Ministry in Henley. INDEPENDENCY has long had a place in the pretty town of Henley-upon-Thames. A Mr. Marsden preached there for a short time, until, in 1675, he was taken to prison, in accordance with the wisdom of the age, and left to die in Newgate. He was held captive for awhile by those dungeon walls, then an angel came to him, as to Peter of old, his chains fell from him, and henceforth he walked freely along the streets of the New Jerusalem. As there was no place of meeting for the Henley Nonconformists of those days, the people usually assembled in a barn, though sometimes they gathered together in Harpsden Wood, and beneath the shade of the trees sent up their songs of thanksgiving and poured forth their souls in prayer. John Gyles, one of the ejected ministers, was for a time their pastor. He nearly shared the fate of Mr. Marsden; for once, when he was preaching in Harpsden Wood-the officers of the law (not of justice) came to lay hands on him. He was, however, warned of their approach, and having changed hats with a miller, he mingled with the crowd and managed to escape. He seems to have been much beloved by his people; and after his death they placed a tablet over his grave, with the following quaint inscription "Heaven's pilgrim! pause you here, And with many drop a tear O'er John Gyles, from heaven sent "His learning, utterance, and parts, In 1719 a simple, unpretending chapel was erected, which has, with but little alteration, been used to the present time. Nonconformists have sometimes been accused of having no architectural taste, and of being uncultivated, ignorant people. Those who make these assertions are probably themselves ignorant of the circumstances under which many of the despised conventicles were built. Imprisonment, sometimes ending in a lingering death, was the reward of those who met in them. Who can wonder, then, that the shape of the building and the number of its ornaments were but of little moment to them? While the duty of love to God's house is always binding, the form of its manifestation must differ with the times and circumstances of the worshippers. There have been days in the Church's history when a Bezaleel was endowed with wisdom to prepare a tabernacle, and others when it became the highest honour of a wise king's reign to build a house for the Lord of Hosts. There have been days when restorations were effected and symbols and ritual resumed under God's direct sanction, yet we cannot forget that these all pointed forward to the hour when One would come, who was Himself the Temple, who taught that neither "this mountain," nor, "Jerusalem," was important compared with the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth. The Lord of the Sabbath worshipped with His nation in the glorious temple of the Jews, yet on the mountaintop He led His disciples and gathered multitudes to preach to them. Beneath the cool shade of the olivetrees He knelt to pray, and more than once sanctioned with His presence the use of the upper room, where, with closed doors, His timid little flock had gathered to speak of the wonderful things accomplished in Jerusalem. The Rev. Humphrey Gainsborough (brother of Gainsborough the painter) was pastor at Henley in 1748; he was skilled in mechanics and was interested in science. He was a personal friend of James Watt, who visited and consulted him when preparing his improvement of the steam-engine. Mr. Gainsborough planned and erected several locks upon the river Thames near Henley; he also invented machines by means of which the very steep hill leading from the town in the direction of London was lowered, and a good road made up it at comparatively slight expense. He also raised the large bridge upon the Wargrave Road over the "Happy Valley." This distinguished man died suddenly in the Lion meadows, on his return from a visit to the locks. Some years after, four valued ministers successively became pastors of the Church: Rev. Mr. Scholefield, Rev. Mr. Churchill, Rev. Nelson Goulty, in whose days the chapel was enlarged, and in 1824 Rev. Mr. Bolton, a man of loving spirit. The chapel was again altered, galleries being added, and a larger amount of land was rented for garden and burial ground. Mr. Bolton also built two good rooms to the house, which had not accommodation for his large family of thirteen. When Mr. Bolton resolved to return to America, the people were advised by several ministers to invite Mr. Rowland, of Baldock, to supply the vacant pulpit. This they did, and he preached for three Sundays in the spring of 1836. He was then asked to go for six weeks longer, during which time he stayed with each of the deacons in turn, that they might, as he merrily said, "find out all my faults." They managed, however, to see something more than these, and to feel that they could work happily with him. In writing to accept the invitation for this second visit, he said, "Permit me to request that you will for the present continue your special prayer-meetings. Last Thursday evening I retired to my study for the purpose of imploring Divine direction, and intend to do so till I return. It will be pleasant to think that we are similarly, though separately engaged." At the expiration of six weeks Mr. Rowland was unanimously invited to take the oversight of the Church. The people had been united and prayerful On since Mr. Bolton left; they were blessed with judicious deacons, who had asked no other minister to preach with a view to settlement, hence there was no division of interest, and all were ready to welcome their new pastor amongst them. On the second Sunday in July, 1836, Mr. Rowland began his labours. Friday, Oct. 25th, he was publicly recognised. The Rev. Nelson Goulty, of Brighton; Rev. A. Douglas, of Reading; Rev. T. Morell, President of Coward College; and the Rev. T. Binney, of the Weigh-house, took part in the services. At the time Mr. Rowland entered on his work there were about one hundred and twenty members; when he closed his labours that number was double. He admitted, altogether, nine hundred and forty to the fellowship of the Church; an average of twenty-six during each year of his ministry in Henley. The greatest number was received in 1861, when fortynine were added to those who met together for the breaking of bread. Some of these were already children of Christ's kingdom, who had not before taken to themselves the full privileges of their sonship; others had been identified with God's family elsewhere, and needed only a welcome to the little community at Henley; while not a few were born again by the Spirit's power under the ministry of their pastor. A few instances in which Mr. Rowland was made useful may prove interesting. A heavy thunderstorm one day caused two ladies to take shelter in a solitary |