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more copious Increase from thence. With Multitudes more I bless GoD, that You are not in this Evening of so afflicted and yet so laborious a Day, rendered entirely incapable of serving the Public from the Press, and from the Pulpit; and that amidst the Pain which your active Spirit feels, when these pleasing Services suffer long Interruptions from Bodily Weakness, it may be so singularly refreshed by reflecting on that Sphere of extensive Usefulness, in which, by your Writings, You continually move.

I congratulate You, dear Sir, that while You are in a Multitude of Families and Schools of the lower Class, condescending to the humble, yet important Work of forming InfantMinds to the first Rudiments of Religious Knowledge, and devout Impressions, by your various Catechisms and Divine Songs; You are also daily reading Lectures of Logic, and other useful Branches of Philosophy, to studious Youths: And this not only in private Academies, but in the most public and celebrated Seats of Learning; nor merely in Scotland and our American Colonies, (where, from some peculiar Considerations, it might

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most naturally be expected,) but through the amiable Candor of some excellent Men and. accomplished Tutors, in our English Universities too. I congratulate You, that You are teaching, no doubt, Hundreds of Ministers, and Thousands of private Christians, by your Sermons, and other Theological Writings; so happy calculated to diffuse through their Minds that Light of Knowledge, and through their Hearts that Fervour of Piety, which God has been pleased to inkindle in your own. But above all, I congratulate You, that by your Sacred Poetry, especially by your Psalms, and your Hymns, You are leading the Worship, and I trust also animating the Devotion of Myriads, in our public Assemblies every Sabbath, and in their Families or Closets every Day. This, Sir, at least so far as it relates to the Service of the Sanctuary, is an unparalleled Favour by which God hath been pleased to distinguish You, I may boldly say it, beyond any of His Servants now upon Earth. Well may it be esteemed a glorious Equivalent, and indeed much more than an Equivalent, for all those Views of Ecclesiastical Preferment, to which such Talents, Learning, Virtues, and Interest might have intitled You in an

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Establisment; and I doubt not, but You joyfully accept it as such.

Nor is it easy to conceive, in what Circumstances You could, on any Supposition, have been easier and happier than in that Pious and truly Honourable Family, in which, as I verily believe, in special Indulgence both to You and to it, Providence has been pleased to appoint that You should spend so considerable a Part of your Life. It is my earnest Prayer that all the Remainder of it may be serene, useful, and pleasant. And as, to my certain Knowledge, your Compositions have been the singular Comfort of many excellent Christians, (some of them numbered among my dearest Friends,) on their dying Bed; for I have heard Stanzas of them repeated from the Lips of several, who were doubtless in a a few Hours to begin the Song of Moses and the Lamb: So I hope and trust, that when God shall call You to that Salvation, for which your Faith and Patience have so long been waiting. He will shed around You the choicest Beams of his Favour, and gladden your Heart with Consolations, like those which You have been the happy Instrument of administering to others.

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In the mean Time, Sir, be assured that I am not a little animated in the various Labours to which Providence has called me, by reflecting, that I have such a Contemporary, and especially such a Friend whose single Presence would be to me as that of a Cloud of Witnesses here below, to awaken my Alacrity in the Race that is set before me. And I am persuaded, that while I say this, I speak the Sentiment of many of my Brethren, even of various Denominations: A A Consideration which I hope will do something towards reconciling a Heart so generous as your's, to the Delay of that exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory, which is now so nearly approaching. Yes, my honoured Friend, You will, I hope, cheerfully endure a little longer continuance in Life amidst all its Infirmities; from an Assurance, that while GOD is pleased to maintain the Exercise of your Reason, it is hardly possible that You should live in vain, to the World or yourself. Every Day, and every Trial, is brightening your Crown, and rendering You still more meet for an Inheritance amongst the Saints in Light. Every Word that You drop from the Pulpit, has now, surely, its peculiar Weight; The

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Eyes of many are on their ascending Prophet, eagerly intent that they may catch, if not his Mantle, at least some Divine Sentence from from his Lips, which may long guide their Ways, and warm their Hearts. This Solicitude your Friends bring into those happy Moments, in which they are favoured with your Converse in private: And when retired from them, your Prayers, I doubt not, largely contribute towards guarding your Country, watering the Church, and blessing the World. Long may they continue to answer these great Ends! And permit me, Sir, to conclude with expressing my cheerful Confidence, that in those best Moments You are often particularly mindful of one, who so highly esteems, so greatly needs, and so warmly returns that Remembrance, as,

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