thousand nameless things fitted to minister to the ease and comfort of those around him. It was worth a great deal to his pupils to live under such an influence. Other pupils beside his know the value of such an example from having it before them; and it were well that all who enjoy such an advantage should remember that the improvement or the neglect of it will probably have much to do in deciding the measure of their usefulness.

Dr. Richards's general influence in the church, as well while he had a pastoral charge as while he was a theological professor, was equally benign, efficient and extensive. His great wisdom and integrity were every where acknowledged, and every where confided in. He was a most active and useful member of ecclesiastical judicatories; and in cases of difficulty especially, great reliance was placed on his judgment and counsel. He was chosen moderator of the General Assembly at the age of thirty-seven; an honour rarely conferred upon an individual so young; but he discharged the duties of the office with great propriety, dignity and acceptHe was one of the master spirits in the great benevolent movements of the day,-not only in sustaining, but originating them; and when he was taken away from this department of Christian effort, it seemed as if an armour-bearer had failed. In short, such was his reputation as an eminently sagacious and honest man, and a devoted Christian, that there was scarcely any important project having a bearing on the interests of the church, formed within the range of his influence, but that his wisdom in counsel or his energy in

ance.

action, was put in requisition for the accomplishment of it.

During the latter years of Dr. Richards's life he was tried in common with many other good men, by the grievous disturbances that existed in the Presbyterian church. He was an attentive and deeply interested observer of the inroads of that fanatical spirit which about the year 1827 or '28, began its desolating operations in western New York. He was ready to admit that, as in days of old, there might be some commingling of good with the evil; but he entertained not a doubt that it was chiefly a ministration of fanaticism and error; and with this conviction, he set his face against it as a flint. He resisted at the expense of being denounced as an enemy of revivals; at the expense even of being most offensively, not to say calumniously, prayed for by some of his own students; for with all the precaution that he could use, the storm swept through the seminary; and while some were swept away, others prudently bent to the blast, and others still stood up with their venerable professor in the attitude of stern and dignified resistance. Suffice it to say that the views which he maintained were the same in which the Christian community now generally repose; to which it may be added many have long since returned, who, for a season, yielded to the popular impulse, and both in theory and in practice set at naught the first principles of evangelical order.

But notwithstanding Dr. Richards's vigorous and hearty opposition to the system of new measures and to the attempted innovations upon the faith of the

Presbyterian church, he was not prepared for the ultimate remedy which the General Assembly adopted for curing these disorders-the excision of the three western Synods. He believed that to have been both unconstitutional and unwise; but it impaired not his confidence or his affection for the great and good men who differed with him, and he rejoiced in the belief that at no distant day, the two branches of the church would again be united in greater purity and love. That grateful anticipation seems now to be cherished by a constantly increasing number; and before this generation shall have passed away, it is perhaps safe to predict that it will be fully realized.

Dr. Richards was eminently favoured in his life, and he was not less favoured in his death. His latter years were years of great feebleness; but he was still, with slight interruptions, able to discharge his duties as a professor, and not unfrequently to preach in the town or the neighborhood. The waning of his life was as gradual and as glorious as the going down of the sun. He had some afflictions in his old age, but the darkest clouds that gathered over him were fringed with bright hues from the sun of righteousness. Whether in sorrow or in joy he sustained himself with the dignity of a patriarch. He was blessed in his family; blessed in the circle of his friends; blessed in all his relations; and when he was gathered into the community of the glorified, there was deep mourning on Earth, corresponding no doubt to the joyful welcome that he met in Heaven.

Shortly after his death a volume of his theological

lectures was published, in connection with the sketch of his life already referred to, which even those who may not fully accord with his views, will acknowledge, are highly creditable to him as a judicious, acute and able theologian. Many of his old friends, especially those who were accustomed long to enjoy the benefit of his ministry, felt that they should more easily recognize him in his sermons which were addressed to themselves than in his lectures which were designed for his students; and it is in obedience to such a wish that the selection contained in the present volume is given to the public. It is not claimed for them that they are either brilliant or elaborate productions. They were written in the ordinary course of weekly preparation for the sabbath, without the least expectation on the part of the author that they would ever see the light; and they are probably little, if any, superior to his ordinary discourses. It will be the reader's fault, however, if they do not serve to render his views of divine truth more clear, to quicken and elevate his religious sensibilities, and to make him more conscientious and earnest in the various duties of the Christian life. I have cheerfully complied with the request of his family to introduce the work with this

prefatory notice of his

character, as it has given me an unexpected opportunity of bearing testimony to his worth, and rearing a slight monument to his honoured and cherished memory.

SERMONS.

SERMON I.

GOD'S UNIVERSAL PRESENCE.

PSALMS CXXXIX; 7, 8, 9, 10.

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there; if 1 make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there; if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

Had we no other proof of the inspiration of the scriptures, the very description which they give of God, would go far in supporting this claim. In no other writings can we find such exalted sentiments, which never clash with each other, and which never verge in the slightest degree, to any thing inconsistent with the most absolute perfection. When they speak of his moral character, it is with a dignity and purity altogether unrivalled. When they describe his natural attributes,—his eternity, his immensity, his power, there is a sublimity of thought and a force of expression wholly peculiar to themselves. Whence can this peculiarity arise? Were not the poets and orators of heathen antiquity men of transcendent genius, as well