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likely time you will ever see; and the longer you delay, the greater will be your danger. Therefore now endeavour with all your might, to hear to purpose, when you do hear; and to see to advantage, when you do see." Behold, now is the accepted time behold, now is the day of salvation."*

SERMON 82.

THE APOSTOLIC VALEDICTION CONSIDERED AND APPLIED.

2 COR. XIII. 11. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect; be of good comfort, be of one mind; live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.†

FAREWEL, especially a final farewel among brethren is a very melancholy word, the language of bereaved love. And little did I once think I should ever have occasion to pronounce this doleful sound in the ears of my dear congregation in HANOVER, with whom I fully expected to live and die. Both my first settlement here and my final removal were altogether unexpected. A few weeks before I made my first visit to HANOVER I had no more thoughts of it as my pastoral charge, than of the remotest corner of the world; but was preparing to settle in ease near my

* 2 Cor. vi. 2.

†This discourse in entitled, “A Farewel sermon, addressed to the Presbyterian Congregation in Hanover, Virginia, July 1, 1759, on the Author's Removal to the College in New Jersey."

The Rev. DAVID BOSTWICK, M. A. of New-York, in a preface to Mr. Davies' sermon on the "Death of his Majesty King George the Second," favours us with the following information: "The unusual lustre with which he shone could not long be confined to that remote corner of the world, (Hanover, in Virginia) but soon attracted the notice and pleasing admiration of men of genius, learning, or piety, far and near and therefore on a vacancy at the college of New Jersey, occasioned by the decease of two former presidents,* in a close and awful succession, he was elected to that important office in the year 1759.

"Distressing as it was, both to him and his people, united in the strongest bonds of mutual affection, to think of a separation; yet, a conviction of absolute duty, resulting from the importance of the station, from various concurring providences; and lastly, from the unanimous advice of his reverend brethren convened in synod, determined him to accept the proposal."

*The reverend Mr. Aar on Burr, 1757, and the reverend Mr. Jonathan Edwards, who succeeded him, anë died the winter following..

*

native place, till the more urgent necessity and importunity of the people here, constrained me to alter my resolution. It is known to no mortal but myself with what reluctance, fear, and trembling, I accepted your call. The rawness and inexperience of my youth, and the formidable opposition then made both by church and state, when a dissenter was stared at with horror, as a shocking and portentous phenomenon, were no small discouragements in my way. For some years I durst hardly venture to appear but in the pulpit, or in my study; lest, by a promiscuous conversation with the world at large, I should injure the cause of religion, by some instance of unguarded conduct. In short, my self-diffidence rose so high, that I often thought I had done a great exploit, when I had done no harm to this important interest, which I had a sincere desire, though but little ability, to promote. But having obtained help of God, I continue to this day. And I am not ashamed publicly to own these early discouragements, that if I have done the least good to any one of you, God may have all the glory, who has bestowed so unmerited an honour upon the unworthiest of his servants, and made use of such clay to open the eyes of the blind; and that I may remove the despondency, into which some of you are sunk, of ever finding your present loss repaired in my successor.

But when, after many an anxious conflict, I accepted your call, I fully expected I was settled among you for life. I did not foresee, nor seek for, nor even desire an occasion to remove, notwithstanding the various difficulties attending my situation and whatever advantageous offers have been made to me, on either side the Atlantic, have not had the force of temptations. It was in my heart to live and die with you and such of you as best know my circumstances, and how little I shall carry from Virginia, after eleven years labour in it, must be convinced in your own conscience, and can assure others, that worldly interest was not the reason of my attachment. I hope I understand my office better than to make a money-business of it, or a trade to acquire an estate. Or, if this had been my design, I would have chosen some other place than HANOVER to carry on the trade. This, such of you as have been most generous to me, and to whom I shall be always grateful, have often professed yourselves sensible of, with more friendly anxiety than I could have ex pected or desired.

* St. George's, in the territories of Pennsylvania.

To satisfy you of the reasons of my present removal, I will give you a brief impartial account of the whole affair :

The college of NEW-JERSEY, though an infant institution, is of the utmost importance to the interests of religion and learning in several extensive and populous colonies. From it both church and state expect to be supplied with persons properly qualified for public stations; and it has already been very useful to both in this respect. Before the irreparable breach made in it, by the death of that excellent man, president BURR, its members were increased to near a hundred; and there was no small prospect of considerable additions every year. But alas! president BURR, its father, is no more. Upon his removal, the trustees made choice of the Rev. Mr. EDWARDS to succeed him, the profoundest reasoner, and the greatest divine, in my opinion, that AMERICA ever produced. His advancement to the place, gave the public sanguine expectations of the future fame and prosperity of the college. But alas! how short is human foresight! how uncertain and blind are the highest expectations of mortals! He was seated in the president's chair but a few days, when he was taken sick and died, and left a bereaved society to lament the loss, and pine away under it. An earthquake spread a tremor through a great part of our solid continent on the melancholy day in which he died; but how much more did NASSAU-HALL tremble, when this pillar fell! Some of the trustees, to my great surprise, had some thoughts of me, upon the first vacancy that happened. But knowing the difficulty of my removal, and being very unwilling to bereave my congregation, they made an attempt, upon president EDWARDS' death, to furnish the college with another; and therefore chose the Rev. Mr. LOCKWOOD, a gentleman of a worthy character in New-England. But being disappointed as to him, they elected me on the 16th of last August, and were at the trouble and expense of sending two messengers to solicit the affair with me and the presbytery. I can honestly say, never any thing cast me into such anxious perplexities. Never did I feel myself so much in need of divine direction, and so destitute of it. My difficulty was not to find out my own inclination, which was pre-engaged to Hanover, but the path of duty; and the fear of mistaking it, in so important a turn of life, kept me uneasy night and day. I submitted the matter to the presbytery, and gave them an honest representation of it, as far as it was

* March 22, 1758.

*

known to me. As I was at an entire loss in my own mind to discover my duty, I could not, upon the authority of my own judgment, approve or reject their decision; but I cheerfully acquiesced in it, and sent it, with my own negative answer, to the board of trustees, and expected never to hear any more about it. But the trustees, to my still greater surprise, made a second application, requesting I would act as vice-president during the winter, till the synod should sit, when the judgment of the presbytery might be referred to that higher judicature. After making all the inquiries in my power to discover what was my duty in so perplexing a case, I thought I had certainly found out the will of God, and returned an absolute refusal in the strongest terms; transferring all my interest at the board to another gentleman, whom I looked upon as incomparably better qualified for the place, and of whose election I then had considerable hopes. Upon this, I was as much settled in Hanover in my own mind as ever; and, as many of you may remember, publicly congratulated you upon the pleasing prospect. But how was I surprised and struck into a consternation, to receive a third application in more importunate terms than ever! This again unsettled my mind, and renewed my perplexities; though I was encouraged to hope, that when I had so sincerely committed my way unto the Lord, he would direct my path, and order things so, as that the result should discover my duty. This third application, as I informed the trustees in my answer, constrained me only to admit a mere possibility of its being my duty to comply; but my mind was still almost established in the contrary persuasion. It constrained me only to lay myself open to conviction, and no longer shut up the avenues of light; and therefore I came to this conclusion-To mention at large, all my difficulties and objections-to insist that my first election should be null, because my electors were not then apprised of my objections and to leave it to the trustees, after hearing all that could be said against it, whether to re-elect me at their next meeting. But even this was not all I farther insisted, that in case they should re-elect me, it should be referred to the synod of New-York and Philadelphia, whether I should accept the place. This is a brief view of my proceedings in the affair : and for fuller intelligence I must refer you to my friends, the

*The Rev. Mr. now Dr. SAMUEL FINLEY.

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elders of this congregation, to whom I have communicated all the letters I have received or written, that they may be able to satisfy you. And I can assure you in their presence, that all of them that heard my answer, expressed their acquiescence in it. The result of the affair, when left upon this footing, has been, that I was re-chosen at the board of trustees by a much greater majority than at first; and that the synod, consisting of an unusual number of ministers from various parts, after hearing at large what could be said upon both sides, not only consented to my acceptance of the proposal, but even dissolved my pastoral relation to my dear charge, and ordered my removal by an almost unanimous vote. This has brought the tedious anxious affair to a final issue, and disarms all my resistance, so that I can struggle no longer. It was one of my vows, on the solemn day of my ordination, that I would be subject to my brethren in the Lord, in all things lawful. It is therefore very impertinent to object, that "I might stay after all, if I would." It is true it is in my power to refuse to comply with my duty, even when it appears it is in my power to violate my solemn vows, and incur the guilt of perjury by disobedience to my brethren, in that judicature to which I belong : that is, it is in my power, as a free agent, to sin. But this is a preposterous power, which I hope God will enable me never willingly to exercise. O that his grace may always happily disable me from disobeying the call of duty.

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I am sorry to take up so much of your sacred time in a narrative in which I have so much personal concern, but it is wholly owing to my solicitude to satisfy you as to the reasons of my conduct. For though my dear connexions with Virginia are now broken, and my personal interest can receive no advantage or injury from your friendship or resentment, yet, since we must part, I would by all means part in peace, and prevent all unkind and suspicious thoughts of one whom you once tenderly loved, and who will always tenderly love you, wherever he goes, and whatever you think of him. To stop the clamorous mouths of the censorious world, is what I do not at all intend; because I know it is impossible. They will put what construction they please, even upon the most unsuspicious and disinterested actions; and nothing but the approbative sentence of the universal Judge from the supreme tribunal, is likely to silence their calumnies. They will make it an article of their creed, living and dying, that secu

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