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of the beauty of holiness, the evil of sin, and the emptiness of all sublunary good; or, where shall we not find ourselves in a temple, resounding with awful voices, and filled with holy inspirations?

I feel a pleasing conviction, that, in consequence of deriving from your ministry that spiritual aid it is so adapted to impart, both your piety and usefulness will continue to increase, and by being intimately incorporated, aid and strengthen each other; so that your profiting shall appear unto all men, and while you are watering others, you yourself shall be abundantly watered of God. Thus will you be enabled to adopt the language of the beloved apostle, That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, declare we unto you. Thus will you possess that unction from which your hearers cannot fail, under the divine blessing, to reap the highest benefit; for while we are exploring the mines of revelation, for the purpose of exhibiting to mankind the unsearchable riches of Christ; we are not in the situation of those unhappy men, who merely toil for the advantage of others, and dare not appropriate to themselves an atom of that precious ore, on which their labour is employed: we are permitted and invited, first to enrich ourselves, and the more we appropriate, the more shall we impart. It is my earnest prayer, my dear brother, that you may feed the church of the Lord which he has purchased with his own blood; that you may

make full proof of your ministry; be instant in season and out of season; teach, exhort, and rebuke, with all long-suffering, and authority. Then, should you be spared to your flock, you will witness the fruit of your labours in a spiritual plantation, growing under your hand, adorned with trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified; and while, neglecting worldly considerations, you are intent on the high ends of your calling, inferior satisfactions will not be wanting, but you will meet, among the seals of your ministry, with fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers. Or should your career be prematurely cut short, you will have lived long enough to answer the purposes of your being, and to leave a record in the consciences of your hearers, which will not suffer you soon to be forgotten. Though dead, you will still speak; you will speak from the tomb; it may be, in accents more powerful and persuasive, than your living voice could command.*

* Of this we have a striking instance in the premature death of the late Mr. Spencer, of Liverpool. The sensation excited by the sudden removal of that extraordinary young man, accompanied with such affecting circumstances, has not subsided, nor abated, as we are informed, much of its force. The event, which has drawn so great a degree of attention, has been well improved in several excellent discourses on the occasion. The unequalled admiration he excited while living, and the deep and universal concern expressed at his death, demonstrate him to have been no ordinary character; but one of those rare specimens of human nature, which the great Author of it produces at distant intervals, and exhibits for a moment, while he is hastening to make them up amongst his jewels. The high hopes VOL. I.

T

entertained of this admirable youth, and the shock, approaching to consternation, occasioned by his death, will, probably, remind the classical reader of the inimitable lines of Virgil on Marcellus.

O nate, ingentem luctum ne quære tuorum:
Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra

Esse sinent.

The writer of this deeply regrets his never having had an opportunity of witnessing his extraordinary powers; but from all he has heard from the best judges, he can entertain no doubt, that his talents in the pulpit were unrivalled, and that, had his life been spared, he would, in all probability, have carried the art of preaching, if it may be so styled, to a greater perfection than it ever attained, at least, in this kingdom. His eloquence appears to have been of the purest stamp, effective, not ostentatious, consisting less in the striking preponderance of any one quality, requisite to form a public speaker, than in an exquisite combination of them all; whence resulted an extraordinary power of impression, which was greatly aided by a natural and majestic elocution. To these eminent endowments, he added, from the unanimous testimony of those who knew him best, a humility and modesty, which, while they concealed a great part of his excellencies from himself, rendered them the more engaging and attractive. When we reflect on these circumstances, we need the less wonder at the passionate concern excited by his death. For it may truly be said of him, as of St. Stephen, that devout men made great lamentation over him. May the impressions produced by the event never be effaced; and, above all, may it have the effect of engaging such as are embarked in the Christian ministry to work while it is called to-day.

AN ADDRESS

TO

THE REV. EUSTACE CAREY,

JANUARY 19, 1814,

ON HIS DESIGNATION AS A CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY TO INDIA.

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