nances, and communion of God? Can I tafte the powers of the world to come? Can I feel the threatenings of God impreffed upon my confcience, or promises of paradife working upon my hopes? Can I groan under the burden of my corruptions, or exult in the liberty of fpirit, I may fometimes have, in a calm and retired hour, in the meditation of my pardon, and the contemplation of heaven and immortality? I fay, Can I have all these things in me, and do I feel them upon my foul, and yet this doctrine of feeling the Spirit be burlesqued and ridiculed, in an age of infidelity, and of men who love to speak evil of the things which they know not? Indeed a finful and adulterous generation may feek after a fign. But what fign can we give them of things that must be known by being felt? Or what ideas can I convey of light to the blind, and of harmony to the deaf?--Let God touch their hearts as he has done ours, and they shall feel what we feel; and what I would not but feel, for millions of worlds. But till then it is impoffible in nature to reprefens it, in a full adequate light to them; and they may as well ask for mathematical demonftrations in a point of pure morality.This is a doctrine I have been aquainted with thefe many years; it is not new or forprifing to me; you have heard me preach it fcores of times, though perhaps, clothed in other expreffions, and the influences of the Spirit, the impreffions of grace. And however derided by fome, who fet up and carefs a fyftem of rational religion, I hope to have always enthusiasm enough to maintain that the Spirit of God may be felt.To conclude this head, all the doctrines now mentioned, are primitive, proteftant, puritanic ones; which our good? fathers, conformifts and diffenters, have filled their writings with and as Dr. Watts has well obferved,

They fill heaven apace, for God was with them." Yet all that vaft reverence, with which I heard thefe doctrines from the mouth of our famous

preacher, could not win my applaufe or approbation of fome few harfher epithets and expreffions (you know what I mean) which dropt from his lips. Thefe in my opinion, may be pronounced failings; but fuch as often attend a warm zeal for orthodoxy, in the points of the laft importance; arife from a principle of confcience, and are found interwoven with the brightest characters: and he that has none, let him caft the firft ftone.

II. I fhall next give you my opinion of the manner of his preaching.

And here I need not fay, nor can my pen defcribe his action and gefture, in all their strength and decencies. He is certainly a finished preacher, and a great master of pulpit-oratory and elocution, while a noble negligence ran thro' his ftyle. Yet his difcourfes were very extraordinary when we confider how little they were premeditated, and how many of them he gave us, the little time he was with us-Many, I truft, have felt, and will long feel the impreffions of his zeal and fire, the paffion and flame of his expreffions: which were fuch, that I cannot think my public character of him, in the leaft exceeds the bounds of truth and strict verity; only making that allowance for figures of fpeech, which is always expected, upon extraordinary occafions, and in the portraiture of great characters.

He appeared to me, in all his difcourfes, very deeply affected and impreffed in his own heart. How did that burn and boil within him, when he fpake of the things he had made, touching the King? how was his tongue like the pen of a ready writer? touching as with a coal from the altar! With what a flow of words, what a ready profufion of language, did he fpeak to us upon the great concerns of our fouls? In what a flaming light did he fet our eternity before us? how earneftly did he prefs Chrift upon us? How did he move our paffions with the conftraining love of fuch

South Carolina Gazette, No. 107.

a Redeemer? The awe, the filence, the attention, which fat upon the face of fo great an audience, was an argument, how he could reign over all their powers. Many thought, He Spake as never man fpoke before him. So charmed were people with his manner of address, that they fhut up their fhops, forgot their fecular business, and laid afide their fchemes for the world; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge he feemed to put upon their defires of hearing him again! How awfully, with what thunder and found did he discharge the artillery of Heaven upon us? And yet, how could he soften and melt even a foldier of Ulyffes, with the love and mercy of God! How clofe, ftrong, and pungent were his applications to the confcience; mingling light and heat, pointing the arrows of the Almighty at the hearts of finners, while he poured in the balm upon the wounds of the contrite, and made broken bones rejoice? Eternal themes, the tremendous folemnities of our religion, were all alive upon his tongue! So methinks (if you will forgive the figure) faint Paul would look and speak in a pulpit, and in fome such manner, I have been tempted to conceive of a feraph, were he fent down to preach among us, and to tell us what things he had feen and heard above! How bold and courageous did he look? He was no flatterer, would not fuffer men to fettle upon their lees; did not prophecy fmooth things nor fow pillows. He taught the way of God in The potruth, and regarded not the perfon of men. liteit, the most modifh of our vices he struck at, the most fashionable entertainments; regardless of every one's prefence, but his in whofe name he spake, with this authority-He delivered his own foul, very fharply rebuked our balls and midnight assemblies, that bane of all that is ferious and religious: and I dare warrant, if none would go to these diverfions, till they have answered the folemn questions he put to their confciences, our theatre would foon fink and perish.

You may be fure I was not difpleafed with this part of his conduct, when I have fo often myself mentioned these things, as of pernicious tendency to our morals, religion, and profperity. And who can blame a minifter's freedom and zeal; what hard measures, what cruel treatment would it be to cenfure our plainnefs of speech; when our very commission requires us to lift up our voice like a trumpet, to cry aloud, and not fpare, to fhew people their tranfgreffions; and when the blood of your fouls, the most insupportable thing in the world, muft be required at our hands, if we be afraid to warn! I am fure, would people confider this, and that we cannot poffibly propofe any temporal advantage to ourselves, by striking at the right eye, they would applaud, and not cenfure, our warmth and freedom. 1 must tell you, over and over again, such things are dangerous to your fouls; this cannot confift with your Christian profeffion and baptifm; they tend to devour the feeds and weaken all the young fprings of virtue, and to eraze the most pious impreffions.

But if the voice of minifters cannot be heard, at leaft let the circumftances of our country, and the louder roarings of providence, awe and reftrain us; for fure I am it is now a time to mourn, and not to dance: and the fcripture feverely threatens a people, that difregarded the operations of God's hands.

III. I now proceed to fhew my opinion of our preacher, in his personal character and behaviour.

Here I may take courage, and challenge his wort enemies to lay any thing to the charge of his morals, or to arraign his fincerity, so visible in his whole de

While he preaches up faith alone, in our juftifica. tion before God, yet he is careful to maintain good works, and denying ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, to live foberly, righteously, and godly. Thefe thing the of God teacheth us; and how much of thi

grace

doctrine has he transcribed into his life? How rich has he been in all good works? What an eminent pattern of piety towards God? How holy and unblameable in all converfation and godliness? How feasoned, how much to the use of edifying, all his discourles? How naturally does he turn them to religion? How much is he given to meditation himself, and how does he labour to excite it in others?

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It is indifputable with me that he affects no party religion, nor fets himself at the head of any: had this been his aim, no man living has had fairer occafions offered; but he abhors the fpirit, he endeavours to fupprefs it. He is always careful to time his Sabbath difcourfes, fo as not to interfere with the ftated hours of worship, in that church, of which he is a profeffed member and minifter, and in the opinion of many people a very bright ornament; because, as he told us, he would not tempt away hearers from their per and refpective paftors. And is not this a noble and generous, a catholic and Chriftian fpirit! He is not bigotted to the modelities and leffer rites and forms of religion, while zealous enough and very warm and jealous in all its effentials, especially in the divine honours and Godhead of his Saviour. He profeffes love to good men of every denomination, and told us, that the kingdom of heaven confifted not of meats and drinks. He appears to me a man full of the Holy Gholt and of faith. Though his prayers, in this pulpit, were all extempore, yet how copious, how ardent, with what compafs of thought? The fpirit of grace and fupplication feerned to be poured out upon him in plenty, and to kindle and animate his devotions. He prays in public, with that spirit, variety, and fluency, which could only be expected from a man, who was no ftranger to the facred duty in private-He lives much by faith, and above the world: defpifes preferments and riches; of which laft, I am, told, he has had great offers in Europe-His heart