CHAPTER VIII.

HIS DESIRES FOR USEFULNESS-THE UNIFORMITY OF HIS PIETY-HIS ACTIVITY IN REVIVALS-HIS HUMILITYHIS SYMPATHY WITH AFFLICTED CHURCHES-VIEWS OF HOME MISSIONS-ADDRESSES то THE CHURCHES OF WALPOLE AND COHASSET-ADDRESS AT LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF THE HANOVER CHURCH, BOSTONOF THE SHEPARD CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE-CHARGE TO REV. O. EASTMAN-LETTERS TO MISS R. P.

If required to name the ruling passion of Mr. Green, without hesitation we should term it, The love of usefulness. The miser's love of gold, and the voluptuary's devotion to pleasure, are rarely more strongly marked, than was his self-consecration to doing good. At home and abroad, in the house and by the way, with friends and with strangers, it was his habitual study to recommend the Saviour of sinners to the affections of all, by the exemplification of his spirit, and the enforcement of his instructions. Ever watchful over his own temper, and guarded against every expression of feeling that might prove injurious to himself or others, he was prepared at all times to administer reproof where it was needed, and to exhort those in whom he discovered striking deficiencies, to add to their faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, &c. The appeal might

confidently be made to any child of God who has enjoyed the privilege even of a slight acquaintance with him, whether he ever left him without some new or clearer views of divine truth, or without some fresh resolutions of new obedience, or without some deepened convictions of Christian responsibility, and more elevated conceptions of Christian privileges. It was his constant aim to enliven the graces of his brethren in Christ, and press them onward to more eminent attainments in piety, not only for their own heightened spiritual enjoyment, but for their wider usefulness in this world of death. Nor did he suffer the heedless enemy of God to pursue the way to hell without throwing before him, in the spirit of kindness, the most powerful motives to turn from his evil ways and live. Remembering himself "the wormwood and the gall" of his days of impenitence, and the keenness of those arrows of the Almighty which had formerly drunk up his own spirits; looking onward too, to the fearful retributions that await the workers of iniquity, and the fiery indignation that must overtake them, he seemed to place his soul in their soul's stead, and urged them with an importunity not to be denied, and a tenderness not to be resisted, to become reconciled to God. Here, doubtless, is to be found the reason why his entire faithfulness and uncommon plainness in the exhibition of truth, gave so little offence, while it so often accomplished the end at which he aimed. Not always, indeed, was he successful in enforcing the claims of the gospel; but rarely, if ever, did he fail to impress the most stubborn unbeliever with a conviction of his own sincerity, and also of the beauty and excellency of religion as portrayed by his hand. Many turned away from his instructions to cleave to the world as firmly as ever, and to resist the authority of God with undiminished boldness; but it was not without a conflict with an aroused conscience, nor without an

acknowledgment that if human power could prevail to change their purposes, it was the unaffected earnestness and soft persuasion of Mr. Green.

Uniformity was a distinguished characteristic of his piety. He was the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. A stranger, after hearing him in the pulpit, or at the table of the Lord, would not be disappointed on meeting him. in his study or in the social circle, and be constrained to exclaim, Is this the man who discoursed so eloquently on the love of Jesus and the joys of heaven! The same spirit that glowed in the sanctuary continued to glow in the parlor, in the place of concourse every where. At all times, and in all circumstances, he was ready to discuss the most common or the most difficult questions in experimental and practical godliness; to enter with the inquirer into the depths of the heart, thoroughly to scan the evidences of piety, and to throw light on the most minute points of inquiry that could be proposed by the humblest mind. But, where no good was to be done, and where he could not be received as an accredited servant of God, nor permitted to speak freely in the name of Jesus, he was not to be found.

Though his piety was thus uniform, it was susceptible of a great increase of fervor, when peculiar circumstances demanded special efforts, or when his fellow Christians were aroused, by any means, from slumbers too often indulged, and brought up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. He loved the season of revival. Nor was he one of those who rely on special excitements alone for the increase of the church. Whenever he sowed the good seed of the kingdom, it was in the hope of an early harvest, with the expectation that the Spirit of God would cause it to spring and bring forth fruit without delay. And the result was, that scarcely a single season occurred during his ministry for the admission of members (and

these seasons were quarterly) when some individuals were not added to the church. During the eight years of his active ministry in Boston, three hundred and sixty-six were joined to the church under his care. The smallest number was in 1830, when seventeen only were added; the largest number was in 1827, when seventy-eight were added. Three periods of special revival may be considered as the immediate results of his labors, though the last had but commenced in power, when his Lord and Master forbid him to "speak any more" to his people. But in these seasons, when God was signally present to carry home truth to the conscience, his whole soul was drawn forth in holy and irrepressible effort. To his eye and heart heaven was then brought down to earth. By day he was every where present to strengthen the hands of his brethren and guide their steps, to pour instruction on the darkened mind, and direct the inquiring to the Lamb of God. By night he trimmed his lamp, and gave the hours usually devoted to repose to his preparations for the sanctuary, or prayed, and wept, and wrestled with the angel of the covenant till the breaking of the day, for a blessing on the thoughtless thousands around him.

Nor did he less rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of salvation, when the tidings reached him from any quarter of souls converted and sinners saved. And when the circumstances of his own congregation would permit, he gladly went to the assistance of any brother in the ministry, whose hands were filled with labor by a special outpouring of the Spirit, and there devoted himself with singleness of aim to the labors of the pulpit, the inquiry meeting, or the family visitation, as the exigencies of the case demanded. Nor was it a question with him, whether the place were near or remote, whether the congregation were large or small, enlightened or ignorant, nor whether the pastor were unknown or well known, indigent or

wealthy. The cry, "what must we do to be saved?" was alone sufficient to arouse all his energies, cause him to forget his infirmities, and to press forward with quenchless ardor to the scene of action and of triumph.

That his excessive labors, under the pressure of this spirit of devotedness, were the immediate occasion of the failure of his health, there is little room to doubt. A piety so glowing, and a zeal so intense, by inevitable consequence, crushed the frail tenement in which it dwelt. The succeeding paragraph, in confirmation of this opinion, is from the discourse of Rev. Mr. Adams, delivered on the day of his interment.

"The interruption of Mr. G.'s acceptable and useful labors has seemed to many a dark and mysterious dispensation of Providence. It would be entirely so, if the immediate causes were not so distinctly apparent. At the weekly meeting of the Pastors of the Congregational churches in this city, in March, 1831, at which the subject of special efforts for a revival of religion had been conversed upon, Mr. G. expressed his determination to enter immediately upon a course of labor to promote that object. The next day he made about thirty visits among his people, attended morning prayer meetings during the week, and the next Sabbath preached twice, administered the communion, attended a funeral and a wedding, and held an inquiry meeting in the evening. And that was the last Sabbath of his public ministration. The organic difficulty in his throat began from that time, accompanied with the prostration of his health and strength.

"If any man can indulge any other feeling than regret, that Mr. G. should have gone so far beyond his strength, he knows but little of the intense anxiety of a pastor's heart, in those seasons when the worth of the soul and