would have
desired no other panegyric. It came from the hearts of men on whose
behalf he had given his very best, and it shows how strong a hold he had
obtained upon their affection.

'We respectfully enquire for the peace and happiness of your
excellencies, our brothers Gilmour, also for the peace of your
whole school. In the first place Pastor Gilmour in his preaching
and doctoring at Ch'ao Yang, north of the Pass, truly loved others
as himself, was considerate and humble, and had the likeness of
(our) Saviour Jesus. Not only the Christians thank him without end,
but even those outside the Church (the heathen) bless him without
limit. We, who through Pastor Gilmour have obtained the doctrine of
the second birth, and received the grace of Jesus, had hoped with
Mr. Gilmour to have assembled on the earth until our heads were
white and in the future life to have gone with him to heaven.
Little did we think we should have been so unhappy. He has already
gone to the Lord. We certainly know he is in the presence of the
Lord, not only praying for us, but also for you our brothers.

'We pray you, when you see this letter, not to grieve beyond
measure. We hope that you will study with increased ardour, so as
to obtain the heavenly wisdom, like Solomon, and that afterwards
you may come to China, to this Ch'ao Yang, to preach the Gospel
widely. As the father did, may the sons follow, is our earnest
desire.

'Signed by the Ch'ao Yang Christians,

'LIU MAO LIN (preacher).
P'ANG TIEN K'UEI.
WANG SHENG.
NING FU TUNG.
CHANG WAN CH'UAN.
CHANG KUEI.
CHIANG SHENG.
WANG HUI HSIEN.
LIU I (your father's servant).
SUNG KANG.
CH'U WEN YUAN.
CHANG CHEN.
CHANG MAO CHI.
NING KUANG CHEN.
LIU CHO.
T'IEN TE CH'UN.
HU TE.'

Here, then, we leave him. If the story of his life fail to touch the
heart, to deepen faith, to exalt our estimate of renewed human nature,
and to revive enthusiasm in work for Christ at home and abroad, the
fault must be in him who has tried to tell it, and to set in order the
facts.

God's ways are ofttimes dark. James Gilmour had often felt this, and, to
those who knew him, it seemed as though he w