vinced that he had been in an error, whether of faith or practice, he would acknowledge it with his characteristic magnanimity. He was generous perhaps to an extreme. There was a chord in his heart which vibrated in a note of sympathy to every touch of woe; and wherever he knew there was distress, his hand and heart were both open to administer relief. Never was he more in his appropriate sphere than while ministering consolation to the wretched; and no inan could be more welcome than he wherever e was known, amidst scenes in which consolation was demanded. In a word, his heart was the dwelling place of all that was warm and tender, and his approach to the disconsolate was always the harbinger of sympathy and kindness.

In the piety of Dr. Mason, if there was any one attribute more prominent than another, it was that his feelings were eminently evangelical. It were impossible that such a mind as his should take any doctrine upon trust; and as all his religious convictions were built upon a thorough examination of the lively oracles, so his piety was based entirely upon these convictions. Those great doctrines which relate to the character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the agency of the Holy Spirit, he held with a firmness which nothing could shake; and those doctrines emphatically constituted the spiritual nourishment of his soul. He dwelt upon them in public and in private, in a manner which showed that they were incorporated with all his habits of thought and feeling; and not unfrequently in conversation with his christian friends, his mind would kindle with transport at the mention of the peculiarities of the gospel, and would throw around these cardinal truths a blaze of illustration equally edifying and delightful. We remember to have heard the lamented Bruen, who was Dr. Mason's particular friend and fellow traveler when he was last in Europe, remark, that at a certain time they lodged together in the same room; and Mr. B. happening to be awake very early in the morning, heard Dr. Mason uttering himself in a low tone. He at first supposed that the Doctor was engaged in his morning devotions; but soon found that he was revolving a passage of scripture in his sleep, and framing out of it a powerful and original argument in favor of one of the great doctrines of the gospel. When the argument became perfectly clear to his own mind, he repeated it two or three times with an air of satisfaction and triumph; as if it were some gain to the cause of the Master whom he loved and served. Mr. Bruen being exceedingly struck with the argument, ventured the next day to mention to the Doctor, how much he had instructed him the night before in his sleep; and when he repeated to him the substance of the remarks, his reply was that the argument was conclusive, though he had never thought of it before.

Dr. Mason always manifested an uncommonly strong faith. He loved to contemplate God not merely as a Redeemer, but as a father and a keeper; and to lay hold with confidence, of the promises which he has made in these various relations. It was an exercise in which he peculiarly delighted to leave himself and all his interests, his friends and all their interests, the church and all its interests, in the hands of God; and this feeling of filial confidence more than almost any other, gave a complexion both to his conversation and his prayers. In that sublime and affecting scene to which we have already referred the scene of separation from his friends previous to embarking for Europe-he invited his family, at the moment of his departure, to join with him in singing the hymn entitled, "The Lord will provide;" and in a scene still more affecting-that of taking leave of his friends while he was on his way through the dark valley, he leaned with full confidence upon his Redeemer, and declared in reference to the only refuge in such hour-"that is enough."

It would naturally be expected that with so much buoyancy and strength of feeling as Dr. Mason possessed, he would sometimes find occasion to lament the temporary suspension of a full share of christian circumspection and vigilance. Such we are assured was the fact. In the full tide of social feeling, and with his mind in contact with other minds of a kindred structure with his own, he did no doubt sometimes allow his native good humor to transcend the limits which his own enlightened judgment and conscience would have marked out. We have reason indeed to

believe, that he regarded this as the besetting infirmity of his nature, and that it cost him a severer conflict than any thing else. He has been known, in speaking of it to his particular friends, to manifest the deepest regret, and no doubt it often carried him in penitence to the throne of the heavenly grace.

We have been led to the conclusion, from all that we have known of Dr. Mason's christian character, that his earlier and later days were more strongly marked by an habitually devotional frame of feeling, than was the intervening period in which he saw the zenith of his fame. Besides the testimony which we have had from some of his friends, in favor of the warmth and depth of his religious feelings in the early part of his ministerial life, we have seen some of his letters addressed at that period to a beloved brother in the ministry, which breathe the most heavenly spirit, and were manifestly dictated by a heart full of faith and the Holy Ghost. Subsequent to this period, when he had assumed the duties and responsibilities of several important stations, and was obliged, to task himself to the utmost in order to discharge them, when he became to some extent enlisted in the political specula

tions and enterprises of the day, and rose to a point of intellectual distinction which few men in any age have ever attained; then, there is reason to believe, was the winter season of his piety: though the principle was in his heart, yet its growth was no doubt in some degree impeded by the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed, and especially by the homage, amounting almost to idolatry, which was every where paid to the grandeur of his intellect. But He who chastens those whom he loves, and who leads his people to glory through tribulation, was pleased, as the evening of life came on, to appoint to this great and good man a deeply afflicted lot. The hand of God touched him at the very point from which his glory had chiefly radiated; and he was forced by evidence which he could not resist, to the melancholy conviction, not only that his sun had passed its meridian and was declining into the western sky, but that there were painful indications that before it should yet sink beneath the horizon, it might be overshadowed with clouds and thick darkness. In addition to the shock given to his intellect, he was visited with severe domestic affliction, in the early removal of two beloved and promising children. Under this severe paternal discipline his christian character shone out with more than its former brightness; he submissively and cheerfully owned the hand of God in these afflictive dispensations; and from this time onward he evinced a constantly increasing meetness for heaven. There was a mellowness of christian feeling, an impressive sense of personal unworthiness, a disposition to refer every thing to the providence of God, a strong practical faith in the mediation of Christ, and a cheerful waiting for the final change, which put it beyond all doubt that his christian character had gained a maturity and elevation, rarely to be found in any other school than that of adversity.

In the religious experience of Dr. Mason, to which we have just referred, we find nothing like a departure from the common order of God's providence towards his people. It is a rare case indeed, in which any of his children are suffered to pass through the world without a considerable amount of severe trial; and if there had been nothing to cloud in any measure the brilliant path of Dr. M. toward the close of his life, we should almost have asked in view of his well nigh unexampled prosperity, what had become of the promise, "He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." It ought not to be accounted by the people of God a hardship, but a privilege to suffer; for in sowing in tears, they have a pledge of reaping in joy. Perhaps indeed, there is no species of prosperity, which is more likely to draw the soul from God, and which needs more to be visited with paternal rebuke, than that which arises from high intellectual distinction. The man of lofty genius is not only in peculiar danger from the admiration of

mit of question; nevertheless it must be acknowledged, that in his boldest attacks upon error, he seemed to be influenced by an honest zeal for the glory of his Master, and a holy indignation against those who would either openly or secretly tarnish the luster of his Redeemer's name, or diminish aught from the honors of his

cross.

It was impossible to listen to Dr. M's preaching without feeling a great variety of emotions. At one time the mind would be chained, and the reasoning powers tasked to the utmost, by some process of profound argumentation; and for a moment, the delusion would almost be induced, that such an intellect was made for reasoning and nothing else. At another, there would be a lightninglike impulse communicated by a sudden flash of his imagination; and his hearers would be carried by surprize into some new field of beauty, or else they would be awed by some scene of natural or moral grandeur, which combined the rapidity of the cataract and the terrors of the storm. Here there would be awful exhibitions of the law of God, and of the wrath of God in the wages of sin, and a deep and solemn communing of the soul with the realities of eternity; and there the gospel would come out in its most attractive loveliness, and the cross would seem to be made visible to the eye of imagination and faith, and the heart would be dissolving, and the eye overflowing from the sublimity and pathos of his appeals. And then again, there would be a kind of involuntary sportiveness of fancy, an incomparable aptness of illustration, an air of biting sarcasm which bordered well nigh upon ridicule, which would for a moment cause a smile to play over the countenances of the most serious of his hearers. He was however, always dignified; and no man sooner than be, would have shrunk from prostituting the pulpit to be an arena for vulgarity.

If there ever was a man who could make use of the lighter emotions in the pulpit to advantage, that man we think was Dr. Mason. We have strong doubts however, whether even his preaching would not have been attended with better effect, if he had used this faculty, to say the least, more sparingly; and we are quite sure, that much positive evil must result from attempts to perform feats of this kind, where there is no native adaptation to them. We have known instances in which a desire to say something bold and striking, has led men to an utter prostration of the dignity of the pulpit; and puerile and even vulgar anecdotes have been repeated, which, while they have made a portion of the congregation laugh, have made a larger and better portion of them hold down their heads with regret and mortification. We do not at all object to great simplicity in preaching, or to the

Occasional relation of an anecdote in the way of illustration; but we maintain, that just so far as the pulpit becomes a theater for idle story telling, or coarse and vulgar sayings, it is perverted from its true design, and becomes an engine of evil, rather than one of the most important means of good. We would say then, let the man who has even Dr. Mason's talents of moving the lighter feelings of his audience, (if such a one can be found,) use it but rarely and with great discretion; and let others to whom God never gave this power, be contented to use only the powers they have, without forfeiting their dignity or impairing their usefulness, by an affected eccentricity. If we do not greatly mistake, there is danger to be apprehended on this subject, in connection with those gracious visitations of the Spirit which we enjoy in revivals of religion;-danger that ministers and good ministers too, may suffer themselves in the excitement of the moment, to forget the dignity which belongs to the character of ambassadors of God, and say and do things which may bring a lasting reproach upon the ministry, and materially injure the cause which they wish to advance.

Dr. Mason's manner in the pulpit, strikingly embodied the peculiarities of his character. There was every thing in it that was fitted to make a powerful impression. His noble form, his commanding countenance, his expressive eye, his easy and graceful attitude, his majestic and flexible voice, gave him advantages for public speaking, which few men have ever enjoyed. He could be loud as the thunder, soft as the zephyr, rapid as the whirlwind. His reading of the scriptures was so perfect, that it answered well the purpose of a commentary; and no intelligent person could listen to him without gaining more correct and enlarged views of divine truth. Much of the power of his manner consisted in the expression of his countenance. The various emotions which were prompted by different parts of his discourse, were to be seen in his face, as if it were the very mind of his soul; and this was one grand secret of his, always enlisting the most profound attention. It is unfortunate that his sermons, with but few exceptions, were never written; though there is no doubt that his extemporaneous delivery was highly favorable to immediate impression. There was a kindling of the spirit in his looks, a life and energy in his gesture, a perfection of nature in his intonations, which would have been incompatible with reading his discourses, or perhaps even delivering them memoriter. It is one proof of this, that when he was obliged towards the close of his ministry, in consequence of his infirmities, to take up the practice of reading, his preaching greatly diminished in interest, and that notwithstanding he delivered serVOL. IV

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