not only a skillful linguist, but a universal scholar. But all that he gained from secular literature he consecrated, by applying it to the adornment and illustration of the doctrine of the cross. It was with the spoils of the Egyptians, that Moses enriched the tabernacle of the Lord. President Stiles, no incompetent judge of such things, ranks Mr. Norton in the first quaternion of the ancient divines of New England, who were equal to the first characters in theology, in all Christendom, and in all ages."

Of the character of his daily religious experience we are not so fully informed, as we are in regard to many of his cöevals. That was "an age of diaries;" and he, like others, kept one of those diurnal transcripts of the frames of his mind. It is not known to be in existence. Dr. Increase Mather, who was for several years his pupil, and who greatly loved and honored him, had seen it, and gives this testimony to his venerated teacher. "He was much in prayer; he would very often spend whole days in prayer, with fasting before the Lord alone in his study. He kept a strict daily watch over his own heart. He was an hard student. He took notice in a private dairy, how he spent his time every day. If he found himself not so much inclined to dili

gence and study as at some other times, he would reflect on his heart and ways, lest haply some unobserved sin should provoke the Lord to give him up to a slothful, listless frame of spirit. In his diary, he would sometimes have these words ;-" Leve desiderium ad studendum: forsan ex peccato admisso."*

As a part of the fruit of his labors, he left some writings which he designed for the press if his life had been prolonged. The principal work is a large "Body of Divinity" preserved among the manuscripts of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

As a preacher, he was remarkable for that "copious eloquence, which is equally captivating to the scholar and to the unlettered Christian." But he is even more celebrated for his extraordinary gift in prayer. His whole soul was let loose in the public devotions, and swept along in a torrent of emotion. His hearers were carried away by these overflowings of the fullness of his heart. The aged magistrates and the men of cultivated mind, would unite in his supplications above an hour together, with unflagging interest; transported, in a manner, by

*"Slight inclination to study: owing perhaps to allowed sin."

the vast variety, the fitness, and the fervency of his petitions. One godly man would ordinarily travel on foot from Ipswich to Boston, which was then a journey of thirty miles, merely to attend the Thursday lecture in the First church. And if any notice was taken of his singular perseverance, he would say ;-"It is worth a great journey, to be a partaker in one of Mr. Norton's prayers." Nor did this man of prayer plead with God in vain. His ministry was greatly blessed: and the multitudes converted to God by means of his labors, are the jewels of his crown. Long has he slept in silence with his flock. Their mingled dust reposes together in their earthy bed. What an awakening awaits them! How joyously that clustered band shall assemble around their pastor in the destined morning when their slumbers shall be broken by the welcome voice of the Son of Man!

But their departed spirits are now with Christ. Ere we were born, our pilgrim sires, who found, and cleared for us the good old paths, which for ages had been forsaken, and overgrown, and obstructed;-our fathers, whose hallowed memory must be our shame and condemnation if we forsake those paths again;our fathers, sainted and made perfect, have long

been blest with Jesus. They have sung the victor's song. They have been harping with their harps of gold. They have mingled in the raptured chorus of angelic praise. They have lost themselves in the ecstasy of those mighty thunderings rolling evermore their tuneful peals. The anthem is like "the voice of many waters :" and the undulations of that ever-rising tide shall forever swell and break, like the booming billows of the resounding sea.

The following is a list of John Norton's printed works:

1. A Latin letter to John Dury on the pacification of the Protestant Churches, signed by nearly all the New England ministers.

2. Responsio ad totum Quaestionum Syllogen a clarissimo viro dom. Gul. Apollonio propositam, ad componendas controversias in Anglia. Lond. 8vo. 1648.

3. A Discussion of the sufferings of Christ, and the questions about his righteousness active and passive, and the imputation thereof, in answer to a dialogue of Mr. Pinchin. Lond. 12mo. 1653:-written at the request of the General Court.

4. The Orthodox Evangelist, or a treatise wherein many great evangelical truths are briefly discussed. Lond. 4to. 1654.

5. Election Sermon. 1657.

6. The Life of Mr. Cotton. 1658. A very small quarto.

7. The Heart of New England Rent by the Blasphemies of the

present Generation: a treatise concerning the doctrine of the Quakers,

by the desire of the General Court. 8vo. 1660.

8. Election Sermon. 1661.

9. A Catechism. Date unknown.

10. Three choice and profitable sermons on several texts, being the last sermons, which he preached at the election, at the Thursday lecture, and on the Sabbath. Small quarto. 1664.