424 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. the church which they gathered in a new plantation, which they called Hartford. This church afterwards became famous in the new commonwealth. Dr. Mather gives the following account of this holy and excellent man. He was godly, sober, and righteous, and could with truth appeal. to God, and say, " Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." He was remarkable for the observance of days of fasting and prayer, by which his spiritwas wonderfully ripened for the heavenly inheritance. His conversation was grave, serious, and holy ; and he was a most exact observer of the sabbath. The sermons which he intended to deliver on the Lord's day, he usually delivered in his own family on a Saturday evening. In his sermons, which were rather doctrinal, he handled the great points of divinity with admirable skill. He delivered them with an uncommonly nervous address, and concluded with a close and direct application to the hearts of the people: by his fervent prayers, his sound doctrine was turned into devotion. Towards the close of life Mr. Stone was exercised with much trouble. A misunderstanding arose betwixt him and one of the elders of the church, which could not be rectified without the dismission and removal ofaeveral pious members further up the country. It is not easy to conceive how extremely painful this was to his humble and holy soul. - He, however, continued feeding the flock of God fourteen years with Mr. Hooker, and sixteen years after him. In due submission to God, he was desirous to leave the world and be with Christ. Expressing his longing desires for heaven, he used to say, " Heaven is the more desirable for such com- pany as Hooker, and Shepard, and HaMs, who are got there before me.". He died July 20, 1663. Mr. Stone was a pious, learned, and judicious divine, equally qualified for the confirmation of the truth and the refutation of error. His ministry-was attended with the powerful demonstration and application of the truth. His views of church discipline were congregationat+ He published " A Discourse upon the Logical Notion of a Congregational Church," ofwhich Dr. Mather gives a very high character. Mather's Mist. of New Eng. b. iii. p. 116-118. + Morton's Memorial, p. 168.
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