short night's repose braced his nerves for renewed exertion at an early hour on the following day. There is no doubt but that at times he did more than was required; for in his anxiety that nothing should be omitted, he would often do the work assigned to others, and gladly let them have the credit of his efforts. This disposition slackened not with age-it actuated him to the latest moment of his life. While he worked for the Connexion with all his might, he gave to its various institutions according to his ability. If his beneficence was not so large to particular objects, it was spread over a wide surface; moreover, it was a stream continually flowing, and the bequests in his will to local interests and Connexional institutions give the final testimony of his love to the Denomination.

Mr. Ridgway was pre-eminently a man of peace. Candid, open, and generous, he soon won the confidence of strangers, and was continually multiplying the number of his friends: conciliatory and courteous towards his opponents, he often disarmed them of hostility, and won them to his person and his cause. His pacific temper and powerful influence well fitted him to act as mediator between alienated friends, and no one delighted more than he to perform the work and inherit the blessing of the peace-maker. Indeed, to secure peace and harmony, to obtain cordial co-operation in a good cause, he would display a degree of condescension very unusual with men in his exalted station. The benefits of his interposition were often felt in his own Denomination and neighbourhood; and hence few men in his sphere have left the world so universally esteemed, and so deeply regretted.

Mr. Ridgway was anxious for the spiritual welfare of the Connexion, and we know, from personal intercourse and epistolary correspondence, that his anxiety was intense. It did not by any means satisfy him that we should build good chapels, lessen their burdens, have large congregations, and increasing influence, and worldly respectability. He was afraid lest we should attach too much importance to these things, and too little to the conversion of souls and personal holiness of heart. He often conversed with ourselves and other friends on these subjects, and earnestly longed to see more activity and zeal, and a more copious outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the very day of his death we received a letter from him on this subject, in which he pours out his deep anxieties in the following words :-"I have written to the annual committee about simultaneous prayermeetings, to be held in the first week in January, and I hope they may be made Connexional. We have a special meeting of our society at Bethesda, on Monday evening, for free conversation, exhortation, and prayer. I hope the Master will be powerfully present with us!

We want the Spirit poured out from on high, and some men of zeal and earnestness to carry it out. We are too stiff and formal, and must get out of this unprofitable way, or, so far from extending, we shall narrow and decline. I say, May God have mercy upon us, and cause his face to shine upon us, and make his way known to us, and give us the desire of our hearts, even abundant prosperity!" Oh! that these, his almost final words, may vibrate with quickening energy throughout the Connexion!

We would not close this very imperfect and almost extemporaneous sketch of our beloved friend and father, without a due impression of the great truth, that every excellence which shone forth in him was a ray reflected from the Fountain of all good. Like ourselves, he owed everything to God. Physically, mentally, and spiritually, he was just what the providence and the grace of the Most High God had made him, and nothing more. We boast not of the creature, however much we loved and admired; but we glorify God in him; and, though the stroke which has removed him from us falls with heavy weight, we would say, in the language of combined gratitude and submission, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Our beloved friend died on the 3rd of December, 1860, aged about 75, and was interred in the vaults of Bethesda Chapel, Hanley, on Monday, the 10th of December. Business was suspended on the day of interment. The funeral procession, consisting of mourning relatives, ministers, manufacturers, the mayor and corporation of the borough, his own servants and others, extended for more than a quarter of a mile, and numbered more than one thousand persons. The president of the Conference was present to represent the Connexion; and the ceremony was witnessed by a vast concourse of spectators. There was great lamentation on that day; for it was felt by all present and by tens of thousands not present, but with equal grief-" that a prince and a great man had fallen in Israel." In our dear friend being spared to us so many years, we see cause for gratitude for a gift so long vouchsafed. In his removal we are taught not to trust too much in man, however wise, or good, or great, but in God alone. In his sudden death we are admonished to be every moment ready for a change of worlds; and by his example we are urged to work while it is day.

Among the charitable bequests of Mr. Ridgway are the following :-£500 to the British and Foreign Bible Society; £500 to the North Staffordshire Infirmary; £500 to the Poor connected with Bethesda Chapel, Hanley; £500 to the Trust Estate of Bethesda Chapel; £500 to the Bethesda Schools; £500 to our own Missionary Society. Our other Connexional Funds have been remembered by our beloved friend; but the amounts respectively are contingent on the success of a commercial undertaking in which he was largely interested.-W. C.

Memoirs and Recent Deaths.

MEMOIR OF JOHN ALLEN, ESQ.

OF WALLSEND, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE CIRCUIT.

BY THE REV. C. HIBBERT.

JOHN ALLEN was born at Pensher, in the county of Durham, January 14th, 1791. When he was only three years old, he was deprived of the care and counsel of his mother by death; at the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a druggist in Sunderland. While in this situation, he began to develop some of those features which distinguished him through life. His attention to business, his amiability of temper, and the general uprightness of his conduct, secured for him the confidence and esteem of the family with whom he resided; and these remained in unabated vigour to the close of life. At this period he attended the ministry of the Wesleyans, and became fully conscious of his state as a sinner. With humility and earnestness of spirit, he sought pardon through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and realized a clear and delightful assurance of his acceptance with God. This came like a beam of light from the orb of day; and it came, not while he was prostrate at the footstool of mercy in deep agony of spirit, but when he was attending to his duty in the shop, and was in the act of serving a customer. So bright was the light that surrounded him, that for a time he thought others as well as himself must have seen it. At this period, 1811, he joined the society-enrolled himself a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. A grateful heart often led him to look back to that "happy day, when Jesus washed his sins away." Holy joy then sprang up in his soul, and fresh and glowing utterances of praise burst forth from his lips. He regarded it not only as a duty to unite with the Church of Christ, but a privilege also. By this means his religious principles were strengthened, and the graces of the Christian character were nourished and more richly developed. At the termination of his apprenticeship he went to reside in London, where he remained for about two years. Here, also, he attended the Methodist ministry, and enjoyed the advantages of Christian fellowship. On his return from London to the north of England, he received a note from the hand of the Rev. Joseph Benson, attesting his membership. This note he carefully preserved and pasted on the inside of the back of a Bible which was in frequent use. In 1821, he entered the marriage state with the lady who is now his widow. For the lengthened period of 39 years they enjoyed a goodly share of conjugal and domestic happiness.

In a short time after his marriage, he disclosed to Mrs. Allen a conviction, which he had felt for some time, that it was his duty to publish to others that Gospel which had so greatly blest himself. While this conviction was working in his mind, the Church called him to this sacred employment. He entered upon the duties of a local preacher with a strong and sincere desire to win souls to Christ.

Sometimes he felt an overpowering consciousness of solemn responsibility leading him to say, "Who is sufficient for these things?" but at other times he found true pleasure in pointing sinners to that Saviour who had welcomed him to his embrace. The language in which he presented Divine truth to the attention of his hearers was characterized by simplicity and appropriateness. While he shunned not to declare the solemn denunciations of wrath against the wicked and impenitent, he was ever ready to speak words of consolation to the people of God. It seemed to be his peculiar pleasure to lead them into the green pastures of the Divine promises-to the streams of that river which make glad the city of God. This was his sacred employment for nearly forty years. The amount of good done, during this protracted period, cannot be known at present; but the great day will disclose it, and the due reward shall be given.

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Mr. Allen rendered important service to the church with which he was identified, from time to time, as a Class Leader. In this office he was at home. The class meeting he valued as a means of spiritual edification and instruction, and he often renewed his strength, and was thereby better prepared to pursue his Christian journey, to discharge his varied duties, and to resist temptations to worldliness and sin. This was his ordinary experience. But there were some seasons when the manifestations of Divine love were so clear and full that his soul was filled with holy rapture-seasons when he saw, as the disciples on the mount of transfiguration, the unveiled glory of Christ, and was constrained to say, Master, it is good to be here." In his capacity as leader, he entered feelingly into the state of the different members of his class. He was anxious to give suitable instruction, counsel, and encouragement to each, so that they all might, with unfaltering steps, pursue the path of duty, grow in holiness, be useful members of the Church on earth, and finally secure the commendation of the Judge and the reward of the faithful servant. As Mr. A. advanced in life, as his knowledge increased, as his position in society rose, and the circle of his influence widened, the class meeting lost none of its attractions for him. There are some persons so wise and so strong, that they can dispense with these humble means; but in their spiritual character there is often a sad want of healthful and vigorous piety. It was not so with Mr. Allen. It was congenial to his spirit to blend his praises and his prayers with the disciples of Jesus, to speak on spiritual things, and to listen to the experience and grateful testimony of others. And this continued to be the case with him to the close of life.

For some time previous to any decided indication of the disease which for months deprived him of the privilege of attending his class, it was evident to the members that he enjoyed these social means even more fully than in the past. His soul found sacred pleasure in communion with God and with his people. Thus was he prepared for the afflictions which awaited him, and thus was he maturing for a state of higher purity and bliss, in the Church above, into which he was soon to be admitted. Those who have long been the recipients of Divine grace, and have, through a long course of years, received manifold tokens of the care and love of God, should be found even at the last abounding in the work of the Lord. The trees which have long been planted in

the courts of the Lord's house—the roots of which have been moistened with the waters of the river of God, and upon which the genial beams of the Sun of Righteousness have shone in their fulness-should be found clothed in rich foliage and laden with precious fruit.

Another important office sustained by Mr. Allen for a number of years was that of Circuit Steward. His character and position in life alike fitted him for discharging the duties of this office. He had the esteem and confidence of all the societies in the Circuit. To him they looked for counsel and encouragement, and in the official meetings of the Circuit his counsel was valuable, and his spirit kind and conciliatory. He was careful not to grieve willingly any of the brethren, much more so the ministers, whom he held in high esteem for their work's sake. In these respects his influence was benign, and his example worthy of imitation.

Without entering into a very minute analysis of Mr. Allen's character, we may say there were some features that were developed with distinctness, that were so prominent as to be seen and admired by all who had the opportunity of frequent intercourse with him. In his life there was a uniform consistency. Without the slightest intimation that our brother was faultless, or that his course was one of perfect obedience, it may be stated, without any exaggeration, that there was a uniform and beautiful consistency in his walk and conversation. There might be failings, of which he had a clear and sometimes a painful perception : over these he would mourn, and with obedient steps he would go again to the footstool of mercy and to the blood of sprinkling, and there seek renewed pardon and sanctifying grace. The gentle virtues of his character were not obscured by impulsiveness of temper, neglect of the social means, or inattention to religious duties. He was not governed by impulse, but by principle in constant and powerful operation. His path was as the morning light, shining brighter and brighter to the perfect day.

There was therefore, in his life, a true exhibition of the religion he professed. The principles of truth and rectitude inculcated by the Saviour produced corresponding fruit, so that there was in his outward deportment no occasion given to the enemies of the truth to point, in the spirit of derision and reproach, to the discrepancies between profession and practice in him. There was that consistency which secured for him the warm and growing esteem of all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His life was a constant testimony to the power and excellency of the religion he professed, showing that it moulds the character into forms of moral loveliness that it adorns with virtues of real excellence.

Another of those features exhibited by Mr. Allen in his connection with the Church of Christ, and which excited the admiration of those who saw its repeated manifestation, was, steadfastness of purpose and principle. Storms there are in every man's life: days of darkness occur, and hours of severe trial and conflict have to be passed through. Mr. A. was not an exception. There were some such seasons in his life. But in those seasons there were displayed strength of principle, an appreciation of religious privileges, and a firm adherence to Christian truth.