exceedingly found peace and comfort spring up in his mind; his conscience was purged from guilt, through the atoning blood of Christ, and his heart set at liberty to run the way of God's commandments without fear in a spirit of filial love and holy delight. From that moment he began to preach salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, to man by nature and practice lost and condemned under the law *. Great and observable was the change which at this time took place in him; but that which ought to have been a source of gratitude to professing Christians, afforded them a ground of opposition to him and his miHistry. This circumstance need not, however, excite surprise; for, as in the time of Abraham, "he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." A man may go through the round of worldly pleasures, waste his time, abuse his talents, neglect the best interests of his own and the souls of all committed to his care; and afterwards be admired by those around him, who are ever ready to plead his cause, and to applaud his motives. If he be a spend thrift, they say he is a little too generous; if he be parsimonious, and have no bowels of compassion for the poor, they say he is prudent and frugal; if he resent in juries, they say he has a proper spirit; if he appear as a duellist, and meet his antagonist in the field, they regard him as a man of honour: but let that man be changed in heart by the grace of God let him be brought to a sense of his folly and of his dan ger-let him forsake the company of the drunkard, the adulterer, and the man of pleasure-let him lead a new life in righteousness and true holiness-let him regard

See Life of the Rer, Thomas Adams, of Wintringham.

salvation as a free gift of God in Christ Jesus-let him love his Bible, prayer, and the conversation of the people of God, and he will instantly meet with opposition; and perhaps his greatest enemies will be those of his own household! The more steadily a man walks in wisdom's ways, the more boldly he rebukes sin, and bears testimony" against the world that its deeds are evil, the more opposition her will meet; and enthusiast, hypocrite, or fanatic, are the mildest epithets which will be applied to him! But what says Jehovah? "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are au abomination to the Lord."

The change wrought in Mr. Pidgeon's heart was a general one ; it extended itself through the whole man, and was clearly mani fested in the following traits of his character.

1. His love for the Holy Scriptures, and his intimate knowledge of the important truths contained in them. The Bible was his study and delight: he read it with intenseness in his closet; he dwelt on its excellence in the seasons of family worship and social intercourse with the children of God. In the pulpit he pressed the Saviour's exhortation, "Search the Scriptures and showed that they were "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness." He was well entitled to the epithet, Homo unius libri. He brought every opinion and every practice "to the law and to the testimony," and admitted not human authority to sway him in the great and important concerns of salvation. He read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested the word of God; his observations on it were not at ram

dom, but evidently the result of much serious reflection; and were admirably calculated to elucidate the subject, and to improve all who conversed upon it. Those who knew him in the fellowship of Christ's religion, can bear ample testimony to his spiritual discern ment, and to his earnestness in enforcing and recommending the truth. Often have they listened with pleasure and profit to the genuine and unadorned eloquence of his heart, renewed and influenced by the Spirit of God. Family worship in his house was not a dull, tasteless, and merely outward duty-a duty performed by the force of habit, and uninteresting to those who engage in it. No; the Bible was read with constancy and attention; prayer was offered up with all the earnestness which true faith and ardent love for perishing souls are calculated to inspire. Joshua's confirmed purpose seemed in a great degree to be his: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

2. His boldness in preaching the Gospel, and confessing Christ before men.-Filled with a deep sense of the awful responsibility of the ministerial office, he seemed to have been actuated by the same spirit which led a holy man to

say,

"I'll preach as if I ne'er should preach again,

And as a lying man to dying men." This "legate of the skies," certified of his credentials, well remembering whose authority he bore, and to whom alone he stood responsible, did not shrink from faithfully declaring the whole counsel of God." Knowing whose servant he was, and awfully conscious of the importance of his commission, he uniformly asserted the dignity with which he was everlastingly invested. Feeling for the immortal souls committed to his care, and knowing that he should one day meet them before

"Know

the dread tribunal of Jehovah, he therefore, like a faithful watchman, blew the trumpet, and was "determined to know nothing among them, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." He was determined not to cry, “‹ Peace, peace, where there was no peace," but to warn sinners of the inevitable and direful consequence of living and dying in a state of impenitence and unbelief. ing the terrors of the Lord," he persuaded men with the most energetic and forcible arguments possible, and exhibited the awful and tremendous thunderings of Mount Sinai in stich lively colours and such sublime grandeur, that many have been seen (like the Babylonish monarch) to be scized with alarm and dismay. He did not descend to the littleness of apologizing, fashionably apologizing, for the freedom which it was necessary for him to use in his addresses from the pulpit. Very different was the errand of him, by whom "The violated law spoke out

Its thunders!"

The truths on which Mr. Pidgeon delighted to dwell, were ethose which seemed most eminently designed to humble the sinner, to exalt the Saviour, and to promote holiness." His preaching was in strict conformity to the. Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies of the Church of England, of which he was a steady friend and a bright ornament. Free from that fearful temporizing spirit, which leads many to accommodate their discourses to the prejudices of their hearers, and unawed by the opposition of the profane, the worldly, and the self-deceived, he aimed at laying the axe at the root of the tree, and "lifted up his voice like a trumpet, that he might show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." No deletrious doctrine, "no mingle mingle" (as good Bishop Lay timer termed it), of free-will and

grace, man's power and Christ's merit, ever escaped his lips. No; Christ, and Christ only, in the glory of his person, the completeness of his righteousness, the efficacy of his blood, merits, and atonement, constituted the theme of all his discourses, wherever, whenever, and before whomever he was called to preach. He desired to keep back nothing of the whole counsel of God; nor ever affected to conceal the characteristic doctrines of Christianity, so as to render it dubious, what he believed himself, nor strove to make them more palatable to those who are disgusted with the simplicity which is in Christ. He never dared to preach a different truth, or in a different manner, before the wise or the unwise, the fashionable or the vulgar, the rich or the poor. He told one unvarnished tale of Him who died upon the cross, to save the chief of sinners; and invited and exhorted them as vile as the thief and the murderer, who suffered at the side of our Redeemer, to embrace the pardon and the fulness of the Gospel of Christ, and to look to him and be saved from the ends of the earth. His step was firm, his preaching uniform; his testimony, the simplicity which is in Christ; his sentiments left no ambiguity in a word, the pure Gospel of the grace of God, without adulteration, commending the truth to every man's conscience in the sight of the great Searcher of hearts. May the remaining noble band of confessors, but particularly those who profess to venerate his memory,imitate his example, and preach the Gospel as purely, freely, and fully as he has done!

Mr. Pidgeon's style of preaching was characterized by its simplicity and plainness. His sermons were remarkable for corectness and precision, ofttimes for elegance, and always purely evan

gelical. Although they were not marked with brilliancy of figure, decorated with the flowers of oratory, nor much set off by the graces of elocution; yet being delivered in an authoritative style, with a boldness and animation which evinced that he spoke from the heart, they commanded universal attention, and often com pelled persons to say that they really believed he meant well towards his hearers, though they could not assent to what he advanced. In the pulpit he appeared as an ambassador, sensible of the importance of the credentials which had been delivered to him, and desirous to execute his commission agreeable to the wishes of his Sovereign. He there boldly confessed his Master, "rightly dividing the word of truth" and by a plain, decided declaration of the "whole counsel of God," he was (in reality) "pure from the blood of all" who heard him. Intelligible in his illustrations, forcible in his applications, and animated in his exhortations, there was no portion of his audience, however differing as to intellectual attain ments, uninformed or unimproved. While he filled the rich with good things, the poor were not sent empty away. He well knew, that though fine-turned periods, beautiful metaphors, and high-sounding declamation, might captivate his hearers, and raise his character among them, they were not food for perishing souls. His word was with power, and found its way to the hearts of many: the openly profligate--the self-righteous moralist

the hypocrite and the professor, were constrained to acknowledge the truth of what he delivered; and often retired from his church, feeling it to be a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. For the propriety, the efficacy, the comfort of what he delivered, I can make no nobler appeal than to

THE CARE OF THE SOUL THE
ONE THING NEEDFUL.

(Continued from Page 299.) FINDING that the care of the soul is the one thing here spoken of, we may proceed to show,

II. THAT IT IS NEEDFUL. A thing is said to be necessary when a certain end cannot be attained without it. Now the care of the soul is needful or necessary, because without it our present and fature happiness cannot be effected. This may be made evident by a variety of remarks. And,

1st. Its consequences run parallel with eternity. Its effects do not last for a few months or years merely, or to the end of the world; but they will continue as long as God shall continue to exist, that is, for ever: and we may here observe, that our eternal happiness depends upon it. It would be un reasonable in us to expect, and unjust in Ged to bestow upon us everlasting felicity, if we are regardless of the one thing needful. We might as well expect that a person should be paid for a contract which he never fulfilled. We also notice, that without it we cannot avoid the misery of hell. If any one were seized with a dangerous disease, and should refuse to apply the proper remedy, he must expect to be always sickly as if we fail to use all those means

which God has appointed for the recovery of our spiritual health, we must "make our bed in hell," and exclude ourselves for ever from the delightful sight and enjoyment of God in glory. As a confirmation of the two branches under this head, we would allege the de claration of an unerring Judge: the wicked "shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

2d. This is the only way to se cure the testimony of a good con science. Such a testimony can only arise from hence. If, after the most impartial' survey of our hearts and lives, and the most impartial comparison of them with the word of God, we find that there is no known sin committed, and no known duty omitted, then our conscience may supply us with a ground of rejoicing, since it is without "offence towards God and towards man." But if no such testimony can be obtained on scriptural grounds, then it must upbraid us; or if it be resisted now, it will speak loudly and irre sistibly in hell.

3d. This is the only way to honour God in the world. If we live in a neglect of our souls, we defeat the great ends of our creation, We prevent God's name being hallowed by ourselves and others; we deprive him of all right and property in us, and render him a con temptible being: whereas, did ve

regard the one thing needful, we should not fail to "glorify him in our bodies and our spirits, which are his."

4th. But lest you should not be satisfied with these remarks, we will adduce some promiscuous evidence on this point; and we would here first appeal to the declarations of the God of truth. He has given us both threatenings and promises on the subject before us. Now he has solemnly warned us in these terms, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the right way when his wrath is kindled but a little. The soul that sinneth, it, shall die. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall or wormwood, and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst; the Lord will I not spare him; but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smite against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his s name from under heaven; and the Lord shall separate him to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the Covenant that are written in this book of the law." But God has also furnished us with some "great and precious promises" on this on this head. He will beautify the meck with salvation. Cone now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Blessed are all they that trust in him." We would next appeal to what Christ has said, and done, and suffered. Now what has he said? What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own

soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." And what has he done and suffered? He left the regions of glory and happiness, to dwell in this world of sin; he perfectly obeyed the law of the Lord. "His righteous soul was vexed" with what he saw and heard among the ungodly. He endured the greatest hardships; and at last he bled, and groaned, and died upon the cross, under the hidings of his Father's face. And all this for what?-to save our souls: and would he have done this, if any other way could have been devised to ensure our eternal happiness, or if the care of the soul were a matter of no moment? We would likewise ap peal to the agreement of all denominations of Christians. However they may differ about the cir cumstantials of religion; however they may differ respecting some peculiar doctrines which are not articles of faith, yet they all agree in this, that the care of the soul is of the highest importance, and that if we neglect it we must perish for ever. But we would also add on this point the testimony of the dying. How will the ungodly then rack their minds! How will they call upon God to have mercy upon their poor souls! How will they curse their folly, for sacrificing their eternal interests to the world! How will they wish that they could live their time over again, declar ing that they would spend it better! How will they warn those about them "to fly from the wrath to come," and to seek for mercy while mercy may be had! And perhaps they will breathe out their last in horror and despair; just as

See Dr. Doddridge's sermon above referred to.