RECOMMENDATIONS. From the Rev. Abijah Peck. Dear Sister:-Having heard read the manuscript copy of the memoirs of your deceased Father, Elder LEMUEL COVELL, compiled by yourself, it brings to remembrance many scenes in which we were engaged together in trying to promote the cause of the Redeemer; and as I believe it contains in a small space, much useful information, I should be pleased to see it published. I consider what is said of the deceased is not exaggerated, but comes short of the real estimation in which his character was held by those acquainted with him. Your friend and brother, in the kingdom And patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mrs. D. C. Brown. Clifton Park, June 3, 1839. From the Rev. Isaiah Matteson. ABIJAH PECK. Dear Sister:-With my whole heart, I bid you God speed in this enterprize, truly great and strictly pious, of publishing the memoir of your Reverend Father and Brother, with both of whom I had the pleasure of a somewhat intimate acquaintance, more so with the senior. In all my extensive acquaintance with ministers, for 40 years, I can truly say there was not one, in my humble opinion, so richly endowed and highly gifted, so entirely consecrated, so uniformly and unaffectedly humble and pious, or more useful than this dear man of God. His son Alanson evidently seems to have caught the falling mantle of his father. I say less of the son than of the father, (though my feeble testimony is not needed in favor of either,) because there are abundantly more of those now living who have personally known him, and can and will duly appreciate his worth. ISAIAH MATTESON, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Shaftsbury. From Henry Warren, Esq., of Pittstown, N. Y. I hereby certify that I was one, and am the only one now living, of the Committee who were engaged in settling the pecuniary concerns of the late Rev. Lemuel Covell alluded to in this memoir, The account as given by the writer is correct. I was also one of the Committee who received the money in return from the people in Cheshire, and am knowing to the fact that there was a mutual satisfaction between the contracting parties. With pleasure, I also add, that no man ever stood higher in my estimation than Mr. Covell; and in common with the few now remaining of his congregation and church, I cherish his memory with great delight, and am pleased with the prospect of having his memoir and that of his beloved son to peruse. I cordially wish this truly commendable effort of the daughter and sister, abundant HENRY WARREN. success. Pittstown, June 11, 1839. From Rev. Stephen Hutchins. Very Dear Sister Brown:—I am happy to learn you contemplate publishing the lives of your memorable father and your late brother. I have often regretted that the church should be deprived of the biographies of so many of her luminaries of the last century. The period in which they lived, I consider an important one in the Church, and especially of our denomination. The fact also that your father was one of the first pioneers in the cause of Missions and Ministerial Education,* cannot * From a communication which I have just received from Hamilton Theological Institution, I learn that such was Mr. Covell's fail to render his memoir one of no ordinary interest.And though the sun of your deceased brother set long before it had reached its meridian splendor, yet such were his talents, his prudence, his zeal, his piety, and his success in winning souls to Jesus, that his praise will long remain in the churches. Yours, very truly, June 22, 1839. STEPHEN HUTCHINS, Pastor Baptist Church, Bennington, Vt. From Rev. John Peck, Agent of the N. Y. State Bap. Convention. The author was indulged with an interesting visit with this well known and dearly beloved servant of our Lord, at the session of the Shaftsbury Association, in 1835. The subject of making out this Memoir was freely conversed upon, and received his cordial approbation, with the offer of any documents I might find among his pamphlets of former days, if I would make a journey to his residence. He further informed me that Mr. Covell was one of the acting presbytery in his ordination, and that there was no man's memoir he could be happier to see. I saw him again at Stillwater, at the setting of the Saratoga Association June 25th, of this present year. His health was feeble and the press of business great; still he kindly sat down and advised me concerning parts of my manuscript, and on our parting said to me "I wish you success, sister Brown, in your good undertaking; and as there is no chance here to write, I wish you to say for me, what I have said of your father in the History of the Convention published by brother Lawton and myself." I shall avail myself, however, of a short extract only, which is as follows: And anxiety to obtain a knowledge of the languages in which the Bible was originally written, that he contemplated attaining them if possible, and had already commenced a preparatory course. also that his name may be classed with those of Baldwin, Stillman and others, who felt deeply the want of an educated and enlightened ministry: S. H. "Among the Missionaries from the Shaftsbury Association who visited this country, and penetrated as far as Long Point in U. C., Elder Lemuel Covell was particularly distinguished. He was indeed a flaming herald of the cross. There are many yet living who cherish for him a most affectionate and grateful remembrance." PREFACE. The writer of fiction, or rather of history founded on facts, with fictitious superstructure, needs time, or distance of period, between the occurrence of events and their being presented to public notice, that the fanciful embellishments of imagination may be interwoven without danger of detection. But the writer of sober truth, one that would fain "a plain unvarnished tale deliver," regrets the absence of those who were cotemporary with the characters and acquainted with the circumstances: Sensible of the value and importance of corroborative testimony, nothing can be more delightful than to know that many will rise up and say "yes, that account is correct; I was acquainted with the circumstances and knowing to the facts." The writer of this Memoir laments the departure of so many of that precious band of brethren, who were cotemporaries and fellow laborers with the senior Mr. Covell, whose hearts were "knit together as the heart of one man," in the one all-absorbing desire to promote the establishment and extension of the Redeemer's kingdom-to plant the standard and extend the triumphs of the cross in every section of our favored country. Not that their wishes were bounded by territorial limits, or that they felt not for the aggravated horrors of a world perishing in pagan darkness, but because they were few in number, and limited in pecuniary ability; and while their whole heart prayed to God,-" send out thy light and thy truth; let all nations come and worship before thee; give the heathen to thy son for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession; and let the whole earth be filled with thy glory," they were obliged to restrict their "labors of love," to portions lying in their own more immediate neighborhood. Some few of the venerable body yet remain. To them this humble offering of a daughter's love will be a welcome compilation, as several of them have already expressed. Indeed had it |