At the end of his academic career he was invited to become the
minister at Mount Zion Chapel, in Birmingham. How he laboured here
every one in the town can testify, and I need not say one word; but
there is one fact that should be more generally known, as it shows one
result of his work. In the year before he came to Birmingham (1851),
the sum collected in this chapel for the Baptist Missions was L28
4s. 11d. The report for 1874--the last under his care--gives the
amount collected in the year as L332 5s. 5d.
I am obliged to omit much that is interesting, but I have at least
shown that his childhood's home was comfortable and respectable, and
that he did not spend his boyhood among companions unworthy of him.
In his native town his memory is as warmly cherished as it is in
Birmingham. His last public act there was to preach the first sermon
in a new and remarkably handsome Congregational Church, and it is said
that on that occasion, the number of people who sought to hear him was
so great, that the Church, although a spacious one, would not contain
the half of them.
Pages:
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367