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and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem, and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.' In the evening the multitude that assembled was so great, that to gratify them all, he was under the necessity of preaching out of doors, which he did with great animation and effect, from Rom. xiv. 12, So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.' It appears from the report of one who was present at the delivery of this sermon, that it was remarkably impressive. Although surrounded by so great a crowd, he seemed quite undaunted, and expressedhimself with an ease and an energy which produced the most serious impressions upon many, and excited the astonishment of all. To see the old and greyheaded melted into tears beneath the simple touches and fervent appeals of a youth, but little more than sixteen years of age, proclaiming with the boldness and propriety of an experienced veteran the glorious gospel of the blessed God, must have been truly interesting. And it is also gratifying to know, that by the earliest labours of this excellent youth, happy and saving effects were produced, which remain to this day. On the evening of Thursday, July 23d, he preached at Buntingford, a town about ten miles from Hertford, from John x. 9, By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.' On Sunday, July 26th, he preached again, afternoon and evening, at Collier's End. In the afternoon from John vi. 44, No man can come to me except the Father which sent

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me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day.' In the evening from 2 Tim. ii. 19, Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.' On the Wednesday evening following he preached at Hormead, from Psalm iv. 6, There be many that say, who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.' And on the Thursday evening again at Brickenden. At Hormead his congregation amounted to six or seven hundred persons, and the place where they were assembled was a barn.* Indeed by this time his fame had so widely circulated, that wherever he preached,

*The circumstance of Mr. Spencer's preaching in a barn and in the open air, may perhaps excite unpleasant feelings in the breasts of some who, having occasionally heard him with delight, may honour these pages with a perusal. They may feel regret, perhaps, that he should ever have been so irregular, or have ever trodden in the steps of men, who are universally condemned as enthusiasts and fanatics. It is ne cessary, therefore, in order to vindicate him, and all who have been guilty of a similar offence against the laws of eccle siastical decorum, from the charge of enthusiasm and fanati cism, to produce some passages of scripture, by which their conduct, in this respect, is fully justified: Howbeit, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.'-Acts vii. 48. 'Where (whether in a field, a barn, or a temple,) two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.'-Mat. xviii. 20. "Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in?-Luke xiv. 23. The most impressive sermon ever preached was delivered in the open air, upon a mount. And the wilderness of Judea was the scene of his ministry, who was honoured to be the forerunner of the Messiah.

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numbers flocked from all parts to hear and see this wonderful youth; and he might have preached every day in the week, had he been so inclined, so numerous were the invitations that crowded upon him. However, his vacation drew towards a close; and his return to Hoxton suspended for awhile these public exercises. He preached on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 2d, at Roydon; and we hear no more of his preaching till December. It certainly admits of doubt, whether these early exercises in public preaching are beneficial or injurious. That they are injurious, may be argued from the circumstance, that they tend to elate and dissipate the mind-to inspire it with conceited notions of its own superior powers-too soon, alas! to familiarize the ear to the insinuating sounds of flattery, and, investing the youth with high conceptions of his present qualifications, to annihilate those humiliating views of his own ignorance and imperfection,-and that ardent panting after knowledge in which lies the great source of respectability and usefulness in after life. Not to notice those practical errors into which the ignorance and incaution natural to youth may lead him, when engaged in directing men in affairs of infinite and eternal moment. If the aged evangelist, the venerable pastor, is heard so frequently to deplore his imperfection and lament the possibility of error in his public instructions—a young man may well proceed in his early labours with caution, and had need to be possessed of no common discretion and knowledge, to counteract the suspicions necessarily excited, in the breasts of the thoughtful, by his youth.

But perhaps, on the other hand, there are peeuliar advantages connected with an early entrance on the work of preaching. The novelty of the circumstance excites attention, and many are converted, who, but for the juvenility of the preacher, had never heard the gospel from his lips, and this is doubtless amongst the many means which an Infinite Wisdom has selected, for accomplishing, in the conversion of sinners, the purposes of an infinite love. Besides that on the preacher's own mind, his early employment in ministerial labour may have a most happy influence. By an early initiation into the difficulties and trials of the work, he may attain an ease and a skill in its execution, which is perhaps but seldom reached by the man who has commenced much later in the day. In youth the mind is all activity, and difficulties which are met with then are far more easily surmounted than when they are presented to the opposition of maturer age. But after all, much depends upon the peculiar circumstances of the individual case. Many a man is better prepared for the work of the ministry at sixteen than others are at forty; and whilst the popularity and flattery which usually attend the course of youthful preachers would be the ruin of some, there are others indued with a prudence and a piety sufficient to resist their influence. And be it remembered, that the time allotted to every man for labour is at best but short, and that for many of our ministers-alas! that these should be, for the most part the most eminent and useful!—is prepared an early grave! To be squandering away the precious time which ought to be devoted to

the salvation of immortal souls, in the acquisition of profound and extensive erudition; to be immured for years in the walls of a study, and confined to the precincts of a college, impairing the physical strength by midnight application, and smothering the flames of holy zeal amid the ices of metaphysics and the lumber of heathenish philosophy, whilst thousands of immortal souls are perishing, to whose eternal interest those years might be successfully devoted-is certainly a conduct highly culpable, and not in the spirit of Him who said

work whilst it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work! Far be it from the writer of this volume in any way to undervalue or decry that knowledge, which, in a minister of the gospel, the circumstances of the present times render so essential. These remarks only apply to those cases in which years are expended in adding to a stock already more than sufficient for present purposes, without beginning to apply to any practical use that which is so largely possessed; and may affect such institutions as, having for their object the preparation of young men for the work of the ministry, suffer the zeal for God, and the love of souls, which Jed them to its patronage, at least to lose a little of its fire by years of dry scholastic disquisition, ere they are suffered to go forth into the world and expend them on their proper object-the conversion of their dying fellow men.

With respect to Mr. Spencer, the world will judge whether he began to preach too soon or not. I believe that Liverpool, by far the most competent to judge in this case, will, without hesitation, decide

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