for the whole family, beseeching God that she, as well as himself, might be fully ripened and made ready for heaven. After this she went to open the yard door, and he immediately followed her, shook hands with her, and said, 'The Lord bless you, Alice!' He departed; she locked the door after him, and returned into the house. This was about three o'clock; and, before she had time to undress herself, she heard some person knocking at the yard door. She opened a window, and a man said to her, 'Has a gentleman left your house this morning?' She replied, 'Yes.' The man* then said, 'I believe he is dying in the lane.' She alarmed the family, several of the members of which instantly ran down into the lane. She also ran, shrieked, and kneeling down said, 'Mr. Bramwell! Mr. Bramwell!' She thought that he attempted to speak to her; but he was not able to articulate any thing distinctly. One of the patrole ran for a surgeon; the other, assisted by Mr. Sigston and his young men, conveyed him back to the house. A surgeon arrived in a * This person was James Ingham, one of the Leeds night patrole. He and his partner, Joseph Geldard, give the following account of this sudden catastrophe: "We belong to the Leeds patrole. In the execution of our duty we were going up Woodhouse-lane, a little before three o'clock. When we got to Mr. Bramwell he was standing in a bending attitude, with his hands upon his knees. I (Ingham) said, 'My good man! does something ail you?' He said, Yes, I am very ill indeed. Take hold of me, watch!' I immediately took hold of him on one side, and told my comrade to take hold of the other. I then asked him where he came from, and told him we would take him back again. He said, 'I came from Mr. Sigston's:' and on my asking where Mr. Sigston lived, he said, A little farther up, on the right hand.' I inquired of him if we might take him back again; he said, 'Yes, do if you please." But he took only one step from the ground when he said he could go no farther. He then stood in his former position, saying he was the easiest in that posture. At last he fell upon his knees, and my partner took hold of him, and said to me, 'Be quick and tell Mr. Sigston.' Mr. Bramwell said, 'Yes, do, for I shall not be long here.' These were the last words which he spoke." few minutes afterwards, but, alas! the vital spark was quite extinct. "So rapid was this transition from life to death, that the language which his friend, Mr. Henry Moore, employed on the occasion, appears very just and appropriate: We can scarcely call it death. It almost ap pears a translation.' Viewed in this light, while his unexpected removal from this state of suffering is regarded as a mysterious providence by his relations, and by the church, it may be contemplated as an act of divine mercy, as it respected himself. For of the pangs of dissolution he was almost unconscious-and they were soon over.* "It is impossible to give any adequate description of the sensation which the account of Mr. Bramwell's sudden death produced on the public mind. He had been long known and highly esteemed in Leeds and its vicinity, as an able champion in the cause of Christ; and the suddenness of his departure out of this world seemed to make every one more deeply sensible of those excellencies in his character and conduct, to which they had before done ample justice. For few preachers ever attracted larger or more attentive audiences; and, what is very remarkable, notwithstanding his uncommonly faithful admonitions, and his great plainness of speech, the ungodly part of mankind flocked to hear him in preference to a great number of his brethren in the ministry. This might be owing, in part, to the peculiar earnestness which distinguished his delivery in the pulpit, and which such persons regarded as a proof of the paramount impression produced on his own mind by the grand truths which he delivered to others. "Many of his brethren, the preachers, had not left Leeds, the business of conference having only ended at a very late hour the preceding evening; and they testified, in every possible manner, their deep regret *On this topic, see Mr. Dawson's very interesting sermon, preached soon after the mournful occurrence. ་ for the loss of such a faithful and affectionate fellowlabourer. His relatives determined to have his remains removed from Leeds, and to deposit them in the burial ground at Westgate Hill. Friday afternoon was the time privately fixed upon for the intended removal. No notice was given of it, except to the remaining preachers, who had expressed a wish to show some public mark of respect for Mr. Bramwell's memory: yet an immense multitude of serious well dressed people, of different religious denominations, had filled up a great part of Woodhouse lane, the road leading to Mr. Sigston's dwelling, some time prior to the hearse moving off with the body. As soon as it began to move from the house a procession was formed, as if from impulse, and without previous concert. The travelling preachers arranged themselves in pairs according to seniority, and followed immediately after the body. It was a very affecting spectacle to behold such a number of venerable and aged ministers, succeeded by their vigorous younger brethren, all uniting by their presence to render due honour to the virtues of the deceased. Then followed in the same order, a goodly company of the local preachers and leaders; and after them a promiscuous, but very respectable assemblage of private Christiaus. The number of attentive and deeply interested spectators that lined both sides of the road was immense; and before the procession had reached the top of Briggate, it had received a very considerable augmentation both of mourners and beholders, who extended from the top to nearly the middle of that fine street. Had any public intimation been given of the time when Mr. Bramwell's remains would be conveyed to Westgate Hill, the crowd would have been so great as to impede the free passage of the procession. "In this solemn manner it moved till it arrived at the confines of Holbeck and Wortley, when after a very impressive prayer by Dr. Taft the following appropriate verse was sung : MR. W. BRAMWELL. There all the ship's company meet, Who sail'd with their Saviour beneath; The mortal affliction is past : 239 The company then separated, and the hearse conveyed the body to the place of its destination. It had been previously announced that the interment of Mr. Bramwell's remains would take place on the following Sunday. "On Sunday, the sixteenth of August, multitudes from all parts of the country repaired to Westgate Hill, to witness the funeral ceremony of their beloved friend and pastor. Several aged people came from some of the villages beyond Sheffield, and others from places equally distant. "Mr. Highfield preached in the area adjoining the chapel, to an overwhelming congregation, from Matthew xxiv, 44, Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.' The body was then committed to the silent grave, amidst the sincere lamentations of many thousands present. Immediately aferwards, Mr. Nelson and Dr. Taft delivered very solemn and appropriate addresses to the deeply affected multitude. "This solemn event was improved, the same Sunday evening, in all the three Methodist chapels in Leeds, and in many of the adjoining circuits; and on the fourteenth of September, a funeral sermon was preached by Mr. William Dawson, in the area in front of Mr. Sigston's school, and near the place where Mr. Bramwell died. Nearly ten thousand persons were assembled that afternoon, and listened with almost breathless attention to the admirable discourse of this engaging preacher.* *This discourse was soon after published by particular request. "A plain tablet, bearing the following neat and unassuming inscription, has been erected to his memory in the burial ground at Westgate Hill. HERE LIETH WHAT WAS EARTHLY Of the venerable WILLIAM BRAMWELL, A chosen, approved, and valiant minister of Christ, May his ashes still proclaim, what he lived 'Prepare to meet thy God.'" CHAPTER XVI. A remarkable dream in reference to Mr. Bramwell-Mr. Ward's brief character of him. IT was the original intention of the author of this memoir to have inserted, in this place, a comprehensive view of the late Mr. Bramwell's character. But a detailed character of Mr. Bramwell seems the less necessary in this place, because each of the friends who contributed to the preceding account, has given his own view of particular traits in it, which are correct and edifying. It has, however, been thought proper to subjoin the following remarkable dream, which was related to the author by Mr. Henshaw, on the morning of Mr. Bramwell's decease. When Mr. Henshaw returned to his circuit, he was requested to furnish a statement of it, which he did in the following terms: "I shall never forget, the affecting scene which occurred on the morning after the last conference closed. Passing by your door a few minutes before six o'clock, from the house of my hospitable friend, Mr. W. Smith, it was announced to me that Mr. Bramwell was dead. Overwhelmed with this unexpected and most afflictive intelligence, and scarcely thinking it could possibly be |