cate sensibilities of Mr. Richards. He thus alludes to it in a letter, written afterwards to his son:

"When in the summer and fall of 1808, (the year before I went to Newark,) my people refused to unite in an augmentation of my salary, though many were earnestly for it, I found it grieved me, and many things connected with it mortified me and agitated me. I presently discovered that I was getting into a state of mind by no means favorable to my comfort or my usefulness. Instead, therefore, of dwelling upon the subject, and especially upon the dark side of the picture, I resolved to give myself anew to the duties of my ministry, to serve God, and his people given me in charge, with all the strength I had, and to do whatever seemed proper and meet to be done, as if no untoward event had occurred. "And let me say, I found great comfort in this. Though my resolution was to discharge my duty, and leave the event with God, yet I did not infer that I was not at liberty to watch the movings of Providence, and avail myself of any opportunity which should present, to change my relations, provided such change appeared to be accompanied with the indications of duty."

In the mean time an effectual door of usefulness was opening in Newark. Dr. Griffin, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in that city, had been invited to a professorship in the Theological Seminary at Andover, and, as was supposed, strongly recommended to his people Mr. Richards as his successor. A correspondence commenced, in which the most earnest appeals were made in behalf of the Newark congregation. To the already afflicted pastor, these appeals were occasion of new trials. Though he had supposed it right to watch the movements of Providence, and thought it possible that he might be called to yield his present relations, yet he dreaded the coming of the day when they should be sundered. His present pastoral charge was the object of his "first love." He knew his flock. The sheep and the lambs he could call by their respective names. They also knew his voice, and had been wont to follow

him. And a people, who had called him as their spiritual' watchman in his youth-who had laid aside their animosities to sustain him—who had taught their children to reverence him as a father, might well urge a strong claim to the services of his riper years.

Nor was there any attachment on the part of the people, which was not reciprocated by the pastor. In a letter to the member of the congregation, already alluded to, and written but a short time before his death, he says:

"Never was a minister more happy with his people than I with mine, during the fifteen years I spent among you. With you I was willing to live, and with you I expected to die."

To the same, in another letter, he writes:

"I can truly say, that if there be a spot on earth to which my mind turns with more than ordinary affection, it is THAT where I was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and took upon myself the obligation of the Christian pastor. I loved the people that called me to this work, and I trust I loved the work itself.”

The reasons for a change, however, seemed more and more urgent. The increase of the salary was postponed; the health of Mrs. Richards had declined; his rising family were increasingly expensive; and he began to entertain the impression that the promise of his usefulness in Morristown was diminished by the excitement which the proposal to raise the salary had created.

These considerations inclined him to give some encouragement to the congregation in Newark; and he intimated that should they extend to him a unanimous call, it would receive a careful consideration, and that he should "acquiesce in what seemed to be the leadings of God's providence." Such a call soon came into his hands. In anticipation of it, his congregation had succeeded in voting an increase of salary; and prior to thei

'knowledge of his acceptance, they set forth their views and feelings in two formal memorials addressed to their pastor. One of these was sent from a meeting of seventyone ladies, and presented by the hands of a committee whose names are appended to the address. It is a document which reflects honor both upon the pastor, and upon those who sent it. It reads as follows:

"DEAR SIR:

"Having lately been informed that you contemplate a removal from the pastoral charge of this congregation, we, the subscribers, in behalf of ourselves and the meeting of females we represent, feel ourselves constrained to express to you, in some degree, the deep regret and anxiety we experience on the occasion, in common with all classes and descriptions of persons composing this numerous society. The attachment we feel for you and your amiable family is not founded in the transient acquaintance of a day or a month. A period of fourteen years and upwards, spent in the most friendly interchange of kind offices, has gradually ripened and matured that acquaintance into a permanent and refined friendship. As the faithful shepherd and pastor of our flock, words fail us to express our veneration and esteem for you. Many of us have grown from infancy and youth into active life during your ministry here, and through the instrumentality of your public instructions, friendly admonitions and exemplary life, have been enabled, through Divine aid, to partake of the rich blessings of that Gospel which you have so faithfully preached.

You

Others of us have, at the same time, been declining the steep of life, and now stand on the verge of eternity. Most of our attachments formed in youth have been rent in sunder. You have personally witnessed, in many instances, the parting scene. have accompanied us who are widows and mothers to the grave of many a beloved husband and child. You have mingled your tears with ours, and, in the keenest moments of anguish and heart-rending grief, you have administered to us the only consolation promised in the Gospel by the widow's God.

"You settled among us in the work of the ministry while we were a divided people. Happily for us these divisions no longer exist, and our attachment to you is probably much strengthened, considering you as the means of restoring harmony among us. You

yourself were in the morning of life, the season, of all others, the best adapted for forming lasting attachments. Is it to be expected that a change of circumstances, in the afternoon of life, can add much to the share of happiness which is perhaps already as considerable as usually falls to the lot of man?

"If, however, after due consideration of the solemn ties that bind you to this church, a removal may appear to you a duty, and you consider it as a mean of enlarging your own sphere of comfort and enjoyment, perhaps we ought to acquiesce in the separation, however painful it may be.

"Whether you leave us or remain with us, you may rest assured of our prayers for a blessing on your labors, and our best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of yourself and family.”

But these remonstrances, and the announcement of the vote to increase the salary of the pastor, came too late. The encouragement which had been given to another congregation, had been answered in a unanimous call. The conditions which he had suggested had been met, and painful as was the thought of parting, he was not the man to say and not do.

The foregoing is a brief outline of the circumstances under which the question of dissolving the pastoral relation came before the Presbytery of Jersey. The congregation, in parish meeting, after a painful struggle, resolved to submit the whole question to that body. When the Presbytery met at Elizabethtown, April 26, 1809, a member, then residing at Morristown, after an able and full exposition of the causes which had induced the pastor to ask leave to resign his pastoral charge, and an, entire justification of the request, concluded in the following words:

"As an inhabitant of Morristown, no one has more serious reasons to regret the removal of Mr. Richards, than myself:-Yet his removal, I regard rather as the misfortune than the fault of Morristown; and his removal to Newark as an event brought about rather by the providence of God, than by the destination of man. I shall, therefore, move that the call from the people of Newark be put into his hands."

CHAPTER III.

HIS MINISTRY AT NEWARK.

His call to Newark was received in April, 1809, and he removed his family to that place on the 17th of May following. On the 28th of the same month, Dr. Griffin preached his farewell sermon to his congregation, and the responsibilities of the pastoral charge were left with his successor. A more weighty charge or more delicate position could hardly be assumed. Dr. Griffin was then regarded as one of the most gifted and eloquent ministers in the American Church, and Newark had been favored with nearly eight years of the most vigorous and efficient portion of his pastoral life. His labors, too, had been crowned with signal success, the church having increased from two to five hundred members during his ministry. It is worthy also of notice, that he left at the close of a revival, to which, in a letter written to Mr. Richards, he thus alludes: "I was there in the harvest time, but you came in the fall of the year;" intimating the disadvantage under which his successor entered upon his pastoral charge.

Mr. Richards felt the responsibility of his position, and resolved, under God, to make full proof of his ministry. He said to a friend, "I am resolved to give attendance to reading;' I must study now if ever." He did study, and he also "gave himself to prayer." His purpose to magnify his office, appeared in the pulpit and in the walks of pastoral intercourse; and the attachment of the