be manifest to us that they are heirs of eternal life! O, of what service to them will be our affection, if it be earthly and carnal? Do we not know that the ties of flesh and blood will soon be severed, dissolved, that there is none but the perfect bond, that of faith, hope, and charity, which will subsist forever! It is for heaven, it is for eternity, it is in God, and for God that we should love our friends; it is in the holy covenant of salvation, that our friendship should seek constantly to draw them.

How terrible the affliction, should a brother, a sister, father, mother, husband, wife, a friend of our youth, receive the stroke of death without having confessed the "only name by which we can be saved." How should we reproach ourselves for our neglect in speaking to them of the one thing needful," to have drawn them by our word and example, to choose the good part," and to take refuge by faith in the bosom of Jesus! What bitter regret, if, instead of having drawn them to the Saviour, by the sweet influence of our lively and practical Christianity, they had been alienated by our inconsistency in religious profession, by defects in our character, by our want of humility, sweetness, patience, and charity; and if, instead of being to them the angels of God announcing "glad tidings of salvation," we had seconded the designs of Satan in their perdition! These, these, are the regrets in which it is indeed difficult to find consolation! These are the regrets that we should take care to spare ourselves, by neglecting to shed around the savor of Christ. Let the voice of heaven awaken us to-day! May it render us attentive to the eternal interests of the objects of our love, and cause us to employ every means to become to them the instruments of blessedness.

Finally, the truth contained in our text should powerfully affect us all my dear brethren, and dear hearers; let it act upon us, Christians, by prompting us to labor with new ardor in the work of our vocation, that we may have our reins girded and our lamps lighted, waiting the coming of the bridegroom, that we may march with greater activity heavenward, and not be taken with surprise at the midnight call.

My dear hearers, still without the firm anchor of hope in Christ Jesus, let the truth in our text incite you to take an account of your past conduct, and no longer delay taking that decisive step which shall place you under the safeguard of the gospel.

Ah, may God preserve us from having laid a snare for you in suggesting the possibility of obtaining grace and pardon at the last hour of life. If this thought has struck you, we beseech you not to make it a pillar of security, remembering that we have also said, that there is great, fright ful danger to all those who wait until their last moments for the arrangement of their eternal interests! Believe me, my beloved hearers, that now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." Believe me, you can have no assurance of salvation, if you now delay to seek the conversion of your souls!

The American Pulpit.

DISCOURSE XVIII

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, D D.

In one of the less pretentious church edifices in the city of New York, situated upon a thoroughfare by no means remarkable for its breadth or the elegance of its structures, may be seen assembled, of a Sabbath morning, an audience not large in numbers, but uniformly embracing some of the first literary talent of the city and State, and often distinguished characters from abroad. Sitting in the pulpit is a plain-looking man, of middle size and age-pale, thin, contemplative, intellectual— who constitutes the sole attraction of the place. The preliminary services attended to, he rises to dispense the sacred word. The text is announced almost in a whisper; the hands grasp the ends of the cushion where lies the open Bible, or are lifted, ever and anon, as the warmth increases; the head is bowed toward the neatly-written manuscript; and thus, with a quiet ease, in a low and feeble voice, the discourse goes forward, in one unbroken thread of golden thought, to its close. The place is the meeting-house of the Amity-street Baptist church; and the preacher the subject of this sketch.

Dr. Williams was born in New York city, on the 14th of October, 1804, the son of the Rev. John Williams, who was for twenty-seven years pastor of the Oliverstreet Baptist church, until his death, in May, 1825. He was a native of Wales, emigrating to this country in 1795; and a man of fervent piety and native vigor of mind. Said the Rev. Dr. Wayland, referring to this eminent servant of Christ, at the ordination of his son: "Many years have elapsed since I waited upon the instructions of that venerable man. Since then, I have seen many meek, many holy, many humble, many able, many peace-making ministers of the New Testament; but I have seen yet no one who has reminded me of JOHN WILLIAMS.”

After the usual academic studies, young Mr. Williams entered Columbia College, where he graduated, with the highest honors of his class, in 1823. John L. Stephens, the distinguished traveler, was a member of the same class, and held a high rank in scholarship, though not the highest, as was erroneously stated, not long since, by a writer in one of our leading magazines.* Subsequent to this he studied law, and for a time practiced it. He studied in the office of the late Peter Augustus Jay, Esq., the elder son of the eminent John Jay. In the year 1829 or 1830, he made a public profession of religion, by uniting with the Oliver-street church, of which the Rev. Dr. Spencer H. Cone was the pastor. The means blessed to this result were a religious education and sanctified afflictions. He was ordained December 17th, 1832, at the constitution of the Amity-street church, of which he has been the only pastor. Various efforts have been made to induce him to leave his * Putnam's Monthly. See, as proof, catalogue for 1823, and reports of commer-gment

beloved charge, and accept professorships in colleges or seminaries, but he has steadfastly refused all proffers of every kind.

The leading characteristics of Dr. Williams, are, fervor and depth of piety; a liberal and catholic spirit; unaffected modesty and humility; simplicity and meekness, coupled with inflexibility of principle; studious and retiring habits; profound and extensive erudition; uncommon powers of analysis, concentration, and mental abstraction; and the uniform and complete command of his intellectual resources, and a general harmony and consistency of character. He is not much seen in public gatherings, but no man's opinions have greater weight with his denomination. His LIBRARY is his home. This is very extensive, and embraces a great variety of works in all the principal languages, most of which he reads with ease. The number of volumes is about nine thousand, many of which are exceedingly rare and valuable. Dr. Williams, while yet practicing law, published in the "American Baptist Magazine" a biographical notice of his venerated father, which arrested the attention of careful readers by the purity and grace of its style. Wider attention was subsequently awakened by an occasional printed discourse. A most elaborate address on the “Conservative Principle in our Literature," placed him distinctively in the field of religious authorship. Later still he has consented to the publication of a volume of "Miscellanies," one on "Religious Progress," and a series of “Lectures on the Lord's Prayer," with various occasional sermons and addresses; which, taken together, have given him an undisputed rank among the first preachers and religious writers of the age. We have seen it stated, that a distinguished divine of the Presbyterian Church, in New York, on being asked by an individual from abroad, as to who deserved to be placed foremost among the eminent ministers in that city, replied, "If piety, humility, comprehensive scholarship, wide acquaintanceship with history, unusual attainments in literature, together with a refined taste and rare genius as a writer, constitute a great man, then William R. Williams, of the Baptist Church, is the man for whom you inquire."

The writings of Dr. Williams are peculiar for their spirituality and devotion; affluence of illustration, especially historical illustration; and a vigorous, racy, figurative style, tinged with the antique, and remarkable for breadth, variety, and power. Some of their marked features are thus stated by an able critic: "They display everywhere an intellect equally active and vigorous; a mind that makes its own observations, that draws its own conclusions, and uses its large stores of information, not as substitutes, but materials for thought. His mind never rests upon the surface of his facts, but pierces below to the principle which they embody; and it is in illustration of that principle that they marshal themselves on his page. But along with a large fund of knowledge and power of thinking of a high order, Dr. Williams's writings evince an uncommonly brilliant and fervid imagination. This fuses and blends into harmony all his powers and acquisitions, imparts to his pages ever fresh life and interest, and causes them to teem with the most striking and beautiful imagery. Indeed, Dr. Williams thinks in metaphor ; his figures are not after-thoughts superinduced upon his style for illustration or embellishment; they are wrought into the very texture of his thought; they are the form, the body, which it naturally and almost necessarily assumes."

The discourse which is subjoined is now for the first time published, and will enhance the author's already distinguished reputation. It was originally delivered, as one of a course of lectures for the American and Foreign Christian Union, in the house of worship of the Amity-street church, on Sabbath evening, 4th March, 1855