When he arrived at Brainerd, May 25, he was extremely feeble, and as it seems, looked upon the time of his departure as near. "God," he said, "is very gracious. He has sustained me, as it were by miracle, thus far, and granted me one great desire of my heart, in bringing me to Brainerd. And if it be agreeable to his holy purposes, that I should leave my poor remains here, his will be done." He was able to attend to no business, and to speak but little. In few words he addressed the members of the church, and some of the congregation. After that, though much exhausted, he expressed a particular desire that the children of the school, according to their request, should come in. "I want"-he said with tears-"I want to see all my dear children, and to take them by the hand." They were then called in, and he took each of them by the hand, as they passed by his dying bed. Having all passed round in procession, they stood and sung a hymn. He was affected to tears most of the time. He then in the most affectionate manner, addressed them while they were melted to tears. . . . There, on the seventh of June in the morning, at that consecrated spot in the wilderness, dearer far to him than any city or mansion on earth, this servant of the church, worn out with fatigue, and exhausted with sickness, lifted up his eyes towards heaven, and with a delightful smile upon his countenance, fell asleep in Jesus..

The grief of the missionary family on this occasion, you shall learn from their own language. When beginning to write their Journal, the day on which their beloved counsellor and father died, they thus describe the overwhelming sorrow of their hearts. -"With reluctance we enter on the events of this day. Our thoughts recoil. Our pen stops. Tears darken our eyes. We seek where to weep. We enter into our closets and weep there. We resolve to be men, and not children. We resume the task. Our weakened hands refuse to perform their office. We look at each other, and say, who shall bear the doleful tidings? A solemn silence casts a still darker shade over the gloomy scene. Every heart is faint; every head is sick; every hand is weak."

But the missionary family at Brainerd are not alone in their

grief. There is a general mourning. And this mourning will spread through various and distant parts of the world, as soon as the tidings of Dr. Worcester's death shall be heard. Our mis sionaries in the east, and in the west loved him and confided in him as a father, by whose mature wisdom and faithful friendship they were guided and cheered in all their labors. How will their hearts bleed, when they hear that this beloved, honored friend is no more! I might mention the sorrow of his church and society; of the Prudential Committee and the American Board; of our Theological Seminary, in which he had been recently called to the office of a Visitor; of the Massachusetts Missionary Society, and the American Education Society, and of other religious and charitable societies with which he was connected; of the churches and ministers of Christ; of the friends of missions and the friends of man.

But it becomes us to restrain our feelings, and seriously to inquire, in what manner we should bear this visitation of providence, and what use we should make of it.

Let us then thank the God of all grace, that he has prepared a heaven of glory and blessedness for his faithful servants. O how sweet the rest of heaven, after a wearisome journey through this wilderness! How blessed to be rid of all imperfections and sins. Imperfections and sins our dear brother had, or he could not have been human. He confessed them and looked to the blood of atonement for forgiveness, or he could not have been a Christian. But from his life and death, we have the best reason to think, that he now sees his Saviour face to face, and will serve him with perfect love and perfect joy forever.

We ought to give thanks to God for raising up a man of so distinguished a character, and making him the instrument of so much good to the church. And we ought, with reverence and submission, to notice the hand of God in the place and circumstances of his death. The progress of the divine dispensations may soon show, and the light of eternity will certainly show, that important ends were to be answered by his dying at a missionary station. It seems as though God meant in this affair, to set aside the wishes

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of his relatives, his people and his fellow laborers here, for the sake of some great public good. The man who has here acted so conspicuous a part in the missionary cause, and who has secured the strongest attachment of the Christian community, is removed from his family and friends, and is carried away to a spot in the wilderness a spot on which have centered so many charities, and labors, and prayers. He is carried to the place where our beloved Kingsbury, with so much ability and success, began to collect and teach the Indian children. Though a sick and dying man, he has this desire of his heart to see the consecrated place to see the missionary family-to see and embrace the children of the forest, now the children of a Christian school, and in words faint and few, to give his last counsel, his dying benediction. There he is, in the most tender and interesting moments of his life. There he commits his soul to his God and Saviour. There his body lies in the dust. And now, brethren, the happy consequence will be, that all the esteem and love, which Christians in America have for his character, all their gratitude for his services, all their sympathy for his sufferings, and all their grief at his death, will be associated with that missionary establishment, and with the missionary cause. The recollection that a man so great, and wise, and good, went to die on missionary ground, must excite a new interest in the public mind. The place where Dr. Worcester died, and where he sleeps in the grave, will be a consecrated place. And who can ever go to that place, without emotions of mingled veneration and love and tenderness, at the remembrance of the devoted minister who came there to die. In the minds of Christians, that place will be closely united with the cause which is there to be promoted. And so that precious cause will hereafter stand out to public view, as having the nearest connection with all that was great and useful in the life, and all that was solemn and peaceful in the death of this beloved servant of Christ.

And now, brethren, shall we faint under this heavy stroke? Shall the friends of missions be disheartened, and say, what can we do?" Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the

264 SERMON ON THE DEATH OF DR. WORCESTER.

everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength."- Every instance in which he raises up a great and useful man to bless his church, is a new evidence of his goodness, and of his unalterable purpose to carry forward the work of love, till all flesh shall be saved. God will multiply these evidences of his goodness. Our beloved brother said in the last hours of his life, "Though I am taken away from this delightful labor, the Lord lives, and will raise up other instruments to carry on his work." In that day of glory to the church which is drawing near, God will raise up men, who will far outshine all who have gone before them. O could you but see in clear prospect, what will quickly be seen as a present reality, how would your hearts leap for joy. Friends of Zion,friends of the missionary cause, lift your heads, for Jesus lives. Jesus, infinitely greater than all human agents-Jesus the Saviour of the world, lives and reigns forever. AMEN.

A SERMON

ON THE DEATH OF MOSES BROWN, ONE OF THE ASSOCIATE FOUNDERS OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ANDOVER; DELIVERED IN NEWBURYPORT, FEB. 18, 1827.

1 Tim. 6: 17-19.-CHARGE THEM THAT ARE RICH IN THIS WORLD, THAT THEY BE NOT HIGH-MINDED, nor TRUST IN UNCERTAIN RICHES, BUT IN THE LIVING GOD, WHO GIVETH US ALL THINGS RICHLY TO ENJOY; THAT THEY DO GOOD; THAT THEY BE RICH IN GOOD WORKS, READY TO DISTRIBUTE, WILLING TO COMMUNICATE; LAYING UP IN STORE FOR THEMSELVES A GOOD FOUNDATION AGAINST THE TIME TO COME, THAT THEY MAY LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE.

THE duty of those who are rich, needs to be inculcated at the present day, as much as it did in the first age of Christianity. For, although we have seen many animating proofs of increasing benevolence in the Christian community; still the public benevolence falls far below what the exigencies of the world and the spirit of our religion demand. This deficiency greatly impedes the progress of divine truth, and retards the approach of that day, when the world shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. The various consequences which flow from the want of a more general and active benevolence, we have had many reasons to deplore.

The example of that friend of man, who has lately closed his eyes in death, will furnish a happy illustration of the principle which I shall aim to establish, and render more impressive the arguments by which I shall enforce it.