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of Mr. E. in the seasons of yellow fever through which he passed, were certainly great, and at times exceedingly trying; although it is believed that he suffered little, perhaps nothing, from the fear of death, as a personal concern. Yet he not only suffered extremely by disease, especially in 1798, but the scenes of human misery with which he was surrounded, and which in many instances admitted of no relief, were distressing beyond description. The toil he endured both by night and by day, in making coffins for the dead, and in visiting the diseased and the dying, were burdensome in the extreme. Above all, the multitude of immortal beings, (sometimes a hundred in a day,) whom he saw passing into eternity, the most of them ignorant, and many of them vicious-must have produced on a mind like his-always sympathetic, and always deeply impressed with the realities of that unchanging state of happiness or misery upon which death sets its seal-feelings, which nothing but the grace of God, added to much natural fortitude, could have enabled him to endure. These, notwithstanding, were the very dispensations of Providence which were made to contribute to his future comfort and usefulness-which brought him into that sphere of action in the church of Christ, to which he had long been looking as an object of intense desire, and which he had often resigned as hopeless. The avails of his mechanical business, of which the making of coffins is always a very profitable part, were such, (although he took no undue advantage of the necessities which the pestilence created) that he not only cancelled all his debts, but accumulated a little capital, which enabled him afterwards to live without labor, to make all his ministerial services perfectly gratuitous, to do many charitable acts while living, and to provide for the support of a preacher in the mariner's church at his death. In another and a still more important respect, were the desolations of pestilence made instrumental in opening the way for his preaching the gospel. They produced a demand for his services, which it was not easy, if it had been lawful, to resist. To be prepared for an uninterrupted narrative of the several steps by which this was brought about, an account of the manner in which he

passed the various seasons of pestilence that have been noted, has been given at once; and has carried forward the story of his life, as connected with these events, to a period from which we must now look back for several years.

The church to which Mr. Eastburn belonged was collegiate. The congregation worshipped in two places, and in those the two pastors preached alternately. Each of these congregations, of course, on the death of one of the pastors, and till the settlement of another, would be deprived of half the supply of the public and regular preaching of the gospel; or else, a portion of ministerial labour was to be taken from one, at the expense of the other. The Northern Liberties of the city contained one of these congregations, which was yet in an infant and very feeble state, and had contributed, and could contribute, but little to the support of the gospel. It was therefore made a question, on the death of Dr. Sproat, whether the attempt to establish a Presbyterian church in that place, and at that time, ought not to be abandoned. This idea was resisted by the remaining pastor; but it seemed neither practicable nor proper to resist the opinion, that his services should be chiefly, and almost wholly, given to that congregation which was fourfold the more numerous of the two, and from which nearly the whole pecuniary expenses of the collegiate church had been, and was still to be defrayed. The remaining pastor, who was the present writer, and who must now speak of himself and his agency much more frequently than he could wish, gave as much attention as he could to the feeble congregation; but it was without a regular supply for six years in succession. It was mournful and embarrassing to witness this destitution; and to hear applications for religious instruction which could not be complied with. To afford some relief, the pastor resolved, that, in addition to the occasional services which he might be able to render to this part of his charge, (for such he still considered it,) he would open a weekly meeting for religious exercises, on the evening of the Lord's day, and commit the conducting of it, subject to some general directions from himself, to Mr. Eastburn.

The plan for the exercises of this meeting was as follows:-The children and youth of the congregation were to be the principal objects of attention. They were to come together in a large school-room, to repeat to Mr. E. the Westminster Shorter Catechism, with the hymns and forms of devotion prepared for children by Dr. Watts -the forms of devotion somewhat modified, and reprinted in a primer-like form, for the occasion. The parents of the children were invited, and any others who chose were permitted, to attend at these meetings; and after prayer and singing, the children were to repeat their catechism, hymns, and prayers, to Mr. E. and he was then to make such explanatory remarks on the catechism as he thought proper, and to address, first and principally to the children, and then to their parents and other attendants, such exhortations of a practical nature, as he judged would be for edification. These exercises were to be followed by prayer, and to be concluded with singing a hymn or psalm, with the doxology. Such was the plan adopted by the pastor-adopted without consultation with others, and for which, if he deserved the blame to which a few of his ministerial brethren saw fit to subject him, it cannot be denied that it belonged to him exclusively. The sequel will show that it did lead to some abuse; but that this abuse was speedily and completely corrected; and the issue was unquestionably of the most salutary kind. Certain it is, that the pastor was entitled to no praise or commendation whatsoever, for being, as he undoubtedly was, the chief instrument of introducing Mr. E. to the wide field of usefulness which he afterwards entered; for there was not, at that time, in the mind of the pastor, any conception that such a result would be produced. He had no expectation that Mr. E. would do more, or go farther, than teach the children and youth, and exhort and pray with them and their parents, agreeably to the plan that has been specified; and he supposed that even this would be no more than a temporary measure. In a word, all that ensued was unforeseen and unexpected, and the pastor only acted on the several emergencies which subsequently occurred, as his sense of duty dictated at the time.

The original plan appeared evidently to be attended with a divine blessing. Since the writing of these memoirs was commenced, word has been sent to the writer, that one or more Christians of distinction trace their conversion to the instructions, and exhortations, and prayers, which, in youth, they heard from Mr. Eastburn, in the school-house at Campington. The pastor attended these meetings on a few occasions at the first, to afford his countenance and aid in executing the plan he had devised. He finds in his diary for January 31st, 1796, the following entry :-"In the evening I went and drank tea at Mr. Eastburn's, and went with him to the society at Campington. The people were very solemn, and the children appeared to be much affected."

This was no peculiar occurrence-it was only a single instance of what was usually, and almost uniformly, witnessed at these interesting meetings. So interesting, indeed, they soon became, that the school-house would not contain the numbers of which they were composed, and they were therefore transferred from that house to the church.

It was natural for Mr. E. when he found a crowd of attentive listeners at these meetings, originally intended chiefly for children and youth, to make his address to the adult part of his audience longer and more particular than he did, or perhaps ever thought of doing, at the first. Many of his hearers, moreover, had no regular connexion with any religious society: some of them seldom, if ever, attended any other place of worship, and were not only extremely ignorant of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, but, till now, utterly careless, in the matter of their soul's salvation. On seeing a crowd of this description, attentive and serious, who could censure him for extending his address to them, into a discourse, equal to a sermon in length? But his error was, and it must not be disguised, that he gradually diminished his attention. to the youthful part of his audience, till at length he almost, or altogether, passed them by, took a text, and made as regular a discourse as he was capable of, to the promiscuous assembly which filled the small church in which his addresses were made. It was at that time, and it still is, the conviction of the writer, that Mr. E.

would probably have done more good, had he adhered to the original plan, with no other change than a lengthening of the concluding address; instead of suffering that address gradually to supplant the catechetical instruction, and special pious admonition of the young.

This change of plan, which was made, and for some time continued, without the knowledge or suspicion of the pastor of the church, was, when he became acquainted with it, the cause of considerable uneasiness. It was also disapproved by the most discreet and judicious members of the congregation; but it was extremely popular in the neighborhood of the Campington church, and with some others who resorted to it statedly, on the evening of the sabbath. The writer recollects, and indeed has found the time noted in his diary, that with a view to ascertain from personal observation, whether, besides their irregularity, there was any thing exceptionable in the addresses of Mr. E., he attended one of these meetings, and took care to mingle with the crowd, in such a manner as not to be observed. The experiment satisfied him fully, that the discourses of Mr. E., although in a measure immethodical and unconnected, were still sound in doctrine, and well calculated to benefit his hearers. Under this conviction, and considering the destitute state of the people, and the influence which Mr. E. had over them, no interference was attempted-it was believed to be not only injudicious, but, in the circumstances of the case, absolutely inconsistent with Christian duty. It was also expected, that when an additional pastor of the collegiate church should be chosen, which was then believed to be near at hand, and which shortly after took place in fact, these irregular exercises would, in that place at least, be terminated as a matter of course.

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