dollars as your contribution; and you may act your pleasure about indemnifying me." These are only instances out of a multitude; the same liberality characterized him as long as he lived. He continued to give till after he was unable to put his name to a subseription paper. It was with reluctance that he received from his people what they were forward to give as a compensation for his services; and for two successive years he actually relinquished four hundred dollars. He never would have possessed a dwellinghouse in fee if his people had waited for his consent. Acting according to the impulse of their own liberality, and their convictions of what was due to him in return for the sums which he had relinquished, they purchased and secured to him, by deed, a house more spacious than he would have chosen; and this was all his property, beyond actual expenditures, which he did not give away. In this connection a document will be introduced, containing a request, such as it would be equally honorable to ministers and people if there were more frequent occasion for: "To the members of the Second Parish in Portland, in parish meeting assembled "GENTLEMEN, "It is a circumstance which claims my thankful acknowledgments, and of which I hope ever to retain a grateful recollection, that, while many ministers are constrained to ask, and perhaps ask in vain, for an increase of salary, the only request relative to a support which I have ever had occasion to present to you is, that my salary may be diminished. Such a request, you will recollect, I made through the medium of one of the congregation at your last annual meeting; but your kindness and liberality prevented you from complying with it. I now repeat that request in writing. The salary which you voted me at the time of my settlement is amply sufficient for my support; and more than this I am unwilling to receive; for I can never consent to acquire wealth by preaching the Gospel of Christ. Permit me then respectfully, but earnestly, to request that the addition which you have so generously made to my salary, the last two years, may be discontinued. "That the Master whom I serve may repay all your kindness to his servant, is the first wish and most earnest prayer of "Your deeply indebted and grateful pastor, "Portland, April 27, 1821." In the same spirit, after his last sickness had made such inroads upon his strength as almost wholly to disqualify him for exertion, he dictated the following communication: ። April 27, 1827, "To the members of the Second Congregational Church in Portland, in parish meeting assembled→ "BRETHREN ANd Friends, "Of the kindness and generosity with which you have invariably treated me ever since I became your pastor, and especially since the commencement of my present indisposition, I am deeply sensible. Nor have you given me the smallest reason to suppose that your kindness is exhausted, or even diminished. But I must not allow myself to encroach upon it too far. It is my indispensable duty to prefer your spiritual welfare to every personal consideration. If I have reason to believe that your religious interests would be promoted by a dissolution of the connection be tween us, it is incumbent on me to request that it may be dissolved; and to retire from a station, the duties of which I am no longer able to perform. And have I not reason to believe that such is the fact? With the present state of my health you are sufficiently acquainted. It has already occasioned you much trouble and expense. You have waited a reasonable time for its restoration, and the probability that it will ever be restored, is by no means great. It is highly important that such a society as this should enjoy the services of a minister who possesses a vigorous constitution, firm health, and ministerial qualifications of the first order; and the salary which it gives entitles it to expect, and will enable it to command the services of such a minister. In view of these circumstances, I feel a prevailing persuasion that it is my duty to propose a dissolution of the connection between us, and to request you to unite with me in calling & council for the purpose of dissolving it. Such a proposition and request I now submit to you. "That on this and every other occasion you may be guided by that wisdom which is from above, and led to the adoption of such measures as shall be most conducive to the glory of God and your own best interests, is the prayer of "Your affectionate friend and pastor, This request met a most honorable reception. Their reply to it expressed the most "deep and affectionate sympathy with their much esteemed pastor, and a sense of their high obligations for the very valuable services which a kind Providence had permitted and enabled him to perform for a long course of years; and appreciating his present services, much as they were interrupted and curtailed by sickness, of paramount value and interest to them, they did respectfully solicit that he would be pleased to withdraw his request; and thus permit them to hope, that whatever might be the state of his health in future, they should enjoy the benefit of his counsel and prayers, till he was called to receive the reward prepared for the faithful servants of Christ."-With these wishes, so affectionately and gratefully expressed, he complied; and continued, in such ways as he could, to advance their spiritual interests, till removed by the undoubted will of God. But there are in the lives of eminently faithful ministers, events of another character, which it is painful to narrate, and yet which ought not to be passed over in silence. The hostility which they sometimes experience illustrates the depravity of mankind, and confirms the authority of Scripture by evincing the truth of the declaration-" If any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, he shall suffer persecution." Dr Pavson was such "a terror to evil doers," that from time to time they seemed bent on destroying his reputation, and multiplied their slanders till they ceased to gain any credence even with the vilest. When these designs upon his character proved abortive, their enmity manifested itself in other forms. He once alludes to this opposition in his letters. It was in a year eminently distinguished by God's blessing on his labors. 66 July 4, 1810. "Enemies rage most terribly. You have probably seen in the papers an account of the attempt to burn our meeting-house. We have not discovered the author; but there is no doubt that are at the bottom of it. It was little less than a miracle that the house was not burnt, with many others. Never since I have been here, has the enmity of the heart been permitted to rage as it does now." CHAPTER XIX. Further particulars relating to his personal history and reli gious exercises. in connection with his pastoral labors and their results. It was not thought desirable to interrupt a description of "the pastor in action" by frequent references to dates; or to pay any special regard to chronological order in a rehearsal of scenes and employments which were more or less common to every year of his ministry. In this chapter, however, that order is resumed, for the purpose of continuing the history of his religious experience through the various occurrences and vicissitudes of his life. The particulars |