Show me such a pastor going round his parish, conciliating the affections, reforming the morals, rousing the piety of his flock; employed day after day in comforting the afflicted, visiting the sick, instructing the ignorant; watching for a seasonable moment for recalling the sinner to a sense of his danger and his guilt, and melting his softened heart to penitence; reconciling quarrels; vigilant to guard against the contagion of infidelity and disaffection; in a word, devoting his whole time and thoughts to the temporal and eternal welfare of all committed to his care, diffusing religious knowledge by every means in his power, distributing good books, familiar, moral, and useful tracts, and above all, taking care that not a single cottage shall be found where the word of God can be read, without a Bible in which to read it. Let me see him assiduous in catechising the young, until he presents them at the altar to partake of the holy sacrament, mature, well-informed, heartfelt Christians. Let me hear him in the discharge of his public duty, not hurrying over the offices of the church carelessly, as an irksome task, but sincere, serious, devout, selecting from the works of others, but, above all, from the word of God, every precept, every example, every argument which applies most intimately to the characters, the tempers, the necessities of his hearers; impressing them with simplicity, but with earnestness, and proving his sincerity, by the consistency of his doctrines with his life. Let me find him tolerant to the teachers and the professors of every Christian sect; anxious to convert all to the purity of Christian morals, and the sincerity of Christian benevolence, and ready to cooperate with all in every effort to this sacred end. Show me a pastor thus pious and active, thus zealous and consistent, and however humble his talents, however confined his literary knowledge, I will not hesitate to say, that he possesses the talents of a minister of God, and the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ; and when at the last day he shall stand at the judgmentseat of his Redeemer and his Lord, surrounded by that flock which he has led on in the paths of piety from strength to strength, till he presents them all before his God-a faithful servant, who of the little ones that have been committed to him, has not lost one, then shall he receive his reward-when the most splendid

talents, the most extensive and exalted knowledge, if unprofitable to the good of man, and the glory of God, shall hide their heads with shame. "Then shall those that be wise shine as the brightness of the firmament, and those that turn many unto righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever."

* Dan. xii. 3.

570

SERMON XLVIII.

ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. RICHARD MURRAY, D.D. PROVOST OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, ETC. ETC.

[Preached in the University Chapel, the 23rd of June, 1799.]

NUMBERS, XXIII. 10.

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."

THIS prayer expresses the natural wish of every mind the moment death is at all thought of, however distracted by worldly care, plunged in sensuality, or even enslaved by vice. However difficult we may find it to live like the righteous, we cannot but wish that we may die like him; that our life may close with the serenity of a mind at peace with God, and that the sadness of death may be cheered with the hope of a happy immortality.

If then, my fellow-Christians, you would form a right estimate of the value of every earthly pursuit, visit the bed of death. Talk to a dying Christian of any object of a mere worldly nature, of the pleasure he has enjoyed, the magnificence he has displayed, or the titles with which he has been dignified-talk to him of these as sources of comfort at that awful crisis, and how would he receive you? Assuredly he would turn from you with horror, as one who came to insult his weakness, and mock his dying agonies. Expatiate, if you will, on his genius, his eloquence, his influence, his wealth, then indeed he would listen; but listen with terror not with triumph, with self-abasement not with exaltation; he would heave perhaps a heartfelt groan, and cry-" Yes, yes, it is too true all these talents I have possessed, but, gracious God! how have I abused them."

Would you wish to comfort him indeed, talk to him, if you

can with truth, of his piety, his integrity, his humility, his conquest over resentment and ambition, his persevering and successful exertions in the cause of religion, and mercy, and truth; talk to him of the poor whom he has relieved, the young and ignorant whom he has instructed; tell him that the blessings of the widow and the orphan, the prayers of the reformed sinner, and the converted infidel, are his; and then you will see a ray of joy illumine the gloom of death, you will see the half-closed eye once more raised to heaven, suffused with the tear of humble gratitude, and brightened with the cheerfulness of pious hope. These, my friends, these are the consolations of the Christian at the hour of dissolution. Oh! how desirable is such a close to this life of trial and uncertainty! How contemptible, compared with that, is every object this world can afford!

But, alas! in the pride of prosperity, the thoughtlessness of youth, and the vigour of health, we forget all this. Of our own death we cannot bear to think, and in proportion as we love others, we forget that they too are mortal. But we are soon roused from our stupid lethargy-the object of our affection, our veneration, whose life protracted to a century would seem too short, sinks into the grave, and we stand upon its brink, surprised and terrified.

Every heart in this assembly feels at this moment this awful sensation. Every individual amongst you, my brethren, deplores with me our common guide, our common friend, our common father; while directed and guarded by his paternal care, we were fearless and secure. Though full of age as of honour, he seemed to us designed by nature and by Providence, to outlast many, many years. Yet the knell of death has tolled, and startled us from the idle dream. Oh! let us avail ourselves of the awful warning!-let us contemplate his character; let us impress his virtues on our memories and our hearts-if haply we may be led to imitate his example-that we also may "die the death of the righteous, and that our last end may be like his."

I shall not here dwell upon the strength of his understanding, the clearness of his comprehension, or the acuteness of his judgment. I shall not attempt to detail his various attainments in literature, the accuracy of his scientific knowledge, the

extent of his theological learning, or his critical acquaintance with the learned languages. I shall not expatiate on his long experience, and intimate knowledge of the institutions, the business, and the interests of this University; qualifications which so eminently fitted him for its government. It is my duty to fix your attention rather on his moral than his literary excellence on the virtues of his heart, more than on the preeminence of his talents that you may be led not merely to admire, but to imitate him. To emulate such virtue, is the duty of all; to equal it, alas! the lot of few.

Truth, the love of truth, was the great basis of his character. With this, then, his sincerity and singleness of heart, let me begin, as the foundation of all his virtues. In this, I will not hesitate to say, he was indeed pre-eminent. So conspicuous were artlessness and sincerity in his conduct, his language, his manner, that I scarcely believe any human being was ever yet blind or uncandid enough to suspect him, even in a single instance, of declaring a feigned purpose with his lips, and concealing the truth in his heart; of acting from one motive, and affecting another; of that petty chicane, that paltry artifice, which professes public good, and is directed merely by party views, which talks of generosity, and pursues self-interest.

No man ever yet received from him a compliment undeserved; or could complain of his having excited in him any expectations, which it was not his intention, and within his power, to fulfil. No; his ingenuous mind soared far above such littleness. When, drawn forth from his academic seclusion he mixed with the world, and was accidentally engaged in any scenes where worldly-minded men pursued their sordid schemes of interest, he fled from them with a sort of instinctive horror, which could scarcely be overcome, even by his anxiety to detect and to defeat all selfish artifice.

What a lustre and clearness did this sincerity and love of truth give to every other excellence of his character; and how admirably did it fit him for the high station which he filled. Hence was it, that all felt and acknowledged, that in the disposal of every academic emolument, and the determination of every academic competition, no consideration ever suggested itself to his mind, except the real merit of each competitor;