LONGING FOR CHRIST. ONE sign of the spiritual life of the Christian, while on earth, is his looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of God, (1 Pet. iii. 12,) when the Son of man shall be seen descending in the clouds of heaven. And all things whatever, he knows, are moving towards this revelation. Does he see the seasons revolving, the planets silently rolling forward in their orbits? He knows that every successive winter and summer, every new moon and returning Sabbath-day, bring onward the appointed time. Does he listen to the commotions rising among the nations of the earth, as to the rustling of the leaves of a mighty forest, agitated by the awakening gale, or to the distant roar of the battle-thunder, shaking almost the very ground on which he treads? He knows that all is but in truth the noise of the chariot wheels of Him, who has ascended his car of judgment and of victory, and is on his way earthwards, and who will thus, ere long, appear again. Approach does he now? He does approach. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come." As when the lark springs from among the tall ryegrass, and with tremulous note flutters upward, until almost lost to human sight, and another and another rise in quick succession with shrill sounding song, till the air is filled with the music of the wing-borne choir; so one saint, in the midst of thy vales, O Britain! when he hears of the gladsome tidings of the Saviour's advent, with rising expectation and desire, cries out, "Come quickly! and another saint, in arid Hindostan, whose ears the good news have also reached, exclaims, under the influence of the same feelings, "Come quickly!" and another saint, in sea-girt Taheite, rejoins, "Come quickly!" and the saints of God everywhere catching the inviting words, take them up and say, "Come quickly!" and the sleeping dust of saints, long since departed, sends forth from their resting-places the same importuning request, "Come quickly!" and "the whole creation, groaning and travailing in pain," joins in the call, "Come quickly!" and lo! the universal prayer is heard, and the response is, "Behold! I do come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be."-SOSTHENES. RECENT DEATH. THE REV. THOMAS TOWNEND. WE have now the mournful duty of laying before our readers the following sorrowful intelligence, which has been forwarded to us, concerning the decease of our much beloved and highly honoured brother, the Rev. Thomas Townend. As to our dear departed brother, concerning himself, there is no reason to be sorrowful-his end was triumphant, and his present state is glorious, but his family, and our Connexion, by his early removal, have sustained a very great loss. For his extensive theological knowledge, clearness of perception, soundness of judgment, unflinching integrity, ministerial fidelity, and Christian urbanity, he was deservedly held in very high esteem. In the year 1842 he was elected to the office of President of the Association; and he discharged the duties of his office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his brethren. The Rev. Thomas Townend, aged forty-seven years, died at Penzance, on Sunday, September 5th. On account of his failing health, it was deemed prudent by the friends of the Liverpool circuit, in which he last laboured, that he should remove from Liverpool, and take the benefit of a change of air; he therefore went to Cheltenham, and afterwards spent a few weeks with kind friends at Darlington. Ultimately, however, to afford Mr. Townend the opportunity of trying the air of Penzance, it was resolved, by the Annual Assembly of 1846, that he should be appointed to the Penzance Circuit, as a supernumerary, and he removed to this town in September of that year. After Mr. Townend's arrival at Penzance, he, for some time, appeared to gather strength, and, indeed, soon walked several miles a day. In the fond expectations of surrounding friends, it was believed, that, by exercise in the salubrious air of this part, he would rally, and sanguine hopes of his recovery were entertained. He addressed the friends present at a tea meeting, which was held in November last, when it was most gratifying to hear his observations; but this (except one or two public engagements in prayer) was the only public attempt, made by our lamented brother at Penzance. Again, his strength gave way, and the convalescence, in which we had fondly hoped, was found to be transient. Severe prostration followed, and Mr. Townend could walk but a very limited distance. He had been punctual in his attendance on Divine worship, but at length was compelled altogether to abstain from attending the house of God. His cough increased, the expectoration prevailed, and his night-sweats were heavy and intense; still he trusted in the Lord, and had confidence in God his Saviour. His conversation turned much upon the Saviour; he delighted to dwell on the benefit of Christ's sufferings and death, and to him the theme of the cross was one of unabated interest. Latterly, our dear brother became unable to walk, but he sometimes took an airing in a gig. He was only confined to his bed for two or three days. On the day before he died, he remarked to the writer, "All my refuge is in the free grace of God. I was, this morning," continued he, "reading the last chapter of Revelation, and was struck with the inspiring language, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel, to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star. And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." He then enlarged upon the rich provisions made for the spiritual wants of man, and spoke of the willingness of Christ to save. As, however, it is apprehended, that some more extended memoir will be given, the object, at present, is merely to furnish his numerous friends with an abstract view of the last days of our dear friend. On the night of the 4th September, he was very restless, and, at times, insensible; and after breakfast on the following morning his speech appeared to be affected. At half past two, by his desire, a short prayer meeting was conducted in his room; this occasion he, evidently, enjoyed; but at half-past four, the cold sweats came on, upon which Mr. Townend observed, "I sweat, and soon my eyes will be dim in death." About five, Mrs. Townend asked him, if he felt Christ very precious! "Yes," said he, "precious; very precious; exceedingly precious!" A short time after, fixing his eyes upward, he appeared as beholding some heavenly visitant, and exclaimed, "Glory-be-toGod!" "Glory-be-to-God!" Glory-be-to-God!!" After a few minutes, he desired to lay his head on Mrs. Townend's arm, and presently exclaimed- "By faith the upper choir we meet, And challenge them to sing, Our Maker and our King." adding the next two verses of the hymn. After this, he again rested a little, and then said feebly, "God is love!" Some time afterwards he asked, "What is the time?" when he was told, half-past six. He then referred to the chapel, when Mrs. Townend said, "Do you, my dear, wish Mr. Gibbons to be called?" He answered, "No," and added, "My Jesus!" but it was believed that he was desirous of saying, "While they are at chapel, I am going to heaven." He then turned on his right side, said no more, and neither struggled nor groaned, but sweetly entered eternal rest, just ten minutes past seven in the evening. On Saturday morning, the 11th September, the mortal remains of our dear brother were interred in the Penzance Cemetery. The funeral was attended by several resident ministers; and the brethren of our own Connexion, belonging the Cornwall circuits, who could be present, were there to testify their respect for Mr. Townend's memory. From the hearse, the body was borne to the chapel by eight lay preachers, where the corpse was received by the Rev. John Gibbons, who read the burial service; at the close of which, the hymn, ،، Shrinking from the cold hand of death," &c. was sung to the "Old Hundredth;" the assembly was addressed by the Rev. E. W, Buckley, of Liskeard; the Rev. James Sayer, of Redruth, then engaged in prayer, and was succeeded in the same duty by, the venerable Independent minister of Penzance, the Rev. John Foxell. The procession then again formed, and advanced through the cemetery to the grave, where Mr. Gibbons resumed the funeral service, and the body was committed to the silent tomb, there to rest until the morning of the resurrection. Prayer was offered by the Rev. W. Reed, of Helston, and the benediction pronounced by Mr. Gibbons. The friends retired, deeply affected by the proceedings, and solemnly impressed with the brevity of human life. "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." W. H. R. BIOGRAPHY. THE REV. FRANCIS BROWN. Tue following memoir was prepared by the father of our dear departed friend. It, evidently, was written under the influence of ardent parental feelings; which occasioned the writer to dwell on some topics at greater length than we have thought to be consistent with our limits. We have, therefore, exercised our editorial licence, in considerably abridging this account. It is now much longer than we usually allow for such articles, to appear in our pages-but we believe, our readers will be of opinion, that, in this instance, we have properly allowed the following account to exceed the ordinary limit. 66 His THE subject of this biographical notice was the second son of Mr. William Brown, of Louth, in Lincolnshire, and was born Dec. 22, 1815, at Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire; but his parents having, when he was very young, removed to Louth, the years of his youth were spent in that town. parents moved in the creditable walks of humble life; his venerable fatherwho survives to lament the premature death of his son Francis, and of another of his sons who was a respectable local preacher, and an ingenious and efficient manager of the Sunday-school, among the Primitive Methodists at Louth, and who died eighteen days after his brother Francis, in his thirtyfourth year-paid particular attention to the observance of religion in his children, and has been for a long period a member of the Wesleyan Society. His mother died at the age of thirty-eight, in the faith and hope of the Gospel, declaring with wonderful placidity and collectedness of mind, and to the last moment of her mortal existence-that Christ was precious to her soul." Although the deceased enjoyed, in common with his brothers and sisters, the advantage of Sabbath-school instruction, of attending in the house of God, and of daily family devotion, it was not until he was seventeen years of age, that his remarkable vivacity-which during his boyhood indicated a being composed more of spirit than of flesh-gave way to a permanently serious concern for the interest of his immortal spirit. From one or two scraps, presenting the appearance of a diary, found among his voluminous manuscripts, it appears, the deceased, -as in almost every case where children are brought to set under an evangelical ministry-was operated upon by the spirit of God at an early age. When he was about thirteen years of age, he began to seek the favour of God; but, having been apprenticed, he got into the company of wicked companions, gradually lost his religion and all his good desires. To stifle his convictions he had recourse to sinning with a still higher hand. He continued in this dangerous state for about four years, when the Spirit of God so brought home guilt to his conscience, that, to his apprehension, all the sins of his past life came to his remembrance with such vividness as if he had but just committed them. By the advice of his father, and the entreaties of friends, he was induced to go and meet in class; and soon begun to cry in the language of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner." As he prayed in faith, he was enabled to behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world; and he experienced the pardoning "love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him." This change he gratefully attributed, under the Divine blessing, to his honoured father's affectionate and well-timed exhortations to a holy life. Before he obtained a sense of God's forgiving love, his convictions of sin and danger were so deep, that, for five days, he loathed his food, and the single cry of his chafed spirit was, "What must I do to be saved?" after his conversion, his naturally vigorous mind became at once occupied with the transcendent sublimities of religion, the Divinity of the Bible, and other collateral studies, tending to expand the mind, absorbed his attention; and improvement in his mental and moral condition speedily developed itself. He became a Sunday-school teacher, a prayer leader, and exhorter, and pressed into every open door that presented itself, in the obscure and neglected alleys of Louth, beseeching sinners to be reconciled to God. For thus acting, however, he was called to order, and forbidden to "lift the latch of the door of usefulness without the express authority of the Superintendent." But the word was as fire in his bones, and after a fortnight's cessation, he yielded to the counsel of his father, resumed his unostentatious efforts to do good, and was again happy. In 1835, the unhappy disputes in the Wesleyan Society which gave rise to the Wesleyan Methodist Association occurred, and which resulted in the separation of Francis-and of his father, after a membership of thirty-two years as well as of 20,000 others from the Methodist Society, for the maintenance of a principle, which, next to personal religion, is considered most dear to man. The number of Wesleyans, in the United Kingdom, who seceded, was so great, that, to obtain a sufficient number of ministers, it became necessary for the Committee of the Association to avail itself of the local knowledge of corresponding members in different parts of the kingdom, to bring into the ministry those who possessed suitable gifts. Mr. Brown's father, being one of the delegates who attended at the memorable Sheffield Assembly in 1835, was one who was applied to; and he recommended his son Francis; who having been duly recommended by the Circuit quarterly meeting, examined by the Connexional Committee, and having preached a trial sermon in the Stone Chapel, Leeds, (taking for his text Psa. xxxvi. 7.)was directed to hold himself in readiness to enter fully into the sacred work; and a fortnight afterwards, Sept. 17, 1836, he went as an Itinerant preacher to his first station, Worksop, in Nottinghamshire. Never was the vividness of that interesting early morning obscured in his memory, when he got upon the coach with his box of books carefully selected for him by his affectionate father from his own library, and bid farewell to his honoured parent, his beloved brother Holland, and sister Elizabeth. The last advice he received on that early bright autumnal morn, was couched in these very impressive, but all-important laconic words-"Pray-preach-pasture." And how well the lamented deceased complied with this, not less scriptural than affectionate and wise, parental counsel, the good done to precious souls by his instrumentality in the various circuits in which he travelled sufficiently demonstrate. The second circuit to which the deceased was appointed was Burnley, where he found an excellent colleague, Mr. William Dawson. Here, perhaps, he received the first shock to a constitution naturally vigorous; having taken a cold, which brought him to the very gates of death; his complete recovery of health was attributed to the ardent supplications of his friends to the throne of grace. Sheffield, Chatham, Winchester, York, and Nantwich, were the places to which he was afterwards appointed. During his stay in the Chatham circuit, the flame of Missionary zeal, which had animated his breast for four years, was revived, and he a second time applied to be allowed to go to the West Indies to assist the Mission there. If there were one field or department of Christian labour and exertion, in which he more earnestly desired to be engaged than any other, it would be that in which he could teach and instruct those in the way of salvation on whom the light had scarcely dawned, and who were earnestly longing to possess the Gospel of the blessed God. But his wish was not gratified; and he, "of course, submitted to the wisdom, judgment, and piety, of his senior brethren in the ministry." It was while in the Winchester circuit-having then fulfilled the whole term of ministerial probation-he was providentially led to a matrimonial union with Miss Mary Orme, of Scropton, Derbyshire, his present bereaved widow. Brief was their union of six short years-alas ! brief as the passing of the shadow of a cloud in a summer's day. The fruit of this union, remaining, is one little bud of conjugal bliss to perpetuate the memory of its departed father-a little girl, who, with the bereaved wife, have been enrolled in the category of those for whom the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh has a peculiar regard-He who emphatically and effectually "Helps the stranger in distress, The widow and the fatherless." In August 1846, the Assembly appointed Mr. Brown to the Ipswich circuit, and soon after he had entered on his labours, there were pleasing indications that he was likely to be the means of greatly promoting the spiritual interests of the circuit. He had carefully prepared four elaborate lectures on the English State Church, its institution, evils, doctrines, and revenues; to be followed by two lectures on the principles of nonconformity, and in defence of the voluntary principle, upon which dissenters act in the support of their worship and ministry; these he |