preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge." From this signally pertinent text, the following general truth was deduced, and fully illustrated and sustained: "A wise preacher will constantly teach his people knowledge." Mr. Williams gave the deceased an exalted character, ranking him first among the most distinguished divines of New England. Prayer was offered at the house by Rev. Mr. Long of Milford, and at the meeting-house by Rev. Mr. Fisk of Wrentham, and Dr. Codman of Dorchester. The following original ode, prepared for the occasion, was sung at the grave.

"Rest, man of God! thy labors cease,

And we, thy sorrowing children, come
To lay thee in the grave in peace,
And sing around thy hallowed tomb.

"With all the great and holy dead

Long since departed to the skies,
Triumphant from this lowly bed,
In equal glory thou shalt rise.

"Thou wert our father, friend, and guide,
Our faithful shepherd, tried and true;
For all, for whom the Saviour died,
Thy life a deathless pattern drew.

"Though thou dost sleep, thy page shall burn
With untold lustre, ages hence;

Millennial converts yet shall learn

The doctrines of the Cross from thence.

"Well nigh a century was spent,

Amid life's ever varying scenes;

Ah! thou didst know what Sorrow meant,
Oft drinking from her bitter streams.

"But lo! thy ransomed soul is gone;

Gone to thy Saviour and thy King;
Already hast thou learned the song
Which angels never, never sing.

"And now, while 'dust to dust is given,'
And farewell sighs are heard from all,
On him, who points our way to heaven,
May thy descending mantle fall.”’

The vast concourse of people assembled on this occasion, and the deep feeling which was indicated by their countenances and deportment, very strikingly evinced the sincere affection and respect in which this aged divine was held. There was about fifty ministers present, and many laymen of distinction from a distance. Though he had lived to an age at which most people are forgotten by the community, and at which the young cease to feel any interest in them; yet he seems to have

retained not only the profound respect, but the warm affection of even the youth of his congregation. It was intensely interesting to see the aged, the middle aged, the youth, and the children, all gathering around the dwelling of their aged pastor, and together mingling their tears of sorrow, "that they should

see his face no more."

The reader of this Memoir will perceive that comparatively little is here said, of certain traits in the character of Dr. Emmons which were well known to his intimate friends. Among these are his wisdom, wit, cheerfulness and vivacity. Something particular upon each of these traits, and upon the influence which they exerted upon his social character, was contemplated in these passages. But having been favored with the perusal of a lecture recently delivered by Professor Park to the senior class in the theological seminary at Andover, in which this part of the Doctor's character is happily delineated, the writer has thought it proper to request the lecture for publication. It is with great pleasure that he is able to present it to his readers.

A

MISCELLANEOUS REFLECTIONS

OF A VISITER,

UPON THE CHARACTER OF DR. EMMONS.

FAMILIAR LECTURE READ BEFORE THE SENIOR CLASS IN ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, BY PROF. EDWARDS A. PARK.

I HAVE imagined that it may not be unprofitable for a class of men who have in view the ministerial office, to hear a familiar essay on the personal and social character of Rev. Nathanael Emmons. The life of any man, more particularly of such a man, may be fruitful of suggestions to any student, and above all to a student for the ministry. During the last fifteen years of his life, Dr. Emmons was regarded as an intellectual, as well as physiological curiosity. He was connected with the church at Franklin seventy years, was its sole pastor fiftyfour years, and during his connection with it, saw nearly four hundred of his parishioners profess their faith in Christ. He guided the studies of eighty-seven young men preparing to become ministers of the gospel, and he thus exerted an important influence over at least eighty-seven thousand among the laity. Of those who enjoyed his teaching, several, as Professors Smith, Wines, Fowler and Pond of Bangor, became instructers in theology; and some, as Professor Fisher of New Haven, became eminent as literary men. He published, during his life, more than seven thousand copies of nearly two hundred sermons, besides four labored dissertations, and numerous essays for periodicals. He did not leave theology as he found it. The state of this science, and the consequent power of the Christian ministry, have been perceptibly advanced by his labors. He and his fathers in the ministry have done much toward the formation of New England character. It is impos

sible for men to come in weekly contact with his acute and vigorous speculations, without acquiring somewhat of that shrewdness and force of mind which have characterized our fellow citizens.

I do not intend to give an elaborate analysis of Dr. Emmons' character, such as may be gleaned from a review of his works and his history; nor to give a scientific delineation of him as a philosopher, or a preacher, or a christian; but to state a few reminiscences of him as he appeared to a visiter, and as his personal peculiarities were connected with his public developements. I do not wish to confine myself to a view of his social characteristics, but to intersperse such miscellaneous reflections as have been suggested by intercourse with him; and to detail some of the circumstances, which made him the centre of attraction to all who understood him.

It is not pretended that he was, in the common sense of the term, a popular man, for he was not sufficiently known to be a personal favorite with a large community; but where he was best known, he was most revered; and could the Association of ministers with which he was so long connected, be introduced with him upon the canvass, they would all be painted as reverently looking up to the only man in the group who wore a three-cornered hat. They were wont to visit him as a mental mechanist, who would wind up their intellects and set them in freer motion. The Presidents of our Colleges, the Judges of our Courts, went out of their way to do him reverHis guests left him with renewed impulse to activity, with larger views of the sphere in which they were called to labor. He did not, at all times, engage the interest of his acquaintance, as he did at chosen times; not abroad, so much as at home; not in extreme old age, as in the prime of life. But few men have exerted greater power with so little parade. His doctrinal sermons give no adequate idea of himself as a man.* They were written in the abstract style of a secluded student, with somewhat of the severity which is natural to one living aloof from and above his race; but no one exhibition of his character exhausted him. His aspect, in the pulpit, and in the published treatise, will not display the whole of the man.

ence.

*No one, on the perusal of his a priori argument for the divine existence, or of several passages against the indulgence of the fancy, would suppose that he ever allowed his imagination a moment's recess from the tutelage of his judg. ment. It was however characteristic of him to make simple-hearted and childlike expressions which have but little resemblance to his logical formularies. Once, describing a most unpleasant dilemma in which he was involved, and from which he was extricated by expressing a thought that dropped into his mind suddenly, at the very instant when alone it could avail, he said, in a tone which one would have expected from Izaak Walton, "I do believe it was an immediate suggestion of a good angel."

He had enough of material for five or six different portraitures; enough of manhood to fill out several quite respectable personages. Not but that he had faults of mind and heart; he not only had them, but could afford that others should know them. "No man's character," he used to say, "will bear examining;" and again, "every body has something about him to spoil him." We are not called however to expatiate on his faults, nor on what we may deem to be his doctrinal errors, but to examine the sources of the interest felt in one who never courted the attentions he received, nor sought any of the honors which he found; who disdained to run after the world, but chose to remain tranquilly at home, and to let such come to see him as were so disposed.

A chief source of the interest felt in Dr. Emmons was the fact of his preserving, under many uncongenial influences, so much of the freshness and mellowness of human life. Perhaps the first feeling of strangers on visiting him was that of disappointment. They had heard of the minister of Franklin, as a recluse residing in a still parish, on a quiet road, seldom visiting even his own parishioners, except when they had complied with the direction of James, "Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church," &c. Living such a secluded life, one would naturally be expected to contract an awkwardness and stiffness of manner, an habitual reserve and shyness, from which a man of the world is free. Perhaps he did exhibit some constraint when with strangers in a strange place; but in his own study, no one need be more courteous and affable. Cordiality and good will marked his reception of his guests; whether they harmonized or not with his political or theological views. They found in him many sympathies in common with their own; they could not but see that their company was a pleasure to him; and they accordingly felt the ease and self-satisfaction, which it is the characteristic of a polite man to give his visiters. They had read perhaps the sermons of Dr. Emmons, and found them characterized by metaphysical reasoning, subtile distinctions, a great prominence of those doctrines which are called stern and severe; and remembering the words of Burke, "There is no heart so hard as that of a thorough bred metaphysician," they expected to find for their host an austere man, exsiccated by logic and abstractions. But he showed no hardfeatured countenance to his guests; his face was the picture of hearty kindness and good nature; and although he was not unused to a knit brow in his study hours, he would converse on the literature, the politics, the news of the day, with a freshness of interest belonging to a citizen more than a scholar. "Whence 17*

VOL. I.