red in word or gesture, which is not always the case with
the best at such times. There is probably no church in New York whose
discipline is as strict, nor one which has so many communicants. He is
reckoned a man of great talents and an orator; and many of even the
idle and careless go to hear him.

"A few Sabbaths ago he preached from these words, 'I determined
to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.'
After proving that all the Scriptures, from the beginning of Genesis
to the end of Revelation, pointed to Christ and his great work of
redemption, and asserting that that sermon could not be called the
gospel of which He was not the subject, he spoke home to his audience,
and told them that this, through the aid of divine grace, was his firm
purpose--to dwell on redeeming love. He was sure no subject would be
welcome to any Christian, where Christ was not to be found; nor would
any such subject ever convert a sinner; and therefore, if any were
about to take their place there, expecting to hear any new or strange
thing, let them not disappoint themselves. O, for a thankful heart;
the Lord has indeed done wonders for me and mine; and blessed be his
name for his mercy also, that in a remarkable manner, by a strange
concurrence of circumstances, he hedged me in to become a member of
this congregation, where I am led and fed with the same truths which
nourished my soul in Zion's gates at Edinburgh; and I am helped to
sing the Lord's song in a foreign land. Often have I been tempted to
hang my harp upon the willow, 'when Zion I thought on;' but this was,
and sometimes still is my sin and ingratitude, for I ought to build
houses, and plant vineyards, and seek the good of the land; for he has
a small vineyard here, which he waters and cultivates, and I ought to
labor therein, and do whatsoever my hand findeth to do with diligence,
and say, 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; heaven is
his throne, the earth his footstool,' and he fills all things and
all places.

"'What aileth thee, Hagar?' O what a God of mercy is our God!
Often has he hailed me in some such language: 'What aileth thee?' why
is thy countenance sad? am I not better to thee than ten friends? Then
has he turned my heart to him, made me feel myself close to him; he
has suffered me to lean on his bosom, hang on his arm, and lisp out,
Abba. At such blest moments I have thought the whole earth but one
point, and from