where he was to preach. But a sudden fall of snow engaged every conveyance, and he was obliged to walk the distance was considerable, and the consequence was, he was too late. When an error in the conduct of a minister is committed, reasons are easily assigned, and unhappily those the most uncharitable come the readiest to hand; and few have sufficient generosity or justice to inquire whether that which they have chosen is correct or not.*

The following extract of a letter, dated July 3, 1810, shall elose this part of our review of Spencer's character. It was addressed to one who feared that his popularity might have an unhappy influence upon his mind:

"A thousand thanks for the solicitude you express for my safety in the midst of the snares and dangers which appear to you to surround me; never may I be so left as to lose the dignity of the CHRISTIAN, much more of the MINISTERIAL character, by being pleased with so empty a nothing as popular applause; I cannot but recollect that this is a distinction not unfrequently bestowed upon the most unworthy of men, and it is so little calculated to afford any thing like happiness or peace of mind, that I hope I shall always

*It may be said that this incident is too trifling to be recorded. I do not think so. Nothing is unimportant which illustrates character; and it is in these little things, for the most part, that the character may be ascertained. Besides, the memory of the dead is sacred; and I should not discharge the duties which I have taken upon myself in the compilation of this volume, to the satisfaction of my own mind, were I to suffer any spot or cloud to remain upon the lovely character of Spencer which I am able to remove,

be taught to esteem it a mere puff of noisy breathi that so being elevated above it, 1 may seek that reward alone, which a sense of THE SMILE OF GOD will ever bestow. Oh! my friend, may those pleasures be mine which arise from the testimony of my conscience, that I am seeking to please that Divine Being, whose frown can disappoint the proudest hopes, whose approbation prosper even mine."

6

AS A MINISTER.

We shall contemplate Mr. Spencer as a PREACHER OF THE GOSPEL, AND PASTOR OF A CHURCH.

Though for the most part these two offices are combined, yet those who understand their nature, and the duties they involve, must be conscious of the distinction which this division implies. Many a man is an admirable preacher, who is but ill qualified for the retired and constant duties of the pastoral office; and many a man is exemplary as a pastor, who has little except his piety, which indeed is much, to recommend him as a preacher. As Spencer united in his own person the two offices, so did he eminently possess the qualifications of both.

He

As a PREACHER his discourses were purely evangelical: this was the cast of all his sermons. never preached to display himself,-but always to exalt the Saviour: this was his constant aim, and to accomplish it, he dwelt much upon the beauties of his character-the charms or his person-the fulness of his atonement-the perfection of his righteHe perpetually dwelt upon his willingness and ability to save; and in order to demonstrate the necessity and the value of his great salvation, he

ousness.

seldom failed to resort to the fallen, polluted, guilty, helpless state of man. He consulted not the inclinations, the passions or the prejudices of his hearers, but preached simply, faithfully, and affectionately, the most humiliating, as well as the most animating doctrines of the gospel. Whatever text he struck, living waters seemed immediately to flow. Whatever was the subject, or the occasion-his holy and ardent mind, ever panting for the salvation of immortal souls, connected with it truths and considerations, the most solemn and important. His applications were forcible and impressive. There he wrestled with the people, with a fervour, resembling that with which, in prayer, he wrestled with his God. He seemed to exhaust every argument which might be brought to bear upon his great object, and to these he often added appeals and entreaties, the most tender and affecting. Then he seemed to lose sight of every consideration, but his own responsibility, and his people's good-and as though the congregation before him were the only people remaining to be saved, and as though every time of preaching was the only opportunity afforded him of . using the means for their salvation, he besought them, as an ambassador for Christ, to be reconciled to God.

The general cast of his preaching may be gathered from his texts, which are freely scattered up and down in the preceding pages. By his confession of faith it will be seen, that his sentiments were most decidedly what have obtained, in the Christian world, the epithet, Calvinistic-exaetly in conformity with the Shorter Catechism of the Assembly of Divines.

To these doctrines he was most warmly attached, and as they were the subjects of his firm belief, so were they the constant topics of his discourse, both in public and in private. Valuing these doctrines so highly, and cherishing so deep a sense of their importance, we cannot be surprised that he should feel and express regret, when he saw them, in the sermons of ministers, neglected and cast into the shade. Perhaps, in his mode of expression, on such occasions, he was sometimes incautious. Admitting that it was so, we cannot but admire the principle. Where doctrines assume, in the view of the individual, an importance, similar to that which we are accustomed to attach to those grand principles which formed the basis of Mr. Spencer's ministry, we cannot be surprised if he expresses warmly his regret, when he beholds them undervalued or abandoned.

* Christians, and especially Christian ministers, should be sparing in the use of those broad and unqualified assertions respecting their brethren in the ministry, which are so easily made, yet so difficult to prove, and so injurious in their influence. It is easy to say, he does not preach the gospel, of a minister-who loves it, and propagates it with as much ardour as the censurer himself. He may not preach the gospel with the same phrases-in precisely the same style of language. Perhaps the censurer loves to dwell entirely on the promises of the gospel-on the sovereignty and freedom of Divine grace-on salvation as the unmerited gift of God by faith and not by works all this, the man he censures believes and preaches too; but then with the promises of the gospel, he blends the threatnings,—and with the assurance that salvation is of grace and by faith-the importance of obedience, and a holy life as the evidence of saving faith.

His discourses were judicious-he partieularly excelled in the adaptation of his subjects, and the selection of his texts, to particular circumstances and occasions. His sermons were never flippant, nor bombastic-but always solid and simple-full of sound divinity, conveyed in language, which, by its copiousness, its elegance, its fluency, astonished every auditor. His skill in meeting the several cases of his hearers, has been already noticed. Every age and every rank received their portion from his public instructions: the aged were astonished at his deep experience; the young were charmed with his affectionate manner; and few, very few, were the instances in which the hearers did not depart, each affirming, that there was something in the sermon that exactly suited them.*

* A passage in a sermon recently published by the Rev. Robert Hall, admirably describes this quality of Mr. Spencer's preaching. "Without descending to such a minute specification of circumstances, as shall make our addresses personal, they ought unquestionably to be characteristic ; that the conscience of the audience may feel the hand of the preacher searching it, and every individual know where to class himself. The preacher who aims at doing good will endeavour, above all things, to insulate his hearers, to place each of them apart, and render it impossible for him to escape by losing himself in the crowd. At the day of judgment, the attention excited by the surrounding scene, the strange aspect of nature, the dissolution of the elements, and the last trump, will have no other effect than to cause the reflections of the sinner to return with a more overwhelming tide on his own character, his sentence, his unchanging destiny; and, amid the innumerable millions who surround him, he will mourn apart. It is thus the Christian minister should endea