hem
in our prayers; but our attachment to them should be of the race, ardent
and exalted character--it would be so in heaven, and we lost
immeasurably by not beginning now. "As I have loved you, so ought ye
also to love one another," was a precept continually in his mind, and he
would often murmur, as though unconsciously, "'As I have loved you'--'as
I have loved you'"--then burst out with the exclamation, "Oh, the love
of Christ! the love of Christ!"
His prayers for the mission were marked by an earnest, grateful
enthusiasm, and in speaking of missionary operations in general, his
tone was one of elevated triumph, almost of exultation--for he not only
felt an unshaken confidence in their final success but would often
exclaim, "What wonders--oh, what wonders God has already wrought!"
I remarked, that during this year his literary labor, which he had never
liked, and upon which he had entered unwillingly and from a feeling of
necessity, was growing daily more irksome to him; and he always spoke of
it as his "heavy work," his "tedious work," "that wearisome dictionary,"
&c., though this feeling led to no relaxation of effort. He longed,
however, to find some more spiritual employment, to be engaged in what
he considered more legitimate missionary labor, and drew delightful
pictures of the future, when his whole business would be but to preach
and to pray.
During all this time I had not observed any failure in physical
strength; and though his mental exercises occupied a large share of my
thoughts when alone, it never once occurred to me that this might be the
brightening of the setting sun; my only feeling was that of pleasure,
that one so near to me was becoming so pure and elevated in his
sentiments, and so lovely and Christ-like in his character. In person he
had grown somewhat stouter than when in America, his complexion had a
healthful hue compared with that of his associates generally; and though
by no means a person of uniformly firm health, he seemed to possess such
vigor and strength of constitution, that I thought his life as likely to
be extended twenty years longer, as that of any member of the mission.
He continued his system of morning exercise, commenced when a student at
Andover, and was not satisfied with a common walk on level ground, but
always chose an up-hill path, and then frequently went bounding on his
way, with all the exuberant activity of boyhood.
He was of a singularly happy temperament
|