"I hear to-day that beloved Mr. Ridout has passed to his rest, and feeling something of the greatness of the loss that you have sustained along with all the dear brethren whom I know and love in U. S. A., I must send you a line of true brotherly sympathy. Three things struck me about our beloved brother:First and most, his Christ-like spirit, then his wise, well-balanced judgment, and then his grasp of the truth of God. You will miss him greatly in these things, yet they will leave among you a fragrance that will not soon pass away, and I believe will stir you up to follow his faith.

It is a comfort to know that the Lord cares for His saints. It was this care that made Him raise up and fit such an one as Mr. Ridout to love and care for you all, and He can raise up and fit others. Yes, in spite of the increasing declension, He will still care for you all. You were thankful to have such a brother among you so long, but you were not dependent upon him, but upon the Lord who gave him, and the Lord remains, and upon Him and His eternal changeless love, you can cast yourselves in your sore bereavement.

What a welcome our beloved brother would get! How wonderful to think of his joy in the presence of his Saviour! And great will be his reward for all his labors and suffering for the Lord's sake! You will rejoice in these things while we wait for the fulfilment of all our hopes at our Lord's return."

-J. T. Mawson.

"The sad news came to us yesterday, of the taking away of our beloved brother, Mr. S. Ridout. But in our grief we also rejoice as we think of him in the presence of the ONE he loved so well, and of whom it could very truly be said, without any question, that like John the beloved, he too lay "on Jesus' breast." Now the Lord has called him out of this scene of suffering and sorrow and strife, to rest in His presence, till that day when all His own shall be called to meet Him in the air.

We feel especially for the dear sorrowing family and the dear saints in Plainfield and vicinity, to all of whom our beloved brother had so endeared himself by a life and testimony patterned closely after his blessed Lord and Master. How his familiar face and voice will be missed by those who, like yourself, knew him so well! The sweetness and strength of a character such as our dear brother sustained through good and evil report can only be possessed through constant and conscious abiding in Christ.

May the Lord graciously uphold you and all the dear saints with you in this great loss and sorrow. May you be able to look up to the ONE who has taken His honored and faithful servant to Himself, and receive from Him that consolation and comfort needed in an hour like this, when the heart and mind are dazed, as it were, through a sudden blow, in having had taken from among you one who, more than most, was a living type of Him who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."

We know that our blessed Lord, who "loved and gave Himself for the Church," will continue to minister from His own heart of compassion and infinite love all that His saints need in this world. If He has taken His dear servant away from us-one who loved to serve the beloved saints-He will raise up other channels, and our prayer is that this may be so. May the encouragement and cheer and warning and instruction so much needed to-day by old and young be vouchsafed to us. May our beloved brother's written ministry left behind, as his voice "yet speaking" to us, be much blessed to saint and sinner, and may the memory of a life so fragrant with the love of Christ, so true to His Word, so filled with devoted service to the saints, whom, next to the Lord Himself, he loved dearly-may the memory of it all come to us as a precious reminder of Christ Himself, endearing to our hearts more and more that ONE who indelibly inscribed His own character in the life here below of His dear departed servant.

Words fail us in a time like this, but we can look back and remember our beloved brother as we knew him, so patient and loving and true. And we can look forward and contemplate that bright and glad day when we shall be gathered around our blessed Lord, and meet him again with all of the redeemed."

-Wm. Huss.

"Thanks for your letter, but I had already learned of the home-going of our beloved brother.

Our loss is truly great. What a servant he was! And how like his Master! Who is there to take his place?

Our debt to him could never have been paid. My own is great indeed. I have learned much from his ministry of the Word, but I have learned more from his example. His graciousness and patience under provocation, his humility in his attitude toward others, and his readiness to recognize and commend merit in his brethren, however small, marked him as a disciple of Christ and fitted him for leadership among his brethren. He was justly beloved and revered. May his memory live among us, and let us be thankful that we have known him."

-P. P. Wahlstad.

". . . How sad the tidings Israel hath fallen. How he presence and ministry. What a blank it seems.

He was a "husband" in his spirit and manner, gracious and gentle to all, one of the most Christ-like men I have ever known. How he suffered amid the recent upheaval in the meetings, who shall say? But that is past, and he rests from labors and his works follow.

But our Lord remains and never fails His own. 'Certainly I will be with thee,' should encourage us to 'go in and possess' yet more of the goodly land our brother spied out so well." -INGLIS FLEMING.

"Thanks for sending us word concerning the home-call of our dear departed and much loved brother Ridout. It will be a great loss to the whole testimony, and many beyond our small circle will regret his departure. But it is his gain.

The cruel treatment which his name received by some who should have commended him, he felt more keenly than most realized. But his work is finished, he has entered his rest. May all of us copy his patience and gentleness, walking softly and lowly until the end." -A. E. BOOTH.
"It was with a sense of a great personal loss that I heard a week ago of the death of my old friend Samuel Ridout. We met often and intimately when, some years ago (it may have been twenty), he was living in active Christian service in Baltimore, the recognized leader of the Assembly on Mosher Street. Since then, I have only seen him at fairly long intervals ; once to my great surprise he hailed me from a small motor boat far down among the Keys in Florida where I was collecting lichens and getting impressions of a remarkable new terrain.

My early memories are particularly happy, including many privileges of attending the weekly gatherings of the brethren and enjoying his ministry at the meetings and his generosity as a teacher in my own home. To him I owe a better acquaintance with the Scriptures, and the works of F. W. Grant, J. N. Darby, Charles Stanley, C. H. Mackintosh, and others.

Mr. Ridout always impressed me, as he doubtless did all his hearers, with his love and understanding of the Bible as in very truth the Word of God; as a teacher he was lucid and winning. It is a pleasure to think of him as having entered into the presence of that glory so long anticipated and upon which he was wont to dwell with such persuasive earnestness." -HOWARD A. KELLY.

"It was most considerate of you to send us notice of dear Mr. Ridout's passing and funeral. We remember him as God's choice saint, who now sees his precious Saviour face to face, and is in that dear, dear country, the mention of whose glory is unction to the breast, and medicine in sickness, and love and life and rest. We can only congratulate him and think how fitting it was that he finished his earthly ministry in that city where he began it many years ago.

For you, my dear brother, my heart beats in tenderest sympathy, since I know how loving a friend has been taken away from you for a brief period. It cannot be for long; our eagerly looked-for Lord may come at any time, and even if He tarry, the pilgrim journey will soon be over, and oh, what a blessed meeting! How rich Heaven will be, richer even now because of that dear saint, whose body you are laying to rest while I am writing these lines.

The Lord remains, He is sufficient, and by His grace we will work while it is day, looking forward to the Blessed Hope, when "the dead in Christ shall rise first, and when we who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air." -ERNEST LAYCOCK.

"Just read the wire apprizing me that our beloved S. R. has entered into the presence of the Lord. What a welcome he has had up there! But how he will be missed down here! Wish I were near enough to be at the funeral to-morrow. How I thank God I had ever known him! It seems strange to think that sweet, patient- yet intellectual-countenance will never be seen again till Jesus comes."-H. A. IRONSIDE.

"Yours received telling us about the home-going of our dear brother Ridout. Now he is at rest, having fought the good fight. We will miss him daily, but we thank God that he is at rest. We will meet again at Jesus' feet." -DR. C. J. LOIZEAUX.

"… It is sad news, and creates an aching void in our breasts, and fills us with sadness to think that we will never hear that voice again here, and never again see that face, nor read lines from his pen. Oh, what a loss to the Church of God, and to his dear family, but what a day for him to be at home with the Lord he so longed to see and so loved to serve, and away from these scenes of conflict and strife. Oh, how we will miss him if the Lord further delays His coming! … I feel we shall have to pray in a special way for the whole household of faith, and especially the testimony with which we are connected, desiring that the glorious Head of His Church will be pleased to preserve His people at this time, and that He, the great Shepherd of the sheep, will preserve and shepherd the flock which will so keenly feel this shock. I think especially of our dear young people who were so attached to our beloved brother." -JAS. N. DUNCAN (Detroit).

"We were very sorry to hear of the death of dear brother Ridout. We have lost a good friend and teacher. We are thankful he came to the coast three years ago, otherwise we never should have seen his face in the flesh. For him it is rest from his labor; with Christ, which is very much better. May God raise up others to take the place of these men who have gone home to be with the Lord in the last 3 or 4 years. Though we sorrow, we will not despair, because our Lord has pledged Himself to be with us, even unto the end of the age." -JAMES F. PAULSEN (San Francisco).

"Thirty-five years, and more, ago, my Heavenly Father placed me in the pathway of life of Mr. Ridout. He immediately gave me a place in his heart-and he began at once to feed me with the "Bread of Life," for I had received the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, but was remaining only a babe in Christ.

Our friendship grew deeper and deeper, and it included my whole family-wife and children- and we all loved him for what he meant to us.

I am so grateful I heard his last message here in Baltimore-which was so wonderfully inspired.

Hoping our Lord will come soon, so we can all be caught up to be together,

-ROBERT L. HASLUP."

"I was greatly shocked to hear of Mr. Ridout's death. Surely I know few whose life so reflected his close walk with God. If those of us who admired him from afar, and in a way which he doubtless little realized, will miss him, I know his loss to those who were his intimates will be irreparable. For me Mr. Ridout has always occupied a place above and apart from most men."

-J. STEPHEN BLOORE.