CHAPTER XXXVII.

TRIBUTES- -CONTINUED.

BY MISSIONARY SECRETARY, REV. B. WINGET.

It hardly seems true that the one in whom, humanly speaking, so much hope was centered by our people, and especially the band of workers whom she led to China, has been called by the great Head of the Church from labor and responsibility to the glory and the reward of the victor.

Surely the Lord's purpose may be realized by us and by our mission in China if we but hear what the Spirit will say unto us at this time. I trust that, through the exercise of much prayer and faith, our missionaries on the field and we in the home land will be able to hear the directions which the Holy Ghost will give, and under these will move forward successfully for the accomplishment of His purposes. Often much increase of courage is needed when, on the human side, our hopes are cut off.

There were characteristics in Sister Leffingwell which eminently fitted her for the work to which she was called. Among them were the following:

1. A clear and strong persuasion that God called her to carry the "good tidings" to the people of China. From the first her persuasion was so strong and definite that God wanted her in China

that she could not favorably consider any other field. This call did not weaken as she passed through fiery tests, but only developed the martyr spirit in the midst of the terrible Boxer riots. It could be said of her, with reference to her call to China, "This one thing I do." Everything else was subservient to its fulfilment. Tests and obstacles

had no power to turn her aside.

2. She felt that God had a work for the people of her choice to do on the field to which she had

been called; and to enlist them in this work was the intense desire of her heart. When in June, 1903, the way was opened, by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society and by the General Missionary Board, for her to travel throughout the church and solicit means and workers for the mission in China, she rejoiced because of the opportunity to realize her long-cherished desire. Many of us know with what self-sacrificing and persevering zeal she labored to this end while in America. We thought she ought to have taken more rest while here, but with her intense desire to see the work accomplished she seemed to be forgetful of herself and all intent on realizing the desired result.

3. She possessed the spirit of prayer in a remarkable degree, and was very diligent in inquir ing of the Lord and making all of her requests known unto Him.

4. Her faith was the kind out of which moral heroes are made, and partook of the character of those whom God has put before us in His striking picture gallery in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. It inspired her with indomitable courage and

brought to her heart great joy and abounding hope. Having good natural gifts, the fulness of the Spirit made them resplendent with His own fruitage.

The Free Methodist Mission in China, the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, the General Missionary Board, the church, and her friends, all deeply feel the loss occasioned by her departure, but there is great satisfaction in knowing that, to some extent, she realized the travail of her soul, died at her post, with her armor on, and was prepared for an abundant entrance into the heavenly kingdom.

May the "Lord of the harvest" raise up many others who, like her, are strongly persuaded in regard to their call, and who are filled with a like devotion, faith and courage!

BENJAMIN WINGET, Missionary Sec'y of the Free Methodist Church.

BY MISS A. P. CARPENTER, PRECEPTRESS OF THE A. M. CHES

BROUGH SEMINARY.

Among the many Christian workers that I have known, few lives have impressed me as much as that of Miss Clara Leffingwell. When a girl at the A. M. Chesbrough Seminary, her example was so marked that it seemed only natural when she went as a missionary to China. During the time that she was there I kept in touch with her, and felt it privilege to do so.

In the summer of 1903, I was invited to attend a camp-meeting at Tonawanda, New York. Upon

reaching the ground and entering the tent, the lady who had invited me, said: "Whom do you suppose is to share your bed with you?" adding, "It is Miss Leffingwell."

In a moment Miss Leffingwell came from behind the curtain, looking just like her own dear self, scarcely any changed from the girl I knew in the A. M. Chesbrough Seminary, although she had been away from me ten long years.

I have often felt when reunited with those who know God intimately that I have never been separated from them, and it seemed so about her.

Her labors in a foreign country, her great danger in the Boxer riots all were past and she was with me. Her curious, battered and travelstained baggage spoke of China and the long and wearisome journey homeward. Since landing upon the Pacific coast, she had been constantly called upon for service in missionary meetings until, she told me, God gave her the rest that people would not. The flooded rivers delayed the train while she was on her way to the general conference, at Greenville, Illinois, and she was forced to stay several days at a hotel.

When I met her at this camp-meeting she had not yet been home and I wondered how she could contentedly remain all through the meeting, when two of her sisters, one of them her mother-sister, Ellen, were only seventy-five miles distant, and she had not seen them in so many years. Earthly desires, however, were always subservient with her to what she felt to be God's will.

When the meeting closed, she went an hour or