of the Indies, or the splendor of an earthly crown. O, my son, let God have the empire of your heart, for it is his just due. Let Christ have the devotion and service of your life, for be it is who died for you, and by whose grace alone your life is worth possessing. May the Spirit of God enlighten and sanctify and keep you,—and may you obtain favor of the Lord to be faithful and to glorify him, with that holiness which becometh his children for ever!"

When the solemnities were over, Samuel returned home to to his private apartment, overwhelmed and bowed down with emotion. From this period, he sustained an unblemished and uniform Christian character, and is believed, amidst all the temptations of after life, to have "walked worthy the vocation wherewith he was called."

June 19th, 1817, he thus writes to his parents from Andover: "I did fondly hope to hear that the Spirit of the Lord had overspread the town, and that many hardened and stupid sinners had been led to cry out, in the language of the publican -and that many had escaped from the awful precipice on which they stood, and fled to the ark of safety for refuge. But nothing of this reaches my ears, and I fear that the sun which appeared to be rising so pleasantly upon you has become enveloped in a cloud. If this be indeed the case, O that it might again break forth, with more lustre than ever!

"Please give my love to all my brothers and sisters, and tell them from me, that heaven is worth obtaining,―eternal happiness is worth striving for, and now is the golden season." Sept. 12, 1817, he writes, "This day terminates the sixteenth year of my life. Much, very much do I owe to that fostering hand, and that parental care, which have watched

over me, often with anxious days and sleepless nights, and been instrumental in preserving my life. When I review my past years, and consider the many dangers from which I have been preserved, even from infancy, well may I exclaim, Wherefore have I been continued in the world so long? But alas! these years are gone, like a tale that is told.' How much longer I have to remain in the flesh, through what troubles and trials to pass, and for what purpose, God alone can tell. O, that I may so spend the remainder of my days, that if death comes sooner or later, I may meet it with composure, and be transported to that world where sin and sorrow never come."

Jan. 7th, 1819, he writes to his eldest sister, who was not supposed at that time to possess the consolations of religion, but who has since, after many years of humility in the church of Christ, been gathered, long before this brother, in the joy of faith, to her rest in heaven:

"MY DEAR SISTER,

"I recollect when I was at home in vacation, speaking of your birth-day, you said that on that day I must write you a letter. It is, therefore, in compliance with your request, that I embrace the present opportunity to address you, in a manner which I hope will be for your good, and our mutual benefit. And, my sister, let me open my mind freely to you, on that most important of all subjects, the great end for which we live. Well does it become you, at such a period as this, especially, to look back on your past life, to examine yourself and consider, wherefore it is that you live. pletes the nineteenth year of your existence.

This day com

The Lord has

dealt bountifully with you. He has given you life. He has

placed you in a Christian land. He has given you pious parents to instruct you, to pray with and for you, to nourish and comfort you, from the cradle to the present time. Here then, you may well exclaim, Bless the Lord O my soul!

“But, dear sister, remember you were placed here for some great end; you are placed on probation for eternity. When a few more suns shall have risen and set, when a few more revolving years shall have passed away, you must appear before your Judge, to receive a reward, according to your deeds, whether they be good or evil.

"Dear sister, let me seriously and affectionately put this question, Are you prepared for this great event? Have you made your peace with God? Do you feel peace and joy in believing? If so, happy are you,-God is your portion, Christ is your Redeemer, and heaven with all its glory, shall be yours, and yours for ever. But if, on the other hand, you have no good hope that you have been born again,' with trembling and heartfelt solicitude, I beseech you consider, ere it be too late! How long, my sister, will you 'halt between two opinions?' If religion be all-important, as I have no doubt your understanding says it is, why not embrace it now? I venture to say, now is the very best time, perhaps the only time. Religion is not calculated to make men gloomy, to make their comforts less. No, my sister, it sweetens the bitter cup, and heightens all our joys. Do then consider of these things; embrace the Saviour to-day, even while he is offered, and he will receive you. O what holy joy would it enkindle in our dear parents' bosoms, could they feel that you were devoted to God! Give yourself away to him, boldly profess his name before a sinful world, and walk in his ordinances blame

less. Then when you shall have done with all things here received to join the angelic host, in songs That this may be the happy case with you dear friends, is the daily prayer of your

below, you shall be of praise for ever. and me, and all our affectionate brother,

"SAMUEL H. STEARNS."

3

CHAPTER II.

HIS COLLEGE LIFE.

In the autumn of 1819, Mr. Stearns was admitted to the freshman class, in Harvard university. The choice of a college had been a subject of long and anxious solicitude, both to the parents and the son. Their predilections were all in favor of Harvard, but many circumstances led them to hesitate, and finally to decide, with trembling. This decision, made as it was in view of the character of the individual, the past history of Harvard, and its present preeminent advantages, neither of them had occasion afterward, it is thought, for a moment to regret.

At this time, there was nothing very remarkable, certainly nothing precocious, in the intellectual development of the young student. He was diffident and unambitious, but moderately diligent and faithful to his tasks. With a slow but certain progress, he would have been satisfied, had it not been for the fact, which now appeared full in his view, that upon superior scholarship, his very existence as a student at the university, must depend. His father's circumstances were at this time so much straitened, that, notwithstanding important aid from the American Education Society, the expenses of college life could not be sustained. He must either quit his post and sacrifice his prospects, or obtain assistance from the funds of the university. But in distributing the funds appropriated to indigent students, respect is had, very properly, to