But lest this may be thought a digression, having touched upon this
before, I return to this excellent man; and for his personal qualities,
both natural, moral, and divine, as they appeared in his converse with
the brethren, and in the church of God, take as follows:
I. He was a man that God endued with a clear and wonderful depth: a
discerner of others' spirits, and very much a master of his own. And
though that side of his understanding which lay next to the world, and
especially the expression of it, might sound uncouth and unfashionable to
nice ears, his matter was nevertheless very profound; and would not only
bear to be often considered, but the more it was so, the more weighty and
instructing it appeared. And as abruptly and brokenly as sometimes his
sentences would seem to fall from him, about divine things, it is well
known they were often as texts to many fairer declarations.
And indeed it showed, beyond all contradiction, that God sent him, in
that no arts or parts had any share in the matter or manner of his
ministry; and that so many great, excellent, and necessary truths, as he
came forth to preach to mankind, had therefore nothing of man's wit or
wisdom to recommend them.
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