Now, the word “prophet” is not applied only to those persons who were moved by the Spirit to predict the future, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It means one who speaks forth the Word of God, and proclaims the message of God in the Lord’s name. It is a term therefore that, in this its wider sense, may well be applied to your late beloved pastor, our dear and honoured brother now taken from us, of whom it may be said with the most perfect truth that for thirty-four years he went in and out a true prophet among you. He was a prophet in the true meaning of the word, for he spent his life in publishing or speaking forth amongst you the hidden mysteries of the salvation of God. We quite acknowledge that he was not a prophet like Ezekiel, carried away in lofty flights of inspired ecstasy; nor like John the Baptist, feeding on locusts and wild honey; but he was one who was in his own quiet, devoted life a true prophet, and who for fifty-five years laboured for souls and faithfully preached Christ Jesus his Saviour. I have no words to express my profound reverence for such a man. He was a true specimen of that most honourable class, the country clergymen of the Church of England. He did not take much part in things outside the parish. Most thankful should we often have been if we had had more of his valuable help and counsel in matters concerning the Diocese and the Church. But the parish was his sphere, the parish was his home, and the parish was the great object for which he spent his life. Remember him, then, in his Pastoral work. For thirty-four years (the best part of his ministry) you have enjoyed this privilege. I am speaking, I know, to a bereaved flock; and I want you to look back on your past privileges. He went in his pastoral work into the homes of his people. Think of him: how kind, how faithful, how full of sympathy, how diligent in visiting, even in his blindness. Was he not in very truth a true friend to you all? I am sure every heart must answer, “He was.” Think of him among the Young. The majority of you must have grown up under his care, and you know what an interest he took in you; how he watched over you in the schools, cared for you in your confirmation, and welcomed you when you became communicants at the Table of the Lord. In my position at Tunbridge Wells, I see young people from all the surrounding villages, and by the candidates which I have for confirmation I can form some estimate of what is going on in the different parishes. Now I always have a good hope when I have to do with young people who have been brought up at Brenchley. I find them, as a general rule, well trained in the Gospel. I cannot say that they all love it, but they have been taught it, and all that the pastor can do has been done for them in their early training. How many are there in this church at this present time who can look back with profound thanksgiving to lessons taught them in early life by that venerable man!