day asked that a short prayer might be offered. His faith was firm and confident.

"On the morning of the 12th of April it was manifest that he was sinking, and I, who had so often endeavored to cheer him when he was desponding, said, without fear of alarming him, 'You can live but a little while longer. You are almost gone. You may possibly live two or three hours, but probably not so long.' He asked if that was the opinion of the physicians. I told him that it was. He then took leave of the family and friends. The physician to whom I have referred as benefited when an orphan by him, and myself, kissed him farewell. I then asked him, 'Is it peace with you now?' He answered, 'All peace, more than ever before.' Shortly afterward he expired. 'Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.'

CHAPTER XIV.

CONCLUSION.

The Gift of God.—Mr. Frelinghuysen's Completeness of Character.— General Recognition of it.-Proven by Trial.-Theme of Gratitude to God.—Encouragement to others.-A Proof of Christianity.An Example of cheerful Piety.-Its fundamental and characteristic Element.

Ar a large meeting held in 1844 to ratify the Whig nominations for national offices, Governor Lumpkin, of Georgia, pleasantly played upon Mr. Frelinghuysen's Christian name, Theodore, which, according to its origin, means gift of God, saying that this eminent Christian statesman was God's gift to the nation for the office of Vice-president. The result showed that this was an error, the fond anticipation of a political and personal friend, who thought that one who combined so many excellencies of character could not be defeated if fairly brought before the popular eye. Still the playful suggestion had an element of truth, although in a different application from that which the eminent civilian who made it intended. Theodore Frelinghuysen was the gift of God to the American people; not for the temporary occupation of any office, however dignified or important, nor for the accomplishment of any civil or secular aims, however lofty, but for a bright and shining example of the thorough and consistent Christian in all the walks of life, public and private.

There are many blameless believers on earth of whom the world is not worthy, but they are usually found either in the ministry or in private life; but here was a man whose necessary avocations led him into the whirl of business and politics, who was thrown into contact with all classes of society, who passed through prolonged scenes of the highest excitement, who took his full share of the duties devolving upon educated and professional men under the popular institutions of our country, and yet never once abated from the strictness of a holy life, never once gave occasion for unfriendly observers to bring a charge of inconsistency. Not that he was, or claimed to be, perfect; he had infirmities, as he himself was painfully conscious, both while he lived and when he came to die; but all who knew him would, with one voice, declare that they never saw the man who had so few.

His life was long, extending several years beyond the ordinary limit. It was, for the most part, a very active one, spent in arduous and engrossing employments. It was varied, leading him into many different circumstances and associations; yet throughout it was the life of "a good man and a just." He was not excellent at one time or in one relation only, but at all times and in every relation. Intimate friends, casual acquaintances, and those who knew him only by observation, all had but one opinion respecting him. His prominent connection with great enterprises in which Christians at large took a deep interest, rendered his name familiar to all the people of God in this land, and multitudes who never saw his face in the flesh looked up to him with affectionate

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reverence as a tried and chosen leader of the sacramental host. They mourned his death as a public calamity, and felt the stroke as keenly as if it were a personal bereavement. The keenness of their regret was not owing to their lack of full information on the subject; he for whose removal they sorrowed was one who did not loom largest when seen at a distance, but was more highly appreciated the longer and better he was known. Lofty as the figure seemed when seen through the mists of current reports, it lost none of its stately proportions when viewed standing in the clear sunlight of close personal knowledge. Perhaps there were no more hearty admirers of his character than the friends of his boyhood, residing in his native county, who had watched his career from the beginning to the end. One of these was present at his funeral, and heard the just and touching eulogy pronounced over the remains of the deceased by the Rev. Dr. De Witt; but, after the services were over, he exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, "All that the speaker said was true, but oh! he did not tell the half; it is only we who have seen that man at home in his everyday life who know his real worth."

That worth was not a mere negative excellence; it was not simply the absence of common faults, but the possession of rare virtues exercised for a great length of time, and amid manifold and searching temptations. The more the gold was tried, the purer it was found. He passed through the furnace of political life at the national capital, and came out without even the smell of fire upon him. Boy and man, advocate and senator, chancellor and president, church member and

church officer, citizen and Christian, he bore his faculties so meekly, and discharged his duties so faithfully, that even the breath of slander never tarnished his escutcheon. There is nothing in his course or character which needs excuse or even explanation. The entire career speaks for itself. Men might differ from him in political opinions, in religious belief, or in minor questions, but none ever doubted the solid integrity of his principles, or the perfect conscientiousness of his life.

Many men have been quite as distinguished as he in professional and political life; many, too, have been just as eminent for Christian consistency, but very few, if any, have ever united the two kinds of distinction so thoroughly and successfully. As a civilian, statesman, and patriot, he did his full duty on the earth, yet held perpetual communion with God in heaven. He commanded respect by his intellectual gifts and attainments, yet won universal love and confidence by his meekness of wisdom. True to his clients, to his party, and to his country, he was also true to the Gospel and the Cross in every situation. was not a different man at different times, combining, as it were, by mechanical cohesion, two opposite spheres of character and conduct-in one company or place the zealous Christian, in another the busy politician or lawyer; but his religious faith interpenetrated his whole life, and gave to it its characteristic tone. He was just as much a Christian in the court-room, or on the floor of the Senate, or at the hustings, as in his closet, or the Sunday - school, or a prayer - meeting. While never parading, he never cloaked his convic

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