greatly strengthen. His valuable experience as a wise coun sellor and manager of the affairs of the Missionary Union was still to be felt at the seat of its operations. The ties by which he had bound himself to a variety of causes and institutions were to remain unbroken. There was a general rejoicing that Boston was still to be the home of Dr. Stow, and that in the city of his adoption he was to continue as an ambassador of Christ. Easily and naturally he fell into the sphere which God had evidently marked out for him, and at once girded himself afresh to the work which a gracious Providence had assigned to him. A few extracts from his journal will introduce our readers to Dr. Stow at the commencement of his ministry in Rowe Street. The peculiarities of his character are at once revealed to us his love of order, his regard for special anniversary days, his intense desire to secure the coöperation of the church in the promotion of the work upon which he had entered, and his earnest longing for the spiritual prosperity of the people over whom the Saviour had placed him as a watchman. October 24. Twenty-one years ago to-day I was ordained to the work of the ministry. Sixteen years ago this evening I resigned as pastor of the church in Portsmouth. This evening I take my letter of dismission from the Baldwin Place Church, for the purpose of joining the Rowe Street. Read portions of Upham's Life of Madame Guyon. She was doubtless a very sincere woman, but her piety does not seem to have much solidity. It is quite too fanciful in its principles, and too mystical in its spirit. It professes to deal too directly with God, and makes too little of the Bible, and too little of the mediation of Christ. It is Quietism sublimated. One page of good Robert Leighton is worth more than the whole of these two volumes. October 25. This has been a day of noise and confusion without. The water has been introduced by the new aqueduct from Cochituate Lake, in Framingham, and the occasion has been celebrated with great pomp and ceremony. I have kept close at home, and written a sermon upon Romans xv. 29. God has been with me, and I have enjoyed more than in any day for many months. So far as I can learn, my decision to remain in Boston is generally approved. Many of my late flock have expressed the most earnest satisfaction. December 12. This evening the church met by special invitation from the pastor. Though the weather was very threatening, the attend ance was liberal. I occupied nearly the whole evening in a statement of my own views and feelings with respect to the conversion of sinners, and an expression of my wishes as to the coöperation of the individual members. May God bless the effort to some good end. January 1, 1849. My soul burns with desire for the conversion of souls. Will not God appear for us, and by his Holy Spirit awaken the dead in sin? May we not experience the reviving power operating on all hearts, and causing many to rejoice in God's salvation? March 1. Morning. This day has been set apart by several pastors and others as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, with special reference to the low state of religion in our churches. The meetings are to be held in Bowdoin Square. O that our hearts may be broken before God, and that we may pray for the Holy Spirit with a deep sense of our need, and faith in the divine promises! Lord, I would not think of the sins of others, but of my own sins. I would myself be humble and penitent before thee. I would forgive all others, as I hope to be forgiven by thee. At ten and a half, met, with a large number of ministers and others, in the vestry of Bowdoin Square Church. The place was crowded. There seemed to be considerable feeling, but it lacked concentration. The prayers and exhortations were long and discursive. O, why not all bow together before the throne, and ask for the Holy Spirit? March 8. A brother called to inform me of the effect of some of my remarks at the monthly concert last Sabbath evening. He confessed he had not contributed to foreign missions according to his ability, and said he had made up his mind to give five hundred dollars immediately to that object. A brother from Philadelphia was present on Sabbath evening. He called at the Mission Rooms to-day, and said he had decided to add a hundred dollars to his annual contribution. May 27. Preached twice; baptized six young persons. The morning service had a full attendance, and the audience seemed to be deeply affected by the services. I pray the impression may be permanent, and Christ may multiply among us the trophies of his grace. June 30. I have had some sweet reflections while preparing a discourse from Matt. xi. 28-"Come unto me," &c. I have several times preached from these precious words, and in each instance have prepared a new sermon. I have also had more enjoyment in prayer than usual. God has seemed near, and I could speak to him with freedom and familiarity. When we have the spirit of adoption, and can cry, "Abba, Father," how easy, how refreshing is prayer! August 21. Four were received into the church by letter, and two as candidates for baptism, last evening, thus making fifty additions since my settlement. September 22. How delightful to see those who profess to be con verted under my ministry get safely through, leaving no stain upon their profession! I hope to meet many such in heaven. The Lord in mercy give me more, as the seals of my ministry. October 14. A very pleasant Sabbath. Preached twice to a full house, and attended the evening prayer meeting, which was unusually full and interesting. O that the Spirit of God might descend upon this people, and work in them the needed changes! How utterly impotent am I! The din of the world drowns my voice, and I am like an insect buzzing among thunders. These extracts, and many others like them scattered through the journal of Dr. Stow which covers the period now under review, bring him to our notice as the anxious pastor of the flock over which he had been set by the Great Shepherd. How he longs for the prosperity of Zion! With what joy he hails every token of the divine presence, and with what sadness he marks every indication of the departure of the Holy Spirit from his church! Above all, how he examines his own heart with a scrutiny bordering almost, at times, on the morbid, lest he, by positive sin, or by wicked neglect of duty, may have driven the heavenly Comforter away! And the history of the months of toil shows that a continual blessing followed his faithful labors. The church, if it did not come up to his ideal standard, was, nevertheless, greatly quickened. Souls were converted. The worship of the sanctuary was invested with new charms, and no one who came within the sacred influence could fail to notice the signs of the presence of Him who is ever to be worshipped "in spirit and in truth." HANNA'S LIFE OF DR. CHALMERS. 243 CHAPTER XVII. CHALMERS'S MEMOIR. SPIRITUAL PHYSICIAN.. A HARVEST YEAR. · THE - INNER LIFE. "FIRST THINGS."-CALL TO BROOKLINE. — LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE MISSIONARY UNION. RECORD OF THE YEAR. 1850-1855. If we do not dwell, in minute detail, on the events which occurred during the first two or three years of Dr. Stow's ministry at Rowe Street, it is not because these events are wanting in interest, but because there is so great a uniformity in their occurrence, that the experience of one week, or one month, is nearly like that of every week, and every month. He loves his work, and delights in the round of ministerial and pastoral labor, which he is called to perform, more than in anything else. "I have not the ambition," he writes, “I once had to appear on the platform, and address large, promiscuous assemblies. The pulpit, the prayer meeting, and pastoral visitation comprise my field of sympathy and labor.” Under date of November 12, 1850, he makes an interesting record of the effect produced on his mind by the perusal of Dr. Hanna's Life of Dr. Chalmers. November 12. Read in Chalmers's Life this morning that part which relates to the great change in his views of the plan of salvation. His private journal gives a clear view of the process. Struck with the influence certain books had in the direction of his mind, such as Wilberforce's Practical View, Scott's Force of Truth, and Hannah More's Practical Piety. Interested to see how his theology, after his change, corresponded with that which I have for years been preaching — Christ crucified, the foundation, and faith in him, as indispensable to pardon and practical holiness. O that Calvary may ever be the position from which I shall study, preach, pray, and engage in every good work! November 27. Read in Chalmers's Life. More and more pleased with the evangelical spirit of that great and good man. I like exceedingly his views of Christ as the only ground of a sinner's trust for acceptance with God. I am delighted also to see how little he was injured by his popularity. How different his case from that of his countryman, Edward Irving! Grace made the difference. November 28. Read in volume second of Chalmers's Life. Much is · ɛaid of his laboriousness and his eloquence, but little of the conversion of souls under his ministry. These great men render other service to the cause of Christianity, but they are too popular to be directly useful in awakening sinners and leading them to Christ. At a later date he gives us an insight into his inner life, which might lead us to question whether the views which he would probably advance, if he were preaching a sermon on "progressive sanctification," would be corroborated by his own experience. What shall be said of such a record as the following? Payson and other eminently holy men have expressed themselves in the same way. Can we ascribe these feelings to nervous depression? Shall we conclude that they who have them are less loved by Him who "pitieth them that fear him"? Will our readers who believe in the "higher life" confidently assert that a simpler faith in Christ would have lifted him up to that loftier plane on which it was his privilege, as it is that of every Christian, to stand? We will not speculate, but let Dr. Stow speak for himself. May 27, 1851. Read a portion of my diary for 1838. I do not feel as I did then. I fear I have deteriorated in my piety. I never had much – it seems now as if I had less than ever. I have not a lively sense of divine things. I have very little of the spirit of prayer. I am not so much concerned for souls as formerly. I do not so deeply realize my responsibilities as a Christian and a minister of the gospel. I am more sluggish in my affections, and less energetic in my efforts. O God, help me, by thy Spirit, to examine my case, and review the process by which I have so greatly declined. I know that my mind has been too much distracted by a diversity of objects, many of which are extraneous to my particular charge. I am connected with too many boards and committees. My time is cut up into fragments, and I am driven rapidly from one thing to another, so that I do nothing well, and have little fixedness of attention to my one paramount class of duties. I do not read the Scriptures, or meditate, or pray so much as I ought; I do not |