inquiry and intellectual improvement, but a growing acquaintance with the nature and evidence of the truth? If a man who believes divine truth acquires more knowledge; will he therefore renounce the truth? The use of increasing our knowledge is not to weaken and destroy our Christian faith, but to render it deeper and stronger and more steadfast. I appeal to sober judgment. Is not the truth supported by sufficient evidence? And can it be supposed that more knowledge of the evidence will lead us to reject or doubt the truth? Did Paul or Peter change his belief in the doctrines of Christianity in consequence of growing in knowledge? When we become Christians, we begin cordially to believe the doctrines of revelation. But our faith at first, though true and saving, is low and feeble in degree. It wants clearness and certainty, enlargement and strength. And these wants are to be supplied by increasing our knowledge. By this we clear away obscurity from our views of those Christian doctrines which we have embraced; we become more fully acquainted with their nature, with their mutual relations, with their length and breadth and depth and height. Thus our faith grows in strength and assurance, and in its power to sanctify and comfort the soul. It was so with our departed brother. I do not admit, that when he entered on his office in this Seminary, his belief as to the great principles of the gospel was erroneous, any more than that his belief was erroneous as to the existence of the earth and the sun. had read and studied the Bible, and had done it, as we doubt not, with an honest and good heart, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The doctrines of the gospel had taken effect. Their truth was a matter of inward, spiritual sensation. He knew it by experience. He knew God. He knew Jesus Christ. He knew the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. If he was mistaken here, then our preaching is vain, and our faith is vain, and all our efforts to promote experimental religion, and to train up evangelical ministers, are vain; and all the labors and prayers of the Christian world are folly and madness, and will issue in disappointment and shame. But there was no mistake in this matter. The great principles of theology in which our deceased brother believed, are, I have no doubt, the principles of eternal truth; and I must regard it as a matter of gratitude to God, that they are to be taught in this Seminary in all ages to come. These sacred principles, which were dearer than life to our beloved brother, have nothing to fear from the most thorough examination, or the most powerful opposition. Nay, the more they are examined by honest and candid men, and the more they are opposed by the wicked, the

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more clearly will it be seen that they are the doctrines of God's word. If the Bible stands, they will stand. Nor will it, I think, be long before the great question at issue among disputants will be, not whether the doctrines commonly called orthodox, are contained in the Bible, but whether the Bible itself is true. Let it come to this; Socinians, Neologists, and Infidels on one side, and evangelical Christians on the other. The sooner it comes to this, the better. Then we shall know where we are, and who our antagonists are. We shall no longer be at a loss as to the meaning of their words, or the aim of their arguments. All will be plain. There will be no more fighting in the dark. The battle will be in full day light, on the open field; direct, fair, honorable; a battle with little noise, and great power.And heaven and earth will be witnesses of the strife and the victory. Our departed brother wished for the day when all contention should be reduced to this. He will not be here to take a part in the contest; but he will feel a deep interest in it, and with inexpressible joy will behold its glorious results.

ment.

As to Christian character, it would be difficult to name a man of more unquestionable piety, than Dr. Porter. The evidence he gave of this was the evidence to which the sacred Scriptures attach the highest importance; that is, a life devoted to the service of God, and regulated by the precepts of the gospel. His pious affections had both strength and ardor, though they were remarkably sedate and rational. I know not whether he was more distant from extravagance and enthusiasm, or from coldness and indifference. His religion exhibited itself as a steady, active, holy principle, and not as a passionate exciteHe had a uniform and most hearty aversion to all ostentation and display. And this, together with his humble estimation of his own piety, rendered him reserved as to his own religious exercises. He was indeed slow to speak of any thing which related particularly to himself. But there were times when he unbosomed his religious feelings with freedom. From his conversation at such times, from his circumspect example, and the whole development, public and private, which he made of his character, it was abundantly evident that he "walked with God," and made it his object to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. His enjoyments in religion, whether in health or in sickness, were, as we should naturally suppose from his general character, tranquil and uniform, rather than rapturous. Such was his habit of watchfulness and circumspection, such his balance of mind, his control over his appetites and passions, and his maturity of religious principle, and such his sense of God's all-seeing

eye, that he was less accessible, than most Christians, to the influence of temptation, and more perfectly prepared for conflicts. He endured his long-continued infirmities, and the distressing diseases with which he was frequently attacked, with an equanimity and patience almost unparalleled. I never knew a man who accomplished so much and enjoyed so much, with health so often interrupted and feeble, and with sickness and pains so severe and exhausting.

He had from the beginning a deep and habitual impression of his responsibility as an officer in this Institution. For his pupils he cherished a sincere and paternal affection, and was solicitous for their improvement in all respects, especially for their growth in grace; believing this to be absolutely necessary to prepare them to labor successfully for the real, spiritual interests of Christ's kingdom. In his conversation with his colleagues, and in his letters to them when the state of his health required him to be absent, he frequently and with great earnestness expressed his conviction, that the promotion of elevated Christian piety in the Seminary was of the first importance, and that whatever else was neglected, we ought never to intermit our labors and prayers for this. The Lord grant that the surviving Professors, and all their successors in office, and all whose duty it may be to guard and advance the welfare of this Institution, may keep in mind the paramount importance of vital godliness, and may ever regard it as the very life and soul of the Seminary, of the ministry, and of the Christian church.

Brethren and friends, a man has been taken from us of rare excellencies of character, both intellectual and moral; a man whose amiable disposition, pious example, and diligent, unremitting services have been and will be an inestimable blessing to this Institution, and to the cause of Christ. Our first duty, under this afflictive dispensation, is cordial, peaceful, entire submission to God, the only wise, all-perfect God, whose ways are just and right. It is also our duty, and our privilege, to lift up our souls to him who heareth prayer, that through the help of his Spirit we may profit by this affecting bereavement; not forgetting to render to him the warmest gratitude of our hearts, that he has been pleased to continue the life and usefulness of our dear brother for so many years, and so much longer than circumstances permitted us to expect. May this stroke of divine providence, though for the present not joyous, but grievous, lead us to abound in the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and so help to prepare us for an inheritance among the saints in light. How can we look at a life so full of activity, usefulness, and enjoyment, and see it brought to a

close, without feeling a new motive to work while the day lasts, and to do with our might whatsoever our hand findeth to do. In imitation of our departed brother, we ought first of all, to be sure to have our great work done, and done in season. To postpone any duty, whether it appertains to our own welfare, or the welfare of others, to a sick and dying bed, is infatuation. What can a man do either for his own soul, or for the souls of his fellow men, or for any important object, when he is sinking under the exhausting influence of disease, his vital energy spent, the pains of death getting hold upon him, and the power of speech and thought failing? To all the great purposes of life we may be dead long before we expire. Let us carefully remember this. And let us each day apply ourselves to the work which God has given us to do, under the impression that this may be our last day, and that we may now be doing our last work.

In this visitation of his providence, God has come near to the be reaved and mourning widow. The loss she has sustained I shall not attempt to describe. But she will utter no words of complaint, and will give place to no feelings of disquietude. She knows that God reigneth and doeth his will, and that his will is always wise and good: May her God, and the God of her husband, be graciously present with her and give her peace.

This is, we well know, a solemn and affecting scene to our respected ed and honored friend, the only surviving founder of this Institution, to whom our departed brother for so many years sustained a relation of peculiar endearment. Our prayer for him shall be, that the comforts of the divine Spirit may cheer and support him under this afflic tion; that God may be his present help, and still prolong his life, and health, and usefulness, and enable him to finish his work.

As to those who have been called to part with a colleague, particularly those of us who for more than twenty years were most happily united with him in all the labors and trials, the joys and sorrows, which have here fallen to our lot,-words are not adequate to express what we feel on this occasion. In the tenderness of grief we might be ready to ask; What shall we do without that long-tried and faithful friend and colleague, who has been taken from us? But we will rather say; The Lord liveth, and blessed be our rock;" and in reference to the increased labors and cares and responsibilities now to come upon us, will earnestly pray that his grace may be sufficient for us.

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It is well known what a high place the lamented President of this Seminary held in the cordial esteem and confidence of the Trustees

and Visitors, and of the members of the Institution, and of the many hundreds, now engaged in the service of the church in this country and in other countries, who once enjoyed his instructions and counsels; yea, it is well known what a high place he held in the love and confidence of ministers and Christians far and near. Our whole community will say, that he was raised up for a great work, that he has accomplished a great amount of good, and that his memory is blessed. But we trust he enjoys that which is infinitely more precious than the highest esteem and most cordial affection of man, even the gracious approbation of his Savior and Judge. Blessed is he, and he only, to whom the Searcher of hearts will at last say; "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."