fute themselves; and heap upon the authors greater shame, or, if they are inaccessible to that, greater infamy, than his humanity would allow him to wish them." SECT. VIII. His Piety towards God, and his Devotion, as the Support of that, and every other Virtue. IT may truly be said of Dr. Doddridge, as it was of Socrates, that his life was a life of prayer+. We have already seen the care he took to maintain a devout spirit, and live near to God in early life. He held on this religious course, and grew stronger and stronger even to the last‡. He made conscience of presenting serious addresses to God every morning and evening, whatever his business and avocations were, and often employed some moments in the middle of the day in the same manner. That his devotions might be more regular, copious and advantageous, and his mind be kept in a devout frame through the day, he laid down a plan for this purpose, which I have reason to believe he often reviewed in a morning, as it always lay upon his desk §; and from thence it appears what pains he took to * Rise and Progress, &c. ch. 28. § 9. The prime and leading feature of his soul was that of devotion. This was the pervading principle of his actions, whether private or public. What Dr. Johnson has observed with regard to Dr. Watts, that as piety predominated in his mind, it was diffused over his works; and that whatever he took in hand was, by his incessant solicitude for souls, converted to theology, may with equal propriety be applied to Dr. Doddridge -K. As this may be useful to serious persons, especially ministers, who ought to be men of eminent devotion and holiness, I will here insert it, in his own concise manner. Every morning, rising and dressing, meditate- -on Lord's-day, the concerns of the church in general- -Monday, rules for my own conduct -Wednesday, Mercies received -Friday, evangelical each day remember special hints -then pray, renew my covenant with God, read the scriptures, sing a psalm larger devotion, reverential; prepared for; thoughts guarded in it; reflected upon afterwards. -Business of the day; seasonable, with good in-Recreations, moderate, well designed. -Tuesday, the case of my friends- views -Pro tentions and dispatch.vidences, merciful; thankful for reason, senses, health, ease, food, raiment, sleep, friends, life, liberty, safety, acceptance, success. Afflictive events, God's hand, design; submit in all things, great and small; surrender all comforts to him. -Temptations, forescen, observed, resisted; presence of God, Christ, angels and men; remembered for caution.-Grace, dependance upon it, earnestly sought, to awaken holy affections, through Christ, by the spirit, frequent ejaculations.- -Thoughts during intervals, a general command practised; subjects Discourse, inno of them, morning-scripture, the last, the next, sermon. keep up the life and ardour of religion in his soul. He was careful that his first thoughts in the morning and fast in the evening, should, in a special manner, be consecrated to God. According to his exhortations to others*, he selected some one verse of scripture every morning, to treasure up in his mind, resolving to think of that at any time, when he was at a loss for matter of pious reflection in any intervals of leisure. He found this as a spring from whence many profitable and delightful thoughts arose, which he might not before see in that connection and force. It furnished him with matter for devout ejaculation, and prevented his thoughts from being at the mercy of those various trifles, which otherwise intruded upon him. He thought it of great importance, and found it of much advantage, to renew his covenant with God, and make a fresh and solemn dedication of himself, his capacities, time and strength to his service every morning; and especially to spend every Lord's-day morning in devotional exercises, as the best preparative for the public services of the day. He esteemed devout meditation an important part of a christian's duty, an excellent means of fitting the heart for prayer, and an exercise which afforded great pleasure. "Oh, saith he, how much delightful enjoyment of God have I lost, by neglecting occasional meditation?" He reckoned a serious diligent care in the performance of secret prayer, an evidence and support of real religion; and strongly recommended it to others, as a most powerful incentive to every duty, and the best relief under the fatigues and afflictions of life. Thus he addressed one of his brethren; "That minister cent, useful, provided for. -Evangelical views; bless God for Christ and the Spirit; daily exercise faith in Christ, as teacher, atonement, intercessor, governor, example, strength, guardian, forerunner.- -Avoid excess, imprudence, formality in prayers and praises, especially at meals.- -Repeat as above, in the evening, and add self-examination. Have I attended to proper business, improved sermons or other writings, watched over pupils ?- -Ask the prosperity of the académy, congregation, our country; reformation advanced; thy kingdom come. My relations, minister, tutor, domestic, writer, friend, visitant, correspondent. -List of friends to be particularly prayed for.➖➖➖➖ -Persons in the congregation, according to their circumstances, unconverted, awakened, alienated, excommunicated, the various afflicted. Remember the notes of last Lord'sday.- -Memorandum, there must be an enlargement of soul previous to any remarkable success; and great diligence in prayer, and strict watchfulness over my own soul, previous to any great and habitual enlargement; and deep humiliation must precede both. When the ground is thus prepared, great and good fruit may arise from small seeds.-- I find it never well in family-worship, when it is not so in secret; never well abroad, when it is not sa at home; nor on common days, when not so on the Lord's. The better I pray, the better I stady, &c. Rise and Progress, ch. 19. § 18. hath great reason to suspect the integrity of his own heart, who can pray with some copiousness, affection and pleasure with others, and in secret can only find in his heart to run over a few hasty, inattentive and customary words, in such a manner, as he would be ashamed to do, if any one of his fellow-creatures was present. Guard against this, and especially in the evening; when the fatigue, arising from the labours of the day, may expose you to particular danger of it. As prayer is the food and breath of all practical religion, so secret prayer in particular is of vast importance: Insomuch that I verily believe, that if a man were to keep a particular and accurate journal of his own heart, but for one month, he would find as real and exact a correspondence between the temper of his soul at the seasons of secret devotion, and in other parts of his life, as we find between the changes of the barometer and the weather." He often lamented the tendency, which the variety of his cares, though most important in themselves, had, to make him less serious, copious and fervent in secret prayer, than he should have been. Thus he expressed himself to his friends; "I am often mindful of you in my prayers; though, alas! I have so many hurries of business and interruptions, and sometimes find so much indisposition in my own heart for the exercises of devotion, and my thoughts so much dissipated by the cumber of many things, that truly my prayers are to be little accounted of. But the less capable I am of praying as I could wish, for my friends and myself, the more need I have of their remembrance. My great desire, even when I am at the worst, is, that I may glorify God and promote the great purposes of religion. For that, I am honestly labouring, though amidst many infirmities; and I hope not entirely in vain."—" My weight of business does, in some measure, rob me of the greatest treasure I have in the world; I mean the hours I would wish to spend in secret devotion; without which there is no sweetness, no calm and serenity of mind, and therefore very little capacity for managing business. For so it is, though it may seem a riddle, that when I pray and meditate most, I work most." In all his addresses to God, he was large in praise and thanksgiving; esteeming it a proper expression of gratitude to God, a necessary and delightful duty on other accounts, and the means of promoting habitual chearfulness of mind.He carefully watched the frame of his own heart and recorded the most important particulars relating to it, that they might guide, warn or encourage him for the future. It has been already observed, that he began to keep a diary of his life, when he was fourteen years of age: In this he noted the business he had dispatched; the temper and workings of his mind, in the various labours and occurrences of the day, and particularly in his acts of devotion at home and abroad; what he had learned in reading, conversation, or by his own reflections; any remarkable providences relating to himself, his friends or others, or to the church of God. But in his latter years, when nothing occurred, that deserved to be recorded, he contented himself with some particular marks, by which he could afterwards observe, what was the frame of his spirit, how he had performed his devotions and spent his days. By this method very little time was employed in making the particular marks, and the end of a diary was sufficiently answered. The warmth and affection of his natural temper rendered such watchfulness particularly necessary to him, especially in his youth. Many days of humiliation and devotion he employed in that period to subdue and regulate his passions, in which he happily succeeded. When he found his heart enlarged and warmed with devout meditation on divine subjects, he sometimes committed his thoughts to writing, and perused those meditations for his own instruction and comfort, at times when he found his thoughts rambling and confused. Several specimens of this kind the world hath already seen in his Rise and Progress of Religion. He was a careful observer of the providences of God to himself, his family, friends, and country. He kept a register of the most remarkable interpositions of providence in his favour. In this are recorded some signal deliverances in his childhood and youth; the recovery of himself, his wife, children and friends from threatening disorders; and the preservation of his limbs and life in many hazardous circumstances. He takes particular notice of the goodness of God to him, in preserving him from harm, when, on the day of the coronation of King George II. he plunged himself into unnecessary danger, by going among the mob to see the procession, and was thrown down from a scaffold among the horse-guards.The deliverance of his house from being destroyed by fire hath been taken notice of in the preface to the sixth volume of the Family Expositor; concerning which he writes; "Well may it be said, Is not this a brand plucked out of the burning? A fire was kindled among my papers, which endangered the utter ruin of my affairs. Several sermons, papers, and books were utterly consumed. Every thing else in my study, and perhaps the whole house, had soon followed it, had it not been for the glance of an eye, by which an opposite neighbour discovered it. This gave me an opportunity of rescuing my books of accounts with my pupils and my ward, one manuscript volume of my Family Expositor (of which, there was not a leaf unburnt, nor a line destroyed, which had not been transcribed) and the rest of the original. The danger was so extreme, that one quarter of an hour, if the house had been saved, had almost undone me. I desire to leave it upon record, that I now have received this wonderful mercy from the Lord, and would consider it as an engage. inent to devote all I have to him with greater zeal." This register he reviewed on days of extraordinary devotion to preserve his gratitude and increase his activity in the service of God. He traced all the kindness of his friends to him, and all the concern for the support of religion, which he observed in them or others, to the hand of God, who put such things into their hearts. He likewise acknowledged it in his afflictive events, in the death of his friends, the attacks made upon his reputation, and his disappointment in some of his schemes of usefulness: And his frequent language was, " My God is humbling me, and I need it; Oh, that it may quicken me likewise!"-It was customary with him, when he recorded any important and instructive occurrence, to add what lessons it was adapted to teach and he was desirous to learn from it; that when he reviewed it afterwards, his attention to those instructions might be renewed, if the impression, which the occurrence made at the time, should be worn off. Many instances of this prudent care might be given. The following extract from his papers may serve as a specimen. Falling into conversation with some persons of rank, who appeared to be profane and earthly, it imprinted on my mind, and may I ever retain it, a deep sense of the vanity of life, when not governed by religion. I heartily pitied them; and was truly sensible of my obligations to God, who has in some measure formed me to sweeter pleasures and nobler expectations.' The affair of Connel mentioned Sect. IV. is another remarkable instance of the same kind. He had a high idea of the efficacy of prayer. He had seen so many glorious effects following it, when there was |