strongest lustre, we are persuaded, will be this luminary. To us, alas, it is extinguished! What a gloom does that extinction throw over a bereaved family, over the university, over this church and the churches in general, and over our commonwealth, and country! With the afflicted Widow we tenderly sympathize; and devoutly commend her to that Being, who hath, with condescension as consoling as it is wonderful, styled himself a Judge of the widows in his holy habitation. The bereaved Children we commend to Him, in whom the fatherless find mercy; to Him, who hath said, I will not leave you orphans ;* I will come unto you. Ye have been taught by the counsel and example of a pious husband and father, how to suffer affliction. Remember that counsel; follow that example; and ye will find strong consolation, and great religious improvement. For the aged Mother, honoured and blest with one of the best of Sons, but surviving to witness the affecting scene of this day, we implore the benediction and solace of Almighty God. May He be her present help in trouble; her shield, to defend her; her staff, to sustain her; and her exceeding great reward. May the surviving brethren and sisters receive support and comfort from on high; and regard the heavenly admonition, emphatically addressed to them: Be ye also ready. To the University we present our respectful and affectionate condolence. With the worthy President, Professors, and Tutors, we sincerely mourn, in the loss of their highly estimable friend, and very able and important auxiliary. May they, together with the Honourable and Reverend Members of the College Legisla, ogpavus, John xiv. 18. ture, religiously observe this affecting and monitory event. no more. With the Students of the University we feel a sympathy, too deep for utterance. Ye have lost a friend and a father. Your spiritual guide, your moral and religious teacher is no more. His public and private instructions; his paternal advices and admonitions; his benign aspect; his sensibility to your best interests; his condescending and benevolent offices; all rush into your view, and overwhelm your hearts. Your tears flow. Ye sorrow most of all, that ye shall see his face But let me not swell that tide of grief, already full. Remember how ye have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. Let the instructions and counsels of that man of God, at whose feet ye have sitten with delight, be indelibly impressed on your memories, and perpetually influential on your lives. If ye respected him, if ye loved him, if ye applauded him, while living; if ye would honour his name and memory, when dead ; be what he taught and exhorted you to be; be what it was his heart's desire and prayer to God, that ye might be; be what he was. He was a good man. Be ye followers of him in his diligence; in his activity; in his meekness; in his humility; in his candour; in his benevolence; in his piety. So shall ye obtain the good man's reward. Ye shall be blessings and ornaments to society: ye shall secure the approbation and applause of all the virtuous and the good; ye shall obtain favour of the Lord; ye shall have comfort in life, hope in death, and immortal glory. The people of my Pastoral Charge will deeply bewail with me the removal of a good citizen, a good neighbour, a good man, from the bosom of our society. May we, dearly beloved, be unitedly humbled under that divine stroke, which has deprived us of so rich and invaluable a blessing. His benevolent offices shall not be forgotten. May his kind and faithful ministrations in this sacred desk be specially remembered to our everlasting benefit!Our sister churches in the capital, and in our vicinity, must peculiarly lament the death of the good man, from whom they have often received rich instruction and seasonable comfort. The church, to which he formerly ministered in holy things, will affectionately remember her once loved pastor; and mingle her tears with ours. Nor will any of the churches of New England be unmoved at the loss of one of their fairest ornaments and firmest pillars. The Commonwealth must mourn the loss of this good man, who honoured her magistrates, vindicated her interests, and supported her laws. My fathers and brethren in the Ministry! Too sensibly and tenderly do I feel my own loss, to remind you of yours. Has not our glory departed? Let us cherish a sacred ambition, that it may be revived in us. How can it otherwise be revived, than by our assuming, and daily observing, that divine motto, which he selected for us: HOLINESS TO THE LORD!* What a deep gloom will be thrown over the approaching Anniversary!t How quick the transition from these funeral rites to the effusions of genius and science; from the darksome tomb to the literary festival! Let this mixture of various and opposite actions and events teach us impressively, to let our moderation be always known; and to use, as not abusing, this world, the fashion of which passeth away. In the midst of our com The text of his Sermon before the Convention of Ministers, A.D. 1797. + The public Commencement, in the ensuing week. |