full extent of the blessing enjoyed under such a man, when intrusted with the preparation of those who are to occupy the heights of Zion, and proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to dying sinners, and following his labours when he sleeps in Jesus, cannot be easily estimated,-nay, cannot be known until that day, which is to make manifest every man's work. His doctrine dropped as the rain; his speech distilled as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. And if it were possible to ascertain the benefit of his ministrations to the hundreds and thousands who enjoyed them, while he sustained the pastoral relation; and that communicated far and wide under the ministrations of the hundred and twenty and more young men whom he qualified in the course of his professoral services, under God, for the sacred office, and some of whom are at this moment among the brightest ornaments of the Church, and conspicuous for their usefulness, it would be readily acknowledged, indeed, that God, in having given him to us-one so devoted to the truth—and in having spared him so long to instruct others in the truth, had highly favoured this portion of Zion.

And it ought to be added here, that the doctrines he prized to such a degree, he taught with a pecu

*Deut. 32. 2.

liar unction, simplicity, and force. When he preached, he commanded the deepest attention. His noble appearance, imposing action, singular but expressive gestures-graceful enough in him, however awkward they would be in another person—and the agreeable modulations of his voice, soft and tender, or grave and authoritative at his pleasure, fixed every eye upon him when he was in the pulpit, and opened every ear to catch what he might utter. But, apart from his interesting manner of preaching, his sermons were generally so well digested, and discovered such a knowledge of the human heart, and of the saving operations of divine grace, and were so richly fraught with evangelical sentiment, and contained so many searching appeals to the conscience, that he could not be heard with indifference or inattention. "His was not the icy coldness of speculative orthodoxy. His preaching was truly the utterance of the heart. Those who have listened to him in his happy moments of warm and impassioned elevation, have heard him pour forth the fulness of an affectionate spirit; warning, alarming, inviting, persuading, beseeching; his whole soul thrown into his countenance; and in his penetrating eye, the fire of ardent zeal gleaming through the tears of benignity and love."*

*Wardlaw's Memoir of Dr. Balfour.

The genuine exercises of a Christian he could portray with a masterly hand, and in healing the wounded spirit, strengthening the weak hands, enlightening and encouraging those that walked in darkness, or were disquieted by a multitude of fears, his pulpit addresses, from time to time, were extensively owned of his Divine Master. It was his delight, in a word, to preach Christ, as the way, the truth, and the life, and to exhibit in all their importance and loveliness, the precious blessings purchased by the blood of the Cross: and many of his pious friends can recollect, no doubt, how naturally, and how affectingly oft-times, when descanting upon the riches of redeeming grace, he would relate what the Lord had done for his own soul.

He usually preached, as has been remarked before, from brief notes or skeletons; and having a ready command of thought, and of suitable expres. sion in the discussion of his subject, what he delivered, while it was methodical in its texture, was so perspicuous, so plain, so free from all scholastic starchness, as to be adapted to the capacity of the most illiterate of his hearers.

And in teaching theology as a science, let it be observed, he was not less successful in presenting, in a familiar and impressive way, luminous exhibi

tions of the different parts of his own well-arranged system, so as to givehis students a clear and connected view of divine truth, and promote in them the cultivation of personal piety. He had, in fact, a peculiar talent in bringing his instructions within the comprehension of the dullest intellect, and of. exciting in the heart correspondent devotional feelings. It is not surprising, therefore, that his preaching was popular and useful, and that his students have been found, in general, when they entered into the service of the sanctuary, thoroughly indoctrinated, skilful in handling the word of righteousness, and engaging with a commendable zeal in the great work to which they had been called.

III. This venerable man was remarkable for a certain captivating tenderness in his deportment towards young persons.

Rarely, perhaps, is a pastor more respected and loved by the youth of his charge than Dr. Livingston was by the juvenile part of his congregation, during his ministry in the city of New-York.Whenever and wherever he met with any of these lambs of his flock, his attentions to them were of the most kind and winning nature. By calling them his children, by gently patting them upon the

head and blessing them, or saying a few words expressive of his affectionate and pious concern for them, and by other similar acts of endearment, he gained their esteem and love, and made impressions upon their minds, which could not soon, or at any time after, be entirely forgotten, and which, through the divine blessing, it is believed, were the means of drawing a number to Christ. There are those now living, probably, who were his catechumens, some forty or fifty years ago, that cherish to this day a pleasing recollection of his paternal and insinuating manner among them, at the weekly recitations of their catechism, and it may be, that a little of the seed then and there sown by him, may yet spring up and produce fruit to the glory of God.

The same captivating, tender attention, he uniformly showed to his students, or "dear young gentlemen," as he used to frequently style them: -he treated them as his children. When they visited him, he received them with gladness: when they took leave of him, he gave them a father's blessing. In all his intercourse with them, he evinced, in different ways, the deep and earnest solicitude he felt to have them grow in grace, and become able and faithful ministers of the New Testament. In reference to this fact, a respectable