EXTRACTS FROM THE FUNERAL SERMON. xliii

of temporal gain, could divert him from his purpose. He gave up all for Christ; and a stronger testimony of piety than this cannot be afforded.

Neither to you, who are the fruits of his ministry; nor to you, who have been strengthened by his prayers and labours of love: nor to you, who, uninfluenced by prejudice, can appreciate true piety, need I tell how ardently he was engaged in the cause of his Master, and how successfully he laboured for the good of souls. His eulogy is written on your hearts; and your memory will often peruse it.

-was one

How well our dear departed friend was furnished for the work, the variety in his discourses, replete with matter and seasoned with grace, abundantly testifies. Though possessing a vigorous and rapid intellect, he trusted it not, in the haste with which it was accustomed to seize a subject, until he had examined and re-examined it by the " Law and the Testimony." He took no man for his model. He was wedded to no system of opinions. "I am unwilling"of his last expressions- "to say that any denomination is altogether right." He saw defects in every human creed and his own, he endeavoured to rectify by the Word of life. The Holy Scriptures were his daily study. He had become more familiar with the original languages in which they were written; and he availed himself of those helps in understanding them with which he was richly furnished, in the writings of ancient and modern divines. To study, he considered the duty of a minister, and he pursued it with pleasure. At least eight hours every

day, unless there was some peculiar and extraordinary call, were sacredly devoted to the improvement of his mind. He was anxious to raise the standard of ministerial qualifications. In his diligence, he succeeded for himself in his example, there is a keen reproof to those who are idle in the vineyard of Christ. As an evidence of his superior attainments, his writings procured for him the degree of Doctor in Divinity, from one of the oldest and most respectable colleges of our country, at an earlier age than any individual

on whom that Institution has conferred this distinction. His works that have been published would do no discredit to the most eminent divine; and one now in the press, and another which he had nearly completed, will, doubtless go down to future ages, and prove a rich blessing to the cause of Christ. In all his studies, he had but one object; the glory of his Master, the good of souls. The honours of the world were to him mere secondary considerations. He did not ardently covet, nor affectedly despise them. When given, he used them as he would any other treasure, in subserviency to the best of causes.

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His discourses, though addressed principally to the intellect of man, were nevertheless practical and pointed. Having a thorough knowledge of the human heart, he could trace it in all its self-excusings, and present it to the individual so accurately delineated, that he could not mistake it. He thus held up the mirror to the different characters before him; and each understood him as saying, "Thou art the man." And this, after all, is the preaching which proves successful; whatever angry thoughts or expres

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sions it may excite. These are the weapons which are mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds." As an evidence of his fidelity, let me appeal to the state of this church when your late Pastor accepted your call, and ask you to contemplate the revolution which less than four years has produced. Inquire for your active members, and you will find very many of them his spiritual children. Almost could he have adopted in reference to you, the language of the apostle to the Corinthians ; "For though ye have ten thousand instructors, yet have ye not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." In adducing these seals to his ministry as an evidence of his faithfulness, I would not be understood to say, that fidelity is always accompanied with success. For many who have been faithful, even unto death, have "laboured in vain and spent their strength for nought."

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He was faithful in his preparations for the sacred desk. He considered it a sin to offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing. He sought out acceptable words. He consulted the different capacities of his hearers, that he might afford to each his portion in due season. In order to give "line upon line and precept upon precept," he varied his modes of expression; and by new, yet familiar illustrations, he arrested the attention, and reached the heart. He compared scripture with scripture, with peculiar facility and effect. There are few passages which he had not examined. And even to many of those which have been considered the most difficult, he has given a clear, and not unfrequently, a new solution.

For

intreat.

the afflicted, he had always a word of consolation. To the wealthy, he could say, "Use this world as not abusing it." The poor in spirit, he could point to a heavenly treasure; and the broken in heart, to the balm of Gilead. The aged, he would respectfully The young, he would tenderly admonish. And for transgressors, he would search out some tender, yet faithful reproof. In a word, none were passed by. In his study, as well as in his public administration of the word and ordinances, he laboured for you all. And in his prayers, he even remembered those, on whom doctrine, and reproof, and instruction in righteousness had failed to produce the desired effect.

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I appeal to that flock of which he, under Christ, was the Shepherd, and ask, if he ever treated any of you with the slightest neglect. To an affectionate people, the personal attention of their pastor affords a peculiar enjoyment. In this respect, you have been highly favoured; for his visits have been more frequent than you had reason to expect; and more frequent, I venture to affirm, than those of almost any other minister similarly situated. Not merely once a year, did you all see him at your houses, but once a month, and once a week, and once a day, when there was any peculiar or special call. Nor did he go to feast upon your bounty. His grand object was to lead you to Christ to impress upon your minds those solemn truths which were the subject of his public discourses; to enter into your feelings and views, your hopes and fears, your anxieties and cares; that he might then give a word adapted to your case; that he might

bear you in his prayers before the throne of God; and that, by knowing your wants, he might be the better prepared to discharge the duties of the sanctuary. And you well know how gently he led you, how tenderly he admonished, and how meekly he bore the scoffs of the reproachful. No eye has seen but Heaven's, and no other ear has heard, the anxiety he felt for your spiritual welfare. Even when he could not have access in person to the children of his flock, he has sought to reach them by a direct and affectionate address in the form of an epistle. His thoughts must have been dwelling upon some "often reproved" sinner of his congregation, in connexion with his own dissolution, when he last visited his study; for on a loose sheet of paper there was written, and they appear to be the last words which he ever pencilled :

66 FOR THE PASTOR'S FUNERAL."

"Congeal the breath of prayer for him into the frost of the second death.”

And alas! thought I, as my eye glanced upon these lines, was it his own funeral that he was anticipating ? And is the breath of his prayers congealed into the frost of the second death to multitudes who have sat under his ministry?

He was faithful to his brethren in the ministry. He withheld from them nothing which, he conceived, might render them more useful in the church of Christ. Holding a severe eye over his own failings and infirmities, he was ready to give the most favourable construction of the motives and conduct of others. Ever