THE LATE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 16, 18 January 1873, Page 4

THE LATE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS.

■ ■ ■ 0 Our readers will have heard already — not without sorrow — of the death by accident of the Rev. John Williams, the wellknown minister of the Baptist Church, Dunedin. On December 20 Mr Williams was on his way to Lawrence to render a friendly service to the Wesleyan church there, by preaching anniversary sermons, when the coach in which he was a passenger was overturned, and he received such injuries as resulted, two days later, in his death. It is with feelings of deep pain that we record in these columns an event so calamitous. The blow is a heavy one, and it will be widely felt beyond the denomination upon which the loss more especially falls. Mr Williams was a minister of a type which which has too few representatives in colonial society. Though belonging by conviction to one of the straitest sects in Christendom, his heart was too big for any single denomination, and his breadth of charity and cordial sympathy with all who love the' Lord Jesus had won for him friends amongst Christians of every name. As a preacher he was possessed of more than ordinary gifts. He had in a high degree the faculty ofconvincng speech, and his pulpit ministrations were characterised by. both tenderness and power. Many have been tbe. seals of his ministry, both in the colony and in the scenes of his early labors at home. To a greater extent than is common amongst clergymen burdened with the. diversified duties of a city pastorate, Mr Williams Was a laborious 'student. Without sacrificing his popular gifts, he had especially cultivated the critical study of the scriptures, and upon difficult questions of exegesis he possessed a learning rarely found in the ranks of the active 4 ministry. The writer of these lines recals now with melancholy pleasure, the memory of , many V ■an hoar spent wittiOh^ bate— -hours which were spots of verdure relieving the monotony of .the, dry and dusty roadway of duty. From the firs.

publicatiooYbf the* New Zealand Wesleyan Mr Williams was a contributor to its columns, and never wearied in his voluntary task of writing an article on Biblical exegesis for each number. A fortnight" before^ his' death, when forwarding ihe paper which appears in our present issue, he wrote to the Editor in words which, in tbe light of what has since happened, read, strangely prophetic : "As you are now receiving such good help from your Methodist brethren, you will accept tbe enclosed as tbe lastof my series. . . . You will understand me; I am not at all weary in aiding you, but you do not need my help as heretofore, or you should most cordially have it. " Now the ready pen is laid aside for ever, and the brave heart !is stilled. A "good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ" has been called to bis reward. From "the stand point we now occupy, his career seems rudely broken and his service ended. But Faith bids us think of him rather as promoted, — lifted to wider spheres and nobler tasks. — Key. A. B. Fitchett, in N. Z._ Wesleyan.