adorned, and are the wives of respectable ministers of the Associate Reformed Church. The only son, John Mason Strong, devoted himself to the healing art, and occupied a respectable position in the medical profession.

Mr. Strong was in person of the middle size. In a prepos sessing countenance, mildness and benevolence were blended together; and these attractive qualities were lighted up by a peculiarly piercing eye. Gentle and unaffected in his manners, he was a most agreeable companion. Easy of access and familiar in his intercourse, he was always a welcome visitant among his parishioners. Unassuming, and at the same time, dignified in his deportment, his presence commanded respect. In the pulpit, free from everything like pharisaic austerity on the one hand, and levity on the other, his appearance was solemn and impressive. Possessing a voice clear, soft and harmonious, he was always heard with interest. Deeply impressed with a sense of the great importance of holding fast the truth as it is in Jesus, he determined in the exercise of his ministry not to know anything save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Disregarding matters of curious speculation, as unworthy of a place in the pulpit, it was his aim to preach the Gospel, not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. His preaching consequently was not of that character which is adapted to amuse the curious; but which is suited rather to alarm the careless, to encourage the anxious enquirer, to comfort the mourner in Zion, and to build up the believer in faith and holiness. But well qualified as this good minister of Jesus Christ was to be a successful laborer in the vineyard of the Lord, and greatly needed as his services seemed to be, it pleased God to remove him thus early from the toils and the conflicts of the church below, to enjoy, as we doubt not, the reward of the faithful servant-Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord-they rest from their labors.

THE REV. CHARLES STRONG. -Twenty-nine years have passed since the author of the following tribute to the memory of the Rev. Charles Strong saw him; still to-day, it seemed to him, as if he saw him, as he had seen him hundreds of times!

He was of a common size, five feet eight or nine inches high; hair black; growing back, and divided above his temples, so as to expose his noble, intellectual forehead; eyes black; teeth good; face well formed, and rather ruddy, betokening health; his disposition was cheerful and happy, and this was seen in his lively, pleasant countenance.

He, with Joseph and James Lowry, entered the South Carolina College, among the first students, probably, in 1805 or 1806. Their necessities compelled them to board themselves; this they did by furnishing their own provisions, and cooking for themselves, in a room of the College near to their dormitories and study, which they were permitted thus to use.

Notwithstanding this difficulty, by which many of the present youth would not only be startled, but would be turned back from the pursuit of an education, these clever young men pursued their studies with unabated ardor, and graduated, in December, 1808, good scholars, and prepared to be useful men. All these afterwards became ministers of the Gospel, teachers and preachers of their mighty Master's word.

Charles Strong, immediately after his graduation, took charge of the Newberry Academy, and there taught until the summer of 1812, with great ability and success. His school was a large one, and beyond all doubt fully remunerated him for his labors.

No better teacher could then have been found, his pupils showed then and since that they had been well taught. Gen. James Gilliam, Judge O'Neall, and F. B. Higgins, Esq., are three of his surviving pupils.

In 1812 he left Newberry, and went to New York to enter upon his ministerial course of study. At the end of three or four years he returned home, married Miss Harris, of Mecklenburg, N. C., and took charge of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregations of Prosperity, Cannon's Creek, King's Creek and Head Spring, in Newberry. When his services there began is not certainly known; he was, however, thus employed before 1818; he settled among his people, within about six miles of Newberry C. H., on the road leading from the Black Jack, by William Spence's to the Long Lane, and there lived in great comfort and happiness, dispensing benefits and blessings all around him, until the summer of 1824. In the latter part of July, or the first days of August, he was called from

his labors here to his everlasting rest! He was attacked with a high grade of bilious fever, and died in a few days, leaving a wife, four daughters and a son surviving him.

On the first Monday of August, in the town of Newberry, in the presence of a great many auditors, Judge O'Neall, the President of the Newberry Bible Society, auxiliary to the American Bible Society, delivered before them, in an extra meeting called for that purpose, the following address. It was the outpouring of the heart of a pupil and intimate friend, when his memory and virtues were fresh, and is therefore more to be depended on as faithful than anything which could now be given:

Fellow-Members: It has become my duty to announce to the Society the mournful event which causes it to meet. The death of our late President, the Rev. Charles Strong, was a circumstance so deeply affecting our interest and feelings as to justify an extra meeting. It has always been regarded by all bodies, whether civil or religious, as proper to bestow some mark of respect upon the memory of departed worth. It is true, it cannot be of any value to the dead, but it is of vast importance to the living. It sanctifies all our feelings of love, affection and respect, and in the language of Ossian, "It is like the memory of joys which are past; pleasant, yet mournful to the soul." The effect of such a tribute of respect, in exciting individuals to be also worthy, is manifest and striking. If the good and great men were permitted to descend to the tomb without any observation or comment, all the effects of their virtues would be lost with their names. Society might mourn in silent sadness the loss, but no voice would arise from the tomb, bidding the survivors to "go and do likewise."

To those who knew our deceased brother eulogy is unnecessary! His life spoke the good man in every sense of the word! His virtues were proclaimed in every act of his life, whether public or private! And, were it reasonable for me, in the present state of affairs, to seek for the name of an individual on whom there was neither spot nor blemish, I should exultingly place my finger upon that of the Rev. Charles Strong! It has been my good fortune to know him long, and to know him intimately; and whether in the relation of a teacher or of a friend, he was alike the object, not only of

my respect, but also of an attachment which nothing but death could have terminated. The principal public duties of Mr. Strong's life were those of a teacher, a minister of the Gospel, and a founder of this Society. As a teacher, no individual could have boasted more of uninterrupted success; and no person of his age enjoyed in that capacity a more extended fame. Many of his pupils are now before me, and with me they will bear witness to the value of his instructions; and with me they will say, "We owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be extinguished." As a preacher Mr. Strong never pretended to the highest claims of eloquence. He taught lessons of Christianity in the plain language of honesty and truth. He addressed the understandings of his hearers with the arguments of reason and piety, and like the dews of heaven they descended, spread over and adhered to every mind. One might have thought it strange that people could listen to him without feeling the necessity of worshiping God in spirit and in truth! He sought not to make converts by terror, but by love! He did not hold out God as an object of terror, but of love unto his congregations! Although possessing great learning himself, he never sought to array his sermons with its pedantry; they were delivered in plain, unornamented language, suited to the feelings and capacities of his hearers; and as such he rendered them practically useful; and hence he became, not one of the most eloquent, but one of the most useful ministers of the Gospel. That he was in earnest in his calling, and that he endeavored to teach others to be what he really was, the good Christian, needs no demonstration. His congregations, his friends, his acquaintances, and even those who never saw him but once, will bear witness to it. From the time he was ordained a preacher of the Gospel, he was "the vigilant watchman on the tower," proclaiming at all times the approach of the enemy. Temporal, when contrasted with eternal things, were considered as trash; and as one of the shepherds of Christ's flock, His staff and His scrip were preferred by him. His eyes were turned to the living God, whom he worshiped in spirit and in truth; and to His throne and the mercy-seat of Christ he diligently called the attention of all people to whom his ministry extended.

Mr. Strong was the founder of the Newberry Auxiliary Bible

Society. He was not only its founder, but also its support. His exertions prevented it from sharing, in common with many other good undertakings, an untimely fate. His unwearied. attention to it, and his virtues, carried it triumphant through all its past difficulties. As being the means of distributing the word of God to the poor and needy, the ignorant and uninformed, the bond and the free, he cherished this society. It is, and it ought to be, a living record of his Christian worth. The relations of life, whether those of neighbor, friend, husband or parent, were all discharged by Mr. Strong in that way which will endear his memory to every one. When the tomb closed upon his body, it did not spread the pall of darkness upon his name. His neighbors, his friends, his wife and his children will shed, it is true, many a tear of regret over his grave, but yet sorrowing and in tears, they will say he was a good neighbor, a steadfast friend, and an affectionate husband. and parent!

Such, fellow-members, is a brief outline of our founder, former President, and fellow-member. His death, while yet in early life, has deprived us and society in general of his valuable services. For such a loss and deprivation we must grieve; but that grief ought to be tempered and restrained by a pious resignation to the will of Divine Providence. We should say with Job, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord!" And our tears should be dried up with the recollection of our deceased friend and brother, in the exchange of time for eternity, has entered upon that happy state, "Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." But notwithstanding the consolations of religion may dry up our tears, yet a sincere grief for his loss, a just and a virtuous attachment to his memory, and the claims of society, require of us a last tribute of respect. "Hic saltem accumulem donis, et fungar, inani munere."