House, how he stormed at a Military surgeon who dared to visit his sick bed in a scarlet uniform.

Then, one day, a young officer, who loved Christ, visited Serampore, and talked not of wars and weapons but of the Christ and His commands. He wanted these Baptists to talk to him about their view of baptism, but they would not respond, Their views counted little and they advised him to read God's Word and find his own way thereby. Humbly, Havelock turned to "The Book of books," and ere long came again to Serampore to be baptized by immersion under the hand of another missionary hero, JOHN MACK. Then he plucked a fair flower from the compound garden and, with her love and sympathy, marched out to gain a noble name in Anglo-Indian history as "The Hero of the Mutiny" and the "Saviour of Lucknow." Did he pass through tribulation? Yes, much for many years. His promotion was retarded; he was accused of being "A narrow sectarian of the Baptist persuasion," but facts smote the gossip as "false." During the advance to Lucknow, Lieut. Morland, his Provost Marshal, intimated to the General that he was about to read the burial service of the Church of England over the remains of Beatson, late Adjutant-General to the Force. "Do," replied the old Baptist General, "I shall be there to listen to what is a very beautiful service."

That is not the language of "a narrow sectarian," but of a big-hearted Christian hero, who fought "the good fight" so fearlessly and faithfully, that he brought undying honour to his country, the Church of God, and the denomination of his choice.

Away behind this hero-saint I fancy I can see the face of his .famous son, who won the V.C. on the march to Lucknow, and was called by Lord Wolseley "the bravest man in the British Army." Yet not by the merit of his decoration or dauntless courage, but by faith in his father's Saviour, has Lieut.-General Sir Henry Havelock, V.C., reached the royal encampment of Heaven at last; and the man who was chairman at ,the public meeting for the opening of Spurgeon's Tabernacle in 1861 is now with Spurgeon and his own noble father in the ranks of "The Deathless Army."

Let us glance back again to that "Missionary Group," and, passing by the noble faces of William Burns and David Brainerd of the Presbyterian body, and Henry Martyn and Bishop Hannington of the Church of England, and David Hill of the Methodists, and James Gilmour of the Congregationalists, and Booth-Tucker of the Salvationists, and Dan Crawford and F. S. Arnot of the Brethren, gaze for a few moments on the glorified forms of ADONIRAM JUDSON of BURMAH, and WILLIAM KNIBB of JAMAICA. Both were "burning and shining lights" in the Baptist missionary band.

The former almost stands alone as an overcomer in "a great fight of afflictions." Many years ago, in conversation with a well-educated cousin of the Church of England, we drifted into a profitable discussion about foremost missionary leaders. After referring to a number of noble names, my cousin suddenly exclaimed: "But what. about Judson of Burmah? Surely no one ever suffered as he did! It is the saddest story of missionary enterprise. What a wonderful man!"

Such was the warm-hearted tribute of a well-read Anglican to a brave, Baptist missionary hero. Nor was my cousin alone in her estimation of ADONIRAM JUDSON. Hearken to Theodore Parker --- a man far removed from Judson's school of Christian thought! Said he: "If the Foreign Missionary Movement had done nothing more than produce such a character as Adoniram Judson, it were well worth all its cost."

He sailed for India from the United States in February, 1812, and during the voyage, by study of the Scripture, decided that baptism was only for the believer in Christ, and that the mode was immersion. On arrival in India he linked with Carey and his friends at Serampore and was there baptised. Later, he and his gallant wife blazed a trail into black-hearted Burmah and suffered as few have even suffered and survived in this world. Imprisoned and tortured, scorned and abused, resisted and resented, yet he pressed on and prayed on, ever clinging to the text, "The love of Christ constraineth us."

Finally, after six stern, suffering years, the first convert was baptised. It was the beginning of a great work and, to-day, many thousands of. the natives of Burmah live and die in "the faith of G0d's elect" because of Judson's faithful endurance. "There goes the Jesus-man," said the natives of his day, when he passed along the highways of barren Burmah; and now, all glory be to God, "the Jesus-man" is with the Lord Jesus in "Glory everlasting," and the song of his earthly service is blessedly fulfilled:--

WILLIAM KNIBB was of the same soldierly stock as Judson. He only lived forty-two years, but they were well spent in the service of God and man. He was the champion of the poor negroes of Jamaica, and the knight who fought .the dragon of slavery on their behalf and triumphed gloriously. He came out of great tribulation in Jamaica, where the slave- owners hated him, accused him of inciting the slaves to rebellion, and cast him into prison. Immediately on his release, he set out for England to wage war for liberty. It was a great crusade and Knibb conquered. Up and down the land he travelled denouncing the horrors of the slave-trade, and calling on Christians all over England to rise against it. In one meeting he concluded a great address by saying: "If I fail of arousing your sympathies, I will retire from this meeting and call upon Him Who has made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the face of the earth, and if I die without beholding the emancipation of my brethren and sisters in Christ, if prayer is permitted in heaven, I will fall at the feet of the Eternal, crying, 'Lord, open the eyes of Christians in England to see the evil of slavery and to banish it from the earth.'" England responded to his appeal; the Churches arose and subscribed 10,000 pound for his mission work, and Knibb returned to Jamaica to witness the liberation of the whole slave population.

No wonder a vast concourse followed his coffin io the grave a few years later. Now he is numbered in "The Deathless Army" of those who died "in the Lord," and "whose works follow them," and who, themselves, "live unto God."

India, Burmah, Jamaica. But what about China? Let us glance at the glorified ones again. Ah! There is Dr. TIMOTHY RICHARD, called by Sir James Marchant, "A Missionary Statesman." Born in Wales in 1845, he "launched out into the deep" of China's dark waters of wickedness in 1869, and went everywhere -- to Manchuria, Korea, Shantung, Shansi, Pekin, Tientsin -- preaching and teaching the Word of God. He rounded the Christian Literature Society for China, was Religious Adviser to the Chinese Government, Secretary to the International Red Cross Society, Chancellor of the University, editor of a newspaper, author of many books, and successful seeker of: souls.

Six. years after his arrival in China he baptized a man and his wife as the first converts of his ministry. Before immersing the newly-converted Chinese couple in a river flowing by a Buddhist temple, he called on the Buddhist monk; explained to him the meaning of baptism by immersion; and asked him to lend a couple of rooms in his temple as dressing-rooms. The monk consented and the ceremony duly took place. Soon afterward fifteen other converts followed those two in confession of Christ by baptism.

The motto of this man of God was "As God wills," and, in later years, missionaries in Shansi told how people still asked affectionately after Timothy Richard, saying: "He left a trail of light behind him." Blessed work, indeed, to leave "a trail of light" in a dark world! Now we see him in "the Light all light excelling," walking with Christ in white among the worthy.

Surely, JAMES HUDSON TAYLOR was not a whit behind the bravest pioneers of other lands. His noble name will ever be connected with that foremost of Faith Missions, "The China Inland Mission." Did he not plunge into forbidding, unknown, inland China and plant the Gospel banner on many a so-called impregnable fortress of heathen darkness? Did he not remove mountains of opposition at home and abroad by his prayers of faith? Commencing with 10 pound, and a weak body, and a handful of .heroic hearts, like unto his own, did he not conclude his course with the knowledge of a thousand missionaries on the field and tens of thousands of converts serving Christ?

This mighty man of God cannot be claimed by any denominational body as belonging distinctly to their company. He and his mission swept out beyond all barriers of denominational restraint, but, in his monumental biography, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, there is this clear and convincing note regarding his own personal convictions: "The Rev. W. G. Lewis was the minister of the Baptist church, of which Mr. Taylor had become and long remained a member" (Vol. 2, p. 17). This same Mr. Lewis, who was editor of "The Baptist Magazine" in 1865, was the man who urged Hudson Taylor to make a wider appeal for inland China by articles from his pen. Thus, in no small manner, have the Baptists an interest in Hudson Taylor and "The China Inland Mission."

We would like to linger a little longer and tell about George Grenfell of the Congo, and the less-known but not the less faithful Alfred Saker of the Cameroons of West Africa. "In perils oft" they pressed along the pilgrim pathway, pleading with poor benighted natives to go with them to the good land beyond Jordan. Numbers answered to their pleadings and, in one case, a savage, would-be murderer of Mr. Saker, finally responded to the Gospel, and became in due time a quiet, humble deacon of the local native church. People, in later days, could hardly recognize Angwa as the fierce savage of early years. Truly, "the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth"!

Time fails again to fully tell of pioneer missionaries like Roger Willjams and Johann Gerhard Oncken. The former fought for the freedom of the faith in North America, and gained a noble name among her pioneer heroes. Banished by false brethren from the State of Massachusetts, he wandered for three months in deadly perils by land and sea, until, at last, he rounded the State of Rhode Island and planted the town of Providence as its capital city. Thirty-five years later he could say, "Here, all over this colony, a great number of weak and distressed souls, scattered, are fleeing hither from Old and New Enghnd; the Most High and Only Wise hath in His infinite wisdom, provided this country and this corner as a shelter for the poor and persecuted, according to their persuasions."

In. March 1639, Roger Williams, with a number of others, formed the first Baptist Church in America. Dr. Landels said, "Roger Williams is entitled to take rank among the foremost benefactors of mankind." Roger Williams of Rhode Island holds no mean place in the records of the great-hearts of God, and in the royal ranks of the "Deathless Army."

JOHANN GERHARD ONCKEN, the pioneer Baptist missionary to Germany, is far too little known. Labouring as a missionary of "The Continental Society" in Hamburg, and attending the Independent Church, Mr. Oncken became a keen student of the Scripture and, in due time, arrived at the conviction that immersion for believers in Christ was the only Scriptural baptism. On speaking to his pastor, Mr. Mathews, he was severely rebuked. Said he, "Under no consideration whatever must you be baptised, Oncken, that will never do." Nevertheless, Oncken was baptised with several friends in the river Elbe by Professor Sears of Hamilton College, U.S.A., in 1834, and his pastor, Mr. Mathews, soon afterwards followed his example.

In the face of fierce opposition, Oncken founded the first Baptist Church in Hamburg. Tribulation opened her mouth and belched out her volcanic fires upon him. The chief of police set out to destroy this "Baptist heresy" root and branch. Said he, "As long as I can move my little finger it will be raised up against you." Oncken replied: "I think, Sir, that you do not see what I see, which is not a little finger, but the mighty arm of God." He offered Oncken and his family a free passage to America, which was refused. Then he cast him into prison. From his cell, Oncken wrote, "As soon as my warder had gone, I fell on my knees, blessing and praising the Saviour who counted me worthy to suffer imprisonment for His name's sake. I felt well and happy, and prayed for the conversion of my persecutors." Faithfully, this man of God maintained his witness and outlived his persecutors, and, at his death, there were 150 Baptist Churches and 31,438 members and 17,000 Sunday School scholars in the Fatherland.

Far beyond the borders of Germany his witness extended, and souls were gathered in from Austria, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland and Russia. On his death-bed he was greatly comforted by a hymn, which his wife read to him over and over again, beginning with the words, "I am inscribed in Heaven's roll." True it was! Now we see him, by faith, answering to his name at the roll-call of "The Deathless Army."

Turn from "The Missionary Group" to that of the Legion of Glorified Preachers. Every branch of the Christian Church has her representatives there, and we would not for a moment forget or fail to honour such as Augustine, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Baxter, Doddridge, Chalmers and Booth; but our eyes are searching at present for some of those who labored as Baptist ministers and evangelists.

Look! There is CHRISTMAS EVANS, who was born to this earth on Christmas Day 1766, and after seventeen years in his poor home could neither read nor write. What good could such an ignorant lad do in this wise world? Very little, but for the grace of God, which grace was ministered unto him abundantly in Jesus Christ. He was converted to God soon after his seventeenth birthday, and later was ordained as a Baptist missionary in Wales. Coming into "the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ," he labored in such apostolic power, and was owned of God in the salvation of souls and the formation of local churches so marvelously that men called him "The Apostle of Wales." His preaching was in such demonstration of the Spirit and of power that Paxton Hood said, "His are very great sermons; the present writer is almost disposed to be bold enough to describe them as the greatest Gospel sermons of the last 100' years."

There he is now, free from that deformity: of face, which marked him as a strange-looking man on earth, radiant and glorious in the joy of His Lord, numbered with "those who turned many to righteousness" and therefore in the front rank of "The Deathless Army."

Not far from Christmas Evans you may notice JACOB KNAPP, one-time Baptist Evangelist of the northern parts of the United States of America. There stands the massive man whose preaching on earth had such power that one said, "Wherever he went infidelity turned pale and universalism gave up the ghost."

Just beyond his stalwart form, you may see the shining face of a man of smaller build but of equal power. Few recall the name of A. B. EARLE in these days, but he was a mighty soul-winner in the United States, who preached nearly 20,000 times in 50 years, and whose famous sermon on "The Unforgivable Sin," was estimated as the means, under God, of turning 20,000 souls to Christ. Gilchrist Lawson said of him, "He deserves to be ranked with the great evangelists and soul-winners of all time."

Glance from Earle to that lowly man not far from the Saviour's feet. On earth he was known as "UNCLE JOHN" VASSAR, one of the most fearless and faithful of personal workers. The man who would so often advance to his fellow men with a kindly smile and the grimly direct question: "Pardon me, but may I ask if you have been born again?" The man who called at thousands of homes with that question, and the Gospel on his lips and in his leaflets, and who, on being rejected rudely by some, would quietly sing:

A little man, an obscure worker, but oh, how vast his influence! See how he glances from the glorious face of his beloved Lord to the glorified face of his dear friend, whom he so influenced in the spiritual life, and who now stands near him, Dr. A. J. GORDON. Yes, Vassar, the personal worker, who was converted to Christ in a Baptist mission from a life of worldliness and sin, so gave himself to his Saviour, that he, in turn, moved Dr. Gordon, of Clarendon Street Baptist Church, Boston, to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit as "the one thing needful." When that Pentecostal blessing came upon Gordon, it was so mighty that he not only transformed his church from a fashionable, worldly centre, to a burning bush of missionary zeal and soul-winning power; but he also produced those blessed books of Divine enrichment to thousands -- "The Two-Fold Life," "The Ministry of the Spirit," and "Ecce Venit" ("Behold, He Cometh"). For more than twenty-five years his royal witness rang out from Boston to all the earth, and won for him an honoured place among the mighty preachers and pastors of the Church of God.

Now, in "Glory everlasting," he fully realises, with his humble, inspiring friend, John Vassar, the value and victory of the separated and consecrated llfe of Christian service.

Near to A. J. Gordon, you may see another princely pastor, "who rests from his labours" while his works follow him. No greater expositor of the Scriptures has ever graced the pulpit than Dr. ALEXANDER MACLAREN of Manchester, who for forty years enriched the thousands who listened to his voice, and the tens of thousands who read his sermons from: "the finest of the wheat" of God's Holy Word. One wrote of him, "Perhaps no other preacher has ever ploughed so straight and sharp a furrow across the field of life, never looking aside, never turning back."

Close to this great expositor, you may see another glorified preacher of an entirely different type. More rugged than Alexander Maclaren, more of a fighting man, and yet called by Sir Robertson Nicoll, "The uncrowned orator of England," ARCHIBALD G. BROWN, blazed away with "the Gospel of the blessed God" for nearly half a cestury in mighty London. For twenty-five years he held a great congregation of three to four thousand people in the East London Tabernacle. A mighty man of prayer, he was used of God to lead thousands of souls to the Saviour. Brought up in Spurgeon's school, he was recognised as "the greatest of Spurgeon's men." and his sermons, even in print, seem to ring aad vibrate with the Spurgeonic power. He was a great believer in and preacher of our Lord's Pre-millennial Second Coming. Ever and always he fought for souls and now, with many of his spiritual children, he "Worships the King, all glorious above."

Not only with spiritual children, however, for there is Nellie Brown of the C.I.M., his noble missionary daughter, and with her, Douglas Brown, his preacher-son, who, under a wave of God's revival power, was the leader of the East Anglia Revival which followed the first Great War, and was one of the last revival movements to shake old England.

Glance quickly at some other faithful and famous preachers. There is JOSEPH KEMP of Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, and Auckland Tabernacle, New Zealand. A leader of revival, a great Bible teacher, and an outstanding soul-winner. Dr. A. C. Dixon testified of his worth When he said he considered Mr. Kemp's work in Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh, to be more lasting and further reaching than the Welsh Revival. The same might almost be said of his work in Auckland, where he founded "The New Zealand Bible Training Institute," which has been and still is a fertile seed-plot for faithful missionaries and Christian workers from the great South lands. He was a man "mighty in the Scriptures" and "boiling in the Spirit," ever thirsting for souls and ever looking for "that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Now, he is with Him in Paradise --- "for-ever safe, forever blest."

Not far from Joseph Kemp, you may notice FREDERICK BROTHERTON MEYER, "a man who reckoned on God," and was mightily used of God. Used as a pastor at Christ Church, Westminster Bridge Road, and Regents Park Chapel. Used as a writer and teacher, especially in his booklet, "Seven Reasons for Believer's Baptism," which has' swept abroad in circulation of hundreds of thousands, and has influenced multitudes. Used as President of the Free Church Council and in many other posts for the Free Churches. Used richly at the Keswick Conventions, and afterward as a wide-world teacher of the great Keswick Message. Used, finally, as one of the founders of the Advent Testimony Movement, which aimed to arouse the Lord's people to more earnest consideration of the great and blessed Hope of our Lord's Second Coming. Dr. Fullerton said, "His career is without parallel in the history of the Church"; and Meyer, himself, in explanation of that career, said ."I am only an ordinary man. I have no special gifts .... If I have done anything for Christ and my generation, it is because I have given myself entirely to Jesus Christ, and then tried to do whatever He wanted me to do." Would that every Baptist would give himself entirely to Jesus Christ like F. B. Meyer!

Away behind this glorified man of God we may trace another champion of Truth, under whose ministry Meyer was trained and enriched, Dr. BROCK of Bloomsbury Chapel. He was a dominating figure in his earthly day. A leader in good works and a lover of good men, he gave to the world a splendid biography of our great General, Sir Henry Havelock.

Time fails again to tell of other great preachers such as Dr. John Clifford, the social reformer; Charles Brown of Ferme Park, who lifted that Church from fifty to nearly a thousand members during his ministry; William Cuff, the converted butcher, who won hundreds of the outcasts of East London to Christ; Dr. Haldeman of New York, a master of the Pro phetic Word; Dr. George W. Truett, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, for forty-seven years of great soul- winning service; William Lamb of New Zealand and New South Wales, a peer amongst prophetic preachers; these and multitudes of others.

Yet, ever and anon, amidst that surging mass of mighty men, we seem to see one, who rises higher than any from his shoulders upward. One who has gained a lasting name among the mighty men of "Great David's greater Son." Who is he? Once a country lad from the Cambridge district, who, on a wild, snowy day, heard "the saving word of the Gospel" from a simple but sincere Methodist local preacher, and was brought to the fold of the Good Shepherd to fight "the Lord's battles" with a David-like devotion, second to none amongst the mighty preachers of the world.

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON has been universally granted the title of "THE PRINCE OF PREACHERS." Writers of all Christian denominations arise to call him "Blessed"! Coming to London in 1854, he took the city by storm. Thousands flocked to hear him, and multitudes remained to receive the Saviour. In spite of a veritable bombardment of abuse from the platform, pulpit, press and post, he pressed on with the great Evangel, and at one time he preached to 12,000 persons in the immense building called the "Royal Surrey Gardens." "No preacher since Wesley," said Dr. Carlisle, "had faced such an audience." Then came tragedy. There Was a false alarm of fire, and panic broke out in one of his meetings. Seven people were killed and many injured.

Surely this will sound the death-knell of his London ministry! Not so. In a few months he is drawing the same marvellous congregations and, ere long, he has erected his own great Metropolitan Tabernacle, where, for thirty years he preached the Gospel of the grace of God to a regular congregation of 5,000 people, and could humbly testify that he believed every seat in that vast building had witnessed a conversion to God. In 1890, just before his death, he asked this question, "How many thousands have been converted here?". Then, replying to his own question, he said, "There has not been a single day but what I have heard of two, three or four, having been converted and that not for one, two or three years, but for the last ten years." Surely an unmatched testimony to the power of the Gospel.

Yes, it was Spurgeon's preaching of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, that challenged London and the English- speaking world, and forced all to admit it was "the power of God unto salvation." At his death he had a membership of well over 5,000 people in the Tabernacle, which, according to Dr. Carlisle, was the largest membership of any English- speaking church in the world, at that time.

What was the secret of this country boy's triumph? Not outstanding scholarship, -- he never passed through a theological college or university. Not academic distinctions, -- he refused all degrees and diplomas. Not playing to the gallery of popular opinion, -- he was a Puritan of the Puritans.

Perhaps he himself gave a clue to the secret in his first sermon in the Tabernacle in 1861. Said he then: "I am not ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist according to Calvin than after the modern, debased fashion. I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist. You have here" (pointing to the open baptistery) "substantial evidence that I am not ashamed of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ; but if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply, 'It is Jesus Christ!' . . . The body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself forever, God helping me, is . . . Jesus Christ, Who is the Sum and Substance of the Gospel, Who is Himself all theology, the Incarnation of every precious truth, and all-glorious embodiment of the way, the truth and the life." Clear and convincing words indeed! Add to them his later testimony; "Jesus died for me," and you can perhaps trace the stream of his power to its precious source.

Few men laboured like him. Preaching, writing, interviewing, praying, and ever loving souls. One of his own men told me, but a few years ago, how the tears rolled down "the Governor's face," as he reported to him of God's blessing in the salvation of souls at a small, country mission. Ever strong was his passion for souls.

Ah, "Great-Hurt of God!" He came out of great tribulation. The tribulation of terrific abuse and slander, and the tribulation of life-long physical suffering from gout; but he came out triumphantly, and ascended the hill of Zion at last with songs of victory. Hearken to his last words to a little group at Mentone lust before his death. "The vista of a praiseful life will never close, but continue throughout eternity. From psalm to psalm, from hallelujah to hallelujah, we will ascend to the hill of the Lord, until we come into the Holiest of all, where, with veiled faces, we will bow before the Divine Majesty in the bliss of endless adoration."

Let us leave him there --- "in the bliss of endless adoration." Spurgeon was probably the greatest of the baptists, but, far more, he was a champion of Christ, who honoured and exalted his Lord's dear Name, in such a manner that multitudes were marvellously saved, and countless numbers drawn to a closer walk with God. He was "valiant for the truth upon the earth," and now he is numbered with the highest heroes in Heaven's "Deathless Army."

Now from the "Gallery of Great Preachers," turn your eyes to the "Gallery of Gladsome Poets." Look at the vast choir of choice souls, who on earth "Lisped to His praise," but now, in Glory, "Delight to hymn Him above."

True it is, that no Baptist songster can surpass, or, perhaps, even measure up to those far-famed minstrels of some other Christian bodies; men like Charles Wesley of the Methodists, with his "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," and Augustus Toplady of the Church of England, with his "Rock of Ages," and Horatius Bonar of the Presbyterians, with his "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say." Not not quite of the same caliber, perhaps, but for all that they have yielded a goodly collection of songs to cheer "the pilgrims of the night."

Look yonder! Perhaps you can see the preacher-poet, ROBERT ROBINSON, restored from his restless roaming to the Father's house, to sing in stronger confidence his own earthly prayer:

Look to the right and recognized another bard of the same generation, JOHN FAWCETT, who, rather than leave his lowly Yorkshire flock and accept a wider and richer ministry in London, unloaded his furniture from the removal van, and going into his old manse penned the precious lines:

Now he has reached that place "where partings are no more," but where the prophetic hope of his hymn is fulfilled:--

Look to the left and see JOHN EUSTACE GILES, one who rather inclined to the Left Wing of politics in his day, but who struck the right note in his royal lines to King Jesus:

Now in the higher realm with His dear Redeemer, he rejoices in the fulfillment of his poetic prophecy.

Just beyond those three, look on the fair face of one, known on earth by her pen-name of "MARIANNE FARNINGHAM" (Miss Hearn). A woman of good works, a devoted Bible-class leader; one-time editor of "The Sunday School Times," and the authoress of:--

Maybe in the heavenly land, she has now also entered into the climax of her call to youth:--

Along with Marianne Farningham, behold the fair form of another "sweet singer" of the Church of God, who has been called "the Frances Ridley Havergal of the Eighteenth Century." ANNE STEELE was the daughter of a humble Baptist pastor in Hampshire. At the age of fourteen, she confessed her faith in Christ and was baptised. Some years later a terrible tragedy clouded her life. A few days before her anticipated marriage, her betrothed, a young man of splendid promise, was accidentally drowned. Out of the thick darkness of this deep sorrow Anne Steele penned those pathetic lines:

Long years of feeble health followed, but Miss Steele redeemed the time and sent forth many holy hymns from the prison- house of her bedroom, foremost among them being:

Anne Steele's sorrows and sufferings are all over now, and she has long since joined her lost lover in "Immanuel's fair and blessed land," to praise with him, the One, "Who doeth all things well."

Not far from Anne Steele, we catch a glimpse of another glorified sufferer of earth, LYDIA BAXTER. Called by one writer, "an intensely-spiritual Baptist," she certainly gained the spiritual victory over her pain; and from "the furnace of affliction" gave birth, in 1870, to that sweet song of faith:

Four years later, the suffering singer was translated to the home of heavenly health, there to taste the triumphant fulfillment of her own immortal message:

Just beyond that group ot godly women, behold another group of three American, Baptist pastor-poets who, in the same century, gave the Church of God three undying hymns.

There is Mr. UFFORD, who, after a memorable visit to a life-saying station at Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, went home and wrote, in fifteen minutes, the stirring, soul-winning lines of--

Next to him is Dr. FANCIS ROWLEY, who, in response to a request from the remarkable Gospel singer, Peter Bilhorn, for a special hymn, wrote that same night:

Last, but not least of this trio, is Mr. S. D. PHELPS, one-time Baptist pastor in New Haven. There he wrote that God- blest hymn:

On Mr. Phelps' seventieth birthday, Dr. Lowry, who composed the beautiful tune for his famous hymn, wrote: "It is worth while living seventy years even if nothing comes of it but one such hymn as 'Saviour! Thy dying love!"'

Look again! There is the humble, EDWARD MOTE, one-time pastor of the Baptist Church of Horsham, Sussex. How dearly his people loved him, and how devotedly he loved his Lord! Does he now recall how, on that long-ago day, when walking to his work in the early morn, he began to murmur the words:

Yes, surely, he is praising his glorified Lord afresh for that memorable day. of Divine inspiration, when he gave to the world his warm and wonderful testimony in verse:

Thousands have heralded that message of Edward Mote in the years since, and none more fervently than the loved and lamented, William Cleugh Black, Baptist minister of New South Wales, who named it as his favorite hymn. Now, maybe, those two servants of Christ, "oft repeat before the Throne":--

We must hasten on, for the "time is short," and we shall soon be gathering with that glad host above. See, yonder, there is GEORGE KEITH, the London bookseller, probable author of "How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord." Surely, he now fully realizes the truth once penned in faith:

This hymn was the favorite of Mrs. Jackson, wife of General Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the U.S.A.

Look! There is PHILIP PAUL BLISS, of whom D. L. Moody wrote: "As a writer and singer of Gospel songs, he was, in my estimate, the most highly honoured of God of any man of his time, and with all his gifts he was the most humble man I ever knew." What romance circles the record of the life and witness of P. P. Bliss! Born in Pennsylvania in 1838, a poor country boy, with a passion for music, he was brought to an open confession of Christ as his Saviour at a Baptist revival in 1850. Then, at the age of 12, he was baptized and joined a Baptist Church. Later, he served in the Civil War, and then commenced conducting secular concerts, until, at the age of 30, he met D. L. Moody at a Gospel Mission in Chicago. That was the turning-point in his Christian service. He now gave himself fully to the Lord for the lost, and his appeals in song flowed out to the world: "Almost Persuaded," "Dare to be a Daniel," "Let the Lower Lights be Burning," "Pull for the Shore, Sailor," "Hold the Fort," "Man of Sorrows," "Only an Armour Bearer," "Whosever Will," "The Light of the World is Jesus.' "Jesus Loves Even Me," "More Holiness Give Me," etc. Suddenly, at the age of 38, Bliss crashed to death in a dreadful railway disaster; but ever since he has been carrying on his Christian praise in the Spirit of his last hymn:

Look again! There is JOSEPH GILMORE, author of "He leadeth me, oh, blessed thought!"

Safely guided through the years of his ministry in New Hampshire and New York, he is now rejoicing in the truth once written and now relished to the full:

Not far away, there .is the sainted ROBERT LOWRY, one-time pastor of the West Chester Baptist Church, Pennsylvania, and writer of that great resurrection hymn, "Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Saviour." See how he rejoices "with joy unspeakable and full of glory" to gaze on that "pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev. 22:1)! Why such rejoicing in that river? Well, did he not write, one sultry afternoon in 1864, those crystal-like lines, so dear to every Sunday School Scholar, and to the great Evangelist, D. L. Moody:--

Yes, it was our Lord's loving inspiration to Dr. Lowry, in a sad season of death and sorrow, by reason of a dreadful epidemic in the city of Brooklyn in 1864. Now, maybe, he murmurs the sweet refrain in a city where none are sick and none are sad:

Many, many others are there with the holy hymn-writers of the ages, but the last one we look on in that ever-increasing throng is Spurgeon's one-time evangelist, Dr. W. Y. FULLERTON, who, in his declining years, gave to the Church a superb poem of amazing thought and rapturous revelation:

Ah, no doubt that dear man of God is still repeating with added confidence and assurance from all that he has gleaned in his glorious home:--

Thus, with all the singers of the Church, throughout the centuries, the Baptist bards and poets blend their voices in ascribing "Blessing and honour, and glory, and power" and praise unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever (Rev. 5: 13).

Ah! It is a glorious sight! "Who are these?" we cry, "Who are these?" as countless multitudes flock up the slopes of the Heavenly Zion to "the Throne of God and of the Lamb." No foolish fences divide their ranks at this royal reception of the Redeemed. There are the glorified saints of the Roman Catholic Church, who truly trusted in Christ's blood and righteousness; there are the shining saints of the Church of England; there are the worthy warriors of the Presbyterian order; beside them masses of singing Methodists. Yonder I see the noble army of the Church of Christ, and with them the blessed Brethren and the blood-washed Baptists. Yes, and mingled in with all I see consecrated Congregationalists, and faithful "Friends," and sanctified Salvationists, and mighty Moravians; yea, and all those who would not own a denominational or fraternal name, but who claimed the Christ of God as their Saviour and Lord.

Gone for ever are the divisions of earth! As each sought to be true to his convictions below, so each is found triumphant in "the consolations of Christ" above. As each knew "none other Name under Heaven" for salvation, so now, each rejoices in the only Name in heaven by which he is glorified; and thus we see, at last, the answer to our Lord's prayer of the sad, betrayal night! "That they all might be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." (John 17: 21). Yes, unity at last at "the throne of God and of the Lamb." "The Deathless Army" has now defeated and given the death blow to Denominationalism.

It is enough! The vision is fading. There are things not lawful to utter; there are glories which have not entered the heart of man to conceive. Enough, that "His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His Name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 22:3-5).

Ah, how blessed the thought that our dear. Lord will then be "admired in all them that believe!" He will be the Centre, and the saints the circumference of a kingdom of righteousness and peace.

Perhaps we cannot do better than follow the fading vision with the beautiful lines of Bishop W. W. How, who was considered by Sir Robertson Nicoll to be, possibly, the most like Jesus of any man of his times: