to the sick, urged the claims, seconded the efforts, and sustained the influence, of the minister, and sought to promote the spirituality and prosperity of the whole church. Such a deacon is a treasure to the people of God, and has his record on high. May the Lord give us many such! For the want of them Zion languishes; the unruly are not subdued; backsliders depart farther and farther from duty; the poor and the afflicted are unrelieved; ministers are neglected and discouraged; and in many instances the candlestick is removed out of its place. As a minister of the gospel, he was firm and faithful, but unusually retiring. Deeply impressed with the dignity and sanctity of the office, sensible of the deficiency of his education, and diffident of his abili ties, he shrunk from its responsibilities, and would probably never have assumed it but for the earnest solicitations of the church, by whom his qualifications were more justly appreciated. Having with trembling submitted to public ordination, and feeling pressed by the weight of obligation connec-ted with that solemn consecration, he seized upon every facility, the better to prepare himself for the duties of his high vocation. By religious intercourse, the aid of judicious authors, and a prayerful investigation of the sacred scrip. tures, he acquired an accurate and thorough knowledge of the doctrines and duties embraced in the Christian system. Considering the amount of secular business with which he was encumbered, his reading was somewhat extensive, principally of a theological and historical kind, rarely miscellaneous. The writings of Gill, Fuller, Booth, Boston, Baxter, and Mosheim, were very conspicuous in his small but well. selected library; and with these he was quite familiar. While he found many things in each of these authors to admire, and was very partial to some of the productions of Gill, his doctrinal views were evidently coincident with those of the evangelical Fuller. In his public ministry he exalted the sovereign grace of God in the salvation of sinners, but insisted alike upon strict obedience to the cross of Christ; nor did he fail to season his discourses with the sweets of Christian experience.

As a preacher, he exhibited more of a sound judgment and a warm heart than of a lively imagination. His manner was plain, ardent, and solemn. In prayer he was copious,

appropriate, and impressive. In discipline he was prompt and decisive. His admonitions were in general timely and faithful; but his violent opposition to evil and his dangerous temperament sometimes betrayed him into severity.

As a pastor, he was vigilant and affectionate, attentive to the sick, and kind to the poor. Such was his liberality, that, to these, and to the cause of benevolence, he gave more than the whole amount which he received for ministerial services. Relying upon his own industry and the blessing of God for temporal support, he succored many of the saints, and his house was the stranger's home.

There remains yet unnoticed one trait in the character of Eld. Douglass, which deserves to be set in bold relief. A DIS. INTERESTEDNESS which is justly comparable to that displayed by the ancient Baptist, when, without envy or mortification, he said of him by whom he was to be superseded, "He must increase, but I must decrease." There is something in this disposition so opposite to that which reigns in the unsanctified, selfish heart, that renders it as difficult of acquisition as it is noble in its nature. That man must have a signal degree of grace, who, for the general good, can voluntarily hide himself in the shade of another. Yet such an attain. ment is exceedingly desirable, as it is one of the crowning excellencies of the Christian religion, which sheds a lustre on the Savior's character, and is admirably adapted to the happiness and usefulness of the individual who is thus exalted. Such was the high privilege of the worthy servant of God who is the subject of these remarks. Like the sun setting in a cloudless sky, he shone most brilliantly when retiring from the pastoral office. He was the first to propose that step. He saw a generation come up around him, possessed of advantages of education altogether superior to those which he had enjoyed. He perceived that the state of society was vastly changed, and judged that a younger man, of different attainments, would be better adapted to the interests of that community than himself. He fixed his mind on a brother whom he deemed qualified for the station, urged the church to obtain him, and made personal efforts and sacrifices to effect the object. Having succeeded in getting that brother upon the ground, he procured for him a comfortable settle. ment, resigned to him the pastoral charge, and continued to

act as one of his warmest advocates and liberal supporters. During the first year of his labors, he contributed more for his support than he had himself received from the whole congregation any preceding year. So far from being moved to envy, when he saw the hearts of the people turning towards the young pastor, he was constantly provoking them to love him, spreading the mantle of charity over his faults, and using every proper means to increase his influence at home and abroad.

He never administered advice to him in a dictatorial manner, but always with parental tenderness. He watched over and cherished all the interests of his junior brother with unceasing kindness, and greatly rejoiced in his increasing prosperity and usefulness. By such a magnanimous and disinterested course of conduct, he not only secured the lasting gratitude and love of him whose usefulness and happiness he thus promoted, and procured the smiles of an approving conscience and an approving God, but, by strengthening the bands of union in the church of Christ, and consecrating his heart and all his influence to the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, he has deeply entrenched himself in the hearts of the saints, and entailed a blessing on his memory which will accompany it to his latest posterity.

How unamiable is the conduct, and how unenviable the lot, of that minister in like circumstances, whose conduct forms a perfect contrast with this noble example. Regard. less of the march of improvement, either stationary or retrograde, he holds on upon his pastoral charge, till the church, to preserve its own existence, or to prevent the young, enterprising, and well-informed, of the congregation from abandoning their place of worship, is constrained to obtain a more efficient and enlightened minister; then he ascribes the conduct of the church to pride and popularity; looks with an anxious eye upon his successor, magnifies his faults, misconstrues his motives, indulges a spirit of jealousy and detraction, tells how little he requires for preaching, (perhaps nothing,) and what a salary" this proud young man" demands; careful not to state that he himself owns a farm well-stocked, is driving bargains, growing rich, and laboring in the field six days in the week, fostering and increasing his own flock, while the flock of God is scattered, and torn, and bleeding,

and his impenitent neighbors are rushing on to perdition, unheeded and unadmonished. Although the brother by whom he is superseded may give himself wholly to the ministry, studying, visiting, preaching, praying, conversing, and abounding in the work of the Lord seven days in the week, while he receives but a scanty support, he charges him with laziness, love of money, priestcraft, and robbery, and seems to delight in counteracting his influence, and distracting, if not destroying, the church over which he presides. Could tears tarnish the lustre of heaven, the sainted Douglass would still weep over such an unlovely scene.

He was a warm friend of ministerial education-was one of the founders of the Hamilton seminary-continued its decided advocate and supporter through life, and gave a dying pledge of his undying interest in its prosperity. While we ardently desire that older ministers may tread in his steps, we as devoutly pray that our young Elishas may wear the mantle and breathe the spirit of this departed Elijah. But we would that others should follow him only wherein he fol lowed Christ. We are far from claiming perfection for this dear servant of God, and as far from being blind to his faults. Full well we know that sin, which has shaded the fairest scenes and polluted the purest joys of earth, has also marred the loveliest visage and sullied the brightest virtues of the sons of God.

Eld. Douglass had his share of human frailty. Under trials he was sometimes impatient; under provocations somewhat irritable; and toward those who differed from him in sentiment or practice, his feelings were rather rigid. But so prominent and so numerous were his redeeming qualities, that in the eye of charity his imperfections were almost annihilated, and by the atoning blood of the Savior they were blotted out forever.

We have pursued him in life, and found him diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. We have fol. lowed him through the furnace of affliction, and seen him "glorify God in the fire." We have witnessed his conflict with the last enemy, and seen him bear away the palm of victory to the world of glory. And now, while his rapt spirit reposes on the bosom of God, let us aspire to equal usefulness in life, triumph in death, and rest in heaven.

JONATHAN FERRIS.

"Oh! Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me!"

Religion, in its operations on the human mind, is designed to produce a portrait of the Divine character; and in what can we more clearly discover the lovely perfections of our adorable Savior, than in the virtuous and upright lives of his dear children in this world? In reviewing the conduct of those who have appeared eminent in piety, and have now taken their departure into the eternal world, the religious traits in their character shine forth in the most vivid color, and produce a fascinating effect on the mind of the observer, and imperceptibly lead to the great Fountain of all moral beauty. Examples produce greater effects than precepts. For this reason the spirit of inspiration has favored us with the previous traits in the lives of holy men of old. The example is worthy of imitation; for "the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance."

Eld. JONATHAN FERRIS was the son of Dea. Israel Ferris, and was born in Stamford, Dutchess Co., N. Y., on the 25th of April, 1778. From a child he was a subject of serious impressions. He at length obtained a satisfactory evidence of his adoption, and in the year 1796 was baptized by Eld. Elkanah Holmes, then a missionary among the Indians. He was the first person that was baptized in the town of Norwich, Chen. Co., Ñ. Y. Soon after his baptism a church arose in that town, with which he united.

He was married to Miss Rhoda Purdy, daughter of Dea. James Purdy, of Plymouth, Chen. Co., N. Y., in 1798. May 20, 1803, he received a license from the church to improve his gift in preaching; and August 25, 1808, he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, in the church in North Norwich, by solemn ordination. He continued his pastoral labors with this church until Oct. 25, 1817. His labors in this place were greatly blessed to the edification of the people of God and the awakening of sinners. There was from year to year a gradual increase of numbers in the