eyes are fixed, in whom so many hearts are garnered, and I have well-nigh done what I proposed. The little delicate boy of the New Hampshire hills, whose father's dwelling, till a little while before his birth, was a log cabin; who was sent to school, "that he might get to know as much as the other boys;" whose early training was in a log school-house, by a man that could not spell; who, in his boyhood, could not for his life get up the courage for a declamation; who taught a school, and copied deeds in the office of the County Register, that he might help his brother through the College, and procure the means of his own professional education; who, when he went to study Law, borrowed the Blackstone which he could not buy; how came he to be, what Mr. Choate has said, "by universal designation, the leader of the general American bar?" How came he to stand among the orators, with Cicero and with Demosthenes? How came he, with Alexander Hamilton, on that second level to George Washington, as "the Defender of the Constitution?" which, if his great heart had been opened as they cruelly dissevered his great head, would have been found written there? How came his Attend to me, young men, my children, for Christ's sake, and our country's, and I will tell you, in the words of one who was in College, with him. "Daniel Webster, while in College, was remarkable for his steady habits, his intense application to study, and his punctual at tendance upon all the prescribed exercises. I know not that he was absent from a recitation, or from morning and evening prayers in the Chapel, or from public wor ship; and I doubt if ever a smile was seen upon his face, during any religious exercise. He was always in his place; and with a decorum suited to it. He had no collision with any one, nor appeared to enter into the concerns of others, but, emphatically minded his own busi ness. As steady as the sun, he pursued with intense application the great object, for which he came to College." Such is the testimony of the Rev. Dr. Shurlleff. I do not leave out of the account, his singular natural gifts, and still less do I forget, that, without the blessing of Almighty God, no good can come of any thing. But I do most conscientiously believe, on the experience, as a teacher of young men, of four and thirty years, that the Salisbury boy became the man of Marshfield, the man of Massachusetts, and the man of men, by the transmitted virtue of an industrious, self-denying, wellordered and religious youth. "The boy was father of the man." Beloved, God's doings with our land, of late, have certainly been strange. Three years ago, and we could boast three stars, that would have fixed the eyes of men, amid the constellated skies of Pericles, or of Elizabeth. Calhoun sleeps proudly now among his own palmettos. The funeral track of Clay to his beloved Ashland, is green, still, with the nation's tears. And now we have laid Webster in his own new tomb: the rock to guard his rest; the ocean sound his dirge. Is it to punish for our ingratitude and disobedience? Is it to teach us to cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils? Is it to preach to us, from Jeremiah and from Paul, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord?" God of our fathers, and our own God, may we learn Thy lesson in its time. May we confess with grateful hearts, the nation's debt, and ours! May we deplore with sighs and tears, the nation's sins and ours. May we implore anew, the dear redemption of the Cross. And own anew, its consecration and its power. Not long before, we, one by one, shall stand where Webster stood, upon the verge of that vast valley; into which, the tribes of men, like autumn leaves, go down. Not long before, we, one by one, shall feel what Webster felt, its loneliness and helplessness, and own the want of guidance and support. Then be it ours, to own "the fact, the fact: "the only fact we then shall need to own; The Saviour died for me! Then be it ours, to feel the only stay, that then can bear us up, the Cross on which He died. "Thy Rod, Thy Rod-Thy Staff, Thy Staff." 66 Thy Rod, Thy Staff, O gracious God, have stayed SERMON I. ANCIENT CHARITY. *THE RULE AND THE REPROOF OF MODERN. 2 CORINTHIANS VIII. 1-5.-Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves; praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us, by the will of God. 1 CORINTHIANS Xxvi. 1-3.-Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. THE Apostle Paul seems to have entertained a very poor opinion of what men call "a charitable collection." Once in a great while--he must have had a breast-plate on of triple brass, who first proposed "a quarterly col Preached in A. D. 1833. This sermon has been universally quoted; has passed through several editions; and been reprinted in Scotland. It is the full statement of a plan which my Father urged with great earnestness and great success, in various ways. An extract from a pastoral letter, in A. D. 1841, is given below. A PASTORAL LETTER, TO THE CLERGY AND LAITY OF THE DIOCESE OF NEW JERSEY, IN BEHALF OF SYSTEMATIC CHARITY, DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN,-You will bear me witness, that, from the time that the Holy Ghost made me your overseer, I have not ceased to "stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance," as to the Christian privilege of contributing lection," in a modern city Church!-a notice, worded with the utmost skill, that none may take offence, is tremulously read, that, on a given day, their condescending bounty will be asked, for the Lord's poor, or for His Church. The newspapers, in the same column of your substance for the extension of THE GOSPEL IN THE CHURCH. Nor can I withhold the acknowledgment of your prompt response to my appeals. At the Convention of the diocese, in 1833, the first time in which I participated with you in our great trust for "the common salvation," the amount of contributions reported for Missionary purposes, within the diocese, was less than one hundred and thirty dollars ($128 37). By the adoption of the plan of Systematic Charity, then recommended in the Episcopal Address, and known as THE OFFERINGS OF THE CHURCH, the aggregate receipts of eight years, to the 27th of May last, have been $11,714 77: being an annual average of $1464 34; (or more than eleven times the revenue of the year last preceding;) while "the Offerings," in one instance, have risen, in a single year, (1837,) as high as $1814 45. Such has been the result of God's blessing on the means of His own appointment, within the portion of His vineyard where our lot is cast. You have seen the amount which has been contributed, as "the Offerings of the Church;" and the results, which, under God's blessing, have been accomplished by it. Not one of you, I boldly say, has ever been the poorer for his share of it; or felt the slightest inconvenience from his contribution. Meanwhile, the increase of the number of the parishes, and the increase of the parishes severally, have greatly added to the number of proper contributors to this treasury of the Lord. When the plan was laid before you, in 1833, the Scriptural warrant for it was given to you, in those words of St. Paul, to the Corinthians, "Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." The proposition was, that the sums, thus laid by "in store," should be brought to the Church, on the Sunday of the administration of the Holy Communion, and placed on the Holy Table, with the alms, and other oblations of the people. What I have now to propose-and what I confidently believe, if faithfully carried out, will be blessed of God, to the full and constant supply of our Missionary Treasury-is, that, instead of monthly, or at rarer intervals, THE OFferings of the CHURCH" BE MADE EVERY LORD'S DAY, in connection with the Offertory, as appointed in the Communion Service. i. This was the primitive mode. ii. This is the simplest and most direct address that can he made to the parishioners. iii. This is the Church's proper action, in her due organization, under the direction of her ministers, on the call of her divine Head. This plan combines many advantages. 1. Its frequency is an advantage. The contribution can never be forgotten. |