332 Memoirs of the late Dr. Gregory. 
titude in selection and arrangement. 
‘Wien he entered the pulpit, the com- 
posed seriousness of his aspect, the mild 
sedateness of his demeanour, impressed 
on bis audience an involuntary feeling of 
reverence and solemnity. Huis enuncia- 
tion was slow aud clear: his periods 
were musical, but not always sufliciently 
varied. There was in hislook and manner 
an expression of sincerity, of deep in- 
terest, and intense solicitude, of zeal ab- 
stracted trom vehemence, which attested 
his own conviction of the sacred truths 
&e should inculcate, and irresistibly en- 
forced un every mind, a disposition to re- 
his discourses were 
he depre- 
ligious meditation ; 
generally plain and _ practical; 
eated,controversy, convinced that the 
“The 
proper object of a Christian teacher, 
was, not to rouse the understanding, but 
to touch the heart. 
The style of his printed and manuscript 
sermons is elegant and correct; and oc- 
casionally they contain passages invested 
with all the graces of imagination, and 
breathing the very soul of eloquence. The 
inhabitants: of his parish he regarded 
as members of his family; many of them 
he classed with his friends. It was con- 
trary to his nature to consider any of 
them as strangers, 
His devotion to literature prevent- 
ed not his participation in active scenes 
and pursuits. He was no solitary 
student, seceding from the cares or 
duties of life. Hus avidity for mforma- 
tion had rendered him familiar with every 
subject ; and se'dom was any submitted 
to his observation which he was not 
competent to elucidate, By its versatility 
his conversation was rendered generally 
accepwhble. ile had stores of know- 
ledge and thought, not only tur a small 
literary sect, but. every social circle. 
No man ever possessed more com- 
pletcly the faculties of enjoyment. His 
element was happiness: he found it 
in his books: he welcomed it in his 
friend : he even drew_ it ee his pen. 
The pursuits of philosophr, the embel- 
lishments of literature, the exhibitions of 
art, the scenes of nature, all succes- 
sively admimistered to him sensations of 
delight. This elastic temperament he 
z y to sweetness of his 
and that firmness ef mind which 
anxieties and regrets, With a 
manly affience in bis own strength, he 
arise d the difficulties which impeded 
snecess: and when he failed to atebieve 
his-end, retired with submission, but with- 
out des:-ondence. A stranger to malevo- 
Jence, and ali the littienesses of pride and 
envy that engender it, his heart was 
formed for expausive affection, and no 
tiie 
UpPer, 
4 List aa 
one could shew him the least kindness 
without securing from him such a feeling’ 
of regard and gratitude as almost to pre- 
vent his seeing in them the possibility of 
defect. From the public he haswell deserved 
the tribute of regret. It has been long the 
depositary of his labours, it is now en- 
trusted with the name he had purchased, 
(the produce of his life,) asa polite scho~ 
lar, and moral writer, as one who had 
disseminated science and diffused a spie 
rit of true philosophy. To its use are ap- 
propriated the truits of his vigorous 
intellect, his rich extent of knowledge, 
his comprehensive understanding, and, 
whether natural or acquired, all his 
mental wealth. But they who have 
known him as a_ husband and a 
father, whose experience can attest the 
purity of his morals, and the integrity of 
hisconduct; they who have witnessed his 
exertion inthe cause of humanity, his ten- 
derness for the distresses of penury; who 
have seen him diffusing happiness through 
the domestic circle, and by social 
instinct, have caught from him the spirit 
of enjoyment, these to whom celebrity 
appears trivial, and eulogy superfluous, 
forget the scholar, the writer, the lover 
of “letters, and of science, to deplore 
the friend, to remember the man. 
Respecting the literary labours of Dr. 
Gregiry, it would be difficult to form an 
estimate. He published as many works 
anonymously as with his name. His fa~ 
cility in composition wassuch, a$ to those 
xo did not know him, might seem in- 
credible. 
amenity of true English purity, without 
pretension, without ostentation, plain and 
perspicuous, yet copious and varied, it 
seemed to harmonize with the character 
of the writer. 
He had projected various works, some 
of which would have possessed suiii- 
cient dignity to‘engage all his powers of 
mind. Ina the earlier | part of life, bis taste 
had been sacrificed to views of usefulness 
and independence. He had often written 
when he must have had to combat with 
repugnance, and.to force on himself the 
conviction that circumstances controul 
choice. - The time was now arrived when 
he might be permitted to write for! nam P 
seit; to renderdhis pen the delight and 
nour of his declining years: batall 
hopes vanished in a moment. 
the commencement of his illness, he was 
impressed with a presage of his fate; ~ 
and submitted to it with manly for titude 
and placid resignation. Hisdeath was s that 
of the Christian, who chearfully surren-_ 
ders this mortal being with the assured 
hope ofan immortal existence. 
- 
His style flows with ease and 
yt 
¢ 
4. 
