him. And a people, who had called him as their spiritual watchman in his youth-who had laid aside their animosities to sustain him—who had taught their children to reverence him as a father, might well urge a strong claim to the services of his riper years.

Nor was there any attachment on the part of the people, which was not reciprocated by the pastor. In a letter to the member of the congregation, already alluded to, and written but a short time before his death, he says:

"Never was a minister more happy with his people than I with mine, during the fifteen years I spent among you. With you I was willing to live, and with you I expected to die."

To the same, in another letter, he writes:

"I can truly say, that if there be a spot on earth to which my mind turns with more than ordinary affection, it is THAT where I was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and took upon myself the obligation of the Christian pastor. I loved the people that called me to this work, and I trust I loved the work itself."

The reasons for a change, however, seemed more and more urgent. The increase of the salary was postponed ; the health of Mrs. Richards had declined; his rising family were increasingly expensive; and he began to entertain the impression that the promise of his usefulness in Morristown was diminished by the excitement which the proposal to raise the salary had created.

These considerations inclined him to give some encouragement to the congregation in Newark; and he intimated that should they extend to him a unanimous call, it would receive a careful consideration, and that he should "acquiesce in what seemed to be the leadings of God's providence." Such a call soon came into his hands. In anticipation of it, his congregation had succeeded in voting an increase of salary; and prior to thei

knowledge of his acceptance, they set forth their views and feelings in two formal memorials addressed to their pastor. One of these was sent from a meeting of seventyone ladies, and presented by the hands of a committee whose names are appended to the address. It is a document which reflects honor both upon the pastor, and upon those who sent it. It reads as follows:

"DEAR SIR:

"Having lately been informed that you contemplate a removal from the pastoral charge of this congregation, we, the subscribers, in behalf of ourselves and the meeting of females we represent, feel ourselves constrained to express to you, in some degree, the deep regret and anxiety we experience on the occasion, in common with all classes and descriptions of persons composing this numerous society. The attachment we feel for you and your amiable family is not founded in the transient acquaintance of a day or a month. A period of fourteen years and upwards, spent in the most friendly interchange of kind offices, has gradually ripened and matured that acquaintance into a permanent and refined friendship. As the faithful shepherd and pastor of our flock, words fail us to express our veneration and esteem for you. Many of us have grown from infancy and youth into active life during your ministry here, and through the instrumentality of your public instructions, friendly admonitions and exemplary life, have been enabled, through Divine aid, to partake of the rich blessings of that Gospel which you have so faithfully preached.

Others of us have, at the same time, been declining the steep of life, and now stand on the verge of eternity. Most of our attachments formed in youth have been rent in sunder. You have personally witnessed, in many instances, the parting scene. You have accompanied us who are widows and mothers to the grave of many a beloved husband and child. You have mingled your tears with ours, and, in the keenest moments of anguish and heart-rending grief, you have administered to us the only consolation promised in the Gospel by the widow's God.

"You settled among us in the work of the ministry while we were a divided people. Happily for us these divisions no longer exist, and our attachment to you is probably much strengthened, considering you as the means of restoring harmony among us. You

yourself were in the morning of life, the season, of all others, the best adapted for forming lasting attachments. Is it to be expected that a change of circumstances, in the afternoon of life, can add much to the share of happiness which is perhaps already as considerable as usually falls to the lot of man?

"If, however, after due consideration of the solemn ties that bind you to this church, a removal may appear to you a duty, and you consider it as a mean of enlarging your own sphere of comfort and enjoyment, perhaps we ought to acquiesce in the separation, however painful it may be.

"Whether you leave us or remain with us, you may rest assured of our prayers for a blessing on your labors, and our best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of yourself and family."

But these remonstrances, and the announcement of the vote to increase the salary of the pastor, came too late. The encouragement which had been given to another congregation, had been answered in a unanimous call. The conditions which he had suggested had been met, and painful as was the thought of parting, he was not the man to say and not do.

The foregoing is a brief outline of the circumstances under which the question of dissolving the pastoral relation came before the Presbytery of Jersey. The congregation, in parish meeting, after a painful struggle, resolved to submit the whole question to that body. When the Presbytery met at Elizabethtown, April 26, 1809, a member, then residing at Morristown, after an able and full exposition of the causes which had induced the pastor to ask leave to resign his pastoral charge, and an entire justification of the request, concluded in the following words:

"As an inhabitant of Morristown, no one has more serious reasons to regret the removal of Mr. Richards, than myself:-Yet his removal, I regard rather as the misfortune than the fault of Morristown; and his removal to Newark as an event brought about rather by the providence of God, than by the destination of man. I shall, therefore, move that the call from the people of Newark be put into his hands."

CHAPTER III.

HIS MINISTRY AT NEWARK.

His call to Newark was received in April, 1809, and he removed his family to that place on the 17th of May following. On the 28th of the same month, Dr. Griffin preached his farewell sermon to his congregation, and the responsibilities of the pastoral charge were left with his successor. A more weighty charge or more delicate position could hardly be assumed. Dr. Griffin was then regarded as one of the most gifted and eloquent ministers in the American Church, and Newark had been favored with nearly eight years of the most vigorous and efficient portion of his pastoral life. His labors, too, had been crowned with signal success, the church having increased from two to five hundred members during his ministry. It is worthy also of notice, that he left at the close of a revival, to which, in a letter written to Mr. Richards, he thus alludes: "I was there in the harvest time, but you came in the fall of the year;" intimating the disadvantage under which his successor entered upon his pastoral charge.

Mr. Richards felt the responsibility of his position, and resolved, under God, to make full proof of his ministry. He said to a friend, "I am resolved to give attendance to reading;' I must study now if ever." He did study, and he also "gave himself to prayer." His purpose to magnify his office, appeared in the pulpit and in the walks of pastoral intercourse; and the attachment of the

people grew with his growth, and strengthened with his strength.

In 1811 the congregation under his care judged it expedient to become "two bands ;" and, accordingly, an organization was effected under the name of the "Second Presbyterian Church and Congregation of Newark," and the Rev. Hooper Cumming was constituted the first pastor. This whole matter received both the approbation and aid of Mr. Richards; and his kind regard for the spiritual well-being of the new church may be learned from the following introduction of an address delivered by him at the time of its organization :

"The circumstances, my brethren, in which you are assembled this afternoon, are in several respects novel and interesting. After having peaceably withdrawn from your former connections, and being set apart as a distinct congregation-after erecting a house for the worship of God, and dedicating it to his serviceafter calling and settling a minister, who is to go in and out before you and break unto you the bread of life-you are come together to complete your religious privileges. Those of you who have heretofore been professors of religion are to organize yourselves as a church of Christ, by giving yourselves to one another and to the Lord. Here you are to recognize each other as the friends of Jesus -purchased by his blood and sanctified by his Spirit-the joint heirs with him to an eternal inheritance. How tender, how solemn, how important is the relation! By virtue of it you expect often to commune with each other at the table of the Lord; and, if you are not deceived in your hopes, to spend an eternity together in his kingdom. Formerly, indeed, you were the constituent members of the same church, but your circle being wider, you were less known to each other than you will hereafter be. You must now take upon you those cares and labors which, heretofore, you have shared with a much larger number. From being a part only of a particular church, you will now become a distinct church yourselves, and stand in the number of those golden candlesticks among whom the Divine Redeemer graciously condescends to walk. What occasion will you have to rejoice, if he will condescend to visit you-if he will crown with his special presence and blessing