III.

IN THE MINISTRY.

PROVIDENCE.

1857-1866.

The pastorate of the Roger Williams church in Providence became vacant soon after his resignation had been sent to the society at Olneyville. But not until final action by the latter, sundering the relationship which had subsisted between them, would he listen to any proposition for his labors elsewhere; and after his pastorate had formally closed, private solicitations having reference to the Providence pastorate were met by little encouragement.

While at Edinburg he received a formal call to the Roger Williams church, with the privilege of a vacation of six months before he should assume its active duties. Accepting the call, he decided to devote three months to a European

tour, and sailed from New York, June 24. Having visited England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland and France, he reached home Sept. 23. Before going abroad he had become sufficiently strengthened to be able to enjoy with comparatively few physical hindrances, the taxation of strength, arising from the experiences of a tourist.

It was a joy to walk by his side as, with form erect, the dull leaden line, brought by severe, anxious toil, and by suffering, faded from his eye - lids, exuberant movement taking the place of the old languor, he performed a toilsome journey of twenty miles in a day, on foot, over the rugged Swiss mountain passes. The nerveless, weary, despondent pastor could scarcely have been recognized on that radiant August morning, when with the sun's rising he stood upon the balcony of the hotel at Chamounix, and clasped his hands with childlike unconsciousness over his heart, as if to keep in its wild beating, as he gazed with lustrous eye up to the clear, pure, vast majesty enthroning Mt. Blanc, and then silently, with inspiration and dignity in every step, went back to his room to meditation and prayer.

Every day, almost, seemed to add to his strength of body and exhilaration of spirit; and the results sought by the tour were gained to a degree highly

gratifying to himself and his friends. It was pursued with such regard to personal endurance, and the gaining of intelligent acquaintance with what was best in art, peculiar in society and striking in nature, that there were no features of it which he ever recalled with feelings of disappointment or regret. A series of letters contributed to the Morning Star, were remarkable for their ease and freshness, their vividness of descriptions of life and scenery, and their comprehensive appreciation of the beautiful and grand in art, and of the wonderful achievements of scientific and architectural skill.

His pastoral labors commenced with October. In regard to this entrance upon ministerial duties he said:

"I felt in some sense as if beginning anew; had been given a season for reflection, for a survey backward and forward. I meant to make my service more full of heart. I felt that spiritual results alone, without undervaluing others, could satisfy me, and that these should be chiefly sought; never felt more self - distrustful, nor more like looking to God."

Those who were permitted to enjoy his public and private counsels in the ensuing nine rare years, realized a significant incarnation of these words of pastoral devotion, of Christian love and hope. The study and toil, the varied and rich experiences of a

faithful, watchful ministry bore in this field their choicest fruits.

Mature judgment, ripe scholarship, large and quick comprehension of human nature, caution in forming opinions and their usual correctness when reached; an intelligent, sympathetic appreciation of the spirit and efforts of those who sought his help and guidance, combined to make him a pastor and teacher indeed.

His pulpit ministrations disclosed, if possible, more than former dignity, and were richer in thought, more practical, and more effective in reaching the intimate and peculiar wants of the soul. He strove to win men; his ambition was to save them by the faithful application of the vital teachings of the gospel. At one time he said publicly: "I am trying to be more plain in speech and kind in act.

More and more ] Whatsoever thy hand

In his anniversary sermon, Oct. 2, 1859, he said: "To me the work seems every year to grow weightier. I am settling more and more into fixedness of character and effort. seem to hear the precept: findeth to do, do it with thy might,' sounding from every side. More and more the Gospel seems the great reality, and all beside it, phantoms. Here is the solid adamant. I seem but a child in grace, but thank God for the hope that I shall have an eternal summer for my growth.

“I have not met you as a mere routine alwaysI know that. I have tried to study your wants, and have tried to meet them. I think we are coming to understand each other better, and I should be sorry to think that increasing knowledge was not bringing increased confidence.

"We have met in sick rooms and at death beds, and looked upward to find hope and light; in joyous. circles and our pulses have leaped freshly in the sunshine of sympathy; our voices have blended in song and our hearts in prayer when the hour of evening worship drew on; and sometimes in this sanctuary has it not seemed as though we were on the crest of another Tabor, amid eternal brightness, saying with deep fervor: how good it is to be here'? But we are workers together here. Not finished yet are our tasks.

"Do not suppose that I am alone responsible for your religious character, life and faithfulness, or think of me as necessary to it. I have no compulsory power. And if any feeling of excessive confidence or passivity exists, I am the occasion of your loss. The profit you gather must largely depend on yourselves. It is your enterprise quite as much as mine-more yours who are not Christians. It involves your salvation, and that no man can secure for you.

The amount of work pressed upon him from beyond his pastoral field was in no degree intermitted or lightened. A larger sphere of public service