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say concerning his enemies-"Let them call me what they please, may the Lord call them the holy ones, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out and not forsaken."

During this year Mr. Stanford published another volume of "The Christian's Pocket Library;" and on the 25th of December he went to Mount-Pleasant, by special request, for the purpose of preaching a sermon to a Masonic Lodge. This discourse, entitled "THE URIM AND THUMMIM," was afterwards printed at the expense of the Lodge.

CHAPTER V.

CONVERSIONS-LOSS BY FIRE-CONFIDENCE IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE-JOURNEY TO NEW-JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA -AN AWFUL SCENE-YELLOW FEVER.

On the 12th of March, 1801, at the particular request of many pious persons of different religious denominations, Mr. Stanford commenced a course of Thursday evening lectures, in a neighbourhood where the gospel was seldom if ever preached. This service was well attended; and is supposed to have proved a blessing to many. About the same time he received an invitation to settle at Warwick, and take charge of the church in that town; but being fully persuaded that it was the will of God that he should continue in this city, the application was dismissed, with suitable acknowledgments. In the month of May he returned with his family to his own house in Fairstreet, that part of the city being then considered in a healthy state. "This," he remarks, " was accompanied with devotional exercises of heart, that the Lord would be pleased to dwell in my habitation, which he had given me, and in which I had experienced so many mercies, in the midst of so many severe afflictions." Thus to dedicate our habitations unto the Lord, by constituting them places for stated and special seasons of religious worship, is a Christian duty and privilege. Does Jehovah, in the plenitude of his mercy, prolong our lives, and preserve our habitations from the encircling flames? O let them become temples devoted to his praise! Let us say, in the spirit of the devoted patriarch-" As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua xxiv. ́ 15.

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YOUNG CONVERTS.

In the latter part of this month he took a journey to Bedford, (New-York,) as a delegate to the Baptist Association, assembled in that place. At this Association he says, "Great harmony and Christian love prevailed." O how sweet on earth to enjoy such interviews with the people of God, as a fore-taste of the fellowship of saints in heaven. After the close of public business, he received an invitation to meet between twenty and thirty young persons, from the age of twelve to twenty, who had recently experienced religion, and seemed on the wing for heaven. "Never," he remarks, "did I behold a scene so charming, and never did I experience more real satisfaction in discharging the duties of my ministerial office, than in commending them to that blessed Shepherd who gathereth the lambs with his arm, and carrieth them in his bosom." The deep interest which Mr. Stanford manifested in the eternal welfare of children and youth, is a trait in his character as a man and a Christian minister, which not only procured for him the praises of men while living, but will embalm his memory in the grateful hearts of thousands. No inconsiderable part of his life was employed in training youth for the scenes of earth, and the joys of heaven. And it is quite remarkable, that although the peculiar gravity and dignity of his appearance was such as to preclude, rather than to invite juvenile familiarity, yet no other man within our knowledge, of the same age, was so universally a favourite amongst children as "Father Stanford." One little boy, (the son of a clergyman,) was asked whom he liked best as a preacher, "O," said he, "I like old Father Stanford best, because he is a very good man, and he speaks out, so that I can understand him."

In the month of August he again visited MountPleasant, but it seems that he left his family on this occasion with an unusual degree of reluctance. Here, and in the places adjacent, he preached several ser

PAINFUL TIDINGS.

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mons, and appears to have enjoyed the presence of the Lord in his blessed service. One day after dinner he went with his friend into the garden, there to enjoy the pleasure of uninterrupted conversation, when, turning an angle which presented a full view of the Hudson, he observed a sloop advancing from New-York, in which he expected his two sons. He immediately repaired to the dock, in order to welcome them; but ah! how little do we know what lies concealed beneath the unveiled purposes of Divine Providence. As soon as the vessel struck the dock he observed many of the passengers on deck fixing their eyes on him, and one of them stepped on shore to inform him, that his sons were not on board. A second, with much caution and tenderness, informed him, that, early on Tuesday morning, his house of worship, and several other buildings in the neighbourhood, were consumed by fire; and immediately after, a third person handed him a letter, which confirmed the report. This unexpected and painful information produced a momentary regret, but did not prevent Mr. Stanford from calmly resigning himself to the sovereign pleasure of Him "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." It was a fine reflection made by a pious lady, when news was brought to her of two children drowned, whom she loved very much:-"Ah! I see that God will have my whole heart; and he shall have it." And thus too, the afflicted servant of Christ could say, even when God, by the dark and mysterious dispensations of his providence has laid waste all his earthly prospects"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments."

Next morning he commenced his journey to the city, and arrived in the evening at the house of a friend, thankful to the Lord that he once more could embrace his children in safety. On the following day he visited the smoking ruins of the house which, at

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THE PULPIT PRESERVED.

*

his own expense, and with great labour, he had erected for the worship of God. It was a remarkable circumstance, that although every thing around it was reduced to ashes, the pulpit remained almost uninjured, and one of the firemen actually stood in the pulpit directing the pipe of the engine, while surrounded by the flames. "At the moment," says Mr. Stanford, "the sight of the preserved pulpit created a sort of impression on my mind, that my public labours in the gospel ministry were not quite at an end, and that yet I might be saved though as by fire.""

Many years have elapsed since that fiery trial, and surely the Lord granted him according to his faith. Not only were his services in the gospel ministry continued, but extended far beyond his most sanguine expectation. The universal public esteem entertained towards Mr. Stanford was abundantly evinced on this occasion. The multitude assembled seemed to vie with each other in efforts to save his property from the devouring element, and when that was found impracticable, a very generous contribution was made by the citizens to reinstate him, and as a public testimony of their regard. These circumstances appear to have increased his determination, in the name and in the fear of the Lord, to devote his life to promote the moral benefit of the city of New-York, as an expression of his gratitude for the favours he

It is a fact in the history of Mr. Stanford, and worthy of record, that in the erection of the place of worship, in which he commenced his ministry in New-York, he expended all the funds which he brought with him to America. Had he followed the advice of friends, and invested his money in the purchase of real estate, he could not fail to have secured for his family, a princely fortune. But his zeal for the worship of God absorbed every consideration of personal emolument. The writer has heard him say, that at one time, in the year 1797, he was offered a property for the sum of one hundred pounds, which, in the opinion of good judges, is now worth sixty thousand dollars. According to this estimate, a different appropriation of the amount expended in the cause of Christ, would have secured millions for his private advantage.