Secondly, The Lord is daily answering your prayers wherein you request that his will may be done. It is enough that he hath promised he will fulfil the desires of the righteous but how, or by what means he will perform his promise, is not for you to know; all you have to do, is to follow the prescriptions given you, and suffer the will of God concerning you. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, amidst a variety of the most complicated distresses, and have seen in the history of his life the end of the Lord, that he is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. You must acknowledge that your blessings are more than a counter-balance to your distresses; and as you are assured, that an eternal weight of glory is to be the interest of your light afflic tions, be stedfast, and hope to the end. Divine supports shall be given unto you, and if the period of your suffering season should be drawn out to an unusual length, the grace of God shall be sufficient for you, and as your day is, so shall your strength be. t Thirdly, In the word of the Lord is both hope and comfort, and this is the word that is preached unto you. I should be sorry to make your temporal circumstances the alone objects of my attention, and I hope you have greater ends to answer, by hearing the gospel, than merely to alleviate the sorrow of the world. It so happens, that a tide of spiritual distress frequently flows in upon the children of God with their temporal calamities, therefore a suitable remedy for both is deposited in the sacred word; and as wise stewards of the mysteries of God, ministers are to deal them out as the exigencies of the people require. If it is well with your souls, in other respects, all is and will be well. As Jesus is the fountain of life, and always accessible and communicative, I beseech you to come to him just as you are, poor and needy and bowed down. Cast all your burdens upon him; you may derive at supply for all your wants out of his fulness, he will with-hold from you no manner of thing that is good; it is your privilege to trust in him at all times, and your peculiar mercy, that he will never leave you nor forsake you. "Thus much I thought necessary to say to you, my poor dear brethren, in this dedication, to supply what may appear defective in the sermon; and now I beg an interest in your prayers, that God may give me a pilgrim's heart with a pilgrim's life, that I may aim to promote no interest besides that the kingdom of God, other nor attempt to appear an advocate for any party besides that which shall stand upon Mount Sion. There it will be seen how sincerely I have been, and so far as occasion offers, am yet "Your's, affectionately, &c." The third was on the death of Mrs. Lanfear, the pious sister of Mrs. Winter. The fourth was on the death of Mr. John. Fryer, of Frampton upon Severn. The fifth was on the death of Mr. Zacharias Horlock, of Painswick, aged ninety-two. He published a charge delivered at the ordination of the Editor; and another at the ordination of Mr. Golding, who was also one of his students. Some valuable reflections are annexed to the life of Mrs. Joanna Turner without his name. Some may not be aware of this, but he was "The worthy dissenting minister" who is there said to have furnished them. He sent various communications, especially obituary and biographical, to the magazines, which I cannot specify. The life of Mr. Hogg, and of Mr. Adams were written by him. He was idly appointed final Editor of the Theological Magazine, but others engrossed all the influence, and no papers were ever sent him. He wrote the preface to that work, which some one contrived to spoil before it was printed. Mr. Winter frequently mentioned a design to publish some memoirs of that very extraordinary character Salmanazer, but the intention was never executed. This is the more to be lamented as he was peculiarly intimate with him, and attended him in his dying moments. Mr. Winter had hope in his death. He had a fine original portrait of him as large as life. But we hasten to observe him finally AS A CHRISTIAN. Of the carbuncle it is remarked that it looks on fire, but when touched it is as cold as other stones. There are persons who soon rectify our mistakes concerning them, by our intercourse with them. They will not endure close inspection. Their piety is official rather than personal. It consists in certain exercises and appearances which are resigned with the occasions that require them: and in company they are the merry companions, the temporizing associates; in the house, the cruel husbands, the negligent fathers, the tyrannical masters. But it was otherwise with Mr. Winter. His private life was not only consistent with his public character, but surpassed it. We respect him as a man of letters and knowledge, we love him as a tutor, we revere him as a preacher: but as a christian he excelleth in glory. And here I find it impossible to do any thing that is very satisfactory to my own mind, or that will probably meet the sanguine wishes of those who intimately knew him. The amiableness and holiness of his daily walk, were so invariable, that, as the whole cannot be produced, so reasons to determine the selection of particular parts are not easily found. Facts, like quotations, are not always specimens; they may rise above the general practice, or be peculiar to themselves, but here the various excellences we adduce are instances; and and may be compared to small samples severed from a large piece of beautiful, finely woven cloth; they are of the very same texture and color with the whole, and would have appeared to better advantage in their original connexion than in their detached form. For fifty years here is a man unchangeable in all the varieties of life; by the grace of God, holding on his way without drawing back, or turning aside, or standing still, or even seeming to come short; what the scripture calls a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth . |