comforters, the chief comforter, and (to borrow an image from a pious and sublime* writer) like some lofty mountain, serene and bright, retaining the splendors of the setting sun, while damps and shades have covered the vales below! I doubt not, every person present has already anticipated my intended application of this discourse. We are here met to perform the last obsequies to the body of our deceased pastor-a man venerable in years, and who was a striking pattern of Christian resignation under a long and severe illness. Those who knew him best in that situation, know that his chief concern was not for himself, but for the distressed and perplexed state of his congregation. Characters, my brethren, in funeral sermons, in these days, lie under some disgrace; being too often the productions of men willing to shew their own eloquence; or perhaps too complaisant to the tenderness of mournful relatives. But, without incurring either of these imputations, I can with truth say of your deceased minister, that he was a man of strict honesty, one that hated dissimulation and a lie, exemplary in his life and morals, and a most zealous member of our episcopal church. These were some of his virtues as a Christian, and they were useful in his generation. Frailties he no doubt, had too, as a man; but, as they were never injurious to others, so we may well believe that they have long before now found shelter in the bosom of divine mercy; and what mortal shall seek to draw them from that sacred refuge? He had full time given him to prepare for his death, and it came at last, earnestly wished for by him; so that he cannot so properly be said to "have been taken away, as to have tarried till God came." And now, my brethren, a new scene opens to you who are members of these congregations ; or, at least, to you who are the representatives thereof. Behold the breathless clay of your late pastor placed on the brink of a grave. In a few moments, its yawning jaws will be closed over him, and thus will the scene between him and you be forever shut! Think, then, what a weight has fallen upon you? There is a stewardship in your hands, of a peculiar sort, for which you are accountable both to God and man; and which I forbore to speak of till now. 'Tis the stewardship for this church and for this peoplea church conspicuous in her situation, and a people daily increasing in multitude. Consider that what you may do, is a work which may affect you, and your children, and the cause of religion, for generations to come; and what is once done is not easily to be recalled.-Proceed, therefore, we pray you, cooly, justly and deliberately, in this great matter. Let neither solicitations, nor prejudices, nor any wrong passion, be able to bias you. The Gospel of Christ (says a great divine), can only be propagated " by the same means and the same temper, wherewith our blessed Saviour began to propagate it;" not by noise and bustle, not by vain words and empty sounds; but by a noble spirit of charity towards the persons of men-by strength of reason, clearness of argument, and an example of virtue and righteousRess. If men of these qualities be encouraged to minister among you, then we may hope that the vine, which God's right-hand has planted in this remote corner of the earth, will " send out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the utmost rivers." The contrary, we trust, will never happen through any fault in your stewardship*. These councils, I hope, you will take in good part from me, at a time when I am sure I cannot be suspected of any interested views. God knows but this may be my last opportunity of ever speaking to you from this place. -My heart is full on the occasion; and had not my noticet been so very short, and the time urgent, I should have enlarged farther. But I shall sum up all by exhorting you to stand firm in your faith, and above all, to cultivate that divine charity, which is the very perfection of Christianity. The other virtues and graces bring us near to God by distant approaches. But, by this divine virtue of charity, we are not merely led and drawn unto Him; but we press, as it were, into His presence by it, and are thereby prepared for his eternal society. Our faith, after death, shall be swallowed up in vision, and our hope in fruition; but our charity shall live for ever, and be a main ingredient in our happiness through the endless ages of eternity, • The Revd. Dr. Richard Peters was elected his successor. † The Author had but a day or two to prepare this discourse, and no leisure to revise it before it was first published; being immediately obliged to embark for England. This, it is hoped, will be his apology if it should be found less perfect than the subject requires; for it cannot now be much improved without drawing it too far from its original plan. That every bosom among us may be found glowing with this celestial virtue, at the hour when we are called to give an account of our stewardship, may God of his infinite mercy grant, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. POSTSCRIPT. HERE ought to follow a sermon delivered in the great Lutheran Church at Lancaster, on the interment of his Excellency THOMAS MIFFLIN, Esquire, former Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, January 22, 1800; before the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives, then sitting; and published at the request of the latter. But having had only a few hours notice of my appointment, in the evening preceding the funeral, and being then in too weak a state of health, to make any special preparation, the author was obliged to borrow considerably from his own former publications, (and especially from the foregoing discourse on the death of Dr. Jenney) which made the affinity so great, that a new and separate publication of the sermon on Governor MIFFLIN, was not deemed necessary in this collection. The conclusion, varying little from page 28 of the foregoing, as applied to the character of Governor MIFFLIN, was as follows, viz. " If we were called to power, rule and government over our " fellow men, then shall it be known whether we bartered our " favours away for vile gain? Whether we were open to the al" lurements of vice, the blandishments of flattery, and the " snares, or seductions, of party? Or, whether we made use of " our influence and authority, to support justice, to protect inno"cence, to encourage virtue, and to reward merit? " I add no more-To this test of the use of power and " exercise of government, I may leave the character of the de" ceased. The honour done to his name by this public funeral, "censure. " and the vote of a monument by the Legislature, to perpe"tuate his memory, will rescue his public virtue, from public Private frailties he had, as a man; but if they were " injurious-it was only to himself-never to his friends or " country!" "Haste we then, to commit his mortal part, with its mor"tal frailties, to its destined place that yawning grave"where they will at last find rest-a safe asylum from worldly " distress, the shafts of malice, and the persecutions of "party" "His worth we seek no farther to disclose, " Nor draw his frailties from that dread abode; GREY. |