A SERMON

ON THE DEATH OF JEREMIAH EVARTS, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE A. B. C. F. M., DELIVERED IN ANDOVER, JULY 31, 1831.

Acts 10: 38.- "WHO WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD."

We have assembled, brethren and friends, to show our respect to the memory of a faithful servant of Christ, and our sorrow at his death. That friend to the heathen, that benefactor of mankind, who has been taken from us, enjoyed the esteem and affection not only of his relatives, of the Prudential Committee, and of the American Board, but of all those in our country who love the cause of Christ. He was very dear also to the missionaries whom we have sent forth, and the tidings of his death will fill their hearts with sorrow. In Palestine, in India, in the wilderness of America, and in the Isles of the Pacific, there will be great mourning for our beloved Secretary.

Far be it from me to bestow unmeasured applause upon any man, especially upon the man whose death we deplore. The highest honor I would give him is to say, that he was a Christian, and that, in imitation of his Lord and Master, he went about doing good. Our departed friend was of a humble heart and contrite spirit. He disclaimed all personal worthiness, and was among the last to seek or to desire applause. And now that he

is gone to a world of perfect holiness, he will be deaf to all praise, except that which is ascribed to God and the Lamb.

In this solemn service, I shall attempt to show by what attributes of character, and by what arrangements of divine providence, we are to account for the eminent usefulness of our lamented brother, the late corresponding Secretary of the American Board.

I shall first notice his intellectual character. The faculties of his mind were originally strong and active, and were improved by a thorough literary and scientific education, and a regular course of study in law. There are few men, whose acquisitions are more extensive or more solid. On all subjects to which he turned his attention, whether literary, political, or religious, he formed clear and comprehensive views; and whether he undertook to write or speak, he exhibited the riches of his mind in a diction uniformly natural, perspicuous and forcible. The extemporaneous addresses he made on public occasions were peculiarly modest and plain; but full of vivid, pertinent, and weighty thought. He was distinguished by patience and fairness in his investigations, by the clearness and force of his reasoning, and by correctness and despatch in business. In all his habits, whether of thought or action, he showed as little liability to mistake, as can be expected of any man in this state of imperfection.

Now it is upon the character of the mind, that our ability to do good in a great measure depends. If a man is in this respect superior to others, he will in all probability accomplish more good than they. The usefulness of his labors, unless prevented by special causes, will be very much in proportion to the amount of his intellectual powers and acquisitions.

This is a subject, on which young men, in different stages of their education, frequently entertain erroneous views. They look forward to their future profession with impatience, and are in haste to engage in its labors, apprehending that spending so much time in preparation will detract from the good they might accomplish. This is a great mistake. For all experience shows, that the whole of a man's usefulness is not so much according to the length of the time in which he is engaged in active service, as to

the amount of his qualifications; and that if any one would be sure to rise to the highest degree of usefulness of which he is capable, he must spend more time than is common in preparation, leaving less for action.

The whole time which Mr. Evarts devoted to classical, scientific and professional study unquestionably contributed to his usefulness. Even those acquisitions, which might have been thought less necessary, proved serviceable in some part of the work assigned to him. For example; the knowledge he acquired of jurisprudence qualified him to perform that work of benevolence in behalf of the suffering Indians, which will be so lasting an honor to him in the view of all who love justice and feel for the oppressed. And if some of his previous studies did not in the same manner come into direct use in the cause to which he was devoted; they still had an influence in giving strength and elevation to the character of his mind, and in preparing him more effectually to accomplish his great object.

In the second place, I shall notice his moral and religious character.

In the strict evangelical sense, Mr. Evarts was a good man. His life afforded the most satisfactory evidence that he had experienced the renewing of the Holy Ghost; that he repented of sin, and believed in Christ as the only Saviour, and that he rendered habitual obedience to the divine commands.

Now this spirit of Christian piety contributed in the highest degree to his usefulness. It was this which gave a right direction to his intellectual powers, and led him to make a right use of his acquisitions. It was this, which constituted his great inward motive to a useful life. Had he possessed the same intellectual furniture, without piety; his influence, instead of being beneficial, might have been mischievous. He might have spent his life in spreading moral pestilence. And even if he had avoided this excess of iniquity, and devoted himself to the business of the profession which he originally chose; he might have done little more than to pursue his own private interests. The spread of the gospel and the salvation of the world would have had no

power over his heart. Look at those who are possessed of richly furnished minds, but are destitute of religious principle. Their lives are spent in worldly pursuits and indulgences. Even those actions which have a show of goodness, are dictated by a more refined selfishness. Behold, then, the work which sovereign grace accomplishes! When God renews the hearts of sinners, he manifests great love, not only to them, but to the world. They who are renewed have the spirit of active benevolence, and so are led, by a motive of exhaustless energy, to seek the highest interests of man. They bear the image of him who went about doing good. When our beloved friend was renewed by the divine Spirit, his heart was brought under the influence of love to God and love to man. At his conversion he commenced a course of action, which was to fall in with a great system of benevolence, and to promote the salvation of untold multitudes in Christian and heathen lands.

But holy affection, in order to produce its proper effects, must not only exist, but be lively and fervent. Benevolence, when feeble and dormant, can accomplish but little. The good to be accomplished by the agency of Evarts required a mind enlightened and purified in an uncommon degree; it required a benevolence steady, ardent and invincible. And such was the character to which, through the grace of God, he was formed. The affection which predominated in his breast, next to his supreme love to God, was compassion to the souls of men, and strong desire for the salvation of the heathen. This was the inward power which moved him. It was not a feverish heat, but the even pulsation and glow of health. What others might do from sudden excitement, he did from principle-principle which was uniform and enduring. The moral principle which actuated him was as permanent as the faculties of his soul, and the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a principle of action is essential to the highest degree of usefulness in any condition. Though it lies concealed

in the shades of private life, and shows itself only in the little circle of domestic duties, or in the exercises of secret devotion; still it contributes to the welfare of the world.

But religious principle was specially important and necessary

to the chief agent in our Foreign Missionary enterprise. In connection with others, he had to accomplish a work of uncommon magnitude, and to encounter numberless and formidable difficulties. He was called to guide the ship over a tempestuous sea, when strong counter currents were to be stemmed, sudden changes of wind and weather to be encountered, and rocks and shoals to be avoided. In such an enterprise, it was indispensable that he should possess a principle of great firmness and strength; a principle which would enable him to meet difficulties calmly, and to rise above all discouragements; and which would contain within itself an exhaustless power of excitement, when all other springs of action failed. Such a principle he had. It was the religious affection. which the Spirit of God produced and cherished in his heart. It was an affection which brought him into an alliance with apostles: and martyrs, and with Christ himself.

But there was a particular attribute of his moral character, which was of great importance to his usefulness, namely, his scrupulous and inflexible integrity.

This trait in his character was so manifest, that it raised him entirely above suspicion. The name of Jeremiah Evarts produced a general feeling of safety in regard to any interests which might be committed to his care. The evident simplicity and uprightness of his character freed him from the obstructions, which the suspicions of others always throw in the way of a man's usefulness, and secured to him the confidence and support not only of his particular associates, but of all those in the community who were attached to the cause of missions. And this manifest uprightness of character, which was indispensable to his success through the whole period of our Foreign Missionary operations, was so in a preeminent degree, at the commencement of those operations. To carry into effect the great design of the Board, it was necessary that large sums of money should be contributed, and sent in charity to various and distant countries- a business hardly known among us at that time, and not easily accomplished even in the most favorable circumstances. Now who can suppose that both the rich and the poor would have voluntarily united from year to