INTRODUCTION.

THE record of a good man's life, however imperfectly it may be presented to the world, can never fail to impart instruction and to excite to emulation. The influence of true virtue is undying. So long as there are minds to estimate the value of exalted moral worth, so long as there are hearts to feel its beauty, and to own its gentle but controlling power, the memory of those who have been, in the noblest sense, as "lights in the world," will be affectionately cherished, and their virtues revered and imitated. A bright and consistent example is one of the most valuable of legacies which man can bequeath to posterity and to the world. Through it, "though dead," he continues to speak with power to the noblest principles and best feelings of the human soul. Through it he appeals, from the grave, to the living, in a voice forever eloquent and persuasive. Time, which obscures the brightness of military achievement, which often dims the lustre

of scientific and literary fame, and steals many a gem from the crown of departed genius, only deepens and hallows those feelings of love and reverence with which the heart clings to the memory of the good and just man. And the influence of

the example of such is only the more powerful as it is noiseless and unobtrusive. It falls silently upon the heart, like the dew upon the heart of the flower; it acts silently there, but the results of its action are seen in the strengthening of the moral fabric, in the refreshing of the moral system, in the renewal of the moral life. He who gave to that system its laws, and to that life its unerring impulses, has imparted a beauty and majesty to virtuous example, which, under the quickening influences of his own spirit, will attract while it instructs, which will excite to emulation while it disposes to reverence and warms to love.

If these remarks are true of the influence of virtuous example, in the general sense, how much more forcibly do they apply to the influence of that example which is bright with the lustre of the Christian graces. Virtue, sanctified by Divine grace, is as a flame kindled upon an earthly altar, but fed by celestial ministrations. The same light which encourages us to draw near to read thereby the prevailing evil and the failing good in our own hearts, yet awes us with the conviction that we are standing, as it were, in the presence of the sanctities

of heaven. While we are ready to sink under the sense of the frailty of the best and holiest of mortal men, we are upheld by the revelation of "the arm of God”—of that God whose "strength," blessed be his holy name! is "made perfect in our weakness." Thus it is that the record of a true Christian's life, at once reveals to us our frailty as fallen sinful beings, and our strength as partakers of the heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. It presents the grandeur and nobleness of the renewed nature in affecting combination with the vileness and infirmity of the old; and while it continually warns us to strive earnestly for salvation, it shows us how "mightily" God can "work in us," by his Spirit, "to will and to do of his own good pleasure."

It is the design of these pages to collect and preserve some memorials of one, whose years were spent in the faithful and zealous discharge of Christian duty, no less in the private walks of social and domestic life, than in the sacred office of the Christian ministry, and in the various honorable and responsible posts which he occupied in the general concerns of the Church. In presenting them to the Christian public, the editor cannot forbear expressing his regret that the task, which he has so imperfectly discharged, had not been entrusted to the hands of some abler and worthier man. When the application was first made to him he shrunk from undertaking the work, from a sincere convic

tion of his incompetency to perform it, to the satisfaction of the friends of the deceased, and of the Church, whose true and loyal son Dr. Bayard was in his life and in his death. But in the circumstances, under which the application was renewed, he could not find it in his heart to decline. He feels, however, that it is due to himself to state that but two months have elapsed since the most essential portions of the documents were placed in his hands, and that he has been compelled to prepare the memoir, at intervals, during the daily pressure of sacred and paramount duties to his parish and his pupils, which he was not at liberty to postpone or neglect. He cannot, therefore, dare to hope that the volume is free from many and great defects; for these he asks the kind forbearance of his readers. He is conscious, at least, that he has endeavored to discharge his task to the best of his ability. He has used all the materials placed in his hands, and in no case has he hazarded statements or expressed opinions which were not fully borne out by the documents before him. In a word, he has endeavored to give a faithful, unvarnished portraiture of the character and career of the good man, whose only worthy record is in heaven. His personal acquaintance with the lamented subject of the memoir was very slight, but the perusal of his remains has stamped upon his heart an image of exalted worth, of Christian devotion, of true moral