to the end of life, to evince the utmost concern for the welfare of others. His prayers to the throne of mercy were offered not merely for his friends, but even his enemies had an interest in his supplications. From the baneful passions of envy and anger, he was delivered in no ordinary degree; and it is worthy of particular remark, that he was seldom heard to utter a word to the disadvantage of those who had injured him. Although his diary abounds with lamentations for his own sins, yet there is not one word of resentment against his enemies; but over the faults of others he spread the mantle of Christian charity, which covers a multitude of sins." It is probable that there have been but few instances of a more rigid exemplification of the divine rule, "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use and persecute you."

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AS THE MINISTER OF CHRIST-his appearance in the pulpit commanded universal respect. Dr. Stanford was a man of middle stature. His mien was dignified, and his countenance expressive of energy, intelligence, and benevolence. His voice, which was one of great compass and clearness, not only filled our most spacious churches, but, like the spiritstirring trumpet, it could at once command and sustain the eager attention of an auditory. Like the voice of the Baptist crying in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord," he seemed to penetrate

the heart of every hearer; and produced an impres sion, deeper and more salutary than the thunders of Demosthenes, or the splendid declamation of Cicero. While uttering the terrors of the holy law, his deep tones would often startle the impenitent; but, when announcing the message of mercy, his accents were mild and persuasive.

His chief preparation for the pulpit was earnest and persevering prayer, although he made it an almost invariable rule to compose a new sermon for each occasion. He was as far removed from scholastic pedantry on the one hand, as from inattention to classical propriety of diction on the other; with him the maxim of Dr. Johnson was paramount :— :-" Words ought to be laboured, when they are intended to stand for things," and he therefore "sought to find out acceptable words." While engaged in preaching, he would frequently seize upon some prominent topic or incident, and urge it upon the attention of his congregation with a pathos, and energy of language which few could hear unmoved. His sermons were always evangelical, and replete with the treasures of the sacred volume, to a degree which demonstrated his personal conviction of its paramount importance as a guide in duty, and the only immutable foundation of hope.

"Here is firm footing-all is sea besides."

In point of native intellect, Dr. S. is to be regarded as occupying an exalted rank, although a want of

early culture, and his active employment in the im=mediate duties of life, prevented him from attaining that literary fame which his great industry and strong mind would, under different circumstances, have enabled him to acquire. With a retentive memory he possessed a fertile imagination, and both were sanctified to the noble purpose of giving force to his public instructions, and aiding the devotion of his hearers. From the deep fountains of a pure theology, Dr. S. brought forth the truth, and not unfrequently enforced it with some striking illustration, borrowed from the familiar incidents of life, and produced an impression upon the minds of his hearers, to which the most elaborate argument would have proved unequal. His figures were always natural, scriptural, and generally felicitous, and it is therefore not surprising that their effect was happy and permanent. The writer cannot forget passages of this description, from sermons preached twenty years since; and thousands who heard Dr. S. before the writer was born, remember, with pleasure, his pertinent and pious remarks.

As a preacher, Dr. S. is to be contemplated in the light of a man, declaring to others, truths, the unspeakable importance of which he deeply realized. His preaching was something more than studied declamation; and in the flowing stream of his thoughts,

* For a beautiful illustration of his peculiarly happy use of a figurative style, the reader is referred to the interesting letter from the Rev. Spencer H. Cone, with which this memoir closes.

he never lost sight of those humbling doctrines which stand identified with the deep and everlasting interest of the immortal soul. Hence, we never find him wandering into the mazes of doubtful speculation, but himself intrenched within the limits of a revealed theology, he laboured to guard his hearers from overleaping those barriers by which heaven has bounded the researches of the human intellect.

"He mix'd not faith with fable, but he trod
Right onward, cautious in the ways of God!
Nor did he dare to launch on seas unknown,
In search of truths, by some advent'rers shown,

But his own compass us'd, and kept a course his own."

Dr. S. was not of the number of those who darken counsel by words without knowledge; but in great plainness, and with godly sincerity, his aim was, tó make every sermon tell upon the consciences of his hearers. The exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the infinite value of the atonement, through the blood of Christ, were among his favourite topics. The amazing love of the Saviour-that love, which reaches from

"The living throne, the sapphire blaze,
Where angels tremble as they gaze,"

was the soul of his preaching. Like a man desirous of showing a very beautiful picture, he placed himself out of sight, behind the cross, while endeavouring to exhibit the dying Saviour to the view of the people. Having no other ground of hope for himself, be

laboured to exhibit Emanuel, "God manifest in the flesh," as the only hope of a ruined world; and as Christ was the beginning and the end of all his brightest anticipations, so Christ was the Alpha and Omega of all his preaching. To the cross alone did he fly for safety; and to the cross, as the only refuge, did he direct the sinner. For this great work every faculty of his mind was brought into requisition-the prayers of the closet-the labours of the study-reading and conversation-providences adverse or prosperous-every event, and every object within the sphere of his observation, was made subservient in the great work of persuading men to be reconciled to God. So intent was he upon promoting the spiritual improvement of others, that he seemed utterly regardless of the toil and sacrifice by which it was to be accomplished. He could say

"In serving others, I am myself consumed."

It was an interesting trait in his preaching, that his text and sermon were invariably and peculiarly adapted to the occasion-usually brief-always pointed and impressive. He knew how at once to reach, and to affect the human heart. We can hazard nothing, in applying to him the encomium of the poet :

"Extensive sense he into compass drew,

Said what was just, and always something new."

Although as a man he highly valued the approbation of all, yet as a preacher he was not covetous of popu