e,
entering on the twenty sixth year of his age, leaving behind him a sweet
savour after he was gone, and an epistle of commendation upon the hearts
of his hearers. While he lived, he was highly valued and esteemed, having
been a successful instrument of saving himself and them that heard him, of
turning sinners unto righteousness, and of perfecting the saints, and died
much lamented by all good people, who had the opportunity and advantage of
knowing him. He was a person of singular piety, of a humble, meek, and
peaceable temper, a judicious and lively preacher, nay, so extraordinary a
person, that he was justly accounted a prodigy for the pregnancy of his
natural parts, and his great proficiency in human learning, and knowledge
of divinity. He was too shining a light to shine long and burned so
intensely that he was soon put out. But he now shines in the kingdom of
his Father, in a more conspicuous and refulgent manner, even as the
brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever.

The last Sermons he preached were those on Rom. viii. 14, 15: "For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." He concluded the last
of these discourses with a reflection on these words. "We cry, Abba,
Father." "This (says he,) is much for our comfort, that from whomsoever,
and whatsoever corner in the world, prayers come up to him, they cannot
want acceptance. All languages, all countries, all places are sanctified
by Jesus Christ, that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord from the
ends of the earth, shall be saved. And truly it is a sweet meditation to
think, that from the ends of the earth the cries of souls are heard; and
that the end is as near heaven as the middle, and a wilderness as near as
a paradise, that though we understand not one another, yet we have one
loving and living Father, that understands all our meanings. And so the
different languages and dialects of the members of this body make no
confusion in heaven, but meet together in his heart and affection, and are
as one perfume, one incense, sent up from the whole catholic church, which
is here scattered upon the earth. O that the Lord would persuade us to cry
this way to our Father in all our necessities!"(115) Thus having
contemplated that subject concerning the adoption of children, he was
take