gage in every enterprise which he deemed benevolent, and watched with anxious eye the progress of society in knowledge and virtue. As a community, therefore, we shall feel his death.

The church, however, is the greatest sufferer, and may be permitted most deeply to bewail her loss. He was one of her most dutiful sons; and as she buries him, will she not "make great lamentation over him?" To her holy service he consecrated all his talents, and deemed it his highest privilege "to spend and be spent" for her sake. "For Christ and the Church" was the sacred motto which seems to have been engraven upon his soul. Did the occasion permit, I would gladly enlarge upon the untiring efforts which he made for her welfare, and the devotion which he invariably showed to her interests. I can now only glance hastily at one or two particulars.

Dr. Fisk was a faithful and eloquent preacher. Often have I regretted that it was not my privilege frequently to listen to his ministrations; but "his praise is in all the churches." Many now present can attest not only to the simplicity and beauty of his language and address, but to the spirit of piety and love which pervaded his discourses; -to the warm sympathy which he created in the breasts of his hearers, and to the ardent desires which he so touchingly expressed for their salvation. You, my brethren of this church, will never forget with what affection and holy ardour he besought you, on his last visit to this city, to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," and how every feeling of his overflowing soul was enlisted in the prosperity of Zion! He preached (to use the eloquent language of Dr. Stone) "like one who had measured eternity, and taken the dimensions of a soul !"

He was warmly attached to the doctrines and discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From the position which he occupied among us, it not unfrequently devolved upon.

him to explain and defend our doctrines and usages. He never shrank from the task, but defined clearly and defended triumphantly "the faith once delivered to the saints." And when duty called him to act offensively, he did it in a manly and Christian spirit. His attachment to our discipline was shown by the sacrifices which he made to conform to it. Hard must it have been for one afflicted with his bodily infirmities to submit to all the toils and privations of an itinerant minister. To use his own words, in the Report of the Missionary Education Society, he "looked upon Methodism as the peculiar offspring of Providence, and specially adapted to the wants and circumstances of men." His attachment to her, therefore, proceeded as well from the impulses of duty, as from the emotions of regard and love. His generous nature knew no bigotry, but he held sympathy and communion with all who "love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."

He was ever ready for all the emergencies of the church. "He counted not his life dear unto himself, so that he might finish his course with joy." He entered our ranks as a travelling preacher, and continued to discharge, with unusual fidelity, the duties of his station, till he was called to another field of labour. When our academy was esta blished at Wilbraham, he was appointed to take charge of it; and for years did he labour with no other recompense than a scanty salary, and the satisfaction of promoting education in the church. When the Wesleyan University was founded, he was called to fill the presidential chair, and to direct all its operations. This was a great task for a great man, but Dr. Fisk proved himself equal to it! And now, when his own reputation, and that of this young but flourishing institution is fully established, he is taken for ever from us. Through his whole life he seems to have considered himself the servant of the church. Ready he was at any moment to do her bidding,

regardless of ease, convenience, emolument, or interest. This sentiment he very clearly expresses in a letter to Dr. Bangs, on the occasion of having been elected bishop by the last General Conference. After stating several reasons for declining this responsible office, he adds, "My constitution is such, that, to all human appearance, I might calculate with the fullest certainty upon a speedy termination of my labours, if I were obliged to be exposed to all the varieties of climate, at any and all seasons of the year. This, if I believed the interests of the church required it, should not deter me; for why should not I go into the hottest of the battle, and fall, as well as others?”

Venerable man! he has fallen on another field, but not ingloriously, for the laurels of victory were wreathed around his brow! He has fallen on classic ground, endeared to the Christian student by his prayers and labours, and consecrated by the tears and prayers of the church. He has fallen to rise again in glory! For "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall he also appear with him in glory."

But I must close. Most heartily, sir, do I respond to the sentiment imbodied in the resolution which has already been adopted; but yet a melancholy gloom oppresses me, as I reflect upon the death of Dr. Fisk. I cannot realize, and scarce can I believe, that I shall see his face and hear his voice no more. Mysterious indeed is the providence which has deprived us of the services of so valuable a man. And when I dwell upon the loss, untold, unfelt as yet, I can scarce restrain my tears. Well, let us weep, brethren, for never may we have greater cause! This is a mournful occasion, and a mournful year for Zion. Scarce a wind blows which bears not the tidings

* A resolution expressive of "the full assurance that all the dispensations of Divine Providence are ordered in infinite wisdom and love," &c.-ED.

of some good man gone! Ruter, and Merwin, and Stone and Fisk-these are but a few of the watchmen who have recently been removed from the walls and watch-towers of Zion. Who, sir, will next go? But I forbear. God will take care of his church, and to him let us commend her in this hour of sorrow.

1

LETTERS.

[The following extracts are arranged according to the respective dates of the letters from which they are taken. Those bearing date previous to 1835 are, with one exception, from letters written at Brown University.-ED.]

TO HIS PARENTS.

April 24, 1831. THERE is one subject, my dear parents, upon which I frequently and seriously think, and the interest of which, instead of diminishing, increases; that is, the subject of religion. I have endeavoured to ascertain what my condition before God is, whether my sins are really pardoned, and whether I am prepared to die. The result of the examination has been this: I find that I am a sinner against God, have no clear and satisfactory evidence of the pardon of my sins, and am not prepared to die. This is indeed a bad situation! I could wish to feel more deeply upon the subject, but think I am justified in saying that I am truly penitent, and desire to experience the religion of Christ, and to have an evidence of the pardon of my sins, and of my acceptance with God. It seems to me that

I sometimes fear that, after all my endeavours to lead a Christian life, I have come short of it, and shall not spend an eternity of happiness. I sometimes am led to