He was converted at the age of eighteen, during a revival in his native town, and continued for several weeks to enjoy a rapturous sense of peace with God, and to labor in the Redeemer's cause with all the ardor of his earnest and energetic nature. He then fell into the sin of unbelief, and remained under a cloud of darkness for several years. Constrained at length by a sense of duty, he was baptized in February, 1800, and united with the Baptist church in Hampton, Conn., under the pastoral care of Rev. Abel Palmer. But it was not till long after, that he gained that abiding peace and bright assurance of hope, which gave such animation to his later religious experience and lit up the evening of his day with such serenity of joy.

In 1803, the twenty-third year of his age, he joined the tide of emigration then pouring into the State of New York, and became a resident of the town of Homer, in Cortland Co., near the centre of that State. This is now one of the most beautiful and populous sections of our country: a half century ago it was the far West, and an almost unbroken wilderness. Scattered clearings dotted the luxuriant forest thinly over, while, at wide intervals, the sites of future villages were indicated by little clusters of log huts or rude frame structures; enracing tavern, store and school-house, the last doing service also, as occasion might require, for church, court-house, town-house, and every other public edifice where men do congregate. "In Homer no house of worship had then been built. The Baptist church, which was the first of any denomination organized in the town, worshipped in private dwellings; and the Congregational church met in the only frame building in the village, (with one exception,) which was used as a town and school-house. Here Mr. Bennett began life as a farmer." *

His mental conflict with respect to the ministry was protracted and severe; as was not unusual at that period, when God pressed young men into the sacred work under a distressing sense not only of natural insufliciency but also of defective preparation, and with none of those educational advantages since furnished the youthful ministry by the wise liberality of His people. After two years of extreme agitation and reluctance, Mr. Bennett yielded to his convictions of duty, and was ordained the first pastor of the Homer church in June, 1807.

This pastoral connection was the only one he ever held. It continued a quarter of a century, during which he baptized more than seven hundred and seventy converts, most of them the direct fruits of his own abundant labors. In 1827, the church had grown to such size as to warrant its being separated into three parts, forming the present flourishing churches of Homer, Cortlandville, and McGrawville. His intercourse with his own people and with the community generally, was ever discreet, faithful, pure and eminently Christian; "and such," says Mr. Harvey, was the universal respect and affection he inspired, that when at length he deemed it his duty to relinquish the office of pastor, it is believed there was not a single member, either of the church or the congregation, who did not ardently love his ministry and deplore his absence as a personal loss." His home remained in the midst of this attached people, while he had a home on earth; and he now sleeps in the quiet cemetery which he had so largely helped to plant for the resurrection-in death not divided from those to whom his life was bound by such endearing and enduring ties.

It was in the year 1832, that he commenced that career of abundant and effective labor, which has identified his name with the history of Foreign Missions among the American Baptists. Previous to that time, the Board of the Convention had employed but few agents, and those only for occasional and temporary purposes. But their operations had become so extended that a small part of the churches could no longer sustain them; and the interests of the cause, both at home and abroad,

*Discourse on the Life and Character of Rev. Alfred Bennett, delivered at Homer, N. Y., May 18, 1851, by H. Harvey, Pastor of the Baptist church.

required more systematic and comprehensive measures for spreading information over the country and enlisting the whole denomination in the missionary work. Mr. Bennett was their first permanent agent.

In the fall of 1828 his eldest son had gone as a foreign missionary to Burmah; and about the same time he had begun to render occasional services to the Board by visiting churches and associations, to preach and make collections. He was thus led to a good deal of reflection on the subject of missions; and "as he mused, the fire burned," until (to use his own language) he "found it difficult to turn his attention to any other matter." When therefore the intelligence of his appointment as a permanent travelling agent of the Board reached him, in the spring of 1832, both himself and his people were prepared to recognize the voice of God in the call, and, with whatever regret at the sundering of ties mutually dear, to yield it at once an affirmative response.

This appointment was hailed by all who knew the man, as an augury of happiest aspect. He had now reached the age of fifty-two, and entered the field in the full maturity of his powers, ripe in experience as a man, a Christian, and a minister, with an established reputation for piety, prudence, integrity, stability, and enlarged philanthropy, and a heart wedded to the cause to which his life was thenceforth to be devoted. He took hold of the work "at its heavy end;" and he adhered to it with unabating diligence, fidelity, and zeal. Our Missionary Reports for the last twenty years contain each some record of his labors, continued with scarcely any interruptions from sickness or other cause to the close of his life. His travels, extending from New England westward to the Mississippi, through all the Middle and a portion of the Southern States, and performed mostly before the present facilities of communication had begun to exist, were attended with much fatigue and danger, and put to a severe test the firmness of a constitution unusually sound and vigorous. In the Baptist churches throughout this extended territory, his stalwart figure and benevolent features have long formed a familiar and beloved object; and with sorrow for the immeasurable public loss occasioned by his death, thousands have mingled tears of personal regret, "sorrowing most of all that they shall behold his face no more."

It is impossible to estimate the amount of funds, (unquestionably very large,) brought by his agency into the foreign mission treasury. But he rendered a far more important service by the correction of errors, the removal of prejudice, the spread of information, and the kindling of a missionary spirit, in large sections of the church where just that kind of work was needed. At the time of his appointment, a stern and active prejudice against the very principle of missions prevailed among the Baptists of the South and West. It by no means indicated in all cases the absence of a philanthropic and Christian spirit, but more frequently sprung from sincere though misguided anxiety for the honor of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of men. It required a truly apostolic temper, much charity and patience, prudence and tact, much knowledge of men and of the Bible, much, in short, of that benign and comprehensive wisdom "that cometh from above," to deal with such materials. These brethren were not to be refuted, silenced, humbled,-that were comparatively easy, but to be gained; gained to the mission cause; changed from conscientious and therefore determined opponents, to enlightened, cordial and active friends.

Mr. Bennett well understood the character of the field. At the outset he apprised the Board, that "he should deem the raising of money a secondary matter, and make it his first concern to spread information and overcome prejudice." To this purpose he steadily adhered. His manner of presenting the claims of the enter prise, in many respects a model, was especially adapted to disarm hostility, and to conciliate the confidence of the truly Christian heart. It was exhibited in his preaching, not as a novel movement, illustrating the wisdom of the present as

Rev. Cephas Bennett, now of Tavoy.

compared with former ages, but as a simple return to the spirit and the letter of the Great Commission;- not as binding the conscience on the principle of a stern, compulsive legality, but as engaging and showing forth the renewed heart, like every other genuine expression of love to Christ, and of love for His sake to dying men. It was advocated, not by formal reasonings, but by well attested facts, and by earnest and pungent appeals, which sprung from a heart warm with holy and humane affections, and made their way at once to every kindred spirit. At the same time, the Christian simplicity which marked his demeanor and conversation, his readiness to answer every sincere inquiry, his patience in resolving difficulties and removing misapprehensions, and that remarkable look and bearing of transparent honestywhich no art could counterfeit were a guaranty to multitudes, on whom argument would have been lost, of the integrity and trust-worthiness of the society which he represented.

His success was complete. Not only individuals, but churches, associations, and the entire denomination in large sections, which had previously stood aloof or actively opposed the missions, were changed from foes to friends, and swelled the sacramental host that fought under Christ's banner for the conquest of the world. The value of such a service cannot be estimated. The seed sown bore fruit not only, but seed in the fruit; which self-preserved, and self-disseminated, will be reproduced in successive harvests, each richer than its antecedent, until the end of time. Every year must make more evident the value of his agency. The day which consummates all things will complete the returns, and reveal the entire amount of his usefulness to the church and the world.

He had spent nearly twenty years in this arduous service, during which period he had seen most of his youthful associates fall around him; and still "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." But in the spring of 1850, as he approached that age at which the Scriptures fix the natural limit of human life, he received sudden but unmistakable intimations that the time of his departure was near. The progress of his disease was steady, though not rapid. It was attended with indescribably acute and long protracted sufferings, which were not merely borne with patience, but conquered through faith. "Why," he asked, “should the course of nature be turned aside to save me a few pangs? Why wish the way of God altered? It might-so complex are God's plans-cause lasting injury to thousands, to save me a short period of pain. God's plan is all right; I would sink into His will." There was nothing artificial, nothing unhealthy in his state of mind. There were no raptures of enthusiastic joy, but a clear discernment of the foundation of his hope, a serene unfaltering trust, a realization of his unseen inheritance-a taking hold of God and heaven. He often called for the singing of hymns: "I expect," said he, "soon to be where there will be much singing, and I would fain hear a little now." As his end drew near, he remarked to his pastor: "The world is receding, and I am glad of it. I leave it as one would some unpleasant company with which he has been compelled for a time to mingle. The society above looks infinitely more precious." When too weak to converse, he was wont to reply to the inquiries of friends: "Peace"-"all clear"- -"not a cloud, not a shade." And in this state he continued (says Mr. Harvey) till, on the morning of May 10, 1851, in the seventy-first year of his age, his body sunk peacefully in death, and the "chariot of fire and horses of fire," ascending, bore him from our sight.

When God has special work to do, he raises up special and appropriate instrumentalities. This was strikingly exemplified in the case of Mr. Bennett. His mission was definite and unique; and no one who knew him, could have failed to observe how much nature had done to fit him for it, and how admirably grace had completed the adaptation.

I. The work was great and arduous; and he was formed, morally as well as physically, on a large and powerful scale. Strength, rather than beauty, was his characteristic. The iron and the granite entered largely into his composition. The

virtues of a man were his. Sturdy honesty, unflinching courage, a rugged vigor of thought and expression, force and tenacity of purpose, tireless industry, and indomitable perseverance these were his attributes: to graces and refinements he made no pretension. Not that he was destitute of softer traits. Far from it. Those who knew him best, well knew, that, mingled with the sterner elements of his character, there were others, so sweet and delicate and even graceful that they might have adorned a woman's. But these were not predominant. The flowers bloomed in the crevices of the rock. Or rather let me say-for, after all, these were not mere incidents, but essentials to the man- the heart of the marble was veined with a delicate and graceful tracery, which gave it beauty without detracting from its strength.

He was constitutionally, and intensely, ardent. A glowing vitality seemed to pervade him, and imparted vigor and fruitfulness to all his faculties. He was a sort of Peter among his immediate co-laborers, carnest, bold, quick to feel, and prompt to act—and the flow of his emotions was ever full and strong. Of all sins, that of indifference could least be laid to his charge. His affections and his aversions were alike decided; and when once his purpose took a settled bent, this intenseness of his nature made him tenacious to the very verge of a fault. Energy, resolution, industry, and perseverance, were necessary fruits. He loved to work; and few men could work so long, and so continuously, without exhaustion. Even in his physical system, this happiness showed itself. Activity was its law; repose, its exception. And this fondness for exertion, sustained as it was by a healthy and powerful muscular frame, enabled him to accomplish, year after year, an amount of physical labor which would have appalled an ordinary man. So, too, his mind was always on the alert; quick to observe, fertile of expedients, original and piquant in its reflections. He was eminently a ready man. What he could do at all, he could do quickly; and he would do quickly. It was one of his peculiarities, to make much account of this: always promptly responding to the most sudden demand on his resources, punctual to every engagement, brief and to the purpose in his public addresses, and not over patient of the lack of these virtues in men of slower mould. Such a temperament could not have failed to make him effective in any department of exertion; in the field to which he was called, he would have been nothing without it.

To a high degree of culture, Mr. Bennett made no pretension. His studies had been almost exclusively in the school of Experience and the school of Christ. But in these he was a proficient; and his attainments shed a very discernible grace and lustre over the whole man. There was the dignity of conscious rectitude in his bearing; the radiance of love rested on his brow and lighted up his otherwise plain features with an indescribable charm; a genuine heart-courtesy softened the natural brusqueness of his manner; and long and loving study of the Scriptures -- those models of more than classical, of heavenly perfection—had given him an elevation and affluence of thought, a purity of taste, and a power of expression, far in advance of his outward advantages of education. He was more than an ordinary preacher: simple and evangelical in the general scope of his discourses, yet abounding, in the detail, with those piquant originalities which mark the man who does his own thinking; always fervidly in earnest, often tender and tearful, and sometimes rising to strains of genuine eloquence. His lack of literary training was most apparent at times when he was struggling to embody in adequate words those great thoughts and swelling emotions, of which his soul seemed ever prolific. Of this disadvantage he was himself painfully conscious, and took a lively interest in furnishing to young men the opportunities for intellectual cultivation which he had not enjoyed. This very circumstance, however, probably turned to account in his peculiar field. Certain it is, that, to the close of his public career, few men possessed more power to command the attention and move the hearts of the masses, or could influence a greater variety of minds, within the limits of our own denomination.

II. The work was in many respects a delicate, in all a highly responsible one; demanding no small degree of discretion and sagacity for its right performance. And in these Mr. Bennett was not deficient. His intellect was clear, comprehensive, and eminently practical. His ardor gave concentration and force to his faculties without heating and confusing them: a rare and admirable quality of mind. To a zeal that never flagged and a purpose that never swerved, he added a broad good sense, which rarely went far amiss in estimating men or things, and a singular discretion in the choice of means and the application of motives. He kept in view the necessities of the entire field, and laid his plans for the entire future. He understood the art of "hastening slowly." He rarely struck a blow without seeing where it would fall. He rarely struck one prematurely. He knew that he must take men as he found them, and would always wait, content for the present with a partial success, rather than jeopard the whole by grasping after more. A single glance at the extent and condition of the field he traversed, the great diversity of opinions and characters, tastes, habits and prejudices he was obliged to encounter, will suffice to show how much of his wonderful success he must have owed to this native shrewdness and disciplined discretion.

Yet he was not a managing man, but pointedly the reverse. He was thoroughly honest as far above the meanness of wire-fingering and wire-pulling, as the eagle, towering in his pride of strength, is above the flight of the mousing owl. His bold, impulsive nature was more liable perhaps to err on the side of an inconsiderate frankness. He never had side objects to take care of: he abhorred indirection; he disdained even concealment. What he thought, he had no fear to speak; and, we suspect, he was naturally inclined to bolt out the whole truth without even a proper regard to consequences. If he learned to practise caution, it was not the caution of timidity or of cunning, but of conscientiousness and benevolence. He might fear to do injury to great interests, or to inflict a needless wound on the feelings of others. Beyond that, he was bold as a lion, and open as the day; and what was an impulse of his nature, became a principle of his religion.

I am the more disposed to dwell on this, because I have always regarded it as one of the most characteristic and beautiful of Mr. Bennett's traits; and none the less beautiful, that it placed him in pretty strong contrast with some other great and even good men. Indeed I scarcely know the man, occupying public stations for so long a time, and wielding so wide and effective an influence, who has steered so manifestly clear of all crooked diplomacy-of even the suspicion of oblique waysand accomplished his ends habitually by means so direct, ingenuous, and aboveboard. His example should be felt as a rebuke by all who pursue a different course, by all especially who affect in that way to promote the cause of righteousness among men. What have complicity and chicanery to do in the service of the truth? Has Truth, then, so little power to take care of herself, and of those who defend her, that she must call on her foes to aid her? So her ministers confess, when they resort to the least indirection and management to advance her cause. But what thought Paul? "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly toward you." This language our departed father might with perfect justness have adopted; and his eminently successful career is a proof, that the opposite policy is as needless as it is disgraceful.

There was

I am not sure that this was not the main element of his success. something in his very look, which proclaimed him that "noblest work of God, an honest man;" something, which was an immediate passport to confidence, and better than a thousand elaborate explanations or arguments to overcome prejudice and conciliate favor. Consciously transparent, he never feared detection. In danger of no embarrassing surprises, he moved freely and at his case in all circles, looked every man frankly in the face, and had all his resources always at command.