During this period, the devotion of young Douglas to spiritual subjects, was very marked. He was to be met in the circles for social prayer, and the assemblies of christians for mutual encouragement in their heavenly race. His desire for the salvation of his companions was manifest in many a solemn, many a persuasive form of exhortation and example. As you saw him move along the paths of life, something brought up to mind at once a solemn and a childlike image. The serene look, the meditative walk, the gentle motion and accent, were all consonant to the idea of a heart, peaceful, chastened, elevated. To those who did not see him at that time, one cannot easily convey a full impression of the loveliness to which religion formed and tempered all his acts. The tenor of his life it turned to a sweet and placid solemnity. The observer could well have felt the truth of Hannah More's remark, that happiness is a serious thing. It was at this time that a friend in college, who had long loved him, and been loved in return, met him, and gently asked why of late he had seemed to avoid him? Douglas told him all the truth-he loved indeed, but feared to cherish an intimacy with any one who did not love his Savior. To the same friend again, after divine truth had reached him too with its subduing efficacy, he wrote; and in a remarkable passage, too long to be copied here, told the aching of heart with which he once thought their companionship in time, must terminate without any security of their meeting in a higher existence in eternity. Thus was he ready to sacrifice even the heart's cherished affections, to what he judged to be his Lord's command. At this time, sabbath schools and the collateral agencies for the spiritual benefit of the young, the ignorant, and friendless, were in their germ, when compared with their present state of maturity; and it is a fact worthy of record, that the piety of this young christian found for itself a path to good ends, almost untrodden at that time, but opened since in full, and likely to become beaten by the steps of many pious messengers, who shall go forth as city missionaries. He went out alone, in the suburbs of New-Haven, and in the dwellings of the ignorant and destitute, "to seek and to save them that were lost." Regardless of poverty or color, he sought out the spiritual and temporal wants of the destitute; and opened there the rich fountains of charity and gospel grace. There, amid rags, and rudeness, where hearts are bowed by sorrows that rarely find their way into the enclosures of abundance and mental cultivation, in the spirit of his master, he preached the gospel to the poor. At the Junior exhibition, in May, 1821, he was selected to perform a prominent part. His subject was the "character of Hen ry Martyn." His public speaking, like his life, was calm and cheerfully serious; and it is well remembered how unusual an impression was carried to the minds of those who heard him, when, at the close, rapt in contemplation of the sacred fires which that pure and holy man may yet prove to have lighted up amid the darkness of Paganism, he repeated in a manner less of oratory than of prayer, the concluding quotation. "Then shake the heavens, thou Mightiest, and descend, The character which we are aiming to delineate, is one that was not liable to sudden fluctuations. It was marked by great evenness and uniformity both of feeling and action; and the changes to which it was actually subject, extended through periods of ume, and advanced with slow steps. We find him in his Journal, often lamenting barren and sinful states of mind. His christian hopes were a subject of constant and anxious scrutiny; but to the hour of death, it is not known, that he ever questioned the reality of his interest in Christ's salvation, through all his sins, sorrows, trials, and fears. There was a period, commencing toward the close of his collegiate life, and ending we know not exactly when, during which, though he lived under the influence of genuine religious principle, he had lost, in some degree, the tender and sweet cast of piety with which his christian life began. In fact, near the close of the senior year, we find him engaged with a large part of his class, not indeed in resisting the faculty of the college, but in urging measures which they disapproved, in a spirit for which he afterwards expressed his deep regret. This is the only instance, and we have mentioned it in this light alone, in which his feelings are known to have betrayed him into open acts, which he was led afterwards to condemn. Having graduated with the highest honors of the institution, "at the commencement in 1822, he took up his residence for a time in New-Haven. His plan was ultimately to enter into the ministry of the Episcopal church, upon whose bosom his childhood had been cast, and towards whose ministrations he felt predisposed; but his present object was to give a wider scope to his intellect by the pursuit of general knowledge. During the winter his time was profitably spent in study, in social intercourse, and the indulgence of those generous affections which made him, in the families where his heart was laid open without restraint, the delight of every circle. In April of the following year, he left New-Haven in a depressed. state of mind; the result of incidents interesting in their private relations. In his Journal he speaks of laboring under "a calm and concealed grief-sometimes seeming to chill the heart with insensibility,--at others melting it to tenderness, and again causing it to ache with excess of emotion." The summer was passed at Troy, where his hours were given to study and reflection, and to a steady contemplation of the approaching duties and solemn account of the gospel ministry. Here, for a time, his health seemed to be worn upon by the strength of his feelings; but this excess of emotion he found it at last a duty to resist, and their ultimate effect was doubtless happy on his character and piety. Many reflections upon theological and practical subjects mix themselves in the journal of this period, with striking incidents and states of mind. Some passages will be transcribed,—not, in every case, the most spiritual that might be selected, but the best suited to the current of this history, and to a knowledge of their author's mode of thought and feeling. In the last extract it may possibly be wondered at, that a young man in his study should by himself conceive such enlarged, though simple views of doctrine. July 2d. That others should overrate my attainments-deeming me at all superior, for one of my age, as a scholar, makes me but feel my own ignorance. It was not until senior year that I became sensible of the value of time, and of the bearing of my studies upon future usefulness. Junior year had been the time of that mighty work of grace which prevailed throughout Connecticut. I was very fond of religious meetings, and probably too inattentive to the duties of a student. Had I more faithfully attended to my closet duties and studies, it might better have advanced my spiritual as well as intellectual improvement. sect. * At the beginning of junior year I was perfectly ignorant of the sectarian peceliarities of doctrine: and I sincerely rejoice that I was so. Prejudiced by education in favor of no one class of sentiments, my mind was the more favorably disposed for the investigation of religious truth, and my constant effort has been to know only the truth, -to adopt opinions from weight of evidence and without regard to Oh! that I might attain and ever pursue this, the only safe course, amid the labyrinths of error.-Next fall, at the age of nineteen, I am to enter on the preparatory studies of a profession,-and that the most sacred and responsible assigned to frail man. In view of the christian ministry, how deeply ought my heart to respond to the language of the sainted Martyn,-"What a knowledge of man, and acquaintance with the scriptures, what communion with God and study of my own heart, ought to prepare me for the awful work of a messenger from God, on the business of the soul.' July 5th.-I was never so fond of study as this summer. I know not that I care much for distinction, or this world's praise; but the pursuit of knowledge seems more delightful in itself, and yet more valuable as a means of usefulness. This subject, however, like all others, assumes its true interest only in relation to eternity. * # At the first moment of existence the mind enters upon a course which reaches through eternity. It is formed for continual improvement-to be enriched with knowledge and strengthened by discipline,—to take more and more enlarged views,—to put forth an increasing energy upon the subjects of investigation, which the universe presents. The mere laying aside, at death, of its material form, can be attended with no pause in the progress of mind. That point, therefore, in the scale of intellectual, as well as moral improvement, which-hall have been reached when we leave the present state, is to be our starting point for eternity.-What a motive, here, to the most faithful improvement of means! Aug. 1st.-I have sometimes been asked, "are you a Calvinist?"-If, to be a Calvinist, one must adopt every sentiment of that great reformer, I presume there are few such at the present day; for the human mind makes advances, from age to age; and surely theology, like every other science, is capable of improvement. As terms become more defined, one's views upon every subject ought to become more clear and correct. To many, the term Calvinistic, is one at which they startle with contempt or horror. I have no doubt, that few who use it, have looked into the works of Calvin. From what I have read in them, I consider his views incorrect of the influence of Adam's fall on his posterity, or else his exhibition of those views not clear. And I might say the same of his remarks upon some other subjects; but some sentiments have been imputed to him which I cannot find. The ideas of "Christ's dying only for his elect," of any irresistible influence of the Spirit, and of mere caprice or partiality on the part of God, seem to me wholly foreign to his mind. He ascribes only a persuasive influence to the Holy Spirit-man's destruction to his own voluntary persistence in sin. After all I sincerely wish these terms, so odious, "Calvinistic," "Arminian," and others, were banished. It matters very little what Calvin thought, or any other man, or body of men. If the best examination we are capable of giving, convinces us a sentiment is incorrect, it is our's to reject it; and to adopt our every opinion because we judge it true, not because it is a part of some favorite system. The bible only is infallible,-the sole authority in matters of religious belief. To me man seems to stand in two distinct relations to God. The one is that of a free agent under his moral government; perfectly capable of performing his duty. Such was Adam; and such is every human being, at the present day, from the unknown period of his existence, when moral agency commences. Previously, I cannot conceive his having any moral character. Our circumstances are different from those of Adam; our native powers the same. Scripture states the simple fact, that every man, being thus situated, has chosen to transgress the law of God. His ruin were the necessary result, had not the Redeemer graciously died to save. All, having transgressed, are called upon simply to put full trust in Christ; and are perfectly capable of this act of faith: but the bible tells us that no one, left to himself, would choose to avail himself of this way of salvation, and here God justly might leave all to perish with accumulated guilt. The only depravity of which I can conceive, is that of the voluntary acts of the soul. By total depravity I simply mean, that all the acts of every unconverted man, which have a moral character, are transgressions of the law of God. I come now to man's second relation to God; that of a subject of the influence of the Spirit. The nature of this influence is doubtless persuasive, for the only way in which the human mind can be operated upon, is that of motives. We know not the mode of the Spirit's operations: His office may be to present more powerful motives, or give greater efficacy to those already presented. This influence is perhaps exerted to a greater or less degree upon all men. At any rate, these operations involve no more interference with free agency than does the influence of one man over another, to convince and to persuade. But the bible teaches that God, for reasons known only to himself, but entirely consistent with his perfections, has chosen to save certain individuals of the human race; and only these does the Spirit incline to submission, to repentance, to faith in Christ, and to a life of holiness, that the merits of their Savior may secure the forgiveness and acceptance of God, and an eternal residence in the mansions "prepared for them from the foundation of the world." And this purpose, like every other of the immutable God, while it affects not the justice of the act, has existed from eternity. Those who perish, perish simply because they "will not come to Christ that they may have life." And it may be, for aught we know, that a gracious God will have put forth every effort to save them too which he could, without infringing upon their free agency, or upon the perfections of his own character. Thus the salvation of every saint in heaven, will have been owing wholly to the merits of Christ, of which the Spirit alone will have inclined them to avail themselves. This is my view of the doctrine of "particular election;" a doctrine which, in the highest degree, illustrates the sovereign grace and mercy of God, and the perverse rebellion of man,-while it is as perfectly consistent with free agency, in the latter, as any of the operations of divine Providence in accomplishing his eternal purposes." At the end of October, 1823, Douglas left Troy for Andover, in Massachusetts, to begin his course of theological study. After much inquiry and balancing of opposite opinions, he had conceived a fixed desire to avail himself, one year at least, of the benefits of that noble institution. This determination, he feared, might give rise to a misapprehension of his motives, in the minds of many, and especially those of his own denomination. But apprehensions of this kind could not weigh against the hope of solid acquisitions; and the question of his sincere attachment to that denomination, he left to be decided by events, or to remain unsettled, if any finally should doubt it, on the ground either of that choice, or his free and friendly communion with pious persons of every name. At Andover we find him exulting in the acquisition of important knowledge, delighted with the simple language of the Hebrews, and the clearness which a knowledge of it gives the sacred writings. His Journal at this period, and his letters, are not copious; and, for the most part, mark the progress of his thoughts and studies, his practical reflections, and occasionally, his solemn contemplations of eternal things. He has not failed to record the warm regard in which he held his instructors, the private conversation of some of whom he enjoyed and highly valued. His just principles of christian communion may be gathered from the following incidental paragraph. January 4th, 1824.-This morning the Lord's supper was administered. It was a very interesting season of communion; and at dinner it was pleasing to see the brethren comparatively silent and thoughtful. Before church I had an interesting and candid discussion with brother Ğ— of our church, upon the propriety of Episcopalians' receiving the sacrament from ministers of other denominations. He accorded with me, chiefly, in sentiment. My reasons for it, and for receiving with open arms, sincere christians of whatever minor name, are very clear to me." By acting openly upon the principle set forth in the preceding extract, the subject of this narrative had given offense to many of his own church, who could not agree with him. It was, in fact, a subject much contested in that church. Many went the length of asserting, that Christ never authorized a church out of Episcopal succession and organization; and that out of it, no man has a promise of salvation, though saved he may be by the "uncov enanted mercies" of God. To these, of course, communion with christians of another name, was uncongenial. But another class, who still were strenuous for Episcopal organization, as being of divine |