In the winter of 1872 the pastor felt it necessary to change his residence, when the ladies of the congregation raised a purse, which, with the addition of £100 from one friend, amounted to between £300 and £400. This bountiful gift, conveyed privately by one of the contributors, touched his heart as may be supposed, and made him feel how great was his people’s generosity, and how gracefully they exercised it. The avoidance of publicity, and the delicate mode of conveying the present, increased greatly his sense of obligation, and attached him to so noble-minded a people more strongly than ever. Their interest in the future he resolved more than ever to consider. The autumn of that year he visited America, being invited, with the Rev. Joshua C. Harrison, “the friend of his life,” to attend the Evangelical Conference at New York. This was most refreshing, and in renewed health and spirits he returned, in November, to his beloved people; the chapel during his absence having been restored, painted, and decorated anew. Harmony and love continued, but the want of additional assistance still pressed on all sides. The services of the Rev. S. Matthews, now pastor at Southampton, were secured for one year, and he co-operated with the senior minister very pleasantly; other help was also obtained, but at length the inevitable hour arrived. The Church received the following communication from their pastor in November, 1874:— “MY BELOVED FLOCK,— “It is now two years since I made an important communication touching our relationship to one another. I then stated, that upon a review of our affairs it struck me that there were subjects for mutual congratulation and for devout gratitude, particularly in the cheering aspect of the morning congregation and in your generous responses to benevolent appeals; but, at the same time, that there were other things of a different character which weighed upon my mind, such as the state of attendance on Sunday and week evenings, the need of more pastoral activity, to which growing years, personal habits, and increasing claims outside the Church tended to disqualify me, increasingly in proportion to the lapse of time. What was needed I pointed out as consisting of an infusion of fresh and youthful blood, with a more comprehensive, steady, and systematic control of our Institutions: wants only to be supplied by a new, vigorous, faithful, and exemplary minister.