Mrs. Edwards' funeral was a little hurried, as Mr. Wesley was obliged to leave town. I never saw such a concourse of people as were gathered together. The church-yard was literally packed, but there was not the least disturbance. When Mr. Wesley and Mr. Cheriton came out of the church to meet the coffin at the gate, every one made way for them, and many a rough head was uncovered as the little procession passed by. The spot selected for the grave was close by our garden wall, so that Amabel and I in our bow window could see and hear all that went on. I was deeply affected, as all thoughtful persons must be, by the wonderful solemn beauty of the English service. "Is it not beautiful?" said I. "Yes, indeed; I should like to read it over by myself. But hush, Mr. Wesley is going to speak." "'He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die.'" These were the words Mr. Wesley took as the text of his address. In all that vast multitude, you might have heard a pin drop, as in carefully measured sentences, in that full melodious voice, restrained in the midst of his utmost earnestness, he spoke of the promises of everlasting life to the believer, of the certainty of death and judgment, of the awful nearness of the eternal world, and besought all to make their calling and election sure while yet the choice was in their power. I saw Mr. Cheriton standing, in fixed and absorbed attention, by Mr. Wesley's side. When all was over, the multitude dispersed very gravely and silently, with hardly a word spoken. I saw but two faces which expressed decided disapproval. These belonged to the old clerk and the still older sexton. We had learned to know these worthies well, and had quite won the heart of the latter by carrying some custards of our own concocting to his poor, toothless, bed-ridden wife. Mr. Cheriton, as I said, stood in fixed attention till the discourse was ended, and the people had for the most part withdrawn. Then he put his arm within Mr. Wesley's. "Come into my house and dine with me!" said he earnestly. "Come, I must have more talk with you; you have put many new thoughts and feelings into my head, and heart. Come and tell me what to make of them." The two gentlemen walked away together, and entered the sashed door, which opened from the church-yard, and led—so Mrs. Thorpe had told us—into the Rector's study. "What dost thou think of that, John Sexton?" asked the clerk of the other old man, who was diligently fitting the sods over the grave of poor Mrs. Edwards and her babe.