does Dr. Gibson, that the watching, night after
night, let the weather be as it may, is too much for me. But I leave
myself in the hands of God, knowing that he will never leave me nor
forsake me.'

Dr. Gibson, his medical attendant, wrote the writer thus:--

Hull, _26th Sept., 1867_.

Dear Sir,--I received your letter this morning, respecting John
Ellerthorpe, a man well known for many years past, and greatly
esteemed by the people of Hull, on account of his great daring, and
humane and gallant conduct in saving such a large number of human
lives from drowning.

As his medical attendant, I regret to say, that his frequent
plunges into the water, at all seasons of the year, and long
exposure in wet clothes, have seriously injured his health and
constitution.

After the 'Hero's' death the same gentleman wrote:--'Mr. Ellerthorpe had
generously attempted to save the lives of others at the expense of
abridging his own life.'

Mr. Ellerthorpe knew the great source of religious strength and
salvation, and trusting entirely in the merits of Jesus Christ, he found
a satisfying sense of God's saving presence and power to the very last.
He would often say, 'my feet are on the Rock of Ages. I cannot sink
under such a prop, as bears the world and all things up.' His
affliction, water on the chest, and an enlargement of the heart brought
on by his frequent plunges into the water, and exposure to wet and cold,
was protracted and very severe. He found great difficulty in breathing
and had comparatively little rest, day or night, for five months. Dr.
Gibson said to him on one occasion, 'Mr. Ellerthorpe, you cannot live
long unless I could take out your present heart and give you a new one.'
'Ah,' said he, with the utmost composure, 'that you cannot do.' Often
after a night of restlessness and suffering he would say to his dear
wife:--'Well, I have lived another night,' to which she would reply, 'O
yes, and I hope you will live many more yet.' 'No,' he would say, 'I
shall not live many more; I feel I am going, but it is all right.'

[Sidenote: HIS TRIUMPHANT DEATH.]

During his last illness he had, as was to be expected, many visitors,
but he loved those best who talked most about Jesus. He seemed pained
and disappointed when the conversation was about the things of earth,
but he was delighted and carried away when it was about the things of
h