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ety. He was the better qualified for the duties of a higher scene. He was the better prepared forheaven. "He pleased God, and was beloved of Him, so that, living among sinners, he was translated. Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. For his soul pleased the Lord, therefore hasted he to take him a way.'

"Of this nature are the consolations which the blessed gospel, revealing to us a Saviour, who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, enables us to possess ourselves, and to offer to afflicted parents, under the loss of a pious child.

"Of this nature are the consolations we can offer to those parents, who, during the past week, have been deprived of a child, whose talents, whose learning, uncommon for his years, whose amiable character and ardent piety, had excited the fondest and most sanguine hope and expectation.

"It is not my practice, as you know, on ordinary occasions to eulogize the dead. Often would my heart prompt me to dwell, in this place, on the character of departed worth, to hold up its most striking features to your view, and to urge your imitation. But I am forbidden. It would be imprudent; it might often be unjust to discriminate. When, however, a young man is removed, who was not only a member of my church, but a fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, I feel myself more at liberty to indulge my feelings, and to bear

my public testimony to his excellence.

"The young man, whom I now commemorate, I rejoice to say it, was one of ourselves. Here he was presented at the baptismal font, here he made his own profession, and here, on the day of his introduction to the sacred desk, he appeared as a public advocate for christianity, and exhibited, in a most striking and impressive manner, its reasonableness and its value.

"When he was about to enter on the study of theology, I had a long conversation with him, on the nature of the profession, on its labors and cares, its encouragements and hopes. He opened his heart to me; he exhibited the motives which prompted his decision. They were of the purest and most exalted kind. His subsequent conduct, his intense application to his studies, his diligent cultivation of christian graces, and the exhibition he gave of his improvement, con. firmed my belief of his sincerity. You have heard him preach, and you cannot forget the simplicity of his manner, the chasteness and elegance of his style, the soundness and clearness of his reasoning, and the fervency of his devotion. But you knew not half his worth. To his near friends it belongs to dwell on the remembrance of his virtues, and to them, too, it belongs to peruse with delight and admiration the memorials of talents and piety, he has left behind him.

"His character, I hope I shall be pardoned for saying it, was not fully developed, even to his nearest relations, till his death.

Among his papers were found some which contained the plan of his future life, drawn up when he was only seventeen, and containing sentiments and feelings, which do the highest honor to his head and heart.

"In the period of sickness, he was calm and resigned. Though he undoubtedly must have often suffered, yet so fearful was he of disturbing his friends, that he suppressed the rising emotion, and uttered scarce a groan or a sigh.

The earthly hopes of his friends with respect to him are

destroyed; but they are supported by higher and better hopes. They expect to meet him again, and, we trust, that whilst they cherish his memory, they will imitate his virtues.

"As the hope of man is so often destroyed, as the objects of this world are fading, its blessings uucertain, its pleasures transitory, let us fix our hopes on heaven, and seek, through the merits and mediation of Jesus, to obtain an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

SERIOUS PREACHING.

PREACHING is one of the most effectual methods of promoting religion. To the greater part of the world, truth is never so impressive as when it comes to them from the lips of a fellowbeing. To many persons, books are wearisome; but to all, the human voice is a powerful excitement. Religion, when she speaks with earnestness and seriousness through her ministers, finds her way to the attention of those, whom no other mode of instruction would awaken. This consideration gives inexpressible importance to the office of ministers, and should lead them anxiously to inquire in what way its objects may most effectually

be secured.

It is agreed on all hands, that preaching, to be useful, must be serious, i. e. the preacher must be in earnest, must feel deeply the importance of the message he bears, must speak from the heart, and must propose to reach

On a

the hearts of his hearers. subject so interesting, a few remarks may not be unacceptable. Serious preaching has its foundation in seriousness of character.

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It is not an art to be learned by rules. The best school for it is the school of meditation, of devotion, and of habitual obedience to the divine commands. The man, who would communicate seriousness to his preaching, must begin with his character. He must endeavour to acquire continually more clear and affecting views of religion, must open his heart to its influence, must learn by experience its power and happiness, must cherish within himself the impressions which he wishes to communicate.

One great cause of that deficiency of seriousness, which is sometimes observed in ministers, is, that their studies and medita tions are not sufficiently employed on the practical truths of religion.

They are laborious inquirers, but their labors are very much confined to the difficult, disputed, and I had almost said the barren parts of theology. They are anxious to acquire precise views, on subjects which have embarrassed the most profound; or to give consistency to a theory, the jarring materials of which no ingenuity can reconcile. The most important truths of religion, those which awaken the heart, which are the very springs of a holy life, because so common and plain, are comparatively overlooked. Religion is considered a subject for study and speculation, not a system of motives and rules to be felt and obeyed. Hence the heart is cold, whilst the understanding boasts of its light. Perhaps the preacher is warm enough in enforcing his peculiarities, but is languid in unfolding and urging those principles of holy living, on which the salvation of the soul depends.

I would by no means repress in ministers the spirit of inquiry. To them it particularly belongs to search the scriptures, to rescue from oblivion neglected truths, to clear away the rubbish of human additions and misinterpretations, to expose the errors which so much disfigure the gospel, and to show that christianity is a reasonable service. But ministers should not forget that the plainest truths are after all the most important. The moral attributes of God; his claims to the affection and reverence of his creatures; the various duties of life; the various affections aud dispositions which

form the christian temper; the example, and offices, and benefits of Jesus Christ; the motives he has offered to piety and virtue; and especially the animating views of life and immortality which he has given; these and similar topies, which have a direet bearing and a powerful influence on character, deserve the first and principal attention of the religious teacher. These he should bring home to his own heart, and his study should be to present them most powerfully to

the hearts of others.

The minister must not forget, that his business is, not to amuse men with subtleties of speculation, much less to make them fiery and angry advocates of doubt. ful dogmas, but to save their souls, to guide them to eternal happiness; and he must never forget, that he can contribute to this end in no other way, than by operating on their characters, tempers, and lives, by making them devout, benevolent, and pure, the true followers of Jesus Christ, the obedient children of God. Every thing depends, he must remember, on the character which his hearers form. His great object therefore should be to acquire just, clear, and enlarged conceptions of the character which Jesus Christ requires, of all the means and motives by which it is formed, of all the dangers to which it is exposed, and of the various methods, by which it may be rendered most attractive and interesting to men. Some may think that this part of christian truth is easily and universally acquired. They mistake. There

is not a virtue, which, if traced
back to its origin and causes, and
followed through all its motives,
connexions, and effects, does not
spread out into a wide field of
thought. By how many is this
field unexplored! Have you
never found ministers, who are
animated enough, when treat
ing of dark and doubtful doc-mitting to this toil.
trines; but who become dry, dull,
and insipid, the moment they
touch on those fruitful and de-
lightful subjects, the spirit and
virtues of christianity? You
would suppose from their preach-
ing, that the science of chris-
tian morals was a barren region,
on which not a flower expands,
through which not a stream
flows; and yet Paradise was not
more blooming, or watered by
fresher and more copious springs.
The serious preacher, in choos-
ing his subjects, will select such
as are suited to make on his
hearers deep practical impres-
sions. To make men better will
be the end deliberately proposed
in every discourse; and he will
pray to God for light and aid in
the accomplishment of this most
important work. Having with
such views chosen his subject, the
preacher should awaken his in-
tellect, and concentrate his atten-
tion, that he may conceive of it
with clearness and force. He
should endeavour to spread it
out in his mind, to view it in a
great variety of lights and con-
nexions, that he may furnish a
variety of useful and interesting
thoughts. Dull, languid, trite,
and frigid resections, such as
pall upon the ear from endless
repetition, should not content
him. His mind should toil.

Some new views, some new ar-
rangements of thought should, if
possible, be formed. The hear
er should be assailed, if possible,
from some new points. This I
know is severe labor, perhaps
the severest a man can bear.
But a serious preacher will
prove himself in earnest by sub-
He will not

show his seriousness by vociferation in the pulpit. He will not depend on the strength of his lungs, or the violence of his gestures to keep a congregation from sleeping. This is a very cheap way of gaining the reputation of a serious preacher. His seriousness will exert itself in his study, where no eye but God sees him. It will there excite him to pray, and to unite with prayer the most intense labor which his intellect will endure, that he may acquire the most striking and valuable thoughts which his subjeet will admit.

The serious preacher, having thus acquired thoughts, will next labor to express them with the greatest effect; and here he will call in the aid of imagination. He will endeavour to borrow from nature, and every scene around him, similitudes and allusions, which will throw light, and beauty, and animation on his discourse. I know that some consider seriousness in the pulpit as inconsistent with ornament. If they mean that it is inconsistent with a light and frothy style, with an accumulation of pretty comparisons and high sounding words, designed for self-display, they are right. The flowery preacher, who aims to play the orator, is unworthy

the sacred place he fills. But do not therefore suppose, that a

man to be serious must renounce imagination, and clothe religion in the homeliest garb. Chaste ornament, designed to enliven and recommend instruction, is not misplaced on the holiest theme. It is the proper attire of piety and virtue. The nature of man is ever to be consulted by preachers. He is not pure intellect. He has fancy, and delights in its exercise. Naked truth may suit the philosopher; but the multitude of men wish to have it arrayed in happy similitudes. They cannot seize it, when it presents itself in the abstract propositions of the metaphysician. It must be embodied, brought down to their senses, by illustrations and resemblances from visible objects. Let none say, that this propensity of our nature is not to be gratified. Who ever gratified it more than Jesus Christ? I know not in any age or nation a teacher, who so tenderly adapted himself to the frame of the human mind, and who has adorned his instructions with such variety and felicity of figurative language, as Jesus. I do not refer merely to his exquisite parables. Take any of his discourses; take his sermon on the mount. You can hardly find a truth, to which he has not communicated life and impressiveness by the aid of metaphor. Among the qualifieations of our heavenly Teacher, I should certainly reckon the richness and exuberance of his imagination. It ought not indeed to be expected of every

preacher, that he will possess a high degree of this quality. But he ought to cultivate, and to turn to account, whatever powers he possesses. The art of communicating his thoughts with felicity and vividness is an invaluable qualification for a public instructer. These remarks are important, especially in the present discussion, because some think, that to preach seriously is to preach without ornament. Preaching, we are told, cannot be too plain. If by plainness is meant perspicuity, the maxim cannot be urged too often on ministers. But it means something more. Perhaps we shall not be uncharitable in supposing, that in some cases this love of plainness is the refuge of sloth. No little labor is required to collect striking illustrations, and to place subjects in interesting lights; whilst nothing is easier than to repeat continually common ideas in worn out language. The serious preacher will desire no such plainness as this. Feeling that the eternal interests of men are in a measure dependent on his instructions, and that all instruction is unavailing, unless attention be attracted and secured, he will spare no effort to give to the truth an attractive form. Having collected the best thoughts, he will conscientiously convey them in the best manner which his powers and improvements will admit.

Much remains to be said, to complete the delineation of serious preaching, but it must be deferred to a future number of the work.

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