the purest and most refined. The following is the testimony of one who deeply participated in it :-

"And surely I may experimentally say, that a more affectionate spirit than that of Spencer never animated a fallen son of Adam. When we first met he unbosomed himself, freely claimed my frienship, with an affection that overpowered me, and entreated the fidelity of friendship, charging me to watch him narrowly, and point out every imperfection. If ever the delightful scene recorded 1 Samuel xviii. 1, was reiterated, (and doubtless it often has been) it was when Spencer had made an end of speaking. But proofs of the affection of Spencer's heart are totally unnecessary. I shall mention one only. Soon after we became acquainted, he used to call generally on a Saturday evening-Well, where shall you be to-morrow? with Mr. Foster, I suppose.' Why, I suppose so too, unless you draw me away.' I am sure I should be sorry to draw you away, if you do not see it right: I am sure you must be a loser by hearing me instead of Mr. Foster; yet if you could see it right, I should be very glad.' When he preached in the country, he used, he said, to look round for a retired corner for me, such as I should like, if there. At Hoxton, he pointed out a seat for me, and when he rose from prayer, used to see if I filled it."

AS A STUDENT

He was DILIGENT-CONSCIENTIOUS--and SUCCESSFUL.-Diligent; to a habit of study he had been inured almost from his infancy-the elements of knowledge he obtained under peculiar difficulty—and had

he not been inspired by an ardent love of that saered work, for the honourable discharge of which, he deemed the acquisition of human learning necessary, his name would probably never have been known beyond the circles of his native town. But he longed for the acquisition of knowledge, not from a principle of self-gratification, or the love of fame, but as an auxiliary to his great design. Impelled by such a powerful principle, he sought for it with unceasing avidity--and laboured in its pursuit with unconquerable ardour. But it was his lot to meet with a continued chain of obstacles to the free and ample gratification of his taste for learning. In his childhood, the circumstances of his family were inauspicious, and he was compelled, at a period when the powers of his mind were unfolding, to devote those hours to manual labour, which he would have gladly consecrated to books. The year he spent at Harwich was the only year of uninterrupted study he enjoyed; for very soon after his entrance into Hoxton Academy he began to preach-and then, his popularity formed a most serious and insurmountable barrier-whilst, after his settlement in the ministry, the important duties of his new and extensive sphere of action forbad the indulgence of any pursuits in private, but such as bore immediately upon his public work.

These circumstances, however, taught him the value of retirement, and instructed him in the happy art of husbanding his time. This art he cultivated with conscientious care-and whoever contemplates the numerous papers he has left behind, and compares them with the public engagements

he performed, must be sensibly impressed with a conviction of his diligence. He never entered the pulpit without previous preparation. Most of his sermons were written throughout, except the heads of application, in which he usually trusted to the ardour of his mind, enkindled by the subject which he had discussed, and guided by a holy influence. Not that he slavishly committed his compositions to his memory, and delivered them by rote. For, although his discourses were thus precomposed, and numbers of them remain, yet not one conveys a correct idea of what his preaching actually was. The reason is, that in the pulpit he followed, not so much the impression of his written language on the memory, as the holy and ardent bias of his soul, flowing in the channel which he had previously prepared. The sermon in the study was completely formed-correctly arrangedand well conneeted-but to the lifeless form, delineated on his paper, and impressed upon his memory, in the pulpit he imparted a living soul; a principle of ardent piety, which operated as a charm, the power of which few were able to resist.

Indeed so uniform was his habit of preparation for the pulpit, that when called upon suddenly to address some young persons, he said to a friend, "I wish you would address the children for me this afternoon; I have not prepared any thing-I have not considered a subject for them, and I would not offer, even to a child, that which cost me nothing."

But although this was his usual custom, yet, when extraordinary circumstances conspire to render a departure from it necessary, he could, with the

greatest propriety and ease, delight and interest an audience from the rich treasures of his exalted mind. One instance of his powers, in extemporary and unpremeditated address, is related of him in Liverpool. Some important affair of a public nature engaged the general attention of the religious world, on a Sabbath evening, when as usual he had to preach; and, anticipating a thin attendance, he had prepared a sermon adapted to the supposed state of his auditory-but, when he reached the chapel, and saw it filled with anxious crowds, waiting to receive from his lips the words of life-his ardent mind seemed instantly inspired-he immediately fixed upon a passage more adapted to the scene, and with his pencil sketched the outline of a discourse, which, perhaps, in the whole series of his ministry, he never excelled.

But Mr. Spencer's diligence did not expend itself on commentators and elaborate pulpit compositionshe endeavoured to study Providence to improve events-and, so far as he had opportunity, to read mankind. His sentiments on this subject may be in the recollection of the reader.* I believe he uniformly acted in accordance with them; and especially had an opportunity of doing this when he became the pastor of a church. The propriety-the importance-the utility of this kind of study, to a minister, is too obvious to need discussion. To its aid may be attributed, in a great measure, that adaptation to the ever varying scenes of the Christian life, which the sermons of Spencer usually possessed. He stu

* See page 171.

died the characters of the people of God-he marked with care the variations of their experience-the alternation of their feelings and the vicissitudes of their enjoyment. Indeed, his knowledge in this respect was most amazing, especially in one so young. He seemed to know, and sweetly to divulge, what every Christian felt and mourned-and he had a balm of consolation for every sorrow he awakenedevery wound he probed-As a student he was

Conscientious. He was so, in maintaining a habit of study, after the restraints of the college were withdrawn. Too many imagine, that what is improperly called, finishing their studies-that is, concluding their academic course, is in fact the legitimate close of all mental labour. Upon the stores then acquired, they are to feed, through the long years of an extended ministry, the church of God with wisdom and knowledge. Alas! for the people over whom such a pastor presides. The stores of that mind must be but scanty at the best, and soon expended; what then but mental and spiritual famine must ensue. Ill does it hode for a congregation, when their minister is a lover of pleasure-a lover of society--a lover of mirth- -more than a lover of study. People should remember this, and should act accordingly. They love to have things brought from the sacred treasury before them, new as well as old--but the new cannot be obtained without research, nor the old presented, in an attractive form, without thought. To all this, time, and that no seanty portion, must be devoted. And the hours of study must be taken either from the day, or from the night-if from the night, it impairs the health--if