Holy aspirations-gratitude to the Saviour-multiplied labours-Family scene-Danger averted— Curious The Pastor in action-Methods of exciting, sustaining, and extending a due interest in religious concerns— The same subject—Bible class—pastoral visits-social parties--special and casual interviews—charm of his His exertions without the bounds of his parish—In- fluence on his ministerial associates-in resuscitating and edifying other churches-Visits the Springs'— effects of his example, conversation, and prayers on other visitors-Excursions in behalf of Charitable His private character-His affections and demeanour, as a husband, father, master, friend—His gratitude, Farther particulars relating to his personal history, A MEMOIR. CHAPTER I. Birth of Edward Payson-His early impressions; intellectual qualities; filial and fraternal conduct; moral character-His literary education; enters Harvard College: his reputation there. 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 favourably 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 acknowledgements 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 to 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 B 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, opportunies 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 might 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, her expostulations, and her prayers, which were followed up with a perseverance that nothing could check. And they were not in vain. From the first developement of his mental 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. Be sides, 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 on this account hesitated to send him to college for months, if not years, after his academical preparation was completed. How far those mental qualities which distinguished him in 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. When about six years of age, he rode one horse, and led another at the same time, for a distance of twenty miles;-no trifling adventure for a child, and no doubtful indication that his well-known energy and perseverance had already dawned. That he was a minute observer of nature, and highly susceptible of emotions from the grand and beautiful in the 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 a fence, or of 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 arithmetic; 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 |