there are fewer labourers to perform it. The more the world is impoverished, the more let us endeavour to enrich it. If an army is reduced of its number, let the officers, the foldiers that remain, not be unwilling to go through double fervice, and to exert themselves with a double activity and vigour.

(8.) By the removal of the excellent of the earth in the flower or prime of their days, and in the height of their usefulness, we are fure that we have loft by their departure from our world one tie to earth, and gained one attachment more to heaven. The excellent of the earth are taken away; our friends, our companions with whom we took fweet counsel. In every fuch inftance one or more bond to earth and time is confequently broken. We are in one more degree detached from the charms of the creature, and hereby may come nearer, if we rightly improve the providence, to a deliverance from this world, that may have had too fast an hold of our hopes and affections. Had our pious and excellent friends ftayed behind us, the thought of parting from them, though but for a time, might have thrown a gloom upon our expiring moments, and fharpened the fting of death. But they are gone, and life has loft by the departure of each of them one of its ftrongest engagements. And as we have dropt one tie to earth by their removal, fo we have gained one more argument for heaven. Heaven lets down one more attractive, and a moft fweet and powerful attractive it is, to draw up our hearts and hopes to it; heaven, where our immortal treasure lies, and whether our pious friends are gone. Let us feel the attachment; and the more heaven enlarges its glorious and bleffed company of faints made perfect, the more let us look by faith within the veil, and the more ready let us be to follow our brethren that have died in CHRIST to the world of glory, that we may fhare with them in their eternal bleffedness, and in the joys of an intimate, perfect, and indiffoluble friendship.

(9.) And

(9.) And lastly, Let the removal of the excellent of the earth, in the flower or prime of their days, and in the meridian of their usefulness, quicken us to importunate and inceffant prayer that GOD would pour out his fpirit upon fuch of his fervants as remain, and upon our rifing ministry, and rifing generation. The refidue of the fpirit is with Gop, and it is a refidue copious enough to qualify and confecrate fuch as furvive, or fuch as are entering into life, and fervice, with as eminent gifts and as eminent graces as those who are gone before us. O for the fpirit of the ascending Elijahs, to rest upon our young Elifhas! The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; let as earnestly and inceffantly befeech the LORD of the harvest that he would fend forth labourers into bis harvest. Matt. ix, 37, 38. O that GOD would kindle by his Almighty breath, and a rich unction from himself, bright and burning lamps, to fill up the places of thofe which are removed from his fanctuary below, to shine in his temple above! Let the death of fuch an eminent fervant of CHRIST as Mr. Davies, in the prime of his age, and in the height of his usefulness, excite us to importunate and abundant prayer that GOD would be pleafed, in compaffion to our world, to raise up like inftruments of his glory, both in our land and wherever his name is known, or there are any opportunities to preach his gofpel! O for the descent of a double portion of the spirit upon surviving minifters, and upon all other nurseries of religion and learning at home and abroad! "Where is the LORD GOD of Elijah ?" He lives, he is still with us, though Elijah is gone. To him there, fore let us look, to him let us pray with holy importunity and zeal, that the time, even the fet time to favour his Zion, may come. Let but the LORD "give the word, and pour out of his fpirit, and great fhall be the number of those that publish it." Pfal. lxviii. 11. "Let him but clothe bis priests with falvation, and his people fhall fhout aloud for joy." Pfal. cxxxii. 16.

And

66

And thus have I endeavoured, from various confiderations, to refolve this problem in providence, Why the excellent of the earth fhould be taken away in the flower or prime of their age, and from the most enlarged fpheres of usefulness, or what inftruction and improvement we may gather from fuch seemingly unkind and undefirable difpenfations." I pretend not to affign all the reafons of fuch a conduct in Deity, in that "GOD, who works all things after the counsel of his own will," but yet poffibly I may have affigned some, and some fuch as may convince us that even these afflictive, and perhaps frequently fupposed impenetrable proceedings, are not without evident traces of the divine wisdom, righteousness, and mercy upon them to a duly obferving eye, fo that we may not only as the voice of faith, but as the confeffion of experience fay, I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness haft afflicted me. Pfal. cxix. 75.

I shall only add, that whether we can or cannot inveftigate the motives in the counfels of a holy, wife, and merciful God, why fuch providences fhould take place as the removal of the excellent of the earth in the flower or prime of their days, and in the height of their usefulness; yet two things methinks are indifpenfible duties upon us in fuch difpenfations, Congratulation and Submiffion. Congratulation that our pious friends are gone to a better world; for as one fays, "Was not self-love too predominant, and our faith of invifible realities too weak, we fhould rejoice at a pious relative (or friend's) admiffion into the fociety of the bleffed. We congratulate them on fome petty advantage, gained in this low ftate of being, and we mourn their advancement to the highest degree of honour and felicity, because out of our ken!-Such aukward and prepofterous creatures are we."

The other duty is fubmiffion-fubmiffion to the high and holy, though awful will of Heaven. Patience has its hour of exertion and effulgence in the dark

nefs

nefs of providence, and the season of our greatest trials. "Father, not my will, but thine be done," how glorious, how pleasant to hear from a foul under the preffures of the foreft afflictions! I have often thought of the noble speech of the Archbishop of Cambray, who, when he heard the news of the Duke of Burgundy's death, to whom he had been preceptor, and for whom he had the most tender affection, burst into tears, but yet prefently faid, "If I knew that by the turn of a straw I could recover him to life, and yet at the fame time was affured that it was contrary to the will of God, I would not do it."-O for a complacent acquiefcence in the divine difpofals! O for the meek and cheerful furrender of our wills to the will of our GOD! May this be our experience till faith is turned into fight, and hope and patience fhall be fwallowed up in boundless and everlasting fruition and joy.

CHARACTER

CHARACTER

O F THE

AUTHOR.

By the Rev. DAVID BOSTWICK, M. A.

OF NEW-YORK.

"It

T will doubtless be acknowledged on all hands, that a decent refpect, and a proportionable tribute of honour are due to the memory of thofe deceased, whom the God of Nature and Grace had furnished with every valuable endowment, and in his pro vidence had advanced to an extensive sphere of usefulnefs while they lived: and that this was eminently the cafe of my reverend friend and brother, no one, who had the happiness of his perfonal acquaintance, or could rely on the teftimony of univerfal fame, will pretend to difpute.

"I am, however, truly fenfible that to exhibit a juft portraiture of Prefident Davies, and draw the lineaments of his amiable character, is a task too arduous for me, and would require a genius not inferior to his own; but however, the friendship with which he was pleased to honour me, the esteem and veneration I had for him while he lived, with the juft fense I still entertain of his uncommon worth, unitedly demand the present exertion of my feeble attempts, especially as his death has taken place in the intervening time between the preaching of the following Difcourfe, and its publication, which was committed to my care.

Mr. Davies was a man of such uncommon furniture, both of gifts and grace, and adorned with fuch an affemblage of amiable and ufeful qualities, and each