Mr. Porter was the next pastor of the Church, entering on his office a short time after the death of Mr. Hextal. The register of baptisms, it is stated, was begun A.D. 1778, by Thomas Porter, pastor of the congregation that assembles in Kingshead Lane, Northampton. The last entry made by Mr. Porter is of a baptism that took place August 8th, 1784; the next being by Mr. Edwards, August 13th, 1786; so that Mr. Porter's ministry was not continued for much more than six years. About the year 1786, Mr. B. L. Edwards became the pastor of this Church, and filled this office for 45 years, as he died January 2nd, 1831, aged 66 years. The following account of Mr. Edwards appeared in the _Congregational Magazine_, shortly after his death:-- Mr. Edwards pursued his preparatory studies for the ministry at the Theological Institution then conducted at Hoxton, we believe under the tuition of Drs. Savage, Kippis, and Rees; and from thence he proceeded to the station which for so many years he has occupied with an unblemished character. As a minister of Christ, he united orthodoxy of sentiment with liberality of spirit; as a man, he was admired most by those who were best acquainted with him--warm and faithful in his friendships, of a most enlarged benevolence, and universally regarded as the ardent and consistent advocate of civil and religious liberty throughout the world. The later years of life were distinguished by a growing spirituality of mind; and as he drew near to the close of his labours upon earth, he seemed to increase in the fervour of his public ministrations. The illness which terminated in his death was of short duration. On the second Sabbath in December he preached three times: on the afternoon of the day he delivered a funeral discourse, founded on the exhortation of Christ to his disciples, "Be ye also ready," and distinguished by unusual earnestness and deep solemnity; and in the evening he closed his public labours by a sermon from Psalm xxxi. 19. Though from that time till within three or four days of his departure he was too unwell to leave the house, yet no painful apprehensions of immediate danger were excited in the minds of his friends. On the Thursday night preceding his dissolution he became, however, materially worse, from which time he rapidly declined, until, on the morning of the Sabbath, he received the summons, and entered into rest. An individual who on two occasions saw him during his illness, was gratified with the delightful frame of spirit he discovered when speaking of the heavenly world, and the blessedness of those who had reached that place. He is understood to have declared, a short time before his departure, his simple reliance upon the atonement of Christ; and in the anticipation of the great change, to have adopted the words of the Apostle, "I know whom I have believed." The nature