should have no imperfections. Doctor Spring was not without imperfections He had himself a deep conviction of them, and made them the subject of daily confession before God. But he is gone, we believe, beyond the region of imperfection and trial. And, brethren, if our intercourse with him, while on earth, was so pleasant and profitable; Oh, what a privilege would it be, could we see and converse with him now, when his character, distinguished even here by such intellectual and moral excellences, has been freed from every clog and blemish, and displays, without mixture, the beauties of holiness.

The mourning widow and children are called to submit to no ordinary affliction. They have frequently known the day of adversity. But they have never before experienced the grief of losing a friend so near and so useful. What can I do for their comfort, but to remind them of those heavenly truths which he preached, of that all-sufficient Saviour whom he so often recommended to them, and whose infinite grace he always found a refuge in trouble?

What shall I say to this mourning church and society? Your beloved minister was indeed spared to you many years; he lived to a good old age. But he has finished his work and gone to receive his reward. Look back, now, upon his ministry, ye who were converted or edified by his labors. Remember the earnest exhortations he gave you to watchfulness and self-denial, to persevering diligence, fidelity and prayer. Remember what zeal he showed that you might increase in the good works. It is a privilege for which you ought to give thanks to God, that you have had such a minister. But now, brethren, as he is removed by death, you will be looking and praying for some man of God to supply his place. Great Shepherd of Israel, be near to this destitute, mourning flock; preserve them from evil; keep them perfectly joined together in faith and love; and speedily provide for them a pastor after thine own heart.

knowledge of God and abound in

Fathers and brethren in the ministry, see in that breathless body, that silent tongue, and those eyes closed in death, to what we are coming. It is all that remains of that minister, who was once so

active, so useful and beloved. A few more Sabbaths, and it will be all that will remain of us. Let us then be excited to finish our work. If we love Christ and the souls of men, we are desirous of doing good; and we have our plans of doing good. How grievous would it be, should we be overtaken by death, before our favorite plans are accomplished! Let us then, as ministers of Christ, lay out the business of life wisely, and execute it with all diligence. And let us begin in season, to do our last works. We may be looking for an opportunity in some distant period, to perform those things which belong to the closing scene of life. But let us beware of trusting to this. A sudden removal, without any premonition, may await us. Or if God shall kindly exempt us from such a stroke, we may still lose the opportunity we are expecting. When our health declines, our mental vigor may also decline. He that has the strongest understanding, may then exhibit the understanding of an infant, or no understanding at all. The power of speech, the power of action, and the power of thought may fail us; and all those things which we deferred to the end of life, may be left undone forever. Let us then be doing our last things. Let us be saying our last words to our partners and our children. Let us be writing our last sermons, and our last letters. Let us be making our last addresses to our flocks. Let us be performing our last acts of Christian friendship toward our brethren in the ministry, and our last acts of benevolence for the promotion of the cause of Christ. And when we go into our closets, let us feel, as though we were about to search our hearts and raise our cries to our God and Saviour for the last time before the all-revealing day. O brethren, if we might be duly affected with such a sentiment as this, it would cure the vanity of our minds; it would impress the character of seriousness and piety upon our daily conduct, and would effectually constrain us to preach and live as dying men.

Let us learn one more lesson. However beloved and venerated the ministers of Christ may be-however elevated and useful their station-they must die. What then is most important to a minister when he comes to the close of life? What is it but the man

ner in which he has treated his Saviour and his own soul, and discharged the duties of his holy office? If he can then say, "I know in whom I have believed; I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge will give me at that day;"-what more can he desire?

Finally, though under shepherds die, the great Shepherd lives. He will take care of his sheep and his lambs; not one of them shall perish. His cause is safe. And as an encouragement to diligent exertion, let us consider what a train of good effects may result from our labors. We have contemplated the distinguished usefulness of that venerable minister, whose funeral solemnities we are now attending. But we shall find, that the highest instances of his usefulness were consequent upon a few efforts of enlightened piety, which we might have thought of inconsiderable moment. Those few efforts have, through divine favor, had a leading influence to set in motion engines of good, whose operation already begins to be felt in various parts of the Christian and pagan world, and whose blessed effects, uniting with the effects of other plans of benevolence, will we doubt not, constantly spread to a wider and wider extent, and reach to the end of time, and to everlasting ages. Brethren, we live in a period highly favorable to the accomplishment of great designs. Let us be meditating good for Zion, and striving in one way and another, to promote its prosperity. Who can tell what holy enterprises, what useful institutions, and what enlargement to Christ's kingdom, may spring from our feeble efforts? Our seasons of meditation and prayer, our studies, our consultations, and our correspondence, may, through the blessing of God, give rise to a good, which eternity only can measure. Let us then be up and doing. And when God summons faithful ministers to leave their place here, and engage in the work of heaven, let us still trust in him and take courage. He is the Lord of the harvest, and will send forth other laborers. He will not leave his cause without advocates, nor his churches without pastors, nor the heathen world without missionaries.

up better

After we are laid in our graves other ministers will rise than we; for a better day is at hand. The churches will shine with brighter lustre. A purer spirit will pervade the ministry; a spirit of deeper humility, of more fervent love, and more perfect harmony, a spirit of greater wisdom and zeal, a spirit of higher effort and more exalted piety. Great will be the company of those who will publish the word of the Lord, and great the success which will crown their labors. The fervent prayers offered up by our lamented father, and by the thousands now with him in glory, and the prayers of thousands on earth now panting for the conversion of the world, will be answered, in the universal reign of the Prince of Peace.

A SERMON

OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF THE REV. SAMUEL WORCESTER, D. D., SECRETARY OF THE AM. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS; DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE CHURCH, SALEM, JULY 12, 1821.

1 Sam. 25: 1.- AND SAMUEL DIED; AND ALL THE ISRAELITES LAMENTED HIM.

WHENEVER a good man dies, the world sustains a loss. But among good men, there is an obvious ground of distinction. God has constituted his moral kingdom, as he has the natural body. Though there is but one body, there are many members. And though the members are all necessary; some hold a place of higher importance than others, and the loss of them is more severely felt. When the Apostle touches upon this distinction among Christians, he does it for the purpose of stigmatizing a spirit of emulation and envy, and of promoting mutual love and sympathy, and a paramount regard to the good of the whole. And why should the difference, which God has made among the members of his spiritual empire, ever excite any other feelings, than these? For what is the difference, but a difference in the degree of usefulness? That man is marked with the highest distinction, who does the most good. True greatness is combined with the best interest of the world. interest of the world, we shall love the

And if we love the best man who promotes it;