FOR THE CHRISTIAN's MAGAZINE.

Sketch of the Life, Death, and Character of the late Rev. ISRAEL WARD, Pastor of the First Church and Society in Danbury, in the County of Fairfield, and State of Connecticut.

IT has seldom happened, that the death of an individual has made so deep or solemn an impression upon the minds of those who knew him, as that of the late Rev. ISRAEL WARD. The excellencies of his character, indeed, seem to have been universally acknowledged by persons of all classes and denominations; and his sudden and unexpected end has called forth the expressions of lamentation and regret. On this occasion, it is due to the public sentiment respecting the deceased, as well as to the claims of friendship and affection, to give a brief account of his life, death, and character.

MR. WARD was born on the 24th day of November, A. D. 1779, in the parish since called Bloomfield, in the town of Newark, and State of New-Jersey. In early youth he is said to have possessed a fine constitution of body, and to have enjoyed almost uninterrupted health.

While yet a mere child, he discovered a strong taste and inclination for study. He seldom mingled in the sports and amusements of those of his years, but was remarkable for his docility and attention to the instructions of his preceptors.

His parents being in easy circumstances, early determined to give him a liberal education. With this view, at the age of eleven, he was put to the study of the Latin and Greek languages; and in the month of September, A. D. 1796, entered the class of History and Belles Lettres in Union College, in the State of New-York. Here his application to study was unremitted and severe; in consequence of which his health became considerably impaired, and his constitution received a shock, from which, it is probable, it never wholly recovered. At college, he was distinguished for regularity of habits and purity of morals, and his standing as a scholar, among his cotemporaries, is said to have been highly respectable. He was admitted to the degree of Batchelor of Arts at the public commencement in May, A. D. 1799.

It is not known, that, at this time, he had made choice of any profession. Indeed, it is understood, that his views, as to the employment of his future life, were then wholly unsettled. To this circumstance it was, doubtless, owing, in part, that in the month of October following, he consented to become the teacher of a public school. He first took charge of the academy in Hanover, in Morris County, in his native State, where he continued until the 11th day of August, A. D. 1800. Here it was that he first became acquainted with the amiable lady, whom he afterwards married, and who now lives to mourn the loss of her dearest and best earthly friend. He removed to Orange-Dale in January, A. D. 1801, and officiated as teacher of the academy in that place until the 17th day of the following April.

It must have been not far from the time when he left Hanover, that his attention was awakened to the subject of religion. For he ever attributed his first serious impressions, under God, to the death of a beloved mother; an event which happened on the 15th day of October, A. D. 1800, and which he never recollected but with the tenderest regret. Then, for the first time, he truly saw and felt that he was a sinner, and that he needed mercy and forgiveness. Then, as he has since said, the first sincere prayer to God escaped his lips. At this time, as we humbly trust, he experienced the renovation of character so strongly marked in the succeeding period of his life, being made the subject of that repentance which is unto life, and of that hope, which is an anchor to the soul. He remained no longer in doubt as to the choice of a profession; but considered, that God, by his late providences toward him, distinctly called him to enter upon the work of the ministry. Accordingly, on the 1st day of January, A. D. 1801, he regularly commenced the study of Divinity, under the care of the Rev. Dr. Griffin, now one of the professors in the Theological Institution at Andover. He returned to Hanover, however, in the following May, and continued his studies under the tuition of the Rev. Aaron Condict. He did not become a communicant in any Church, until the 26th day of July, A. D. 1801, when he first entered into covenant with God and his people at Hanover. To what this delay was owing cannot now be known; probably to that humble sense of his own unworthiness, and that distrust of his own attainments, which every real Christian is sure to feel.

On the 6th day of October, A. D. 1801, he was taken under the care of the Presbytery of New-York, and was licensed as a candidate for the ministry on the 5th day of the succeeding May. He did not

visit Danbury until some time in the month of September after he was licensed; when passing through that place on a journey to the eastward, he was requested to tarry and preach in the First Society, for a single sabbath. He consented, after some hesitation, and preached accordingly. To this seeming accident, but real Providence of God, are his people thus indebted for all the pious labours of their late beloved pastor. In November following, the First Society still continuing vacant, he received an invitation to preach there on probation. He accepted the invitation, and first preached in pursuance of it on the second sabbath in December, A. D. 1802. On the 21st day of March, 1803, the Society, by their vote, gave him a call to settle with them in the Gospel ministry. In the meeting which was then held, and at which there was a very general attendance, when the resolution to give him a call was taken, there was but a single dissenting voice; and when the sense of the Church was afterwards expressed on the same question, their concurrence was unanimous. After due consultation with the Presbytery to which he belonged, he accepted the united call of the Church and Society, and received ordination on the 25th day of May, A. D. 1803.

Here commenced the most interesting period in his valuable life. He was settled as Pastor of a nume rous charge scattered over the greater part of an extensive village, to most of whom he was personally a stranger. At that time, though the Society had been vacant for a considerable period, a spirit of serious inquiry on the subject of religion prevailed pretty extensively among its members. These circumstances, though the latter of them was highly desirable, concurred to increase the weight of his labour and responsibility. Nor was his local situation such as to admit the possibility of his burden's being borne in

any part by others. His brethren of neighbouring societies were generally stationed at such distances as effectually to preclude frequent communication or assistance. He alone, and on all occasions, had to act the part of pastor and teacher, and to perform all the multiplied labours incident to his station. It should be added, that he was placed in a situation, which required not only continued exertion, but the utmost prudence, and this too, at an age when that quality is rarely possessed in any considerable degree. He was to act under the eye of people of different religious denominations, who, though generally friendly, would be more likely to note his errors, than those with whom he was more intimately connected.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Ward, then a youth, had to establish a character, and to perform a work. He entered upon his duties fully sensible of their magnitude, and with a solemnity corresponding to their importance. How he discharged them, duringthe the whole of his short but well-spent life, can never be forgotten by those among whom he laboured. Of his own insufficiency for so arduous a work, he used to make frequent mention; but then he would add, "I can do all things through Christ strengthening

One of the earliest objects of his attention was to gain a knowledge of the circumstances, views, and characters of his people in all parts of the Society. For this purpose, he instituted visits to the families of his parishioners in rotation. At the close of the exercises on the sabbath, he usually named the families to be visited in the succeeding week; and was always punctual to those appointments. This practice he continued as regularly as possible through life; considering, as he used to say, that a clergyman had many other duties to perform beside those of the sabbath and the desk. At these interviews, the con