Progress of the Work. 35 
home to die. Mr. Neilson, his son-in-law, accompanied him to 
Geelong, where for a little while he seemed to gather strength, 
and hopes were entertained of his being spared to bless his 
family with his gentle presence, and the mission with the ripened 
fruits of his experience. But it pleased God to take him to 
himself. A second stroke—falling on a vital part—utterly dis- 
abled him. His consciousness remained, but his power of 
speech was gone. And so he lay—like a weary pilgrim at the 
gates of Heaven — enjoying the peace of God’s beloved; 
answering the question of his trust in God by a smile—calm and 
beautiful. In the early hour of a bright summer morning, in 
December, he fell asleep. 
“ Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. They rest from 
their labours, and their works do follow them.” 
The announcement of Dr. Geddie’s death was received with 
much sorrow in the circle of his friends in Victoria. His warm- 
hearted children in Aneityum wept very bitter tears when they 
heard that their good father was dead ; and the records of the 
churches of Nova Scotia testify to the reverence and love in 
which they held their first missionary. They are making gener- 
ous provision for his widow and family ; and the people of the 
Presbyterian Church of Victoria, to whose keeping God has 
consigned his mortal remains, are preparing to erect a monu- 
ment in the cemetery at Geelong—a monument which will 
command observation, and will declare to their children the 
honour in which they held the unassuming piety and self-denying 
zeal of the Founder of the New Hebrides Mission. 
