these effects. To a friend of his he writes: "In three or four seasons of special religious attention among us, I preached more doctrinally than usual, which I found made deeper and better impressions upon the minds of the awakened and unawakened, than loud and declamatory addresses to the passions. Strangers occasionally preached among us in such a manner, but with little effect. Discourses upon the divine character, the divine law, the total depravity of sinners, the sovereignty of special grace, and the immediate duty of submission, produced the most convictions, and the most conversions." The notion that a full exhibition of the great doctrines of the gospel has a tendency to prevent or check a revival of true religion, has been proved to be false, whenever the experiment has been fully and fairly made.

As to the tendency of Dr. Emmons' opinions to create divisions among a people, this is a fact only where they have already embraced dangerous and destructive errors. The truth in operation in the midst of error will indeed create divisions. But the only way to unite a people intelligently, firmly and permanently together, is to preach the truth to them so plainly and so frequently, that they cannot help understanding it. It is doubtless owing to the plain and faithful manner in which Dr. Emmons instructed his people in the self denying and unpopular doctrines of the gospel, that he so effectually guarded them from the encroachments of error, and kept them so generally and closely united. He has given the ministry one of the most important lessons which they have ever received upon the best manner of keeping their societies united.

The light which Dr. Emmons threw upon the doctrines of the gospel, served to establish the members of other churches, as well as his own, in the faith once delivered to the saints. In almost all the churches in which he was accustomed to preach, there were many who felt themselves peculiarly instructed by his luminous exhibitions of the truth; and some of them still cherish a grateful remembrance of the knowledge of Christianity derived from his preaching.

From the perusal of his writings also, many within and beyond the reach of his voice, have obtained a view of the gospel which has given them great strength and satisfaction. The following extract of a letter containing a liberal donation to the Massachusetts Missionary Society, of which he was then President, from a female in the State of New York, an entire stranger to him, is a specimen of a multitude of others which he received from those whose faces he never saw in the flesh. "I embrace the first opportunity of communicating my sincere thanks to you, as an instrument in the hands of God, of convin

cing me of the truth, and establishing me in the belief of the doctrines contained in the Bible more than I ever was before, or probably should have been, had I never read your sermons." "So far as my ideas of divinity are correct, it is in a great measure, if not wholly, owing to the light which I have received from reading your sermons on doctrinal subjects, and of course I feel myself very much indebted to your labors and study." How much light has been diffused among the American churches, by the circulation of the single sermons and volumes which he published, and the communications which he made to various religious periodicals, it is impossible to form any definite estimate. But no one who is extensively acquainted with the religious views and feelings of professors of religion in New England, can doubt that his ministry has in some form or other exerted a great influence in forming them. Could all the knowledge of Christian doctrine which they have derived either directly or indirectly from his ministry, be now abstracted from these churches, their want of orthodoxy would be strikingly apparent. Those in the immediate vicinity of his labors would suffer an irreparable loss by such a process.

It was his object to produce salutary and permanent effects by his preaching and measures, rather than high and temporary excitement. He was fully aware of the fact, that in efforts to promote religion, as well as in secular concerns, a present good might be gained by the use of means which, in their ultimate results, would be evils more than sufficient to balance it. He guarded against the use of all such measures. And that he might be safe in his movements, he relied upon those means only which are obviously sanctioned by the word of God. Knowing that the word of God is the great instrument which he has appointed for the conversion of sinners, the sanctification of saints, and the prosperity of the church; he always laid himself out to make a clear, an appropriate and powerful exhibition of divine truth, and with a prayerful reliance upon the gift of the Holy Spirit, left the result of his efforts with God. When he could not accomplish a desired object without the use of means which were not of divine appointment, and evidently of a doubtful tendency as to their permanent influence; he felt that he ought to be willing to leave it for the present unaccomplished, and to direct his efforts to the attainment of others which the providence of God had placed within his reach. In this way he always retained his influence with his people, and set before his church an example of practical wisdom, which prepared the way for their permanent usefulness, as well as his own. During his ministry his church was not only large, but well disciplined and well instructed. Their in

telligence, their example, and their united and well directed efforts in the cause of Christ, gave them an influence in the town, which was felt by every family and every individual in it. Though in his best days, there were among his people as well as every other, much sin and many overt acts of wickedness; yet it is well known that they were as a body, remarkable, not only for the depth and consistency of the piety which prevailed among them, but for their industry, honesty and sobriety, for their observance of the Sabbath, their domestic order and regularity, their attendance upon the public worship of God, and the respect which they paid to all the institutions of the gospel. The good influence of religion was felt, and continued to be felt, through the community over which Dr. Emmons presided as a spiritual watchman.

But perhaps one of the most important of all the effects of his ministry is the influence which he exerted upon ministers themselves. No less than eighty-seven young men studied theology under his direction, and enjoyed the advantages of his instruction and example in their preparation for the sacred office. That the influence which he exerted upon them was both powerful and salutary we have the most satisfactory evidence, both from their own testimony and from the high character as ministers of the gospel, which most of them subsequently_sustained. One of them* says, "In the instruction of students in theology, of whom he had a large number, he excelled every teacher of whom I have ever had any knowledge, in any department of education, whether literary, scientific or professional." The young men who studied under his directions, obtained a more systematic and thorough knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel than was common among young ministers of their day. The sermons of many of them were distinguished for their logical arrangement, for their weight of matter, for the perspicuity of their style, and for the independent and fearless manner in which they announced the distinguishing truths of the Bible. These young men were generally devoted to their work, and in a very good degree successful in securing the great object of their high vocation. What an extensive and powerful influence did he exert upon the world through the medium of all these ministers, whose characters had been formed under the immediate influence of his instruction and example!

But those who were placed under his personal instruction were not the only ministers on whom he has exerted a great and salutary influence. Many with whose primary instruction

*Rev. Thomas Williams.

in theology he had nothing to do, have received important aid in their inquiries after truth from a personal acquaintance with him. Some, who in early life were in the providence of God placed under his ministry, or in circumstances in which they had frequent opportunities of hearing him preach, have acknowledged with gratitude the intellectual and moral influence which the matter and manner of his preaching had upon their minds. A still larger number who have had no personal acquaintance with him, and no opportunity to hear him preach, have received from his writings an intellectual and moral impulse, and a degree of light and satisfaction upon some of the more difficult points in theology, which they never could gain in an equal degree from any other source. Many who are not prepared to admit the truth of all his opinions, are as ready as others to acknowledge the peculiar benefit which they have derived from the perusal of his works. A distinguished clergyman, who fills a most important station among the churches of New England, has said, "Whatever I am worth as a minister of the gospel, I am indebted in no small degree to the writings of Dr. Emmons." This is a very honorable testimony to the Doctor's influence; especially when it is considered that it comes from a man who studied his profession at the oldest theological seminary in the country, and whose professional life has associated him intimately with some of the ablest scholars and divines of the age. The declaration just mentioned is nothing more than has been said in substance by many others. The writer has often heard ministers in different parts of the country acknowledge, with much apparent gratitude, the great advantage which they have derived from the perusal of Dr. Emmons' publications. The attention which he has paid to the doctrines of the gospel, and the success which has attended his efforts to illustrate and enforce them, has doubtless turned the attention of many others to the subject of doctrinal discussion, and encouraged them to engage in this too much neglected part of a minister's work. His example of industry in the sacred calling, has made many others feel both the duty and importance of giving themselves wholly to their work. The great amount of instruction contained in his sermons, and the perspicuous and interesting manner in which this was presented to his hearers, has no doubt determined many to carry none but beaten oil into the sanctuary. The definiteness and precision with which he treated every subject on which he wrote, has not only removed many difficulties from the minds of others respecting these subjects, but, at the same time, made them more accurate thinkers and writers. What he has taught respecting the nature of moral agency,

human depravity, and regeneration, has prepared the way for that more direct and apostolic mode of address, both to saints and sinners, which has been gaining ground for more than forty years among the ministers of New England. The palpable distinction which he made between saints and sinners, and which he presented before the public in so many forms, has doubtless exerted a powerful influence to make other ministers more discriminating in their preaching. Could the whole effect which his ministry has exerted upon ministers, and through them upon the churches and the world, be seen at one view, we should be prepared to acknowledge both the reality and importance of his success.

Dr. Emmons was eminently useful as a counsellor. His advice was sought by ministers and churches in almost every part of New England. Though in his day councils were much less frequent than at present, yet, in the course of his ministry, he was invited to one hundred and seven. Eighty-six of these councils he attended. Many of them were ordaining councils, and on these occasions he preached not less than twenty-six times.

There is another very important respect in which the effects of his ministry ought to be contemplated. He was a true friend and active promoter of Christian missions. Though he lived a retired life and was naturally inclined to mental rather than bodily exercise, yet he was, in his appropriate sphere, actively engaged in propagating the gospel among the destitute. His heart was much set upon this work. The reader of his autobiography will perceive, that he was inspired with the true spirit of missions from the very commencement of his spiritual life. After mentioning a time when he had a peculiar discovery of the Divine perfections, and the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, which filled his mind with a joy and peace to which he had ever before been a perfect stranger, he says: "This was followed by a peculiar spirit of benevolence to all my fellow men, whether friends or foes. And I was transported with the thought of the unspeakable blessedness of the day, when universal benevolence should prevail among all mankind." The intelligent reader will perceive here, not only the germ of his theology, but the spirit of missions; the very same spirit which moved Brainerd and Hall and Mills, and a host of others, to all their laborious and self denying exertions in behalf of the heathen.

He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Missionary Society, and one of the leading and most efficient men in their primary operations. He was their first president and their first preacher, and the chairman of the committee who prepared their