recollection of his face, person, gait, manners, and voice; these all rendered him interesting; they indicated quickness of perception, activity, kindness, depth, and ardour of feeling. With respect to his merit there was but one opinion-all esteemed him for his genius, learning, and virtue."

I shall add only one more communication, from the Hon. George M. Troup, late Governor of Georgia.

"The impressions made in early life of the purity, worth, and piety which distinguished the late Bishop Hobart, are yet lively, and can never be effaced. He was our tutor at Princeton, and was as much respected and as universally beloved as ever tutor was, or as the relation between preceptor and student permits. His after course truly corresponded with the hopes then entertained of him; and he seems to have fulfilled to the last, and to the last tittle, the sanguine predictions of those senior friends whose sagacity predicted the future, and detected the germs of that usefulness and loveliness which it is your province, as it will be your pleasure, to record."

In a country like ours, where religion is unconnected with the state, receiving no support from the civil power, ancient endowments, or from patronage and favour, but depending entirely on the free-will offerings of those who hold it in reverence and honour, there are but few worldly inducements to enter into the ministry. The respect attached to the sacred office is strictly dependent on the character and talents of those by whom it is filled. The highest emoluments of clergymen, though sufficient to make life comfortable, in most cases,

leave only an inheritance of poverty and dependence to their families. The prospect of advancement is too limited in its range for mere worldly ambition. The life of a clergyman, in the correct and wholesome state of public opinion which prevails among us, is a life of labour, of watchfulness, and selfdenial; not greater, indeed, than he is pledged to lead by his sacred vows, but which would be found intolerably irksome to an unsanctified mind. When, therefore, we see those entering upon it to whom, from their talents and advantages, every other path is open, we feel an involuntary respect for the motives by which they are influenced, and honour them for the sacrifice. There are but few instances in which this disinterestedness has been more strikingly displayed than in the case of Mr. Hobart. He has laid open the workings of his mind and the feelings of his heart on the subject, in the most ingenuous manner; and never, perhaps, did any one take this step with more simplicity of intention, greater humbleness of spirit, or a higher degree of solemnity and awe.

In his letters to a friend, while he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, he observes:-"You will now, perhaps, ask me whether I intend to continue in my present business. It pleases God, and O how grateful should I be to him for it, to continue to me impressions of the necessity of repentance, * * * to give me daily convictions of the danger of liviug in this world without being prepared, through the mercies of a Saviour, to leave it; and also to direct my view to another, in which my happiness or misery depends upon the use of my time and talents here. VOL. I.

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It is but too true, that these impressions are not cultivated as they ought to be, and on this account I ought to be the more grateful for their continuance; but I hope the time will soon arrive, when they will be cultivated to a better purpose. ***. Though engaged in business,' these things' are continually rising to my thoughts, and 1 often think it is my duty to prepare for the ministry-prepare for it, I say, for I now want every requisite. ***.

Far am

I from thinking that I am qualified for it, either in mental or moral acquirements; but, by the goodness of God I may attain those qualifications which would fit me for entering upon the study of that profession. ***. Sacred, awful, and important would be my duties; the grace of God could alone enable me to execute them. O pray with me, that in my entrance on this important office I may have a single eye to his glory and the salvation of immortal souls; pray that he would subdue within me every desire of honour, of emolument, and praise, and that I may serve him with sincerity and truth.

"I am afraid that my motives are not sufficiently pure for the ministry, that I have not sufficiently in view the ends for which it was instituted; but I hope that God, for Christ's sake, will bless me, and that he will make me, in his hands, the humble instrument of turning many unto righteousness."

How simple and affecting these devout effusions of his soul! How tender and scrupulous this searching of his heart and reins before he could presume to meddle with holy things! How far beyond his thoughts or his hopes the answer to his prayers! How gloriously was he exalted for his humility!

As his spiritual views of the sacred office were high, so also was the intellectual standard which he thought it necessary to reach before he should be fitted to adorn it. "Like you," he writes to his friend, "I have ever felt an almost insatiable desire after knowledge, and should consider myself fortunate, were my exertions equal to my desire. * * I shall, however, endeavour to make a diligent use of my time; having the ministry in view, I am under the most powerful obligations to study and improvement, and may it please God to bless my exertions.

* *. General knowledge is very necessary in all the professions, but I shall always wish to make human science subordinate to divine." * * *.

Yet, as the moral and spiritual qualifications for this sacred calling were always uppermost in his thoughts, he considers it a matter of little moment that his mind should be stored with useful knowledge, unless he should also make greater progress in the amendment of his heart and life. "In fact, the improvement of the heart," he adds, "should be the end of all our acquirements; and to no purpose are we made wiser, if we are not made better men."

Among the numerous traces in these youthful letters, of that sound and practical wisdom for which he was so distinguished in later life, the following remarks will furnish a favourable example: "I have received directions for a course of study in divinity from Dr. White. ***. The Bible is ranked first, and I think I shall not be more than able to go through it attentively, with the assistance of a commentary, (together with Locke,) this winter. I mean

not to leave any author till I have made myself nearly master of his subject. My sphere of reading may be contracted by this method, but it will not be made less improving.

"Dr. Smith, who is very attentive to me, seems to wish that I should begin to study his system of divinity'; but I am entirely opposed to studying any system whatever till I understand more of that sacred volume from which all their conclusions, if just, must be drawn. When the fountain is open, why have recourse to the streams which it supplies? Dr. White earnestly recommended it to me to study the Bible, in order to form my opinions. It seems too generally studied in order to support those which are pre-conceived, and perhaps this is the reason why many doctrines which are thought inconsistent with it are maintained. When the study of the Bible is gone through, systems may then advantageously be taken up."

With a piety of the most exalted cast, which led him to regard the knowledge of sacred things as our supreme concern, he united a soberness and wisdom which always kept him from undervaluing human learning; he looked upon this as the handmaid of religion, and considered that all just knowledge would contribute to illustrate the truth, and to glorify God as its fountain and source. With this view, he remarks to his friend-"I shall endeavour to connect with the study of divinity, the study of moral philosophy in all its various and extensive branches, and the reading of history." And he proposes to do this chiefly on account of the intimate relation which these subjects bear to the