ADVERTISEMENT. THE Compiler of the subsequent Memoirs has in his possession several series of Mr. Belsham's Sermons on very important subjects, which were heard with deep attention and lively interest by the intelligent societies to whom they were addressed, some of which it was Mr. Belsham's wish and intention to have committed to the press, and also some Forms of Prayer, for public and family worship, which it is the design of the present writer to publish, if he finds sufficient encouragement to incur the expense. The Author intended to have added a List of Subscribers, and a copious Index, to the Memoirs; but the unexpected size of the Volume compels him to abandon the design. INTRODUCTION. THE lives of men who have acted a conspicuous part on the great and busy theatre of the world are generally full of interesting vicissitudes. They present to our notice scenes of an animated, important, and sublime character; and as the influence of striking actions is more conspicuous than the progress or effect of opinions, the life of the warrior, of the statesman, or of the man of the world, must furnish more amusing detail than that of the retired student, the character which most ministers of the gospel have to sustain. But the changes which take place in the world, and especially in the political relations and constitutions of society, are not more truly interesting, and certainly are not more improving than the changes and workings of the mind, could we trace the progress of its thoughts, could we describe its efforts and its struggles, or could we unveil the gradual and almost imperceptible manner in which it arrived at principles which are often the most contradictory and opposite to those which were entertained in the early part of life, and which were the basis of its first attempts to investigate, to reason, and to judge. When we are in any manner able to do this, we increase our knowledge of human nature, of the springs of human action, of the extent of the intellectual powers, and of the result of their energetic employment; and by perceiving what others have done, we learn what we are able to do, what it is our duty to attempt, and are encouraged to make the requisite effort. To be able to present a true picture of an individual, we must be possessed of a narrative furnished by himself. The secret operations of his mind, the thoughts he cherished, the feelings he indulged, the principles he adopted, and the steps by which he was led to embrace them, could be known only to himself, and to that Being from whom nothing is concealed. And unless men become the historians of their own minds, we have no means of knowing how they were led to adopt the principles which they have avowed, or in what manner they were affected and influenced by them. Without such a record, biography is little more than a narrative of facts; and the principles and motives of the individual are either imperfectly known, or are the subject of conjecture and inference, and little instruction or advantage is derived from such a description of them. But when any one has registered his studies and his feelings, professedly with a |