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ens. There the faithful shepherd and the redeemed flock shall meet again, and no withering years, or blasting mildew shall interrupt, nor rising cloud shall cast a shade around its everlasting sun. "Mutual congratulations shall there burst from every tongue, and thrilling joys shall vibrate from every heart. One shall be the burden of each exalted song; one the ascription of ceaseless praise;" and all those who have been wise upon earth shall shine forth as the brightness of the firmament, and they who have turned many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever in the kingdom of our God.

My friends! you have listened to my instructions, and received my sympathies and counsels. Leave me not, till I have blessed you.

And now may God Almighty, even the God of our fathers bless you, and grant you everlasting welfare. May your souls improve under the means of religious instruction he may grant you. And when you die, may you be presented without spot before the face of God.

Let me bless you yet again. Brethren, peace be to this hallowed temple of our God. Peace be to your families and children, to your habitations, and to all that you have. And whether the remainder of my days be upon earth longer or shorter, this will be my final parting counsel, and the last prayer that breathes from my quivering lips, "Live in peace and the God of love and of peace be with you."

And now, O God,

Accept the poor remains of life,
And health, which thou dost give;
And when my work on earth is done,
Receive my spirit to thy throne!

[The following prayer was then offered.]

Father of mercies and God of all grace! send down thy spirit, we beseech thee, all powerful from above, to give efficacy to thy

word, which has, at this time, been announced unto us,

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cess to all the means, here employed for the promotion and extension of the kingdom of Christ among us. Pour out the best of thy blessings, we entreat thee, upon this beloved flock of our Lord Jesus Christ. May peace be ever within these walls, and all those who love her prosperity prosper, and be gathered at last into the fold of Christ. And let blessings without number be upon their heads long after he who now offers this supplication in their behalf, shall have passed into other worlds, and be remembered no more upon earth.

Let all, we entreat thee, who now do, or may hereafter minister at this altar, be clothed with purity, with peace and truth. And he, who is still waiting for whatever further services thou hast yet in reserve for him to perform, be ever girded about with the breastplate of righteousness. May his usefulness be as protracted as his life, and may he be found at the last amongst those who have been faithful to the death; which we humbly ask in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom, to thyself, be all honor and glory forever. Amen.

[The services were then closed by singing the 512th Hymn, L. M.]

1. How blest is he whose tranquil mind,
When life declines, recalls again
The years that time has cast behind,
And reaps delight from toil and pain.

2. So when the transient storm is past,
The sudden gloom and driving shower,

The sweetest sunshine is the last,

The loveliest is the evening hour.

APPENDIX.

NOTE A. Page 8.

JAMAICA Plain is one of the loveliest spots almost any where to be found. It is four miles and a half south-west of Boston, from State street. The soil is light and gravelly, easy to cultivate, the surface black loam, not more, generally, than six inches deep. The land abounds in brooks and springs. Jamaica Pond, or lake, as it is now called, covers about one hundred and sixty acres, and in its deepest place is from sixty to seventy feet; and supplies, by means of an aqueduct, the city of Boston with water perfectly clear, and so soft as to be excellent for washing, and for all culinary purposes. The Plain itself is environed by beautifully sloping hills, and forms a perfect basin, so sheltered from the east winds, that they do not reach it for some hours after they are keenly felt in Boston, and then so mitigated as renders it peculiarly favorable to the comfort and restoration of persons afflicted with pulmonary complaints. On account of its peculiar healthiness, it has been denominated the American "Mont Pelier." Malthus, in his Treatise upon population, remarks that "there are some villages in England where the annual deaths are fewer than in any other places in the known world, in which the mortality is so small as one in sixty, or one in seventy-five." (Vol. i. p. 168.) He makes his calculations for twenty years on the average in Europe, and at the south in America. But for forty-nine years last past, it is ascertained from the most accurate data, that during that whole period, the annual deaths have averaged only as one to ninety-nine and forty-sixtieths, including accidental ones.

Large quantities of hay and vegetables of all kinds are raised here, and disposed of in the Boston markets. The whole parish, indeed, seems like one perfect garden, resembling the best cultivated villages

near London. The inhabitants are principally wealthy and respectable farmers. There are here several gentlemen's elegant seats, beautifully situated on the banks of the lake, and elsewhere, together with cottages of private gentlemen, who retire, every evening, from their business in the city, and pass as much of their time as consists with it, in this delightful spot, and in the summer season it is always crowded with boarders. Something of the steady population, therefore, is fluctuating.

The First Parish in Roxbury, or Rocksborough, as it was originally called, is the parent of all the others throughout the town. From it originated the second in Spring street, and from that principally the third, or Jamaica Plain Parish.

Jamaica Plain, from its proximity to the pond, was originally called the "Pond Plain." How it changed its name has never been really ascertained. There are many legends upon this inquiry, but none of them entirely satisfactory. One is, that it was so baptized in consequence of gentlemen from Jamaica spending their summers here; which circumstance, if true, might at once account for it. But it cannot be ascertained, that any other than Timothy Penny, Esq., who came to this country not earlier than 1767, ever had a residence here; whereas, Hugh Thomas, April 7th, 1677, ninety years previous, conveyed his property for the benefit of a school, "to the people at the "Jamaica end of the town of Roxbury.

Another more probable, but not altogether satisfactory account is, that a gentleman by the name of from some unknown cause, disliking his wife, quitted London, informing her that he was going to Jamaica on business. Hearing nothing from him for a very long period, she at length embarked for Jamaica, in expectation of finding him there. But, to her great surprise, she could not learn that he had ever been at the island. And a vessel from that place, going direct to Boston, she took passage, arrived safe, and having frequently related the circumstance, at length obtained accidental intelligence that an Englishman had for some time past been residing with a poor family in Roxbury, "at the Pond Plain," where, most unwelcomely to himself, she actually found him. The story of his saying he was going to Jamaica, was so often and ludicrously told, that the inhabitants derisively, at first, called it Jamaica Plain, which name it has since retained.

The last, and to me most probable account I have heard was, that the Indians, who at that time were numerous here, used frequently

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to go to the street in Roxbury for rum, and having accidentally met with some Jamaica spirit, that greatly pleased them, they would always afterwards inquire for it, saying, "Indian love Jamaica ; in consequence of which, the retailers called them Jamaica folks, or Indians; from which circumstance, the name became gradually familiar, and all the inhabitants of this part of the town at length acquired the name of Jamaica Plain people, instead of Pond Plain folks, as they had been usually called before.

NOTE B. Page 10.

The house had been removed in 1760 from its former site, where now stands the mansion of the late D. S. Greenough, Esq., built by Commodore Joshua Loring the same year, of whom Mr. Pemberton purchased it for that object.

NOTE C. Page 12.

On July 10th, 1689, Rev. John Eliot, the first minister of Roxbury, gave by deed about seventy-five acres of land" for the support of a school and schoolmaster at that part of Roxbury, commonly called Jamaica or Pond Plain, for teaching and instructing the children of that end of the town, and to no other use, intent or purpose, under any color or pretence whatever." [Benjamin P. Williams's Address, delivered at the Dedication of Eliot Hall, on Jamaica Plain, January 17th, 1832.]

This school in The Life of John Eliot, by Convers Francis, published in Boston by Hilliard, Gray & Co. in 1836, p. 313, is said, "by his (Eliot's) active agency to be a school of high character, established in Roxbury, for the support of which he bequeathed a considerable part of his own property. This free school was the admiration of the neighboring towns; and Mather states, as the result of its influence, that Roxbury had afforded more scholars, first for the college, and then for the public, than any other town of its bigness, or, if I mistake not, of twice its bigness, in all New-England."

Now Mather was altogether mistaken. The school to which he alluded was endowed not by John Eliot, but by Thomas Bell, and was given to the whole town, not to a single portion of it, in 1671,

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