Of Mr. Kelly's last days on earth we speak reverently. Calling in his neighbors he told them he had not long to stay—that he was going home to God. He assured them his mind was as clear as at any time in life and expressed the great comfort and satisfaction he derived from the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ that he had tried to preach for many years. Then they knelt together in love and commemorated the Last Supper, joining in one of his favorite hymns — "I will sing you a song of that beautiful land;" after which he took each by the hand in an affectionate farewell, they "sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more." Shortly after he took his departure, to be "forever with the Lord."
From a contemporary writer we quote: "That man of God, Clinton Kelly, left the following testimony, given in his last hours, in favor of the religion of Jesus. It was with the greatest difficulty that he could converse with the friends "who called to see him, and in lieu thereof he requested that a copy of these, his dying words, should be addressed to each. Friend, imagine yourself standing upon the brink of death, the boundless unknown spreading away from your feet: have you the grace that enabled Father Kelly to utter these noble words? 'After a protracted affliction, very feeble in body and very near the end of my earthly pilgrimage, I feel a desire to inform my numerous friends, in and out of the church, of my prospects for another world. During my affliction I have had many manifestations of the great love of Jesus, which has given me patience and resignation and a good hope through grace; and I suppose that if hundreds, nay, even thousands of men and women were present to witness my unshaken confidence in God, who can have no such opportunity, it would be a saving lesson to them. I want to say to one and all that there is no name given under heaven whereby we can be saved only the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For fifty years it has been my special care to make myself acquainted with the religious theories of the world, and the best you can do for your soul's sake is to cast the whole of them to the moles and bats and trust alone in Jesus Christ for salvation from sin here, victory in death, and eternal salvation above. This you would all admit if your souls were in my soul's stead, standing ready to depart. I want you to understand that this is not the result of a fevered brain or hallucination of any kind. I have not had an hour's fever in the whole course of my disease. My mind has been all the while as clear and rational as through common life. Now if this little circular should bring any of you to God, I am content.
RICHMOND KELLY, M. D.
Dr. Richmond Kelly, practicing medicine in Portland, is one of the pioneer settlers of the city, his birth occurring in Multnomah county, September 15, 1855. He is a son of the Rev. Clinton Kelly, who is mentioned above. His education was acquired in the public schools of Portland and in Willamette University at Salem, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1878. He then took up the study of medicine, entering Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1884.
He spent two years, from 1883 until 1885, as interne in the City Hospital of Cincinnati, and in the fall of the latter year returned to Portland, where he has since engaged in the general practice of medicine. At college, however, he gave special attention to obstetrics and upon entering practice here became connected with the medical department of Willamette University as professor of obstetrics, which chair he held until the removal of that institution to Salem in 1896. He was a member of the staff of the Portland Hospital during its existence and he belongs to the city, state, county and national medical societies, the Portland Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Medicine.
