of Hebrew manuscripts. The Doctor had the honour of breakfasting with this learned and indefatigable Hebrician, and of being taken, after the repast, into the chamber where his amazing labours were performed. He had been already ten years employed in the preparation of his Bible, and was now only about half through it. "He showed me,” says the Doctor, "several of his most admired manuscripts. The manner in which he proceeded was, to take one line from Van Der Hooght's Bible, which he considered to be the most correct copy of the Hebrew text, and paste that line upon the top of a page of a blank folio book, and then, under that line, to write all the variations which his manuscripts furnished in that line.”

This extraordinary visit could not soon be forgotten; but a most gratifying memorial of it, in the hand-writing of that distinguished man, was obtained before they parted. In the Doctor's Album, which contains a variety of little sententious pieces in Greek, and Latin, and Dutch, with the names of Bonnet, Burmannus, Ravius, Tydeman, Vanderkemp, Elsnerus, and other eminent literati of Holland, underwritten, there are a few lines in Hebrew characters, beautifully formed, and accompanied with this sign-manual

BENJ: KENNICOTT,

E Coll: Exon: Oxon:

Doctor Livingston remained about a month in England. He then sailed from Falmouth, for NewYork, where, having been preserved during a long absence, under the shadow of the wings of a good God, and grateful for the mercies he had experienced, he safely arrived on the third day of September, 1770.

CHAPTER VI.

FROM HIS RETURN TO NEW-YORK, TILL THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

It was on a Sabbath morning that Dr. Livingston reached the city of New-York. The peace and sacredness of God's day, while naturally repressive of levity of behaviour and superfluous congratulations upon the occasion of his return, well accorded with the feelings now predominant in his own breast, and in that of every pious member of the Church, and afforded an immediate opportunity for the devout and suitable expression of them in the sanctuary of the Lord. He had returned, by the favour of Heaven, with health restored, as a messenger of the Gospel of Peace, and to a numerous and respectable flock, bearing the peculiarly tender and solemn relation of a pastor. It was a season, therefore, without doubt, of holy joy and thanksgiving; and, on account of many interesting recollections, which could not but be associated with it, as well as the new and mutual responsibilities it realized, both to him and to all his friends, the first interview must have been very affecting. The

succeeding Sabbath, he preached in the Middle Church, in Nassau-street, to a large and attentive auditory, from 1 Cor. 1. 22, 23, 24-For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God:-and having delivered this introductory sermon, he was then acknowledged, in a suitable manner, by the Rev. Messrs Ritzema and De Ronde, and Dr. Laidlie and the Consistory-one of the ministers of the Reformed Dutch Church of New-York.

Dr. Livingston commenced the discharge of his pastoral duties with great diligence and zeal. He assumed at once a full share of pulpit and parochial labours; preaching regularly twice on the Sabbath, making visits among the people, and attending two, and sometimes three, catechetical exercises every week-an amount of service, it will be admitted by all who are competent judges of the matter, which few young men, under similar circumstances, would have had the courage to undertake, and fewer still the ability satisfactorily to fulfil. But though only just settled in a populous city, where interruptions to study and occasional avocations, not always of

a professional nature, are 'numerous and unavoidable; though connected with a large congregation whose situation was a little peculiar, provided with few sermons, and associated with colleagues of established character, as judicious and able preachers, he did not hesitate to attempt his part, and he formed it to general acceptance.

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The fervour of pious feeling which he uniformly discovered, both in and out of the pulpit; his affectionate, dignified, and prudent deportment; and the style of his preaching, novel, yet plain and forcible, admirably calculated to engage attention, to alarm the consciences of sinners, and particularly to comfort and build up believers in faith and holiness, rendered him indeed in a high degree, beloved and popular. His labours, if arduous and weighty, were pleasant. Blessed with a number of godly and devoted friends, who sincerely and constantly prayed for him, and by various little attentions or expressions of kind solicitude, encouraged without flattering him, he was cheered and sustained in his work: blessed, too, with a coadjutor (Dr. Laidlie) who was well acquainted with the state of the congregation and who was, at any time, ready to afford him all the counsel and assistance in his power, he