and a very important one; and this he difcovered. When he had once received an Admonition from a faithful Friend, he thus writes to him; I do fuch Juftice to your experienced Friendship, that you

• need not give yourself the Trouble of gilding a Re⚫ proof or Caution, but may advance it in the plainest • Terms and with the utmost Freedom. For indeed, I know I have many Faults, and I think it one of the greatest Felicities of Life to be put into a Way of correcting any of them: And when a Friend attempts this, I place it to the Account of the greatest Obligations; even tho', on the ftrictest Examination, I should apprehend, that fome mif<taken View of Things had been the immediate Oç- -• cafion of fuch a generous and felf-denying Office of Friendship.' As a stronger Evidence that he was poffeffed of this amiable Temper, I would add, that in one of his Diaries, there is an Account of an Admonition he had received from a Friend, concerning an improper Gefture in his public Prayers, which feemed to denote a Want of due Reverence for GoD:

Upon which he writes; 'I would engrave this Admonition upon my Heart. May it not be owing to the Want of that habitual Reverence for GOD, which I ought to feel in my own Mind? I defire to be very thankful for so seasonable a Reproof; refolving by divine Affistance to lay it seriously to Heart and examine myself for the future, in fome fpecial Regard to it.' Such was the ftrong Sense this excellent Man expreffed of his own Weakness, Imperfections and Defects; at the fame Time that fome, who knew him most intimately, were ready to admire the Zeal, Activity and Succefs, with which

he exerted himfelf in his Mafter's Work. In him was eminently fulfilled that faying of our Lord, He that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.

SECT. VI.

'His Patience, Serenity and Chearfulness under Afflietions, and upon what Principles thefe Graces were exercifed and fupported.

N all Ages God hath been pleased to visit those

most active in serving him. By purging and pruning the Branches, which bring forth Fruit, he hath enabled them to bring forth more Fruit. This was the Cafe with Dr. Doddridge; and we are now to fee how his Heart was affected with his Afflictions, how he was fupported under them, and improved by them.

His Health was not often interrupted fo as to render him incapable of Bufinefs; and he frequently recorded and devoutly acknowledged the Goodness of GoD in this Refpc&t. But he was vifited with some threatning Fevers, which might have been prevented, or fooner removed, had he taken due Precautions in time. But the Ardour of his Spirit in his Master's Work made him too much difregard the Body; and, as he found fome public Services gave him a prefent Flow and Chearfulness of Spirits, he did not fufficiently confider, how much his Health might be impaired,

and

and beginning Disorders increased by neglecting a timely Recess from Bufinefs, and the Ufe of proper Remedies. He once lay long under a violent Fever, which gave his Family and Friends many painful Fears. But he bore the Affliction with great Patience; and, as soon as he was able to write, he gave an intimate Friend an Account of his Recovery; to which he added; It is impoffible to exprefs the Support and • Comfort, which God gave me on my fick Bed.. • His Promises were my continual Feast. They feem-・ed, as it were, to be all united in one Stream of • Glory, and poured into my Heart. When I thought

of dying, it fometimes made my very Heart to leap • within me, to think, that I was going home to my Father and my Saviour, to an innumerable Company of Angels, and the Spirits of juft Men made perfect. Animal Nature was more than once in great Commo• tion; my Imagination, just at the Height of the • Fever, hurried in the strangest Manner I ever knew. Yet even then, Satan was not permitted to fuggeft one fingle Fear with Regard to my eternal State. • I can never be fufficiently thankful for this. AML me in praising GoD upon this Account. O, may I come out of the Furnace like Gold!' Speaking of another Illness fome Months after, he faith; • I did. not experience fo much of the Prefence of God in this Illness, as I did in the former; but I blefs • God, I have not been left either to Dejection or Impatience.' Concerning another he faith, I have been confined of late by a threatning Disorder; but I thank Gon, thro' the Prayers of my Friends and a Bleffing upon the Ufe of Means, I am now well. Aflift me in acknowledging the divine Good

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nefs. He hath filled my Soul with Joy by the Light of his Countenante, and given me, I hope, more and more to rise above every Thing selfish and temporal, ⚫ that my Soul may fix on what is divine and immortal. The great Grief of my Heart is, that I can do no more for him. O, that my Zeal may increase; that I may know how, on every Occafion, to think and speak and act for GoD in Chrift, and may spend all the Remainder of my Days and Hours upon Earth, in what may have the most direct Tendency to people Heaven! I am fo crouded with Cares, that they almost bear me down; yet if they may but be Cares for GOD, they are welcome.'

He had much Affliction in the Sickneffes and other Diftrefes of his Friends and near Relations, with whom he affectionately fympathized and for whom he earnestly prayed. He thus expreffeth himself to a Friend concerning the dangerous Illness of his Wife and the Anxiety he had upon her Account; I blefs GOD, my Mind is kept in perfect Peace, and sweet Harmony of Refignation to fo wife and gracious a Will. And indeed, the lefs Will we have of our own for any Thing but to please him, the more Comfort we fhall find in what ever Circumstances He is pleased to allot us. Self-denial, Mortification and taking up the Crofs, giving up our own • Schemes, and being fometimes cenfured and condemned, even for Things in themselves right, and, in the Circumstances in which they were done, requifite, is a very wholefome Part of Difcipline. Tho' this be fometimes distasteful Food, the Soul often thrives by it, as I hope I have in many Inftances found.' -Upon another afflictive Occafion, he thus

expreffeth himself; I am ready to refign my agree⚫able Circumftances, and to come, if fuch were the • Will of my Lord, to Bread and Water and to a Dun· geon, if his Name may but be glorified by it; provided He will but look thro' the Gloom and ⚫ chear me with the Light of his Countenance. Yea, I am willing to fubmit in the midst of inward as ⚫ well as outward Darkness, if his Name may but be glorified. And when I feel this, as, I blefs GOD, at fome times I do, then a living Fountain of Confolation fprings up in my Soul, and the Waters of ‹ Life do, as it were, overflow me.'- -His Heart was fo affectionate and tender, that the Death of fome of his Brethren in the Ministry, his Friends in private Life, and his Pupils, wounded him deeply. In his Reflections on one of his Birth-days, he thus writes ;

Moft awful Things GOD hath fhewed me fince the laft Birth-day; fuch as all the Years of my Life can hardly equal: The Death of four fuch valuable Friends, that I question, whether the whole Sum of my remaining Comforts could, all Things confidered, furnish out fuch another Field of Slaughter. My Hands are indeed weak this Day, and have long been fo. How foon He may add me to 'the Number of my Fathers and Brethren, He only ⚫ knows. I thankfully own, that I am not folicitous about it. I truft, thro' his Grace, that I have in the Sincerity of my Soul devoted myself, and my Labours to him. Him do I honour and love above all; and it is the Joy of my Heart to ferve him with my Spirit in the Gospel of his Son. I hereby leave it under my Hand before him, that I'am his Property; that I have no greater Ambition than to

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