to his throne by the side of Christ. And while my own mind is naturally inclined to look back over his long course of usefulness-and to sum up in thought the distinguishing traits of his character-I cannot forbear communicating to you my feelings and opinions with respect to his character and life. Of all the blessings which God bestows on us in this world, I consider it the greatest to know a good man. It is the only way in which we can acquire a faith in goodness-the only way in which we can be convinced that disinterested effort is possible. If we have known one good man-one man in whose integrity of purpose, and honesty of character we place full confidence no one can tell the benefit which we receive from our faith in that man. I consider the character of George Washington to be in this way a treasure to our country, worth more than all its other possessions. We are sure of his honesty and truth-and therefore we are sure that honesty and truth are possible, are real;—and here lies the great benefit of faith in Christ. Those who believe in Jesus Christ believe, in the possibility of perfect goodness, in the reality of unmixed love. When the world with its selfishness presses on them so hard, that they begin to doubt whether love exists at all, they can look to Jesus and all their doubts vanish. And thus I feel, that having lived with and known intimately the character of Dr. Freeman, I am fortified against the arguments of worldlings, sceptics and bigots. Worldly men may talk as much as they choose about the selfishness of man, and the hollowness of human virtue. I have known one man whose life was constant sacrifice and disinterested effort. I grant that there is selfishness and hypocrisy, but I know that goodness is possible and real. Thousands fall a prey to the world, and crawl on their bellies licking up the dust-but there are some hearts which beat nobly-to all who doubt, I proclaim it loudly-the time is bad, but there yet exist some pure soulsfive hundred who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And let infidels and sceptics come with their stories of priestly oppression, and try to make it out that every religious man is either a credulous and superstitious dupe, or a bigoted and hypocritical imposter. I have known one man who was neither the one nor the other. They cannot hate tyranny and cant, worse than he did. They cannot love freedom and contend for it with a greater devotion of soul than his. They cannot pretend to more independence of mind, more freedom from all prejudice-more candor, and clearness, and knowledge of mankind than he possessed. And yet he was a religious man-he was a Christian. He bowed with heartfelt

humility before God-he studied with deep love the character of Christ-he labored to bring men to a sense of religious dependence and submission to the will of heaven. To that will he bowed humbly down-and whether it ordained death or life, he patiently submitted. Submission was with him a habit of soul. And when bigots undertake to narrow the Christian world down to the limits of their party, and deny the Christian name to those who do not believe with them and adopt their technics-I would calmly lean on my knowledge of that venerable saint. No one who knew him ever dared to question that he was a Christian. No one could ever ask, "Whose image and superscription is this?" The image of Jesus was stamped on his brow. A life of love, of self-denial, of selfsacrifice made all take knowledge of him that he had been with Jesus. There was a resemblance between them which struck every one. Having known him therefore, I am fully armed against the arguments of worldlings, sceptics, and bigots. I may say then, in the words of a French writer, "others have exercised a greater influence over my mind and my ideas. He has shown me a truly Christian character. I therefore owe the most to him."

Such being the influence which the character of Dr. Freeman has exercised over my own mind, I feel as if I should be doing you no little service by describing as well as I can the leading traits of his character and life. I would lay this poor wreath upon the tomb of one who was the guide and teacher of my youth; more than a father in tenderness and affection; and a friend such as I can never hope to see again in this world. Providence ordained that I should not stand at his dying bed, nor precede that multitude which accompanied his body to its last resting place, nor partake of the solemn impression which the departure of a good man leaves on the mind of all who witness it. I was removed a thousand miles from that scene, and remained for a week unconscious of my loss. But I would not, though distant, let such an incident pass by, without seeking to draw from it that lesson which Providence means to teach us in every earthly trial.

But it is not merely the remarkable character of Dr. Freeman, or my own near relation to him, which induces me to speak of his death thus publicly. He was the father of liberal and rational Christianity, as we understand it, in the United States.

He was the first who ever dared declare his belief in the simple unity of God. He was not the first who held the opinion-but he was the first who ever openly declared it, and

took the brunt of the opposition and enmity so excited. I have not the documents to refer to, but I suppose it was about 1 the year 1780, that he, being reader in an Episcopal church, called King's Chapel, in Boston, founded by the king long before the Revolution-preached a sermon in which he denied the Trinity, and declared with the Apostle, "To us there is but one God, the Father."-His expectation was, that he should be immediately dismissed but instead of that, the society asked him to preach farther-finally with the exception of a few individuals, declared themselves of his opinion, they altered their Liturgy so far as to omit all Trinitarian doxologies and allusions, and retain it to this day with these alterations. He stood alone, suspected and avoided by all parties for many years-but the attachment of his society consoled him for this. He might say with Paul, "at my first answer no man stood with me, but all forsook me I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge-notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me-that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."

He stood alone-but not long. One by one, the congregational churches who were not fettered to old opinions, either by liturgies or creeds, and to whom it was easier than it had been for him to change, came out and declared for the pure worship of the Bible. He had looked into the perfect law of liberty, and continued therein he had persevered-and he was blessed in his deed--he was rewarded by seeing before his death,one hundred churches in the single state of Massachusetts, running up the standard of a common faith with him;-other men, and younger, followed him, and he was surrounded by a host of ardent and active intellects, in whose labors he truly rejoiced. He was the Patriarch of a host, among whom were such men as Buckminster, Channing, Ware, Palfrey, Dewey, Furness, and many others. All these men came to ask counsel of him, and reverently to ponder whatever came from the lips of that venerable man. Had he remained in the Episcopal church, he would doubtless have been Bishop of that Diocese-but seldom has a Bishop, I think, enjoyed the love and reverence of such a numerous band of ministers, as surrounded him. He had the thing without the name, which was better than the condition of many, who have the name, but not the thing. During the fifty-five years that his ministry lasted, he wept over the graves of all the companions of his youth. But the generation which came up in their places learned to love him as well, and respect him more, than their fathers

did. His colleague, the Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, a man of great intellect and taste, has expressed the sentiment of the community so well, that I must quote the passage.

There are those here who will remember the deep stillness which pervaded the audience which crowded the building where he was preaching the sermon at my ordination, when he began to speak of Dr. Freeman in the following language: "In this regard," said he, "an example of faith and perseverance will readily present itself to your mind as it does to mine; the example of that venerable man who has stood to you in the double relation of pastor and parent-to me, of pastor and colleague. For years, he too, worked alone in this very city, the only minister in the city and neighborhood, I might say the only minister in the whole country, who openly preached that faith. But he worked calmly on, never fearing, never despairing, full of hope in the God of hope, and now -how changed the scene, and the prospect; and how can any of us fear for our faith, when we look on those times, and on these. While you bear with you his hopeful intrepidity, you will not forget to take with you also his charity. Though you consider your own as the purest and best form, you will not hold it to be the only form of Christianity-but you will consider every preacher of righteousness, every one who is striving to turn sinners from the error of their ways, as your fellow worker, your Christian brother, and not your enemy." But it was not as a Controversialist that he was chiefly known. He hardly ever preached a word, and never published a line of doctrinal matter. It was the practice of Christianity in which he excelled, not its theory. His motto seemed to be "Knowest thou this, O vain man, that faith without. works is dead?" When his faith was considered a deadly heresy, he opened his mouth boldly, and declared it, and defended it--but when it became popular in his neighborhood, he left it to others to defend it by argument-to Channing, Ware, Norton, Worcester, and Whitman he left the cause, and busied himself in erecting a better argument than their sharp logic, profound reason, or extensive learning could rear -namely, a life full of the fruits of the spirit.

But when I undertake to describe that life, I pause with doubt I know not where to begin. The very remarkable point in his character-that which gave him his extraordinary influence over society and individuals, was not the prominence of any one trait, but the equal and harmonious development of all. It was the singular balance of faculties, the exact proportion of character-the entire harmony which pervaded his

being, the completeness, the perfectness, the unity of his life. It was the absence of all disturbing tendencies, and jarring powers the sweet and placid peace which passed all understanding-here was the charm and fascination which worked on all who came near him. All felt themselves better and happier, they knew not why, in his presence. Their hearts burned within them as they talked with him by the way, like those disciples who walked with their risen Master to Em

maus.'

The leading trait, however, of his character, was probably that which Paul considered a more excellent way, than any gifts of miracles, or healings, and greater than the mighty powers of faith and of hope-namely, LovE. He loved all men with the expansive love of Christianity-not in name, and word only, but in deed and in truth. He remembered the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it was better to give than receive-and he acted accordingly. He was a doer of that word, and not a forgetful hearer, if ever man was so. He entered with a ready interest into the affairs of all-and made them his own. None were too great or small, too rich or poor, too young or old, wise or innocent, talented or imbecile, virtuous or depraved, pious or irreligious, for the expansive grasp of his active sympathy. Not that he loved all alike, though the servant and minister of all. He had his preferences-and for some individuals, particularly among the young and ignorant-the bright child, the blossoming girl full of purity-the manly lad, the soul of honor-these, he seemed almost to reverence--he seemed to look on them as Jesus did when he said, "Take heed how ye despise one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father." The death of some of these, cut off in the midst of their promise, affected him so deeply, that he never mentioned them without tears. Over one, in particular, a classmate of my own, who died by an accident when in his second collegiate year, he mourned as he would over a national loss, or the death of an only son. He always considered it a peculiar duty to encourage and help the young -he constantly rebuked the carelessness and disdain which would mortify them. There is many a man, distinguished in society, who was first taken by the hand and brought forward by him. But his whole life was a display of disinterested love -acts of goodness which looked for no return beyond the pleasure of the act-the pleasure arising from the sight of happiness. What are called sacrifices, he was ever making; sacrifices of his time, his purposes, his private aims and wishes