flock. Besides working out his own salvation, the care of others' souls bears upon him with a pressure which none can conceive who has not felt its weight. And when he has toiled long and hard, with little or no visible success, and is tempted to exclaim, It is a vain thing to serve the Lord!" or, when exhausted by continued labor, and racked by bodily infirmities, he is in danger of regarding himself as exempted from the obligation to make any further exertions; it may preserve him from sinking, and stimulate him to new action, to know that his fellow-laborers in the kingdom and patience of Jesus have then been most singularly blessed, when they thought themselves forsaken; have out of weakness been made strong, and, under the endurance of great physical debility, and the most exquisite mental anguish, gained the most splendid trophies under the Captain of Salvation. Can the "cloud of witnesses" of this description be too much increased for the consid

eration' of those, who are 'wearied and faint in their minds ?' Can any, to whom God affords the opportunity, be excusable in neglecting to erect an additional monument in the temple of Christianity," and to conduct thither the desponding, though uniformly faithful minister, where he may behold "the names, and the statues, and the recorded deeds, of the heroes of the church, and the spoils they have won in the battles of the Lord ?"

It is with such views alone, that the present work is attempted. The hope, that good results will be realized, is not the less confident, because the materials to which access has been had, are of the least imposing pretensions. It promises little of incident or adventure,-qualities which, with many, constitute the principal attractions of a book. It is the history of a single mind, rather than of a community; of a pastor-whose sphere of labor was chiefly limited to his parochial chargenot a missionary, whose "field is the world," and who has traversed seas and continents, and associated his own history with that of different climates and governments, and opinions. The Christian hero will not here be presented in direct collision with the principalities and powers of this world, whether Pagan or Papal; but in an attitude not less generally instructive-that of one "whose warfare is within," and who successfully applied the results of his agonizing and joyful experience in training,

But he will shine, with the brightness of one who has turned many to righteousness, in that world where the judgment of character, and the estimate of services, are according to truth, and not affected by what is dazzling in the stations or circumstances in which men have acted.

EDWARD PAYSON was born at Rindge, New Hampshire, July 25th, 1783. His father was the Rev. Seth Payson, D. D., pastor of the church in Rindge, a man of piety and public spirit, distinguished as a clergyman, and favorably known as an author. His mother, Grata Payson, was a distant relative of her husband, their lineage, after being traced back a few generations, meeting in the same stock.To the Christian fidelity of these parents there is the fullest testimony in the subsequent and repeated acknowledgments of their son, who habitually attributed his religious hopes, as well as his usefulness in life, under God, to their instructions, example, and prayers-especially those of his mother. She appears to have admitted him to the most intimate, unreserved, and confiding intercourse, which was yet so wisely conducted, as to strengthen rather than diminish his filial reverence; to have cherished a remarkable inquisitiveness of mind, which early discovered itself in him; and to have patiently heard and replied to the almost endless inquiries, which his early thirst for knowledge led him to propose. His father was not less really and sincerely interested for the welfare of his son; but, from the nature of the relation, and the calls of official duty, his opportunities must have been less frequent, and his instructions have partaken of a more set and formal character. With the mother, however, opportunities were always occurring, and she seems to have been blessed with the faculty and disposition to turn them to the best advantage. Edward's recollections of her extended back to very early childhood; and he has been heard to say, that though she was very solicitous that he might be liberally educated, and receive every accomplishment, which would increase his respectability and influence in the world, yet he could distinctly see, that the supreme, the all-absorbing concern of her soul respecting him, was, that he might become a child of God. This manifested itself in her discipline, her counsels, expostulations, and prayers, which were followed up with a perseverance that 1 *

nothing could check. And they were not in vain. From the first developement of his moral powers, his mind was more or less affected by his condition and prospects as a sinner. It is among the accredited traditions of his family, that he was often known to weep under the preaching of the gospel, when only three years old. About this period, too, he would frequently call his mother to his bed-side to converse on religion, and to answer numerous questions respecting his relations to God and the future world. How long this seriousness continued, or to what interruptions it was subjected, does not clearly appear; nor is much known as to the peculiar character of his exercises at that time. But that they were not mere transient impressions, seems highly probable from the fact, that, in subsequent years, his mother was inclined to the belief, that he was converted in childhood. There was some other cause than maternal partiality for this opinion, as she did not cherish it alone. Besides, his intimate friends have reason for believing, that he never neglected secret prayer while a resident in his father's family. The evidences of his piety, however, were, at this period, far from being conclusive; he, at least, does not appear to have regarded them as such; neither were they so regarded by his father, who had earnestly desired to see him a decided follower of the Redeemer, before encountering the dangers to religious principle and pure morals, which are sometimes found within the walls of a college.

How far those mental qualities, which distinguished Dr. Payson's maturity, were apparent in his early days, cannot now be known; for, though he died comparatively young, his parents had gone before him, and their surviving children were all younger than this son. Strictly speaking, therefore, no companion of his childhood survives. The very few incidents belonging to this period of his history, which have escaped oblivion, though not adequate to satisfy curiosity, are, on the whole, characteristic, and afford undoubted indications, that his well-known decision, enterprise, and perseverance, had dawned even in childhood.

That he was a minute observer of nature, and highly susceptible of emotions from the grand and beautiful in the handy works of God, must be obvious to all who have listened to his conversation or his preaching. His taste for the sublime very early discovered itself. During a tempest, he might be seen exposed on the top of the fence, or some other eminence, while the lightnings played and the thunders rolled

around him, sitting in delightful composure, and enjoying the sublimity of the scene.

He is said to have manifested an early predilection for arithiretic; and was a tolerable proficient in the art of reading at the age of four years—an art, which no man ever employed to better advantage. The surprising quickness, with which he would transfer to his own mind the contents of a book, at a time when a new book was a greater rarity than it now is, threatened to exhaust his sources of information through this medium. All the books in his father's collection, and the "Parish Library," which were of a character suited to his age and attainments, were read before he left the paternal home, and retained with such tenacity of memory, as to be ever after available for illustrating truths, or enlivening and embellishing discourse.

It is natural to inquire, whether there was any thing in the circumstances of his early youth, which will account for his mental habits, and especially the rapidity of his intellectual operations. A partial answer may be found in the fact, that his time was divided between labor and study. His father, like most ministers of country parishes, derived the means of supporting his family, in part, from a farm, which his sons assisted in cultivating. From his share in these agricultural labors the subject of this Memoir was not exempted, particularly in the "busy seasons" of the year. But, whatever were his employment, though he appears to have engaged in it with cheerfulness, and to have prosecuted it with fidelity, his thirst for knowledge was the ruling passion of his soul. This he sought to quench, or rather to cherish, by resorting to his book at every interval from toil, however short, when he tasked his mind to the utmost of its power, intent on making the greatest possible acquisition in a given time. His mind, though strung up to the highest pitch of exertion at these seasons,

*Beattie's MINSTREL, it seems, is not a mere creature of the imagination! And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb, When all in mist the world below was lost.

What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime,

Like shipwrecked mariner on desert coast,

And view th enormous waste of vapor, tost
In billows, lengthening to th' horizon round,

Now scooped in gulfs, with mountains now emboss'd!
And hear the voice of mirth and song rebound,
Flocks, herds, and waterfalls, along the hoar profound!

In truth, he was a strange and wayward wight,
Fond of each gentle, and each dreadful scene.
In darkness and in storm he found delight.

suffered no injury thereby, as it was so soon diverted from its employment by a call to the field; and every repetition of the process extended its capability and power. The acquisitions, in this way obtained, furnished materials on which to employ his thoughts while engaged in manual labor, which he would not fail to digest and lay up in store for future use, a voluntary discipline of most auspicious influence, as it respects the facility of acquiring knowledge, and the power of retaining it.

His early literary, as well as moral and religious education, is believed to have been conducted principally by his parents, except the studies preparatory to college, which were pursued, in part at least, at the Academy in New Ipswich.His preparatory course was completed before the long and fondly-cherished desires of his father respecting his personal piety were realized. Still the good man could hardly cherish the thought of conferring on his son the advantages of a public education, without an assurance, grounded on evidences of experimental religion, that he would employ his attainments for the best good of his fellow men, and the glory of his Maker. With reference to this essential requisite, he used much earnest expostulation, and even went so far as to say to him, " To give you a liberal education, while destitute of religion, would be like putting a sword into the hands of a mad

man."

Whether the father was led to adopt such strong language, from having observed in his son the existence of those properties, which, in their future developement, were to give him such power over his species, or whether it proceeded merely from anxiety to transfer his own feelings and convictions to the mind of his son,—there does not appear to have been, in either the disposition or conduct of the latter, any particular cause for unusual apprehensions respecting him. His filial affection and conduct had been, and ever continued to be, most exemplary, as manifested by his letters when absent, and by his reverence for his parents and cheerful obedience when at home. His fraternal feelings were kind, and his conduct towards his brothers and sisters faithful and affectionate. By them he was greatly beloved, and his vacations, when he should visit home, and mingle again in the domestic circle, were anticipated with delightful interest, as the halcyon days of their lives. His moral character comes down to us, even from the first, without a blemish; and, by consent of all, he sustained the reputation of a magnanimous, honorable, generous youth.