Oft his silent spirit went, Like an angel from the throne, On benign commission bent, In the fear of God alone. Then the widow’s heart would sing, As she turned her wheel, for joy; Then the bliss of hope would spring On the outcast orphan boy. To the blind, the deaf, the lame, To the ignorant and vile, Stranger, captive, slave, he came, With a welcome and a smile. Help to all he did dispense. Gold, instruction, raiment, food, Like the gifts of Providence, To the evil and the good. Deeds of mercy, deeds unknown, Shall eternity record, Which he durst not call his own, For he did them for the Lord. As the earth puts forth her flowers, Heaven-ward breathing from below; As the clouds descend in showers, When the southern breezes glow. . . . . . . . Full of faith, at length he died, And victorious in the race, Wore the crown for which he died, Not of merit but of grace. WILLIAM REYNOLDS. The father, Richard Reynolds, as will be seen from our sketch, managed to realize immense wealth at Ketley, and, what is more, to remain superior to the influence wealth too often has upon its possessor. The finer feelings of the man never succumbed to the vulgar circumstances of his position, but maintained their freshness, and graduated to maturity by the mastering force of a resolute will and a well-disciplined and highly enlightened mind. Never so completely absorbed in the arts and intricacies of money-making as to lose sight of higher and worthier aims, he sought an opportunity earlier than men in his circumstances usually do of enjoying the well-earned fruits of an active life; of indulging in that repose and retirement congenial to minds similarly constituted to his own. Accordingly, his shares in the works were turned over to his two sons, William and Joseph. William was the more distinguished of the two in carrying out improvements connected with the works. Like his father, he possessed an active mind, an elevated taste, and a desire for knowledge; to which were added a mechanical genius, and an aptitude for turning to account resources within his reach. He saw the necessity of uniting science with practice in developing the rich resources of the district; and that knowledge and discovery must keep pace with aptitude in their use.