before; and with the greatest freedom and delight. After much self-examination and prayer, I gave up myself and children to God, with my whole heart. Never until now, had I a sense of the privilege we are allowed in covenanting with God! This act of soul left my mind in a quiet and steady trust in God.

"A few days after this, one evening, in talking of the glorious state my dear departed husband must be in, my soul was carried out in such longing desires after this glorious state, that I was forced to retire from the family to conceal my joy. When alone, I was so transported, and my soul carried out in such eager desires after perfection, and the full enjoyment of God, and to serve him uninterruptedly, that I think my nature would not have borne much more. I think, dear sir, I had, that night, a foretaste of heaven. This frame continued in some good degree the whole night. I slept but little, and when I did, my dreams were all of heavenly and divine things. Frequently since, I have felt the

same in kind, though not in degree. Thus a kind and gracious God has been with me in six troubles, and in seven.

"But O, Sir, what cause of deep humiliation and abasement of soul have I, on account of remaining corruption; which I see working continually, especially pride! O how many shapes does pride cloke itself in! Satan is also busy shooting his darts; but, blessed be God, those temptations of his, that used to overthrow me, as yet have not touched me! O, to be delivered from the power of Satan, as well as from sin! I cannot help hoping that the time is near. God is certainly fitting me for himself; and when I think it will be soon that I shall be called hence, the thought is transporting."

APPENDIX III.

A Sketch of the Life and Character of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D.

By:

By Rev. Elijah Parsons? JONATHAN EDWARDS, junior, D. D. President of Union College in Schenectady, was the second son of his parents, and was born at Northampton, May 26, 1745. In his early childhood he appeared a boy of great expectation; but, however promising his capacity, and however ambitious he might be of excelling at that' age, when the mind begins to unfold itself, this period of his life was attended with a number of singularly embarrassing circumstances, the tendency of which was to repress his exertion, and to discourage his mind. He was afflicted with an inflammatory weakness in his eyes, which almost entirely prevented his learning to read, until a much later period than is common. This weakness

resisted many and long continued medical applications. At length, by the shaving of his head, often repeated, and for long continuance, the inflammation in some degree abated; so that he was able to apply, in a moderate degree, to the rudiments of learning, and to revive in his anxious parents the hope, that he would not be entirely lost even to the literary world. It was during his childhood also, that the unhappy: contest at Northampton rose to its height, between his father and the church there, which, terminated in a final separation; whereby the assiduous attention of his affectionate parents was necessarily much diverted from him.

When Mr. Edwards and his family removed from Northampton to Stockbridge, his son was but six years old. In addition to the discouragements already mentioned, new and considerable difficulties attended him while at Stockbridge. There was no school in the settlement, but one which was common to the Indian children and the white people; and there were so few of the latter, either in the school or the town,

that he was in danger of forgetting entirely the English tongue. However, whilst at school here, he learned the language of the Mohekaneew, or Stockbridge Indians, so perfectly, that the natives frequently observed" that he spoke exactly like an Indian." This language he retained, in a good degree, through life; and the American public is in possession of some inte resting remarks upon it, communicated by him to the Connecticut Society of Arts and Sciences, and published at their request.

His father had a strong desire, in subserviency to the openings of providence, and growing signs of gracious qualifications in this beloved child, that he might become a missionary among the Aborigines. A noble wish, worthy of so great a mind, and so benevolent a heart! Accordingly, in October, 1755, when he was but ten years of age, he was sent with the Rev. Gideon Hawley (since of Mashpee, on Cape Cod) to Oughquauga, on the Susquehannah river, in order to learn the language of the Oneida Indians. Oughquauga was in a wilderness, at the distance of about one hundred miles