office. Their studies were restricted almost entirely to their pro fession; and they were known abroad, and endeared to their people, not as authors, but as preachers-not as politicians, but as pastors. They had defects, and so had the churches over which they presided; and yet the whole protestant world beside, did not afford the spectacle of a ministry so evangelical and devoted, or of churches so spiritual and exemplary, as those which called forth our former remarks. Just previous to the war of our Revolution, and during that memorable contest, there arose, chiefly in Connecticut, a class of divines remarkable for their piety, their abilites, and the salutary influence which they exerted on the churches. WEST, SMALLEY, the younger EDWARDS, GOODRICH, TRUMBULL, HART, EMMONS, BACKUS, DWIGHT, STRONG, with many others scarcely inferior, were, altogether, such a constellation of worthies as has seldom, perhaps never, been furnished by so small a territory, in the same number of years. It was mainly owing, under God, to the faithful labors of these men, that the churches began to be disabused of some errors in doctrine, which they had long been taught; to be more strict in guarding against the intrusion of unworthy members; and to be prepared for the arrival of the happy era of revivals, which have so long distinguished this western world. Among the above-mentioned divines, few held a higher rank than NATHAN STRONG, D. D. who was settled in the ministry at Hartford, Conn. in the year 1774, and died December 25, A. D. 1816, aged sixty-eight years. Before we turn the attention of our readers to some important points in theology, as taught in his writings, it may be proper to submit a few preliminary remarks respecting the man, his ministry, and the highly useful measures which he pursued in conjunction with others, for the benefit of our churches, and which, to a considerable extent, were originated by himself. He is thus described in the discourse delivered at his funeral by the venerable Dr. Perkins, who was doubtless more intimately acquainted with him, than any other clergyman now living. "The God of nature endowed him with rich powers of mind, far superior to what is common. From the strength and acuteness of his genius, he was capable of deep investigation. His judgment, by which he examined, compared and weighed subjects to which he turned his attention, was sound and correct. His apprehension was remarkably quick and brilliant. His memory was retentive. In comprehension and extent of thought he excelled. Such were the uncommon resources and energy of his mind as fitted him to accomplish much; to acquire knowledge rapidly; and to be equal to the most unexpected and pressing emergencies. As a student, he was diligent, feeling the importance of losing no time. As a reasoner, he was fair, candid, and impressive, availing himself of every circumstance which would render his argument irresistible. It cannot be omitted that among his various talents, he had a large portion of severe and sarcastic wit. But, if introduced in social intercourse, it was never suffered to obtrude itself into his pulpit discourses. His eminent powers of mind would have enabled him to excel in any learned profession. In his own, he greatly excelled. We rejoice that such talents were devoted to religion, which, of all subjects to which man can turn his attention, is infinitely the most important, whether in relation to the life that now is, or that which is to come. As a scholar, philosopher, and christian divine, he had solid merit. He was not forward and assuming, boastful and obtrusive, but cautious and sagacious, deeply penetrating, and popular and eloquent in address. Intent upon truth, he preferred ideas to the ornaments of style. He came to his people, not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of peace. He had too great a mind to aim at a florid, pompous and ornamented diction. His language was manly, forcible and plain. He had, indeed, many felicities of expression. As a preacher, he was faithful and diligent in his weekly preparation for the pulpit, knowing that beaten oil becomes the sanctuary of the Lord. His general strain was solemn and evangelical, often sublime and eloquent. He had a richness of thought, and would often delight his hearers with an unexpected train of remarks, always accurately discriminating between those hopes of eternal life which are well founded, and hypocrisy and delusion. He was a firm believer in the doctrines of grace, and a strenuous advocate for them. While most affectionately attached to them, he was of a candid Catholic spirit to all who professed to love the divine redeemer. He was free from bigotry and superstition. To the promotion of pure religion he directed his greatest efforts. Christ and him crucified was the sum of his preaching. Here is the only help of lost men. Here his only hope. By no other name can we be saved. I do not go too far when I say, that DR. STRONG was among the best and ablest divines of our own country, or any other." pp. 20-22. Although the description here given of Dr. Strong stands in little need of qualification or enlargement, we shall venture a few remarks of our own. We are not sure that the excellent author of the above extract has not touched the subject of his "sarcastic wit," with rather a questionable lenity. We can easily appreciate the kindness of the motive, and the delicacy of the occasion, which repressed any remark that might seem to convey a censure. Dr. Strong had an uncommonly strong sense of the ludicrous, and of those relations between opposite ideas, which constitute wit; and it was difficult for him to subdue his almost irresistible propensity, to disburthen his prolific imagination of the ideas which, whether delicate or grotesque, rushed upon him with the rapidity and vividness of lightning. In the social circle, he was too often facetious, and sometimes even jocose. After leading in prayer in the presence of the Legislature of the State, or the municipal courts, and bringing tears from many an eye by the solemnity and fervor of his manner, it was well if, in his way out of the house, he did not by some sally of wit either ludicrous or severe, occasion a burst of laughter on every side. From indulging in such habits, he came to be regarded too much as a champion, in contests for pre-eminence in retort and sarcasm. As it was seldom that he was not able to parry the thrusts of the most adroit in the art, and utterly to disarm his antagonist, the consciousness of his own superior powers, together with an undue fondness for such excitement, was a constant temptation to the indulgence of his ruling propensity,—a temptation by which, notwithstanding all his struggles against it, he was too often overcome. It was well, however, that he completely mastered himself in the pulpit. Not only did nothing proceed from his lips in the house of God, calculated to excite a ludicrous thought, or to awaken a vain smile; but there was scarcely a minister of the day, whose whole manner in conducting the sevices of the sanctuary, was more deeply solemn and impressive. His printed sermons exhibit not the least semblance of the quality which has now been mentioned, and which entered into the very texture of his mind. In his reply to the posthumous work of Dr. Huntington, which presented constant opportunities, if not a sufficient call, for the employment of ridicule and sarcasm, there is not a sentence which would lead the reader to conjecture, that Dr. Strong had the slightest pretension to wit or humor. Indeed we think he would have rendered this production much more effective, if, in some places, he had acted on the principle of Horace : Ridiculum acri Fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res. If, as some have thought, Dr. Strong betrayed at times, rather an unusual sensitiveness in regard to his own character and importance, which made him reluctant to own a superior, and jealous of a rival; it cannot be denied, that towards all who yielded him a suitable tribute of respect, he invariably manifested sufficient condescension and urbanity; giving due weight to their opinions and arguments, patiently listening to their inquiries, and making them entirely easy in his presence. But flies were never more easily brushed from a wall, than the impertinent were rebuked and abashed by some sudden and confounding stroke of his wit, which he well knew how to charge with the keenest satire, and administer with unsparing effect. As a writer, he was negligent of his style to a degree hardly reconcilable with his known literary attainments. His language is entirely destitute of ornament, and his sentences are constructed without the least regard to grace of transition or harmony of sound. Could he but express his thoughts with clearness, he cared for very little else. Purity of style, was a matter of no importance. Whenever he wanted a word, he made a new one without the least hesitation. Often, indeed, he seems to prefer terms of his own coining, when his departure from common usage could have resulted neither from ignorance, nor want of recollection. Hence his repeated use of such words as "replial," "communional," "transferral," "exaltment," "happyfying," etc. Still his style is commonly perspicuous, vivid and forcible; always simple and occasionally elegant. The most striking quality in Dr. Strong, was his remarkable insight into the character and motives of others. His opinion of a man was formed at the first interview, and he seldom had occasion to alter it. Favored as he was with the peculiar facilities for reading, which cities usually supply, he still availed himself of this advantage less than most ministers in a similar situation. But though he was not a great reader, he was a man of habitual and industrious thought; and possessed the faculty, beyond most others, of gaining knowledge at second hand. When in company with those whom he thought capable of affording valuable information, he induced them, by a dextrous and easy management, to take the lead in conversation, till the object which he had in view was completely gained. If an account was given of a book which he had not read, such was the power of his memory, and such his tact in combining the statements made, and in seizing upon the inferences to which they naturally led, that he seemed to be at once master of the subject; and not unfrequently could give a better analysis of the work than the one he had just received. What Dr. Johnson says of Richard Savage, was eminently true of him. "His judgment was accurate, his apprehension quick, and his memory so tenacions, that he was frequently obseved to know what he had learned from others in a short time, better than those by whom he was informed." The mental vision of many others has commanded a wider horizon; but what he saw, he saw clearly and in an instant. He was more distinguished by quick and almost intuitive perception of truths, which most others discern only as they pass through a slow and elaborate process of induction, than by great comprehension, or great profoundness; and yet he was not deficient in either of these respects, Clearness and vivacity were, perhaps, the most striking qualities of his mind. He possessed likewise two other attributes, which are seldom found in an equal degree in any one person; for while he was remarkably ingenious in devising measures for the promotion of the highest welfare of mankind, he had few equals in the power of enlisting others as coadjutors, in the accomplishment of his valuable designs. A man so distinguished for piety, for various intellectual endowments, and professional industry, could hardly fail to exert a happy influence on the interests of religion and literature. At college he was a class-mate of Dr. Dwight, and was afterwards associated with him for several years, in the office of Tutor in Yale College. Whatever spirit of literary rivalry might for a time have actuated these two, perhaps the brightest ornaments of their class, we believe that while it did not impair their respect for each other's talents, it had the effect to increase in each those high qualifications, by which they were both so eminently fitted for public usefulness. As they came forward together in life, they were united in counsel and effort in all the leading measures pursued for the advancement of the moral and religious welfare of the community. It is no mean praise to Dr. Strong, that he should have uniformly enjoyed the confidence, the co-operation, and the willing deference of such a man as PRESIDENT DWIGHT. It is confidently believed, that no person did more than Dr. Strong to prepare the way for the glorious revival, which began to overspread a large portion of Connecticut, and some parts of Massachusetts, just before the close of the last century. His preaching was peculiarly fitted to make every hearer feel, that religion is a personal and vital concern; and that no valid excuse can be given for the neglect of it a single moment. Laying aside the scholastic mode of sermonizing which still prevailed to some extent, and adopting the most simple method of discussion, as well as a style terse, direct and conspicuous, he made his auditors feel that theology, if it was not a new science, was at least invested with new charms, by being exhibited in an easy and intelligible manner. He increased his power as a preacher, by dispensing with a great part of the technical language then generally in use,-by avoiding paradoxical statements, which are ordinarily as mischie vous as they are startling, and by laboring to inculcate the doctrines and precepts of the gospel as matters of common sense, no less than of revelation. He particularly excelled in stating and proving the entire moral corruption of man; and in exhibiting the helplessness of the sinner, in a light peculiarly calculated to convince him that all his inability is voluntary, and therefore is the essence of all his guilt in the sight of God. These, and the topics which are naturally connected with them, are ably discussed in a volume of sermons, which he published in the year 1798. Whoever reads those sermons with attention, will not wonder that the delivery of them in his own pulpit, and the subsequent presentation of them to his people from the press, should have been followed soon after, by a powerful revival of religion in his parish,-one of the earliest in that long course of revivals which then commenced. The nature of the subjects is such, and the manner in which they are treated is so plain, so direct, and so clearly the result of the deep solicitude which the preacher felt for his people, that to suppose these sermons could |