III. Review of Memoirs of Howard, V. Review of Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, VI. Review of Derham's Physico Theology, VII. Application of the Principles of Common Sense to certain Disputed Doctrines, VIII. Review of the Memoirs of Bruen, IX. Review of Letters on Practical Subjects, ТАН QUARTERLY CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR. Vol. III.---No. I. MARCH, 1831. ART. I.-REVIEW OF MEMOIRS OF THE REV. EDWARD PAYSON. Memoir of the Rev. Edward Payson, D. D., late Pastor of the Second Church in Portland. Bene orasse est bene studuisse, Luther. Portland, Published by Ann L. Payson. Sherley & Hyde, printers. 1830. In a former number, we hazarded some remarks on the character of Dr. Payson as a successful preacher of the gospel, confining ourselves, for the most part, to the traits discoverable from the sermons then under review. In addition to this internal evidence, the memoir before us furnishes an interesting collection of biographical facts, exhibiting the same traits of character still more distinctly; while at the same time it makes us acquainted with his private and personal history. It enables us to understand why he was so dear to the church and to his friends; for it shows us what he was, in the discharge of his high official duties as a "legate of the skies," and also what he was, in the retirement of domestic life, when his heart was full of the sweet charities of son, husband, and father. EDWARD PAYSON was born at Rindge, New-Hampshire, in 1783. His father, the Rev. Seth Payson, D. D. pastor of the church in that town, and his mother, Grata Payson, were both of them distinguished for their piety; and to their christian fidelity, especially that of his mother, he uniformly attributed his usefulness in life and his hopes of heaven. "She appears to have admitted him to the most intimate, unreserved, and confiding intercourse, which was yet so wisely conducted, as to strengthen rather than diminish filial reverence; to have cherished a remarkable inquisitiveness of mind, which early discovered itself in him; and to have patiently heard and replied to the almost endless inVOL. III. 1 quiries which his early thirst for knowledge led him to propose." Her whole mind was absorbed in the high purpose of training up for heaven, the immortal soul of that child which God had given her; "as was evident from her counsels, her expostulations, her prayers, and her discipline." For the encouragement of mothers we may add, that the good seed thus sown and watered with her tears, took early and deep root. At the age of three years, he would often weep under the preaching of the gospel, and call his mother to his bed-side to converse on religion; and during the whole of his residence under his father's roof, it is believed, he regularly performed the duty of secret prayer. To illustrate the tenderness of his conscience in very early life, we have heard the following anecdote related, which, in all the naivete of childhood, describes those wandering thoughts in prayer, from which even older christians experience no little inconvenience. "I am sorry, said he to his mother, that I sin so much when father is praying; for instead of praying too, I seem to be out on the green, playing tag with the boys." During the period of boyhood and early youth, when the powers of the mind are rapidly expanding, he showed an ardent thirst for knowledge, which he was able in some measure to gratify, by having recourse, in the intervals of agricultural employment, to the books in his father's collection and to the parish library. His characteristic love of nature and affection for his friends, were manifest at an early period; as was likewise his energy of character. "When about six years of age, he rode one horse and led another at the same time, a distance of twenty miles,-no trifling adventure for a child, and no doubtful indication, that his well known energy and perseverance had already dawned.” Mr. P. joined the sophomore class in Harvard college at the commencement in 1800, about the time he had completed his seventeenth year. In the regular course of study, he maintained the rank of a respectable scholar in every branch, and one of his classmates remarks of him, that even at that time, he manifested an energy, hardihood, and perseverance of character, which were the sure indications of success, in whatever course he might eventually direct his professional pursuits. "He was so great a reader that his fellow students represented him in the way of raillery, as having a "machine to turn over the leaves." Ridicule, remarks his biographer, was in this case egregiously misapplied; for, says his constant companion in the study and in the dormitory, "every thing he read he made his own. He had the strongest and most tenacious memory I ever knew.” After taking his first degree in 1803, he entered on the charge of an academy, then recently established in Portland. In this situation he continued three years, maintaining the reputation of a good instructor, joining at least occasionally in some of the fash ionable amusements of the day, improving and enjoying himself in the society of literary friends, yet not forgetting his paternal home. We subjoin two letters written at this period, which will serve to illustrate both his occasional gayety and seriousness of mind. My Dearest Father-In hopes of rescuing you one moment from the crowd of cares and occupations which surround you, I will give you an anecdote of my journey, and if you condescend to smile over it, why so much the better. When seated in a company of strange phizzes, I immediately set myself to decipher them, and assign a character and occupation to the owner of each. But in the stage which conveyed us to B*****, there was one which completely puzzled me. I could think of no employment that would fit it, except that of a ******* representative, unless it was that of a ***********, whose pride being confined in B. by the pressure of wealth and talents, had now room to expand itself. A certain kind of consequential gravity, and pompous solemnity, together with his dress, might perhaps have impressed us with respect, had not a pair of bard callous hands, with crooked dirty nails, lessened their effect. During a pause in the conversation, he presented me with a paper which, on examination, I found to be one of those quack advertisements, which Mr. **** has honored with his signature. Not suspecting, in the least, that the good gentleman had any concern in the business, and feeling a fine flow of words at hand, I began to entertain my fellow travelers with its numerous beauties of expression, spelling, and graminar. Finding them very attentive, and encouraged by their applause, I next proceeded to utter a most violent philippic against quacks of all denominations, especially those who go about poisoning the ignorant with patent medicines. I could not help observing, however, that my eloquence, while it had a powerful effect on the muscles of the rest of my companions, seemed to be thrown away on the gentleman aforesaid. But concluding that his gravity proceeded from a wish to keep up his dignity, I resolved to conquer it; and commenced a fresh attack, in which, addressing myself entirely to him, I poured forth all the ridicule and abuse which my own imagination could suggest, or memory could supply. But all in vain. The more animated and witty I was, the more doleful he looked, till having talked myself out of breath, and finding the longitude of his face increase every moment, I desisted, very much mortified that my efforts were so unsuccessful. But in the midst of my chagrin, the coach stopped, the gentleman alighted, and was welcomed by a little squab wife into a shop decorated with the letters, "Medical Cordial Store." I afterwards learnt that he is the greatest quack-medicine seller in B. pp 29-31. My Dear Mother,-I last night witnessed a scene, to which I had before been a stranger; it was a death-bed scene. A young gentleman of my acquaintance, and nearly of my own age, had been confined thirty-two days, and I was requested to watch with him; and a more exquisitely distressing task I hope never to undertake. When I went, there was little if any, hope of his life. His mother, whose favorite he deservedly was, though she is, I believe, a sincere christian, seemed unable to support the idea of a separation. Fatigue and loss of sleep, made her light-headed; As I and, at times, she raved almost as badly as the patient. His sister, a gay, thoughtless girl, was in a paroxysm of loud and turbulent grief; while young lady, whom he was expecting to marry, heightened the distress by marks of anguish too strong to be concealed; and which seemed to flow from tenderness, equal to any thing I have met with in romance. had seen nothing of the kind before, its effects on my feelings were irresistible. The perpetual groans and ravings of the dying--whose head I was for hours obliged to support with one hand, while I wiped off the sweat of death with the other; the inarticulate expressions of anguish, mingled with prayers, of the mother; the loud and bitter lamentations of the sister; the stifled agonies of the young lady, and the cries of the younger branches of the family, (the father was asleep) formed a combination of sounds, which I could scarcely support. Add to this the frightful contortions and apparent agonies of the poor sufferer, with all the symptoms of approaching death. About two o'clock he died. I then had the no less difficult and painful task of endeavoring to quiet the family. The mother, when convinced he was certainly dead, became composed, and, with much persuasion and some force, was prevailed upon to take her bed, as were the rest of the family, except the young lady. I had then to go half a mile for a person to assist in laying out the corpse, in a bitter storm as ever blew; and after this was done, watched with it the remainder of the night. You will not wonder if I feel to-day exhausted in body and mind. Surely, there is no torture like seeing distress, without the ability of removing it. All day have I heard the dying groans sounding in my ears. I could not have believed it possible, that any thing could take such astonishing hold of the mind; and unless you can remember the first death you ever witnessed, you can never conceive how it affected me. pp. 31-33. About this time Mr. P. made a public profession of religion, and united himself to the church at Rindge, during a visit which he made to his parents The remainder of the time which he spent in Portland as a teacher, appears to have been a season of close self-examination. At one time his mind was harrassed by speculative difficulties concerning the great doctrines of revelation; at another he was perplexed by practical doubts in regard to his own duties: he now wishes to become a missionary, and now to "get back as far as possible into the country, and, on a little farm, lead a life as much remote from observation, as circumstances will allow." November 11, 1805. Since I mentioned in a former letter, that I had been reading Cole. that, I have studied with considerable attention Edwards on the will, and his treatise on original sin. I know not what to do. On one hamd the arguments in favor of calvinism are strong; and what is more to the point, I feel that most of them must be true; and yet there are difficulties, strong difficulties, both from reason and scripture in the way. These contradictory evidences so pull me about, that, had I nothing more than reason and argument in favor of my religion, I would give it all up together..........I wonder not that the unregenerate are so bitterly opposed to these doctrines and their professors, nor that they appear to them, as the effect of |