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authority of an ambassador of Christ to utter the message which he knew would prove "a savor of life unto life," or "of death unto death." He felt in some measure the solemnity of his position, and was determined, as strength was imparted, to be faithful. Sometimes gathering into his grasp masses of inspired truth, he hurled them with herculean strength, shattering the shields which indifference or determined resistance held up in self-defence; and sometimes employed lighter missiles, swift and sharp, which pierced the mail of self-righteousness and stung the conscience on every side. Always positive, his manner was varied. He now spoke with the sternness of one sent to arraign the culprit at the bar of justice; and then with the tenderness and winning pathos which could weep over the self-ruined and degraded. Both in preaching and in prayer he always made God great; exalted him to the throne, the originator and end of all things, and exhibited his glory as of more value than all the universe besides. He now portrayed his illimitable perfections, his holiness and truth, as by no means clearing the guilty; and then his long-suffering faithfulness, his sovereign mercy, his right in the plenitude of his goodness to do as he sees fit, without consulting any, even the loftiest of his intelligent creatures; indeed, as doing wrong to consult them, because it would be proposing to subject infinite wisdom and love to finite wisdom and love. At one time he held up man in his littleness, entire sinfulness, and total ruin; at another, in his royal dignity, as the son of the King of kings, a rational, voluntary being, capable of moral government and endless progression. He unfolded with equal explicitness his unutterable blessedness if believing in Jesus, and his indescribable degradation and woe if continuing incorrigible. It was, however, the richest joy of Mr. Woodbridge to show forth the glory of Christ as the God-man, the only possible Mediator between the sovereign Lawgiver of the universe and his rebellious subjects. He gloried in his Deity and humanity alike. He now

talked of his wonderful love, love which had no beginning and could have no ending, of its ineffable tenderness and yearning willingness to save; and then of his inviolable justice as "the holy One," uttering his solemn admonitions. and fearful threatenings to those who slight atoning grace; ever making prominent the perfect harmony of the Saviour's kind invitations which come gushing from his infinite heart, with the unalterable demands of the divine law and the dignity of the final Judge. At one time he depicted his hearers as lying in the hands of God, entirely dependent on that sovereign grace which alone originated the plan of redemption, and by which it is alone carried on. At another he pressed the personal responsibility of the sinner, his perfect freedom and full ability to meet his obligations; and showed with the irresistible cogency of logic that all the inability he might plead constituted his supreme guilt, and excuses based upon it would insure his everlasting condemnation. On these points he gave the sinner no rest. He never wearied in enforcing the momentous truth that his salvation must be all of grace; and at the same time, as the rational and voluntary subject of an infinitely holy government, if lost, his ruin would be entirely his own work.

ness.

He addressed Christians with equal point and appropriateIndeed, in his applications of truth all classes were remembered. While he rejoiced to comfort the mourner in Zion, he evinced no desire to give peace to those who loved the dominion of sin. The several doctrines and precepts of the gospel were pressed as occasion demanded, without dilution or the polishing of human ingenuity, just as he conceived them to be, with all their roughnesses and sharp points; ever endeavoring to place his hand on the individual conscience, stripping it bare, and laying upon it some burning truth of God. He meant, in his fidelity to his solemn trust, to present the gospel in such fulness and variety, that every capacity and tendency of the human soul should receive its due proportion. He spurred the indolent to action;

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he chided and encouraged the timid and wavering; he drove the bold in sin from their refuges of lies; he stripped away the flimsy coverings of those who would shield themselves behind excuses; in a word, he so wielded the sword of the Spirit that it smote his hearers, whether saint or sinner, beneath whatever covering they sought to hide. They were like the ship caught in the centre of the ocean whirlwind, where the mountain waves lash it with equal force on all sides; and the ill-fated crew see no prospect but the crushing of their frail bark and graves beneath the billows, unless he who rules the tempest interpose. Truth thus urged on every moral susceptibility, and energized with a positiveness and decision of manner indicative of the firmest conviction of its reality, could not fail to awaken thought, and thought will awaken emotion. His people, thus compelled to think, were compelled to feel.

Different minds would of course be differently affected, according to character, to previous convictions, and methods of thought. To some his exhibitions of truth were as the refreshing draught to the weary. Their long-felt wants were met; they saw the way of life more plainly; they found a firmer basis for their Christian joy. To others the same truths were extremely unpalatable. They shook the

foundations on which they were standing; they showed the fallacy of their previous reasonings, the uncertainty of their cherished opinions, the frail structure of their hopes. Instead of soothing, they irritated. In some instances they became more and more rasping till they struck on their fretted sensibilities like caustics on the inflamed nerve.

Could we make the past in its radical elements of thought and feeling live again; could we uncover the indwelling spirit and observe its varied workings, how interesting to the thoughtful Christian to look into the minds of those six or seven hundred hearers of Mr. Woodbridge more than sixty years ago, and trace the effects of his ministry in the unuttered reasonings, feelings, desires, and half-formed pur

poses, which in after years germinated into holy or unholy. activities! How interesting to turn the leaves of that recordbook, to mark the various reflections and answering emotions as the hearers thoughtfully retired from the house of God; as parents conversed about the truths unfolded during the day with their households; as they gathered around the evening altar and read the chapter from which one or both texts were taken; as in the fading twilight they directed their way to the evening prayer-meeting! How interesting to follow during the succeeding week the merchant to his store, the mechanic to his shop, the farmer to his field; one citizen here and another there, pursuing their several callings; to attend the women to their domestic cares, and the youth in their sunny walks of life; and read the brief record of thought and feeling written on the mental page of the times!

How many such as the following should we there find recorded: "What a being is God! How incomprehensible! How fearfully just! How solemn to live with his eye upon me!" "God is surely good. How kind in all his ways; how fatherly in all his dealings." "Who can estimate God's infinite holiness and justice?" I tremble in view of his hatred of sin." "How dreadful must be his wrath! I ought to rejoice in his government; yet how can I when his justice is so dreadful to him who violates it?" "The Christian may well rejoice in his government; his mighty power and unchanging love are round about him." "How I wish I were a Christian." "How perfect is his law. It condemns me. How plain are my obligations. What a sinner I am! All my life is sin. How bitter must be the end! How dreadful the loss of the soul." "I shrink from

thinking of my wickedness. It seems overwhelming." "What a Saviour is Jesus; just what I need; O that I could trust him!" "What a heaven or hell is before me! Why am I so insensible?" 66 Would that I could be saved." "I feel condemned; I know the wrath of God is abiding

upon me."

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"I cannot bear to think of my condition." "Mr. Woodbridge's sermon last Sabbath threw me into the dark in exhibiting God's infinite holiness; I wish he would not preach so severely. How sad he makes me feel; for though a professing Christian, if what he says is true, I cannot be a real Christian. His preaching almost makes me feel angry." "I must be more in earnest, more prayerful, more exemplary." "I need more Christian joy. I must make God my portion." "O my selfishness, my selfishness! it creeps into all my duties; it soils all my better purposes."

"Can the preaching of our minister be true? I don't want to hear these doctrines of sovereignty and election. It is exceedingly unpleasant to feel that I am entirely in the hands of God. If it is true, I have nothing to do, that's clear. Yet God bids me love him, repent, and have faith in Jesus. Here is inconsistency." "It don't look rational that God should cast those he has made into hell. It makes him a most unfeeling being." "I don't believe I am such a sinner as Mr. Woodbridge attempted to show to-day. I can't be totally depraved, I'm sure." "I feel that I am one of the chief of sinners. I have tried to feel that there was some good in me, but I see by the preaching to-day that it is not so." "I don't believe that Christ is God. I can't believe contradictious. I know I am not such a sinner as to need an infinite Saviour." "I wish I knew what is true." "I cannot help having some misgivings in regard to my condition. This preaching troubles me." "I wish Mr. Woodbridge would not always press duty so hard; it makes me feel uneasy, sometimes dreadfully cast down." "What is the use of all this hammering? It greatly annoys me. I used to go along feeling quite comfortably, but now I am full of fears and anxieties." "It makes me feel angry when I hear Mr. Woodbridge say so much about these high doctrines and these solemn duties. I don't believe it is profitable. I want to enjoy myself when I go to church, but I