CHARACTERS. 



333 



happily been placed. He began to 

 take some pleasure in sharing daily 

 the domestic worship which was 

 laudably practised by Dr. Cotton ; 

 and he found relief from his despair 

 by reading in the scriptures, that 

 " God hath sent forth Christ Jesus 

 to be a propitiation through faith 

 in his blood, to declare his right- 

 eousness for the remission of sins that 

 are past, through the forbearance of 

 God." Romans iii. 25. While 

 meditating upon this passage, he 

 obtained a clear view of the gospel, 

 which was attended with unspeak- 

 able joy. 



The first transports of his joy, 

 which almost prevented his neces- 

 sary sleep, having subsided, were 

 followed by a sweet serenity of spi- 

 rit, which he was enabled to retain, 

 notwithstanding reviving strug- 

 gles of the corruptions with which 

 sin has universally infected our na- 

 ture. The comfort he enjoyed in 

 the profitable conversation of his 

 beloved physician, induced him to 

 prolong his stay at St. Alban's, for 

 twelvemonths after his recovery. — 

 Having determined upon renounc- 

 ing his profession of the law, he 

 retired, first to Huntingdon, and 

 two or three 3'ears afterward to this 

 place, in order to indulge, amidst 

 rural scenes, those religious plea- 

 sures and occupations, which expe- 

 rience had taught him to value far 

 above all that the polite, or the 

 busy world, could afford. 



Those of you who thirty years 

 past have lived in the fear of God, 

 can testify the truth of the remark 

 last quoted. Often have I heard 

 described the amiable condescension 

 with which our deceased friend 

 listened to your religious converse, 

 the sympathy with which he soothed 

 yourdistresses, and the wisdom with 



which he imparted needful advice. 

 At your stated meetings for prayer 

 (would there were such in every 

 parish !) you have heard him, with 

 benefit and delight, pour forth his 

 heart before God in earnest inter- 

 cession, with a devotion equally 

 simple, sublime, and fervent, adap- 

 ted to the unusual combination of 

 elevated genius, exquisite sensibili- 

 ty, and profound piety, that dis- 

 tinguished his mind. It was, I 

 believe, only on such occasions as 

 these, that his constitutional diffi- 

 dence was felt by him as a burden, 

 during this happy portion of his life. 

 I have heard him say, that when he 

 expected to take the lead in your 

 united pi-ayers,his mind was greatly 

 agitated for some hours preceding. 

 But he observed, that his trepida- 

 tion wholly subsided as soon as he 

 began to speak in prayer; and that 

 timidity, which he invariably felt 

 at every appearance before his fel- 

 low-creatures, gave place to an 

 awful, yet delightful consciousness 

 of the presence of his Saviour. 



His walk with God in private 

 was consistent with the solemnity 

 and fervour of his social engage- 

 ments. Like the prophet Daniel, 

 and the royal psalmist, he "kneel- 

 ed three times a day, and prayed, 

 and gave thanks before his God," in 

 retirement, beside the regular prac- 

 tice of domestic worship. His mind 

 was stayed upon God; and, for an 

 unusual course of years, it was kept 

 in perfect peace. The corrupt dis- 

 positions which have so strong a 

 hold upon the human heart, ap- 

 peared to be peculiarly suppressed 

 in him ; and when in any degree 

 felt, they were lamented and re- 

 sisted by him. His hymns, mostly 

 written during this part of his life, 

 describe both the general tenor of 



