eloquent teachers of the gospel, like those, whose purity of character and dignity of manners were so deeply impressed upon the early forms of our New England society.

It is with a pleasure like this, that we rise from perusing the life of Mr. Samuel H. Stearns, the late lamented pastor of the Old South church in Boston. Before we had found a place for the notice of the work, which we had meditated for the last number of this Review, we were surprised by the appearance of a second edition, in which the Life has been published by itself, while promise is given in the preface, of a volume of the Discourses, should it be demanded. That such a volume would find a ready sale, among the many friends who have been called to lament the early blighting of so much promise and hope as was centred in this gifted young man, there can be little reason to doubt. It is true, that both the Life and the Discourses are illustrations of a character that had not reached the maturity of its powers, or the fulness of its usefulness or fame; "for he fell on the threshold of his profession, the message on his lip undelivered, the errand untold, the great work, to which from childhood he had devoted his life, scarcely begun." Yet the reader cannot fail to perceive in them the promise of what he might have been, the earnest of the glorious harvest of usefulness he might have reaped,-had his life and health been spared, to accomplish the high labors to which he nobly aspired.

The events of Mr. Stearns's life are none of them impressive, or in any high degree important, by themselves considered. But they furnish so good an illustration of the manner in which the characters of many of our best New England clergymen are formed, that we cannot forbear to present a short sketch of his personal history, before we attempt any delineation of his character.

Samuel Horatio Stearns was born at Bedford, Mass., September 12, 1801. He was of clerical descent, for at least two generations. His father was the Rev. Samuel Stearns, for nearly forty years the pastor of the Congregational church at Bedford, and his grandfathers, in either branch of his family, were both honored ministers of the same denomination. His early life was passed principally at home, under the guidance and tuition of his parents; both of whom seem to have been exceedingly judicious

persons, and to have aimed to impress upon his opening mind the principles of truth and virtue, and to inspire his young heart with feelings of honor and generosity, and a thirst for every elevated and ennobling pursuit. At the age of fourteen, he began his classical studies, under the instruction of his father; mingling the employments of agriculture with the severer labors of study, it being a maxim with his father, that "a boy is not fit for college till he knows how to work." To his father's love of thoroughness, and the frequent illustrations of it which the labors in the garden called forth, Mr. Stearns was accustomed, in later life, to ascribe many of the habits which he prized most highly in the pursuits to which he was devoted. The paternal maxim, "a thing well done is twice done," and the rule so often enforced, in the occupations of gardening," leave no weed, my son, as big as a pin,”—are capable of indefinite generalization, and he, who, in boyhood, has made them the basis of his habits, will rarely fail of at least respectable success. In his sixteenth year, he entered Phillips' academy, at Andover, for the purpose of completing his preparation for the university. From an early period of life, he had exhibited in his character the traces of serious reflection upon his religious obligations, had cherished the reverence for the Sabbath in which he had been educated, and had seemed to take a pleasure in the study of the Scriptures, to which he diligently devoted himself. It was not, however, till June, 1816, during the first year of his residence at Andover, that he made a public profession of his faith in Christ, and became a member of his father's church at Bedford.

In the autumn of 1819, Mr. Stearns was entered a member of the freshman class, of Harvard College. In consequence of the narrow income yielded to his father, by the parish at Bedford, he was obliged to place himself on one of the college foundations for indigent students. The assistance thus furnished, being intended as a stimulus to exertion, as well as a relief to necessity, would naturally call forth the most unremitting efforts of an ardent and sensitive mind. Urged on by incitements like this, in addition to his natural love of knowledge and sense of duty to himself and his parents, he applied himself to study, with a devotion that his frail constitution was but ill calculated to sustain. The result was, -as has been so

often sadly recorded of aspiring minds,-that, from neglect of the laws of his physical nature, his frame gave way, and he was obliged to leave college for the recovery of his health, before the third year of his residence had expired. He was, however, so far recruited, as to be able to rejoin his class at the university, in the ensuing autumn. In 1823, he was graduated from Harvard, with the unqualified respect and esteem, both of his instructers and his fellow-students, and with high distinction as a scholar.

The period of a young man's closing his early studies, and taking leave of the cloistered retirement of his academic life, is always an era in his history. It is usually the period, especially if success has crowned his efforts, and disease has not crushed his energy, when, before all others, hope is bright and glowing, and resolution strong and buoyant. The thousand pathways of the world are open before him, and all that is alluring to the youthful spirit skirts the horizon that lies around him. The gorgeous dreams of youth then first begin to give place to the more sober, yet not less impressive, realities of manhood. The pulse of benevolence beats strong within him, and he forms to himself plans of usefulness and distinction, which experience only can teach him he cannot accomplish. But Mr. Stearns, though he did not despond, was yet cut off from hopes and anticipations like these. He had completed his collegiate education, and had reached the period to which he had long looked forward as the goal of his hopes and exertions; the period when he should enter upon the more immediate preparation for professional life. But, instead of a heart beating with joyous hope, the prospect before him must have filled it with doubt and apprehension. Instead of a frame strong with manly vigor, he found his constitution shattered and enfeebled, unable to endure the labors of the profession he had chosen.

The two years immediately after his leaving college, he passed, in part, at Phillips' academy, in the capacity of an instructer, and in part at home, in the labors of agriculture, for the benefit of his health. Having in some measure recruited his wasted energies, in 1825 he entered the junior class of the theological institution at Andover. The three years he passed at this honored school of the prophets seem, in every way, to have been exceedingly pleasant and profitable. The habits of regular and assiduous

study, which had borne him on to distinguished success at the university, against the united pressure of infirm health and a narrow income, still attended him and enabled him to make attainments in the science and the literature of theology, far surpassing the ordinary meagre standard of the times. During this period of his life, his intellect seems to have risen to higher independence and an intense devotion to the investigation of truth. He was careful, in all his theological studies, to form opinions for himself, to discern the impress of heavenly inspiration upon every doctrine, before he made it his own, with proper deference, indeed, to the authority of the great and good, yet with no blind submission to their dictations. He thus planted in his mind the germ of a spirit of philosophical inquiry, which, had his life been spared for its full development, might have shed some valuable light upon the more obscure problems of theological science. While thus settling his views of the doctrines of divine revelation, he was at the same time breathing more largely of its spirit, and cultivating a piety that should fit him to withstand the temptations and endure the trials of the life before him. From communion with the gifted and sanctified minds of other ages, from daily reflection on the Providence that had shielded and guided him, and on the holy labors to which he had consecrated his days, and, more than all, from prayer, and the study of the Scriptures and the mighty truths they reveal, his spirit had gained strength for loftier soarings of devotion, for clearer and wider visions of faith. While at Andover, he seems to have deeply and thoroughly studied the nature of the profession he had chosen, and to have formed to himself a full and perfect ideal of what a Christian minister should be. The doctrines of the Bible, in their varied applications, he considered as far transcending in importance every other subject of inquiry, and, next to these, he devoted himself with fullest ardor, to the study of the manner of presenting the truth so as to affect the minds of men. Thus to enforce the principles of religion, he regarded as the great, the peculiar work of the Christian preacher. He was no believer in the inspiration of the ministry, or in the power of pulpit addresses, otherwise than as they conform to the laws of the human mind. He, therefore, wisely conceived it to be the duty of him, who would successfully preach the gospel of Christ, first

of all, to know how the minds of men are to be addressed, to study those great principles of eloquence which he must practise in common with the orator of the forum and the deliberative assembly, and those which are peculiar to the sacred profession, to trace them as exemplified in the master specimens of ancient and modern oratory, to meditate on them in retirement, and practise them in the exercise of preparatory discipline, until he should be able, as it were, to compel the reluctant attention of men to the truths he would proclaim. In devotion to an ideal like this, Mr. Stearns passed the years of his residence at Andover, in pursuits that were kindred to his taste, and fitted to prepare him for eminent usefulness in the church. Before leaving the seminary, he carefully examined the question of his duty to the cause of missions, in all the light which he could throw upon it, from the experience of others, and the best advice of his parents, instructers and friends, and, without fully making a decision of the question, he seems to have left it for the future indications of Divine Providence to determine. The following resolutions, written during the last year of his theological studies, serve to illustrate the character of his piety at this period of his life, and his views of the nature of the Christian ministry:

"I wholly renounce ambition and self-indulgence, as motives of action.

"I must be absolutely and entirely devoted to God, in heart and life; and live not unto myself, but unto him who loved me and died for me.

"I must glorify God, in the improvement of my own character, and in doing good to mankind.

'Trust

"I will follow my own taste and genius, so far as circumstances allow; and trust in God that his providence will guide me. in the Lord,' &c.- Be careful for nothing.'

"I will never intrude myself on the public, or take a conspicuous part, without good and important reasons; nor will I shrink from the exposure when duty calls, but generously go forward, and endeavor to acquit myself with Christian propriety.

"My intercourse with the world, as far as it extends, shall be perfectly honorable, Christian, frank, kind and magnanimous ;-any good attained or done at the expense of this, costs too much.

"It shall be my pleasure to exert a happy influence on all within the little circle in which I move.

"I will never be disturbed or diverted from my purpose, by the remarks, conduct and opinion of those who do not know my character or understand my motives; but will ever maintain that self-pos

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