CHARACTERS. 



455 



nary afflictions of life. When he 

 discoursed of the griefs and joys, 

 the conflicts and triumphs of ge- 

 nuine Christians, he declared what 

 he himself had known and expe- 

 rienced. The letters which he 

 wrote to his familiar acquaintances 

 breathe the most ardent piety. The 

 religious meditations in which he 

 spent his last sickness were not 

 confined to that period of his life; 

 they had been his habitual employ- 

 ment from the time that he was 

 brought to the knowledge of the 

 truth, and his solace amidst all the 

 hardships and perils through which 

 he had passed. 



. With his brethren in the minis- 

 try he lived in the utmost cordia- 

 lity. W^e never read of the slight- 

 est variance between him and any 

 of his colleagues. While he was 

 dreaded and hated by the licentious 

 and profane, whose vices he never 

 spared, the religious and sober 

 part of his countrymen felt a vene- 

 ration for him, which was founded 

 on his unblemished reputation, as 

 well as his popular talents as a 

 preacher. In private life, he was 

 bot^ beloved and revered by his 

 friends and domestics. He was 

 subject to the occasional illapses of 

 melancholy and depression of spi- 

 rits, arising partly from natural 

 constitution, and partly from the 

 maladies which had long preyed 

 upon his health ; which made him 

 (to use his own expression) churl- 

 ish, and less capable of i>leasing 

 and gratifying his friends than he 

 was otherwise disposed to be. This 

 he confessed, and requested them 

 to excuse : but his friendship was 

 sincere, affectionate, and steady. 

 When free from this morose affec- 

 tion, he relished the pleasures of 



society, and, among his acquaint- 

 ances, was accustomed to unbend 

 his mind, by indulging in inno- 

 cent recreation, and in the sallies 

 of wit and humour, to which he 

 had a strong propensity, notwith- 

 standing the graveness of his gene- 

 ral deportment. Although in the 

 course of his public life, the se- 

 verer virtues of his character were 

 more frequently called into action, 

 yet have we met with repeated in- 

 stances of his acute sensibility ; 

 and the unaffected tenderness which 

 occasionally breaks forth in his 

 private letters shews that he was 

 not a stranger to " all the chari- 

 ties" of human life, and that he 

 could " rejoice with them that re- 

 joiced, and weep with them that 

 wept." 



Most of his faults may be traced 

 to his natural temperament, and to 

 the character of the age and coun- 

 try in which he lived. His pas- 

 sions were strong ; he felt with the 

 utmost keenness on every subject 

 which interested him ; and as he 

 felt he expressed himself, without 

 disguise and without affectation. 

 The warmth of his zeal was apt 

 to betray him into intemperate lan- 

 guage; his inflexible adherence to 

 his opinions inclined to obstinacy ; 

 and his independence of mind oc- 

 casionally assumed the appearance 

 of haughtiness and disdain. In one 

 solitary instance, the anxiety which 

 he felt for the preservation of the 

 great cause in which he was so 

 deeply interested, betrayed him in- 

 to an advice which was not more 

 inconsistent with the laws of strict 

 morality, than it was contrary to 

 the stern uprightness, and undis- 

 guised sincerity, which characte- 

 rized the rest of his conduct. A 



stranger 



