ugh all its clergy were on the sick list. It was feared, however,
that on one particular Sunday it would have to be closed. Application
had been made to clergymen at a distance, but all, dreading infection,
were afraid to come to the town, so that aid from outside could not
be had. A consultation was held, and one of the curates, although weak
and ill, undertook to conduct the devotional part of the service, but
felt unable to preach. An announcement to be read by the "clerk" was
written out by the rector, and was, no doubt, properly punctuated. At
the close of the prayers, the next morning, the clerk arose, paper
in hand, and proceeded to read as follows, without break, pause, or
change of tone: "I am desired to give notice that in consequence of
the illness of the whole of the clergymen attached to this church
there will be no sermon here this morning 'Praise God from whom all
blessings flow.'"

John Angell James was then at the head of the Nonconformists of the
town, and was in the prime of his intellectual powers. He was very
popular as a preacher, and the chapel in Carrs Lane was always well
filled. Mr. Wm. Beaumont, the bank manager, acted as precentor,
reading aloud the words of the hymns to be sung and the notices
of coming religious events. Mr. James had a powerful voice and an
impressive manner, and occasionally was very eloquent. I remember a
passage, which struck me at the time as being very forcible. He
was deprecating the influence which the works of Byron had upon the
youthful mind, and, speaking of the poet, said: "He wrote as with
the pen of an archangel, dipped in the lava which issues from the
bottomless pit." Mr. James was not a classical scholar; indeed, he had
only received a very moderate amount of instruction. He was intended
by his parents for a tradesman, and in fact was apprenticed to
a draper at Poole. I believe, however, that the indentures were
cancelled, for he became a preacher before he was twenty years of
age. For myself, I always thought him an over-rated man. There was
a narrowness of mind; there was a want of sympathy with the works of
great poets and artists; and there was an intense hatred of the drama.
There was, too, a dogmatic, egotistic manner, which led him always
to enunciate his own thoughts as if they were absolutely true and
incontrovertible. He was not a man to doubt or hesitate; he did not
say "It may be," or "It is probable," but always "It is." He was a
good pastor, h