Noah Levings.

It is the object of this article to give a brief sketch of the life and character of an eminent servant of God, who, during more than thirty years' service in the ministry, filled with honour and success the various stations and offices to which he was called-everywhere winning the affections of the people, and at all times enjoying the confidence and esteem of his brethren, till he was suddenly summoned from his work to his reward.

NOAH LEVINGS was born in Cheshire County, New-Hampshire, on the 29th of September, 1796. His parents being in humble circumstances, he was sent from home to earn a livelihood when about eight or nine years of age. From that time he shared but few of the joys or advantages of the parental home. But, even among comparative strangers, the amiableness of his character and the faithfulness of his service everywhere secured for him friends. His early advantages for mental improvement were very limited -a source of much regret to him in after life. In his case, it was a matter of little consequence that the public schools were poorly supported and poorly conducted; that textbooks were defective and teachers incompetent. To him, thirsting for knowledge, yet from very childhood compelled to toil for his daily bread, the few advantages they

did afford would have been regarded as a boon above all price.

His early religious impressions were deep and lasting. But experimental religion was little known at that period within the circle of his acquaintance. High Calvinism had begotten its opposite in error-Universalism, and the two opinions were in conflict for the mastery. It could not be doubtful, (apart from divine interposition,) in an age when the tone of piety and of morals was emphatically low, which would have the vantage-ground in the contest. The one required morality-nay, piety, after its kind; the other dispensed with both, while at the same time its "policies of insurance" were issued on the largest scale. In such a contest, carried on in such an age, the chances were on the side of the scheme which promised most and required least. Nor have we any doubt that Universalism would long since have obtained the mastery in New-England, had not the fermenting mass been impregnated with the leaven of a purer faith and a richer experience. Divine Providence raised up a people to proclaim a free, a present, and a full salvation; this, by the new elements of Christian power it evoked, has proved a check and an antidote to the system of religious licentiousness which was sweeping over the land like a flood.

At the age of sixteen the subject of our memoir was apprenticed to a blacksmith in Troy, his parents having previously removed to that place. When he entered upon his new situation he formed the resolution to be faithful to his master, and regard his interests as his own. His morals were placed in great peril. His master was not religious, and did not pretend to control him upon the Sabbath; and he was led into the company of Sabbath-breakers, and with

them spent much holy time in roaming over the fields and through the woods adjacent to the city. But his natural good sense, and the uncorrupted moral principles inculcated in early life, soon came to his relief. His parents, though not professedly pious, had trained their children to a strict observance of the Christian Sabbath, and now the moral influence of that early training revived and wrought his deliverance, as it has that of thousands of young men similarly exposed.

Breaking away from these associations, he determined to become a regular attendant upon the worship of God in some one of the churches. All Churches were alike to him, for he had not become familiar with the creeds of any, nor, indeed, scarcely with the peculiarities in their forms of worship. He therefore determined upon a circuit of visitation to the several churches in the city; and, in carrying out this design, he first visited the Presbyterian Church, then under the pastoral charge of Rev. Jonas Coe, D. D.; who, he says, "was a good man and an excellent pastor." He next attended the Baptist Church, where "good old Mr. Wayland (the father of President Wayland) was the minister." Though favourably impressed with the piety and abilities of both of these servants of God, he could not feel at home in their congregations. His third visit was made to the Protestant Episcopal Church, but there he was wearied with ceremonies too numerous and complicated to be either interesting or edifying. He next attended the meeting of the Friends; but here, instead of long prayers and tedious ceremonies, he heard nothing at all; nor was he loth to leave when the hour was up and the sign for closing given.

His last visit of inquiry was at the Methodist Episcopal

Church. He found a small house, occupied by a simple, plain, and solemn people. Their worship, though not imposing in its forms, was hearty and sincere. It not a little surprised him to witness, for the first time in his life, a congregation kneeling down in time of prayer. The conviction was wrought in his mind that this people were the people of God. Under the ministry of the word, feelings were awakened which he had known nowhere else; and under the powerful reasonings and cogent appeals of the Rev. P. P. Sandford, the stationed minister, he was often made to feel that God truly was in that place. But it was more particularly under the preaching of the Rev. Laban Clark, who succeeded Mr. Sandford, that he was led to realize fully his lost condition, and to feel the necessity of seeking salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On one occasion he left the church so overwhelmed with the consciousness of his guilt and wretchedness, that he almost bordered upon despair. The struggles of his soul were deep and powerful; and in the privacy of his closet he wrestled and agonized before God. This was long before he had broken the secret of his heart even to his most intimate friends. He at length unburdened his mind to a pious young man of his acquaintance. By this young man he was taken to the prayer-meeting, then held at the house of Dr. Landon, a man of God now departed to his rest, but whose memory is like "ointment poured forth." Here the young inquirer became more perfectly instructed in the way of salvation by faith, and was also a subject of special and earnest prayer.

He sought God sincerely and unreservedly: he prayed earnestly, and with many tears. There was no tie that he would not sunder, and no sacrifice that he would not make,

if necessary, to secure the favour of his offended Lord. Yet his conversion was less sudden, and less strongly marked in its character, than that of many others. He was rather "drawn with the cords of a man and with the bands of love," than driven by the thunders of the law; though each had their appropriate influence in leading him to the Saviour. Nor was the evidence of his change either sudden or clear. Upon this point he remained for a long time in a state of most distressing uncertainty. From the consciousness of guilt he had been delivered; but the witness of his adoption was necessary to complete his joy.

It was not till the 5th of June, 1815, that he was enabled to rejoice in this long-sought blessing. On that day—a day ever memorable in his history-as he was returning from his private devotions, where he had been wrestling with God for the witness of the Spirit, light broke in upon his soul, and he could exclaim, "Abba, Father," with an unwavering tongue. The power of the tempter was broken; his doubts were all gone. A divine assurancethe gift of the Holy Spirit-reigned in his soul, and filled him with unspeakable joy. His swelling heart, overflowing with emotion, gave vent to its transports, while he cried aloud,

"My God is reconciled;

His pard'ning voice I hear:
He owns me for his child;

I can no longer fear:

With confidence I now draw nigh,

And Father, Abba, Father, cry."

But before obtaining this full assurance he had publicly dedicated himself to Christ, by uniting with his Church, and boldly advocating his cause. He joined the Methodist