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The design of Mrs. Douglass becomes very evident when we reflect upon all the circumstances by which Mr. Gloucester and his people were surrounded, for it must be observed that their labors to establish and build up the Church, to redeem from bondage his family, required no small amount of anxiety on their part; but the assistance of kind friends—whether it be in a pecuniary way, or which, in some cases, may be as valuable—the counsel and suggestions of those whose mature judgment and observation qualify them to render advice wholesome and good. In this instance, surely, it was a very opportune time in this Christian lady to interpose her advice, gathered from close observation of things around her as they existed. Evidently it was a time to retrench every indulgence, whether of dress, eating, pleasures of any kind, save those where some practical good would ensue, in favor of their efforts. Of Mr. Gloucester's subsequent labors in the Church, I have not much to record. His failing health, which for some time gave unmistakable evidence that his day of pilgrimage was wellnigh spent, gave no small uneasiness to his flock and anxiety to friends. Consumption had settled fairly upon him, and making a wreck of the once strong man. It was a heart-rending sight to behold the faithful venerable pastor, wasting away gradually but surely for the tomb; it was crushing to behold him, in the strength of manhood, weakened and wasted away by the destroyer, and no possibility of escape. To him, however, it was a very little matter to decay and die; but his anxiety lay in another direction—it was towards his Church—the people, the object of all his anxieties, these lay near his heart; to them, during the latter part of his life, he gave the remaining energies of his mind, without much regard to anything else; hence his petition to his
