he not visit for these things? will he not be avenged on such a nation as this?

"Will any reply, with a sneer, that these observations have been often repeated, and that they have now become trite and old? They are so; and though this were the ten thousandth repetition, still, if we have not yet reduced them to practice, it is necessary to hear them again and again. Remember, that it is in vain to boast of our patriotism, and make high pretensions to love for our country, while by our private vices we are adding to the national debt of iniquity under which she groans, and which must soon plunge her into the gulph of irretrievable ruin. Hear, and remember, that if, in defiance of reason, gratitude, and religion, we still madly persist to follow that path, in which we have already made such rapid advances, and to imitate the vices of those nations that have gone before us, as certainly as there is a God in heaven, so certainly shall we share their fate.

“If then you would display true love for your country, and lengthen out the span of her existence, endeavour by precept, but especially by example, to inculcate the principles of order, morality, and religion. Exert your influence to check the progress of luxury, that first, second, and third cause of the ruin of republics; that vampyre, which soothes us into a fatal slumber, while it sucks the life-blood from our veins. Above all, be attentive to the morals of the rising generation, and do not, by neglect and indulgence, nourish the native seeds of vice and faction in their hearts. Let not these counsels be despised, because they are the words of youth and inexperience. When your habitation is in flames, a child may give the alarm, as well as a philosopher."

CHAPTER III.

His religious history during the period embraced in the preceding chapter.

'WHEN did Dr. Payson become religious ?'—and 'what was the character of his religious experience at the time he embraced the hope of the gospel?'are questions which have been frequently proposed, but never satisfactorily answered.

His mother, who doubtless watched and "pondered in her heart" every indication of the state of his feelings on this subject, was not without a partial belief, that he was converted in childhood. His room-mate, since a minister of the gospel, thinks that he experienced religion before entering college, but, owing to his peculiar situation while there, became a backslider.' Another class-mate, one of the literary associates mentioned in the preceding chapter, whose speculative views of religion are supposed to differ from those of his departed friend, but who has the power to discern, and a heart to appreciate worth, wherever found, has thus expressed himself in relation to these questions:- His theological opinions, during his early consideration of subjects of that nature, were essentially Calvinistic; but his views of the operative power of religious faith upon the heart and life, were materially altered, previous to entering upon the great work which occupied the remainder of his days. The important

change took place gradually, not from any sudden or overpowering impressions.'

With such an origin correspond the earlier fruits and operations of his religion, so far as they can be gathered from writings which he has left behind him. His religion was of a comparatively gentle, unobtrusive, amiable, yet progressive character, less marked by the extremes of agonizing and triumphant feelings, than it was at a subsequent period ;— -a difference for which the reader, will, in the sequel, be at no loss to account. From the early part of 1804, religion seems to have been his all-engrossing concern; his attention was then arrested and fixed so as never afterwards to be diverted, for any length of time, from the subject. Whether he were in an unconverted, or backslidden state, he was then roused, as from sleep, to take a solemn view of his relations as an accountable and immortal being. The occasion of this new or revived concern for his soul, was the death of a beloved brother. A letter to his parents, in answer to one which announced the sorrowful tidings, is the earliest production of his pen which has escaped oblivion, and on this account will be read with interest. But it has a higher value, as it enables us to date the commencement of his attention to his spiritual interests as far back as May 20, 1804,1 the time when his letter was dated, and it more than intimates that the subject with him was not then new.

'My dear mother's fears respecting my attention to religious concerns were, alas! but too well founded. Infatuated by the pleasures and amusements which this place affords, and which took the more powerful hold on my senses, from being adorned with a refinement to which I had before been a stranger, I gra

1 It has been stated on credible authority, that Dr. Payson was so much affected by this bereavement, that he confined himself to his chamber for three days; and that, previously to this period, he had purposed to devote himself to the profession of the law. If so, the affliction was no less a mercy to the church, than to himself.

dually grew cold and indifferent to religion; and, though I still made attempts to reform, they were too transient to be effectual.

'From this careless frame, nothing but a shock like that I have received, could have roused me; and though my deceitful heart will, I fear, draw me back again into the snare, as soon as the first impression is worn off, yet I hope, by the assistance of divine grace, that this dispensation will prove of eternal benefit. This is my most earnest prayer, and I know that it will be yours.

'In reflecting on the ends of divine Providence in this event, I am greatly distressed. To you, my dear parents, it could not be necessary. My sister, as you sometime since informed me, has turned her attention to religion; the other children are too young to receive benefit from it. It remains, then, that I am the Achan, who has drawn down this punishment, and occasioned this distress to my friends. My careless, obdurate heart rendered it necessary, to punish and humble it: and, Oh! that the punishment had fallen where it was due. But I can pursue the subject no further.'

Here is the subdued tone of the penitent, come to himself, and returning to his father." Of his progress in piety for the next six months, nothing is known, except what may be inferred from a letter dated Dec. 12th, of the same year. An extract will show that he was not inattentive to what passed in his own heart, nor without experience in the Christian conflict.

'I have nothing but complaints of myself to make; nothing but the same old story of erring and repenting, but never reforming. I fear I am in a sad way. I attend public worship, and think of every subject but the proper one; or if, by strong exertions, I fix my attention, for a few minutes, I feel an irresistible propensity to criticise the preacher, instead of attending to his instructions; and, notwithstanding a full

conviction that this conduct is wrong, I persist in it still. Hence it happens, that the Sabbath, which is so admirably calculated to keep alive a sense of religion, becomes a stumbling-block. The thought of my sinful neglect and inattention, so shames and distresses me, that I am unable to approach the throne of grace, through shame. As this, I know, is the fruit of a self-righteous spirit, I strive against it; and, after two or three days, perhaps, am enabled to trust in Christ for the pardon of that and other sins. But, another Sabbath, the same round is repeated. Thus I go on, sinning and humbling myself, after long seeking for a proper sense of my sin, then confessing it with contrition and remorse; and, the next moment, even while the joy of obtained pardon and gratitude for divine favour is thrilling in my heart, plunging, on the most trivial temptation, into the same error whose bitter consequences I had so lately felt. Shame and remorse for the ungrateful returns I have made for the blessings bestowed, prevent secret prayer, frequently for two or three days together, until I can no longer support it; and though I have so often experienced forgiving love, I am too proud to ask for it.'

A few weeks afterwards, he writes thus :--'I feel convinced by experience, that if I relax my exertions for ever so short a time, it will require additional exertions to repair it, and perhaps occasion a week's gloom and despondency; yet the least temptation leads me to do, what I feel conscious at the time I shall severely smart for. In the impracticable attempt to reconcile God and the world, I spend my time very unhappily, neither enjoying the comforts of this world, nor those of religion. But I have at last determined to renounce the false pleasures for which I pay so dear, and this I should have done long ago, but for the advice and example of some whose judgment I respected.