By D. A. HARSHA, M. A., AUTHOR OF THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM; A GUIDE TO THE SAVIOUR;' I DESIRE TO LIVE ONLY FOR GOD'S GLORY.'-Doddridge. PHILADELPHIA: JB. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1869. P X 5 X 77 67238 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of New York. PREFACE To persons of refined minds, and of sincere and ardent piety, it must afford great pleasure and profit to study carefully the life, character and writings of PHILIP DODDRIDGE, a name on which all who have sympathy with the generous, the benevolent and the devout will ever delight to linger.' The object of the present volume is to sketch the personal history and character of this excellent divine; to give some account of his times and of some of his distinguished cotemporaries; and to present a few choice specimens of his style. The author has aimed to give a clear, succinct and comprehensive account of the principal events in the active and valuable life of Dr. Doddridge, in chronological order, with special reference to the interesting, touching and melancholy scenes of his last days, till the happy hour when, without one cloud of gloom,' his spirit winged its way to God. The dates and leading circumstances connected with his most important publications are also given, with brief criticisms on their peculiar merits. Some of the gems of Doddridge's epistolary correspondence, throwing light on a variety of interesting matters, are interwoven with the biographical narrative. It is worthy of remark, that some of his earlier letters, written in the midst of rural delights, in his free and fresh communion with nature, display more of the beauties of imagination and of style than his later writings, reminding one, frequently, of the easy, graceful and vigorous letters of Pope, Gray, and some other distinguished writers of the classic age of Queen Anne and George I. The remark which Mr. Morell has made respecting Doddridge is, we think, very true, that none who have read his earlier correspondence can doubt, that if he had chosen to direct the |