assured of his unblameable conversation, judge him to be well qualified to enter upon the office of preaching; and do advise and encourage him to do so, recommending him to the divine blessing, and to the due regard of all Christian socie ties that need and desire his assistance. Witness our Hands.

"J. Norris.

" T. Cartwright.

"P. Doddridge, D. D."

From the academy Mr. Darracott removed to Chumleigh, in the summer of the year 1738, when he had just passed his majority. His father being now dead, and the church still destitute of a pastor, he went, not merely to visit his friends, and wander over the scenes endeared by early association, but to enter upon the work of the ministry, of which he never for a moment lost sight. This must have been a sphere peculiarly interesting to him. Standing over his father's ashes, and leading the devotions of that church with which he had first learned to join in the worship of God, he laboured with much appro bation, and not without some effect. But as the congregation was divided in its choice between him and another young minister, he chose to relinquish the advantages he possessed, and retiring, sought another field of usefulness.

In

this he affords a salutary lesson to those who are entering on the pastoral care.

That the numbers who compose a Christian church, with all their diversity of ages, habits, and tastes, should frequently preclude the hope of perfect unanimity in the choice of a pastor, (may be readily conceived. But where the minority is considerable, either in numbers, or in weight and worth, a young man who comes fresh and immature from a seminary, should not feel surprised or wounded; nor should he by any means conceive it due to his character and the solicitations of his admirers, to risk the peace of a church, by struggling to maintain his post. The church's separation ought to wound him much more than his own rejection. These divisions are sometimes, indeed, productive of the happiest consequences in the increase of places for the preaching of the gospel, and in the consequent increase of hearers, but they frequently kindle passions so guilty in the sight of God, and so dishonourable in the eyes of the world, that Christians should study to obtain the good without the evil. And when a young minister humbly follows where the Redeemer leads, seeking a field of acceptance and usefulness, without strife or division, his tenderness to the sacred body of Christ will usually be rewarded by that success which should above every other conside

ration be dear to his heart. Such was the recompense of Risdon Darracott, who removed from Chumleigh to Penzance, in Cornwall.

The spirit with which he retired from a scene endeared to him by his paternal roof and the ashes of a beloved father, will be seen in the following letter to his friend Pearsall.

"Since I received your kind and affectionate letter I am removed to a very considerable distance from the place where I then was. I hope a good Providence has made the remove. The meeting I then presided at divided about me and another young minister; an invitation being sent me just then by the people where I now am, I thought proper to accept it, on purpose to withdraw from those who unhappily divided. I am, I think now, as to the place, in the most agreeable situation I ever saw; it lies close to the sea-side, and commands a very large prospect, it has abundant pleasant walks, the town throughout is very rich and populous, the meeting is but small, but the people are very substantial, and, what to me is mostly valuable, they are very affectionate and truly religious. If I do not settle with them, which at present I am a little doubtful of, it is owing to the distance it is from my estate and relations; how

ever, may that God who has hitherto led and guided me, direct my mind and overrule my thoughts in subserviency to his glory. I hope that, and that only, will be the end I shall always in life propose. O that I may live to God, that when I die, I may die with the pleasing hope of living for ever with him! I have heard lately some melancholy accounts about the acade my; I know not how true they are. I am really most truly concerned for its welfare, and would desire you would give a little account how things are with you. May God be abundantly better than my fears, and exceed my fondest hopes concerning it! I find the work of composition much easier, and can make two sermons a week with pleasure: but ah! I find it still hard to keep up the spirit of religion in my heart, and to go through my work with a becoming temper: I am too apt to grow cold and lose my spiritual unction. O that the divine Spirit may breathe upon me and give me life; I earnestly desire a continuance in your prayers, and do assure you, you shall always in mine be affectionately remembered. The good God be with you and bless you, build you up in all valuable learning and true religion, and make you eminently useful in your day and generation.

"Please to write me when at leisure and direct for me at Mr. Enty's, in Penzance, Corn

wall. Give the same direction to Mr. Merivale. My respects to those of the gentlemen who may ask for me. I am, my dear friend,

"With a great deal of respect, yours,

"Risdon Darracott."

His acceptance and success at Penzance left him no reason to regret his former scene of labour. "The Spirit of God," he said to a friend "is usefully moving upon the hearts of men here; through my preaching several are awakened, and setting their faces towards Zion; some very vicious and debauched characters are reformed, the young men show great seriousness, and I have great hope of several of them; and what makes all this the more remarkable is, that there was a strange lukewarmness among professors themselves when I came hither; the church seemed to have a name that it lived but was dead. The people so much love me, and I find myself so affectionately concerned for them, that I believe I shall settle with them though I shall not determine 'till I go up into Devonshire, which will be about a fortnight hence. Some of my friends do not think it convenient to fix with them, as the congregation is but small, and the interest of the dissenters weak through the whole country; but yet, is the day of small things to be despised? Could I get such a friend as you near me, it would deter