than those of Dr. Cooper. If other hands launched the lightning, his guided the cloud. (24.) But it is chiefly of his ministerial character that I ought here to speak. With such gifts as those of Dr. Cooper, it was impossible that a good man should not be eminently useful in his chosen and peculiar sphere of labour. Unhappily the Church records do not furnish materials for estimating the success of his ministry, having been almost entirely neglected by him in the midst of his various cares. It is certain, however, that his preaching was attended with as great interest, to say the least, as that of any of his cotemporaries; and that his Society was numerous, and comprehended a large number of distinguished citizens. His published sermons,-methodical, elaborate, animated, and impressive, would certainly be ranked, in this better day of pulpit eloquence, as productions of unusual merit. It has perhaps been sometimes taken for granted, by persons not particularly acquainted with his habits, that the active part, which he took in political concerns, must have interfered with the punctual discharge of his pastoral duties. But of this, no doubt, his parishioners were best able to judge; and I do not find that such an impression concerning him exists in the minds of the small remnant of them, who survive. On the contrary, I find strong traces of the respect and affection, with which his parochial services inspired them; and, while his name appears to the publick view prominent upon the records of patriotism, in the memory of his religious associates it is embalmed no less in the odour of sanctity. (25.) Dr. Cooper, like his predecessors, died suddenly; December 29, 1783. It was about ten years before his death, when the house, in which we are now worshipping, was erected. In the progress of more than seventy years, the old church, which was of wood, having fallen,' as it is expressed, into a ruinous and decayed state,' several opu lent individuals of the Society made liberal offers of aid in rebuilding it. The old house was occupied for the last time May 10, 1772, (26.) when Dr. Cooper preached from Psalms cii. 14, Thy servants take pleasure in her stores, and favour the dust thereof. The Society was indebted to the First Church for accommodation in publick worship, till July 25, 1773, when this house was opened. Dr. Cooper preached in the morning, from Genesis xxviii. 17, This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven; and Dr. Chauncy in the afternoon, from Psalms xxvi. 8, I have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. (27.) I have brought down the history of this Church to a period within the recollection of some of my hearers, and shall resume it in the afternoon. THE account, which I attempted this morning, of the Church in this place, brought down its history to the death of its third pastor. Subsequent events are within the personal acquaintance of several who hear me. To others, however, they are less known, and to none of us is it an uninteresting employment to revive the recollections associated with this sacred place. With a view to fill the office vacated by the death of Dr. Cooper, the attention of the Society was turned to Rev. Mr. Thacher of Malden. The preference created by Mr. Thacher's established professional reputation and peculiar eloquence, might not improbably be strengthened by regard to the earnest part he had taken in the late revolutionary struggle, and possibly, even, by partiality for a name, than which there is none more illustrious in the annals of the New England ministry. Mr. Thacher had no sooner been introduced to the sacred office at Malden, which was so early as his nineteenth year, than he acquired a popularity so great, that it is recorded of him, that 'no young man ever preached to such crowded assemblies.** From his childhood he had devoted himself to the ministry of religion; and his whole mind, as it was expanded, had formed itself to this work. To rapid and clear conceptions, a temper equally affectionate and frank, a lively imagination, and a nice sensibility, he added the recommendations of a commanding presence, and a voice of extraordinary melody and compass. His preaching was direct, practical and earnest; and, like each of his predecessors in this place, he is represented to have possessed, in singular excellence, the gift of prayer. Whitefield called him the young Elijah.** His fame had been extended by the circulation of some sermons, and a few other occasional works, which he had published; but he is said to have owed his remarkable popularity not more to his evident piety and zeal, and the power of his mind and style, than to the graces of a most captivating elocution. The negotiations which, on the part of this Society, were entered into with the parish in Malden, and which, though intended to be conducted with the most. guarded delicacy, did not wholly fail to excite dissatisfaction, (28.) terminated in the amicable dissolution of Mr. Thacher's connexion with his church, and he was installed here January 12, 1785. (29.) His faithful and acceptable services, through a period of nearly twenty years, many of you, my brethren, remember with affectionate and grateful interest. Though never inattentive to the numerous more publick demands upon his talents and time, he made his spiritual charge the chief scene of his labours, and was * Historical Collections, VIII. First Series. 280. peculiarly useful and valued in the private duties of the pastoral care. Though, in the earlier part of his course, a resolute champion for the harsher doctrines of orthodoxy, his maturer years reformed his youthful judgments. He stood, in the latter part of his life, on ground like that of the late Dr. Osgood and Dr. Lathrop; and his ministry here was no doubt overruled to favour that happy change in religious sentiment, which has since taken place. This Church, always prosperous, has scarcely ever been more so than while under his care. We shall perceive that this is saying much, when we remember that a great part of his ministry was passed in that most depressed and perilous period, which religion in New England ever witnessed,-the period of the French revolutions; and his memory is most gratefully to be honoured, who, having access, at such a season, to minds which controlled the publick opinion, engaged and secured their influence in favour of all that is most valuable to men. Dr. Thacher died, December 16, 1802, at Savannah in Georgia, whither he had gone in ineffectual search of relief from a lingering pulmonary consumption. (30.) His successor was the late Mr. Buckminster, who was ordained January 30, 1805, and died suddenly, June 9, 1812. (31.) In the sentiments of love and veneration, with which his memory is cherished, I can more entirely sympathize. Of other wise and good men, who have ministered in this place, I have only read and been informed. Him I have heard and known; and who, that has heard him, has not thenceforward found religion invested in his mind with a beauty unknown before? He was in truth a singularly gifted man; of a judgment discriminating, independent and exact; of a fancy profuse of images of the grand and lovely; of a various and accurate learning; of a sensibility keenly alive to the importance of truth, and the dangers and obligations of men; of a pure and fervid zeal; of a No one truly heavenly spirit. He was formed to interest men in religion; to win them and attach them to it. could look on his intellectual beauty,-no one could hear the softest tone of his rich voice, without loving the spirit that dwelt in the expression of them both. He spoke to solemnize the levity of the young, and inform the wisdom of age; to shake the sinner's purpose, and bind up in the softest balm of consolation the wounds of the Christian's heart. Those of us, who have heard him, with a force and feeling all his own, plead the claims of our religion, describe its value, and disclose its hopes, may not expect, while we live, to witness any thing approaching nearer to what we imagine of a prophet's or an angel's inspiration. He was one of those, who seem appointed to the high and needful office of conciliating to religion the minds of intellectual and tasteful men. God does not abandon them in the mazes of their reasoning pride, nor leave them to lay the flattering unction to their souls, that ignorance is the parent of devotion; but, from time to time, prepares for them splendid proof, such as this was, that 'Piety hath found Friends in the friends of learning, and true pray'r Such a combination as is presented in the character of a man eminent at once in Christian graces and in human accomplishments, has a vast efficacy to make religion understood and prized. Religion sanctifies the latter, and shows their proper uses; and, in turn, is itself nobly recommended, by being exhibited in this imposing and attractive union. Nor in regard alone to the services directly rendered by him to religion, was this lamented man a publick benefactor. His mind was one of those, which leave a broad impress on the character of the times. The weight of his influence, and the more powerful attraction of his example, gave an impulse to the cause of good learning, of which we are daily |