his youthful charge. With characteristic earnestness of purpose he sought the Lord; and not in vain; for although no record remains of the peculiar circumstances under which he obtained the peace of God, it is known by his family that he found the pearl of great price within the ensuing year. That the work of grace was thorough, and the change of character complete, is evinced by a document dated September 4th, 1827, in which he records his entering into solemn covenant with God in Christ. This document is remarkable for the reverence and awe with which Mr. Sumner regarded the character and attributes of God, the deep humiliation with which he acknowledged his own unworthiness and guilt, his lively appreciation of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, the fervour and comprehensiveness of his prayers, and his absolute dedication of body, soul, and spirit henceforth to the service and glory of God.

During the whole period of his residence in Manchester, Mr. Sumner maintained his membership with the Oldham Street Society; and, when quite young, was appointed a superintendent of the Sunday-school. At the age of twenty-two he was made a classleader. The circumstances in which he was placed were of a trying character. The Warrenite agitation had begun; and Dr. Warren was, at the time, the Superintendent of the Oldham Street Circuit. It would not be wise to dwell upon the scenes that transpired during that stormy period; but it is refreshing to think that, throughout the struggle, Mr. Sumner clung to the Church of his choice with heroic fortitude, and worked with untiring zeal to serve the cause of Methodism, and rescue from the whirlpool of strife those who were in danger of forgetting their solemn vows and obligations. A manuscript speech remains, in which, with true Christian courage, he appeals to his fellow-members, reasons with them upon the folly and sin that were imminent, and urges upon them the duty of standing by the Ark of the Lord. At this crisis he volunteered to assist in leading the congregational singing, and continued this labour of love up to the time of his entering the ministry. The Rev. Dr., then Mr., Newton formed a strong attachment to him, and was wont to speak of him familiarly as "my lad." It was under the auspices of Dr. Newton that Mr. Sumner, after much inward conflict, and at the sacrifice of great pecuniary advantages held out to him by his employers, offered himself for the work of the ministry.

His first appointment was to Lancaster, in the year 1885. Although he had, from the date of his conversion, diligently employed his leisure hours in reading and careful study, Mr. Sumner, at this period, felt very keenly the defects of his educa

tion, and was thus prompted to increased earnestness in the work of self-culture. It was during this his first ministerial appointment that he acquired those habits of plodding industry, patient and untiring research, deep contemplation, self-control, and unwavering faith in God, that distinguished his subsequent career; and although his youthful appearance created some prejudice in the minds of his hearers, when he first entered the pulpit at Lancaster, he was not long in making his worth felt and appreciated, and he gradually won the confidence and esteem of the Societies throughout the Circuit.

In the year 1839 Mr. Sumner was admitted into full connexion with the Conference, and ordained to the work of the Christian ministry. Soon afterwards he married Miss Monkhouse, of Barnard Castle, the excellent lady who, for more than thirty years, shared his joys and sorrows, his labours and successes. They were kindred spirits, alike devoted to God, and sincerely attached to each other. It was beautiful to witness the perfect harmony subsisting between them. They had a common object in life; their sympathies were in perfect accord; they entered into each other's responsibilities; and the current of their lives ran evenly, without a solitary divergence. Theirs was indeed a blended existence. And little wonder. Their lives were "sanctified by the Word of God and prayer." It was their rule "in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving" to make their "requests known unto God." They "walked by faith, not by sight." They devoted their time and talents to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Mr. Sumner's pastoral duties were generally supplemented by the unobtrusive co-operation of his saintly wife. By precept and example they illustrated "the truth as it is in Jesus; and in the social means of grace Mr. Sumner was not only cheered by the sincere sympathy of his beloved partner, but received from her active and efficient help. In visiting the sick and comforting the mourners, in the free exercise of her marvellous gift in prayer, and in actively identifying herself with Circuit-efforts, from time to time, Mrs. Sumner unconsciously exercised a powerful influence for good that re-acted, in a marked manner, upon the faithful and unwearying labours of her husband. As a consequence, in every Circuit to which Mr. Sumner was appointed, the work of God prospered; and when failing health compelled Mrs. Sumner to abstain from active participation in Christian effort, she waited upon God in silence, and failed not to implore His blessing upon the work she loved so well.

The Rev. G. Bowden thus writes :-"Mrs. Sumner was a very fine type of what a Methodist preacher's wife should be. She was a clever

housewife, had what Mrs. Stowe calls 'faculty,' her house looked and felt like a home, and not merely furnished lodgings. She found time to abound in Christian work. The poor, the sick, the anxious inquirer, found in her a true friend, with tender sympathy and ready help. Evil doers, lukewarm Christians, and trimmers held her in wholesome dread, not because she was harsh, but because all her conduct showed that she meant no half measures in serving Christ. She loved her Saviour with all her heart. She was mighty in prayer, and many, very many, have been brought to conviction for sin, and aided in their entrance into Christian liberty, by her earnest pleadings at the throne of grace. She was a very admirable illustration of the power of Jesus to save to the uttermost.' Many counsels, much stimulus from her spirit and example, have I received in the experience of the abounding grace of God. How she was beloved by the best in her old Circuits! It has always been a pleasure to me to get on ground where she travelled, and to talk with her old friends about her. Love to her seemed always to indicate a living faith, warm love, and rich spiritual life. I know there are many hundreds lamenting her loss with a deep sorrow. Her like will not be readily found again. She kept before us the spirit of the old Methodist women. She made us feel that they had not died out. God be praised for that life, for its memories, its example, its usefulness."

As a preacher, Mr. Sumner was remarkable for the clearness and compactness of his style. His discourses were well thought out, logically arranged, and interpenetrated with Scriptural phraseology. His familiarity with the Bible was manifested in every prayer he uttered, and in every sermon he delivered. His statement of doctrinal and experimental truth was always edifying, and his enforcement of the claims of the Gospel was powerful and often overwhelming. So accurate was his analysis of the workings of the human heart, that it was no unusual thing for him to be charged by individual members of the congregation with exposing their state, and preaching directly at them, when in fact he was not conscious of their presence. His fidelity to truth impelled him to withhold no part of the counsel of God; and, loving and tender as was his disposition, he was wont to denounce sin and reveal its consequences with startling force. Many stout hearts trembled under his ministry. But his forte lay in building up believers on their most holy faith, in expatiating upon the privileges of the Gospel, the fulness and extent of the redemptive work of Christ, and the purity of heart and life which the grace of the Spirit can produce. Mr. Sumner attached as much importance to the faithful discharge of pastoral duty as to the public ministration of the

Gospel. His first business, upon entering on a new sphere of labour, was to win the hearts of the people; and he lost no time in making himself personally acquainted with every member of the Society and congregation. One great secret of his success lay here. A feeling of mutual attachment and confidence grew up between pastor and people, and they heard the Word of God gladly from his lips. Whenever Mr. Sumner found a Circuit to which he was appointed burdened with chapel-debts, he made it his business to get those debts removed. In this department of Christian work he was remarkably successful; and in many of his Circuits his persevering efforts, which were never relaxed, even in the presence of almost insuperable difficulties, until the object was gained, will long be gratefully remembered.

But, however admirable his public character and career, the man was only fully revealed in the happy seclusion of the family circle. At home Mr. Sumner was a genial, kindly, sympathetic, cheerful, and witty companion and friend. Always dignified in his deportment when engaged in his Master's work, he could unbend at his own fireside, and romp with the children when young, or enter into their innocent amusements as they grew older, moderating, but never suppressing, their exuberance of animal spirits, and winning their love by the lively expression of his own.

Those whose happiness it was to claim Mr. Sumner as their friend know how reliable he was. Thoroughly ingenuous and honourable in every instinct of his nature, as well as gentlemanly in his whole bearing, he could be confided in without hesitancy and with the utmost satisfaction.

In common with most of his ministerial brethren, Mr. Sumner had often to pass through periods of storm, and was placed in circumstances that occasioned him great mental disquietude and suffering. It was when thus tried that his graces shone out most conspicuously. How forbearing and forgiving he was, how meek and patient, how slow in deliberation but prompt in action, how conscientious and devout, how wisely reticent when angry words were addressed to him!

He was human,

It may be asked, Had Mr. Sumner no faults? and certainly had very humbling views of himself; but as an illustration of the reality of the new birth, and as a specimen of the disciplined and matured Christian, Mr. Sumner stood out in bold relief to those who knew him most intimately. His life has taught us many lessons, and he will speak to us for years to come, in the quiet chamber of memory.

At the Conference of 1870 Mr. Sumner was appointed to the Accrington Circuit. Mrs. Sumner had been for some time in feeble

health; but it was fondly hoped that, as had often been the case previously, she would soon rally, and be able to take her accustomed part in the work of the Church. But the great Master willed otherwise. His word to her was, "Go thou thy way and rest.” Soon after the severe frost of that winter set in, she began to experience great difficulty in breathing, though no serious apprehensions were entertained by her friends. On the morning of December 28th, she was suddenly seized with a severe spasm, under which she immediately sank, and in a few minutes exchanged mortality for life. To Mr. Sumner the blow was almost overwhelming. For some time he was quite unequal to resuming his pulpit-labours; and when, at last, he nerved himself to the effort, it was with the feeling, as he expressed it, that "his right arm was cut off." Though he had, throughout life, enjoyed, as a rule, robust health, he had suffered, a few years previously, from a chronic affection that exerted a lowering influence upon his system, and probably left incipient traces of the disease under which he ultimately succumbed. That the disease of which he died had been latent, and was rapidly developed by the shock to his nervous system occasioned by the startling suddenness of Mrs. Sumner's removal, is the fixed opinion of his medical advisers. But the illness took Mr. Sumner by surprise; and from the fact that he felt well in every other respect, and that there was the absence of all dyspeptic symptoms, he was sanguine, from the first, as to his ultimate recovery. This was his

fixed idea up to a short time before his death.

In the spring of 1871, he was obliged to give up Circuit work for a time, and went to spend some weeks with his daughters at Southport, in the hope that the change of air and rest would restore him to his usual health. Here he grew rapidly worse; and, though a fatal termination of his illness was not anticipated by his family until a day or two before the end came, it was evident to all others that his days were numbered. For a week before his death he was confined to his room: still his conviction was unshaken that his work was not done, and that he should be permitted again to deliver God's message to his Accrington congregation.

On Saturday morning, June 10th, 1871, Mr. Sumner was found to be sinking fast. The statement of the Rev. Ebenezer E. Jenkins, M.A., in reference to the last hours of his life, is so appropriate, that we gladly insert it. Mr. Jenkins says, "I visited him several times, and always found that he had a firm, decided faith in the Gospel which he had preached. I visited him in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, of the 10th of June; and on the following morning, Sunday, June 11th, a little before two o'clock, he departed this life. At the first visit, I saw by the