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 TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY 
 
 Hon. ROGER MINOTT SHERMAN, 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 DISCOURSE PREACHED AT HIS FUNERAL, 
 
 January 2, 1845. 
 
 LYMAN H. ATWATER, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN FAIRFIELD. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 PRINTED BY B. L. HAMLEN, 
 
 1845. 
 

DISCOURSE. 
 
 1 Corinthians, xv, 55. — O death ! where is thy sting ? O grave ! 
 where is thy victory ? 
 
 This triumphant ejaculation, which Christ hath made 
 the property of all dying believers, implies that death may 
 lose its sting and the grave its victory. And whence 
 comes this change in the issue of the conflict which man 
 is ever waging with death, and in which death is the natu- 
 ral conqueror ? How shall we account for this transmuta- 
 tion so strange, so wondrous, so heavenly, by which this 
 most resistless, relentless, unsparing conqueror, is itself 
 made to die, is swallowed up in victory, and at the very 
 moment of seeming to crush its victim, translates him to an 
 endless life, gilds him with fadeless glory, transports him 
 w 7 ith the fullness of joy evermore, and crowns him with an 
 immortal diadem ? 
 
 Our answer is found in that record w r hich God hath 
 given of his Son, who hath brought life and immortality to 
 light. "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ," who has made the sublime 
 annunciation on which all human hope depends. "I am 
 
 THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE ; WHOSO BELIEVETH 
 ON ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE." 
 
 Since then, death, through the wondrous work of Christ, 
 may be disarmed of its sting, and the grave robbed of its 
 victory, let us for a few moments consider more precisely 
 
in what way, to what extent, and with respect to what per- 
 sons, this comes to pass. 
 
 1. In the verse following our text, the Apostle declares, 
 " the sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the 
 law." Hence it is something wholly distinct from the mere 
 physical pangs of expiring nature, or the instinctive dread 
 and abhorrence of its own dissolution which it ever cher- 
 ishes. This dread of self-annihilation is a property of life 
 itself, which is in its very nature a ceaseless effort to be, 
 and to avoid non-existence. Irrespective of sin or holi- 
 ness, penalty or rewards, whether the death of the body 
 be, or be not regarded as the only and certain passage to a 
 perfect and blissful state of existence, it is in itself what we 
 instinctively dread and shun. Like pain, we avoid it if 
 possible. We never choose it as in the least desirable for 
 its own sake ; although w T e may cheerfully submit to it as 
 we submit to bitter drugs and burning caustic, because 
 without it, we cannot escape the pains of earth, or reach 
 the bliss of heaven. In this light the Christian may desire 
 death, because to die is gain, and he desires to depart and 
 be with Christ which is far better : but not because it is in 
 itself lovely, or otherwise than grim, ghastly and terrific. 
 This natural aversion to the physical pangs of death, there- 
 fore, is not its sting, since it is a part of our sentient nature, 
 and still cleaves to Christians as to others. 
 
 But the sting of death is sin, i. e. the violation of the 
 law of God and consequent subjection to its tremendous 
 penalties. Thus " the law is the strength of sin," so far 
 forth as it is a sting. Now death is the penalty of sin, its 
 wages, " it passed upon all men for that all have sinned ;" 
 even death temporal and death eternal, the death of the 
 body and the death of the soul. And unless its nature and 
 power as a penalty be annulled by faith in him who con- 
 
quered it, the sting of death lies in this, that it is not merely 
 a natural but a penal evil, not the mere dissolution of the 
 body, but the entrance of the soul upon the merited woes 
 of the second death ; not the mere end of life, but a transfer 
 to the pains of eternal retribution. It is the law, the vio- 
 lated, threatening, immutable law, that invests sin with this 
 fearful power. Viewed in this light, the only light possible 
 out of Christ, death indeed has its sting, which no tongue 
 can tell or mind conceive. 
 
 We see then how this sting is removed by Christ. He 
 took it upon himself. Sin is its cause. He bore our sins, 
 was made under the law, became a curse, suffered and 
 died, the just for the unjust. He thus discharges the de- 
 mands of the law against the believing. What then if the 
 wages of sin is death ; is not " the gift of God eternal life 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ?" What though death in 
 its original nature, be the first, stinging, insupportable stroke 
 of God's wrath revealed from heaven against all unright- 
 eousness? We are delivered from the body, the sub- 
 stance, the sting of this death, thanks be to God, through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. " His blood cleanseth from all sin." 
 Whoso believeth on him " shall not come into condemna- 
 tion, but is passed from death unto life," for he is " not un- 
 der law but under grace." 
 
 2. Let us consider briefly the extent of this deliverance. 
 It is perfect. It is co-extensive with sin and all its dismal 
 fruits ; if sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. 
 The destruction of sin, involves the removal of all its dire- 
 ful effects, the whole ghastly retinue which it brings with it. 
 Christ the second Adam restores us to the primeval per- 
 fection, glory and bliss, which we lost by the apostacy of 
 the first Adam. The parts of this restoration are success- 
 ive and gradual, so that it is not wholly consummated, till 
 
the body is raised and glorified at the last day. But it is 
 wholly and forever secured by the first act of true faith. 
 For we are "justified by faith." And whom God justifies, 
 them he also glorifies, and none shall be able to separate 
 them from his love or pluck them out of his hands. With 
 respect to the condemning or penal power of sin, deliver- 
 ance is perfect at the moment of our union to Christ by 
 faith, and ever afterward : for there is " no more condemna- 
 tion to them which are in Christ Jesus." Whatever sor- 
 rows, sufferings or calamities visit the believer, they are not 
 a part of the curse and penalty of the law. They are 
 chastisements sent in fatherly love and faithfulness, and not 
 in vengeance ; not willingly, but for our profit ; for the very 
 purpose of promoting our deliverance from sin. As to sin 
 itself, at the new birth, it receives a mortal blow, by being 
 subjected to a reigning principle of holiness, which is then 
 born into life, and is ever waxing stronger and stronger 
 until death, when it extirpates the last remnant of sin, and 
 the spirits of the just are made perfect in holiness. Al- 
 though ever dying, sin is never perfectly extinct in this life ; 
 it is the heaviest burthen under which the believer groans 
 in this tabernacle ; its end is the sweetest part of the deliv- 
 erance which death brings with itself. With respect to the 
 body, it is not freed from the pains and infirmities in this 
 life, which belong to its frail and perishing nature. Nor 
 does it escape death. It is not renovated and glorified till 
 the last day, when the archangel's trump shall wake from 
 the grave its slumbering tenantry, the dead shall be raised 
 incorruptible and we shall be changed ; " our vile bodies 
 fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, according to the 
 working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
 himself." But at death it sleeps in Jesus. Its pains are 
 forever ended. The disembodied spirit is already glorified 
 
with Christ in Paradise, awaiting its reunion to the glorified 
 body. Thus death has lost its whole sting : nay, it is the 
 birth-throe of an endless, glorious and blissful life. There 
 the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest, 
 undisturbed by the slightest annoying sensation. They 
 shall hunger no more and thirst no more, and God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes. " Blessed are the 
 dead that die in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the 
 Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, their works do 
 follow them." 
 
 3. And who receive this stupendous deliverance? To 
 whom rightly belongs this strangely rapturous outburst, 
 which sheds a halo of glory even over sepulchral darkness 1 
 I answer to those who die in the Lord ; i. e. to those who 
 are joined to Christ by a living union. This union is con- 
 stituted by faith, which lays hold of and rests upon Christ 
 as he is offered to us in the gospel, and gives us an interest 
 and participation in all the benefits of his salvation. " He 
 that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" — he shall 
 not perish or come into condemnation. The just are saved 
 by faith through grace — they walk by faith — they live by 
 faith, and overcome and triumph by faith. Without this 
 faith it is impossible to please God. Unbelief is a rejec- 
 tion of Christ ; he that believeth not is condemned al- 
 ready. 
 
 But since there are divers sorts of faith on which men 
 
 4 
 
 rely for an interest in this inestimable boon, we must dis- 
 tinguish that which is dead and spurious, from that which 
 is living and genuine. Omitting much that might be said 
 on this topic, I will only observe that true and saving faith 
 shows itself in correspondent works, in a life of holy, con- 
 scientious obedience to all the requirements of God. With- 
 out such works, faith is declared by the Apostle to be dead. 
 
8 
 
 Ye are my friends, says Christ, if ye do whatsoever I 
 command you. And any other faith than that which leads 
 us to walk in all the commands and ordinances of the Lord 
 blameless, gives no warrant for the triumphant exclamation, 
 " death, where is thy sting ! grave, where is thy vic- 
 tory !" But he that truly belie veth, though he were dead, 
 yet shall he live, and in his dying moments may with 
 truth adopt the words of Simeon : "Lord, now lettest thou 
 thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 The full and well-founded conviction that death has lost 
 its sting and the grave its victory, with respect to our de- 
 ceased, beloved and revered friend, whose breathless body 
 now lies before us, chiefly assuages the grief produced by 
 this melancholy dispensation of divine Providence. It has 
 diffused a sensation of gloom, as wide-spread as his hon- 
 orable fame. But we sorrow not as those without hope. 
 He ended a consistent and exemplary Christian life, with 
 a serene and peaceful death. After a life in which his 
 piety had been known by its fruits, and when the signs of 
 death w r ere stealing upon him with an unexpected and 
 surprising rapidity, he assured me that in the prospect of a 
 speedy dissolution, he felt supported by the consolations of 
 that gospel he had long professed, and that he rested 
 calmly on that Savior, who had ever been, and now seemed 
 peculiarly, his only hope. And when the dying hour 
 came, he seemed free not only from the mental sting, but 
 the physical agonies of death. There was not a pang, not 
 a struggle, not even a motion of a muscle, beyond the 
 mere gasp of expiring nature. So wholly had death lost 
 its sting. It was good to be there notwithstanding the 
 gloom : to see the venerable servant of God calmly and 
 placidly falling asleep in Jesus, "quite on the verge of 
 
heaven." " Mark the perfect man, behold the upright, for 
 the end of that man is peace." 
 
 It is due to the occasion, to present such a sketch of his 
 life and character as the time will permit. 
 
 The Hon. Roger Minott Sherman was born at Woburn, 
 Mass., May 22, 1773, and was the youngest of six children 
 of Rev. Josiah Sherman, then the Congregational minister 
 of that place. His father was in the fourth line of descent 
 from Captain John Sherman, who emigrated from Ded- 
 ham, in England, to Watertovvn, Mass., about the year 
 1635. He was brother to the Hon. Roger Sherman, who 
 was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
 and raised himself from a humble condition to a celebrity 
 for statesmanship, that brightens with the lapse of time. 
 The mother of Judge Sherman was Martha, daughter of 
 the Hon. James Minott, of Concord, Mass., one of the dis- 
 tinguished men of his time, and in the fourth line of de- 
 scent from George Minott, who was born in England, was 
 one of the first settlers of Dorchester, Mass., and a ruling 
 elder in the church in that place thirty years. Owing to 
 the disturbances produced by the Revolution, Judge Sher- 
 man's father removed in 1775 to Milford, in this state, and 
 was for some time pastor of the second church in that 
 town. He thence removed to Goshen in this state, and 
 was pastor of the church in that place several years. 
 He finally removed to Woodbridge, near New Haven, 
 where he preached the remainder of his life, and now lies 
 buried. Of his children, the four oldest were daughters, 
 the two youngest sons. They are all now dead, Judge 
 Sherman having been the last survivor. 
 
 In 1789, at the age of sixteen, Mr. Sherman entered 
 the Sophomore class in Yale College. Six weeks after- 
 wards his father died, leaving no property, since his in- 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 come, like that of most ministers, had been barely equal to 
 his current expenses. He was thus deprived of the means 
 on which he had relied for defraying his college expenses. 
 But by the kindness of his uncle,* who received him into 
 his family and rendered him other important aid, together 
 with his own exertions, he was enabled to go through the 
 academic course. He kept a school in New Haven du- 
 ring a considerable portion of his two last college years, 
 and at the same time attended regularly all the exer- 
 cises of his class, and graduated with a high standing. 
 He then took an academy in Windsor, and commenced 
 the study of law under the Hon. Oliver Ellsworth. He 
 afterwards took a common school in Litchfield, and con- 
 tinued the study of law under the Hon. Tapping Reeve. 
 In March, 1795, he was appointed a tutor in Yale College, 
 and instructed the class that graduated in 1797, at the 
 same time pursuing his professional studies under the Hon. 
 Simeon Baldwin, who still outlives his pupil, and is here 
 to attend his burial. In his own class in college were 
 several distinguished men. The class which he instructed 
 also numbers several eminent names. In the office of 
 tutor he was peculiarly successful. Instead of relying on 
 official authority or magisterial airs to gain an ascendency 
 over his pupils, he rather won their respect and esteem 
 by the ability and faithfulness of his instructions, the be- 
 nignity of his manners, and the justness of his discipline. 
 His extraordinary power of disentangling the intricate, 
 mastering the profound, and making the obscure plain, 
 combined with a rare faculty of expression, must have 
 rendered him a most able and brilliant instructor. 
 
 After holding this office somewhat more than a year, he 
 resigned it, and in May, 1796, was admitted to the bar in 
 
 * Hon. Roger Sherman. 
 
11 
 
 New Haven. He then established himself as a practicing 
 lawyer at Norwalk. On Dec. 13, of the same year, he 
 was married to Miss Elizabeth Gould, daughter of Dr. 
 Wm. Gould, then of New Haven, previously of Branford, 
 sister of the late Judge Gould of Litchfield, who after a 
 happy conjugal union of forty eight years, near half a 
 century, is still spared to mourn his loss. They had but 
 two children, twin sons of high promise ; but by an in- 
 scrutable Providence they were cut down, and as we trust, 
 are sleeping in Jesus. In 1807 he removed to this place, 
 where he has since resided for a term of near forty years ; 
 and has become so identified with all our social and public 
 interests, that there is no sphere in which his loss will not 
 be deeply and intensely felt. 
 
 Mr. Sherman had not long pursued the practice of law, 
 before his powerful intellect and untiring industry raised 
 him to that high eminence in his profession, of which he 
 had already given promise. He realized the most san- 
 guine anticipations of his friends. As a jurist he had few 
 equals, and scarcely a superior in the country. While he 
 most excelled in handling abstruse, mazy questions of 
 law, he maintained the very first rank in whatever belongs 
 to his profession. His legal knowledge, his logical skill, 
 his high persuasive powers, his commanding eloquence, 
 his unwearied industry, his faithfulness to his clients, gave 
 him the highest success and celebrity in every department 
 of legal practice, attracted to him an overflowing business 
 in this and other counties of the state, and often led to a 
 demand for his services in great cases in other states. 
 Seldom does the bar suffer the loss of so distinguished an 
 ornament. 
 
 From 1814 to IS 18 Mr. Sherman was a member of the 
 upper branch of our state legislature, in which he distin- 
 
12 
 
 guished himself by his thorough knowledge of the laws, 
 policy and institutions of the state, his mastery of all sub- 
 jects under discussion, his high power in debate, his assid- 
 uous attention to business, his patriotic devotion to the 
 welfare of the people. Though among the younger mem- 
 bers, he rose rapidly to an ascendant influence. 
 
 In 1814, he was chosen by the legislature of this state 
 a delegate to the convention of the New England states, 
 assembled at Hartford, for the purpose of devising meas- 
 ures suited to the exigency into which they were brought 
 by the war. This is not the time nor the place to discuss 
 the merits of that convention. This however is undenia- 
 ble, that New England sent to it her choicest, most gifted, 
 trusted, and honored statesmen ; and that whatever im- 
 partial history may say of the wisdom of the movement, it 
 will pronounce their intentions pure and patriotic. It is 
 proof of the estimation in which Mr. Sherman was already 
 held, that he was selected to bear responsibilities which 
 New England would confide to none but her most tried 
 and able men. In this galaxy of eminent statesmen he 
 shone as elsewhere with his own peculiar lustre. Of the 
 nature, objects, and doings of the convention, he has given 
 a detailed account as a witness in court, under the re- 
 sponsibilities of an oath, which has been published to the 
 world. 
 
 From 1818 to 1839 he was almost wholly devoted to 
 his profession, and held no public office, except that he 
 was occasionally a representative of his own town in the 
 legislature. He was not however without interest in, or 
 influence upon, the legislation of the state. He originated 
 and drafted many important laws, which have become 
 inwrought into her fixed policy. Most of these have ref- 
 erence to the administration of justice ; tend to abridge 
 
13 
 
 the cost and delay involved in vindicating our rights at 
 law ; and to abolish cumbrous formalities, which defeat or 
 embarrass the attainment of justice. 
 
 In 1839, he was chosen Judge of the Superior Court, 
 and Associate Judge of the Supreme Court for the revis- 
 ion of errors in this state. This station he was preemi- 
 nently fitted to adorn. He brought to it rare legal learning, 
 logical acumen, expertness in the practice of law, unbend- 
 ing integrity, untiring industry, a commanding person, a 
 dignified and courteous address. I need not say that he 
 filled the office with honor to himself and advantage to the 
 state. His written opinions in the Court of Errors, pub- 
 lished in the thirteenth and fourteenth volumes of the Con- 
 necticut Reports, will speak for themselves ; and, alas ! are 
 the most important monuments of his great intellect which 
 he has left to posterity. In May, 1842, he resigned this 
 office, on account of ill health. Since that period, he has 
 passed his time chiefly in domestic retirement, as increasing 
 infirmities have increased his need of those genial supports 
 and solaces which can only be found in the bosom of home. 
 While his body has been gradually giving way, his intellect 
 has wonderfully retained its pristine clearness, vigor and 
 elasticity. It has scarcely been affected by the decays of 
 age. To the last, so far as he had the power of articula- 
 tion, his mind appeared to seize all subjects that came 
 before it, with its wonted grasp. After a short illness, 
 which reduced him more rapidly than the worst fears of 
 his friends, he died, Dec. 30, 1844, at the age of seventy 
 one years and seven months. 
 
 I will now attempt a brief delineation of his character. 
 
 His intellect, as has been already implied, was naturally 
 of extraordinary power, invigorated by thorough discipline, 
 sharpened by constant exercise, well stored by laborious 
 
14 
 
 research, and polished to a classical finish by the study of 
 the finest models. To these high inward endowments, he 
 added a noble person, a voice of uncommon compass, 
 clearness and melody, a free and graceful elocution. Hence 
 he was not only a powerful reasoner, but a powerful orator. 
 His mind was clear, capacious, discriminating, comprehen- 
 sive. Nor was it fitful in its vigor, now breaking forth in 
 meteoric brilliancy, and then sinking into dullness and in- 
 dolence; but it had an iron patience and perseverance, 
 and was ever active, ever buoyant. This trait it possessed 
 in a most extraordinary degree. It never seemed to flag 
 or shrink from exertion, or lose its elastic vigor under any 
 degree of bodily exhaustion or pain. There was no web 
 of sophistry, no covert flaw or labyrinthine maze in an op- 
 ponent's argument, which it would not readily detect and 
 expose. And in constructing a positive argument, his 
 method was logical and direct. Starting with some princi- 
 ple or fact which none could dispute, he would evolve from 
 it link after link, till the conclusion which he sought to es- 
 tablish, before it was looked for, seemed fastened as by an 
 adamantine chain. Above all, his mind loved clearness, 
 and abhorred all obscurity and mist. He delighted to make 
 things plain himself, and was impatient of all transcendental 
 and dreamy speculations in others. He had great confi- 
 dence in the power of truth and argument, and that what 
 he felt to be true himself, he could make appear so to oth- 
 ers. This gave an ardor and enthusiasm to his pleas, 
 which was one great cause of his success. Nor were his 
 studies and attainments exclusively professional. He was 
 largely furnished with liberal knowledge. He was well 
 versed in theology and metaphysics, and peculiarly fond of 
 the exact and natural sciences. He was familiar with the 
 science of government and political economy, and whatever 
 
15 
 
 it most concerns a statesman to know. Nor did he neg- 
 lect elegant literature. This various knowledge he made 
 tributary to his profession, in cases that could be illustrated 
 by it, and sometimes astonished and delighted his auditors, 
 as he poured forth its treasures. 
 
 But our venerable friend and brother was not only a 
 great, he was also a good man : good, not merely accord- 
 ing to the standard of worldly and fashionable virtue, but 
 according to the Christian and evangelical code. His ex- 
 traordinary gifts and endowments, the great fame and in- 
 fluence which they won for him, were strictly subordinated 
 to moral and religious principle. " What things were gain 
 to him, those he counted loss for Christ : yea, doubtless, 
 and he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 He united with the church of Christ in Yale College at 
 the age of twenty two, when he was tutor, and for nearly 
 half a century has adorned the doctrine he then professed. 
 As to his religious principles, they were those of our Pil- 
 grim Fathers, in which he had been educated. He loved 
 and revered the Puritan doctrine and the Puritan character. 
 Nor did he adopt his principles merely from traditional 
 authority or hereditary attachment. His great mind could 
 receive nothing for truth, without inquiry and evidence. So 
 thorough had this investigation been on his part, that there 
 were few abler theologians than he, even among the clergy. 
 Hence he was intelligent, earnest and steadfast in his reli- 
 gious opinions. Without bigotry, with the most catholic 
 spirit, with hearty love for all of every name who love the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, he was himself a Congrega- 
 tionalist and a Calvinist of the school of Edwards, Dwight 
 and Scott. These views he adopted because he believed 
 them to be taught in the Scriptures, and to accord with his 
 
16 
 
 own religious experience. He felt that by the grace of 
 God he was what he was. He was a man of prayer ; and 
 he prayed with all prayer, in the closet, the family, and the 
 Christian assembly. He had great confidence in its effi- 
 cacy, and believed the promises made to it. 
 
 He was clothed with humility, that most fundamental of 
 Christian virtues. Indeed his modest, unassuming, unob- 
 trusive spirit and manner, impressed all who became ac- 
 quainted with him ; it made his greatness still greater, and 
 lent to it its peculiar charm, its crowning glory. 
 
 He maintained the strictest integrity and uprightness in 
 all his public, private and professional transactions. He 
 scrupulously adhered to truth, fulfilled his promises, ab- 
 stained from any which he could not fulfill, would not sell 
 his conscience for office or emolument, and discouraged 
 what seemed to him to be groundless litigation. 
 
 He was remarkably kind and benevolent in his dispo- 
 sition, and free from the malevolent passions. He was 
 mild, courteous, and benignant in his deportment, com- 
 passionate and tender towards the unfortunate and dis- 
 tressed, condescending and affable to all — not appalling 
 even the humblest. He lent a charm and a dignity to the 
 society in which he moved — of which he was always 
 fond — which he illuminated and enlivened by his capa- 
 cious mind and his high conversational powers. Nor will 
 it be deemed an improper invasion of the sacredness of 
 domestic grief, if I say, that he was a model of parental 
 and conjugal love, tenderness and fidelity. 
 
 Mr. Sherman always cherished the strongest interest in 
 promoting the cause of pure religion and sound morals. 
 He gave to it the benefit of his extended influence, his 
 persuasive powers, his liberal contributions. The cause 
 of evangelical missions received his ardent and constant 
 
17 
 
 support. He plead with great frequency and eloquence 
 in behalf of home missions, being persuaded that the 
 welfare of our country and the permanency of its govern- 
 ment, depend more on Christianizing the people than 
 on the devices of statesmen. He was among the earliest 
 and most powerful advocates of the temperance cause. 
 He was deeply interested in the welfare of the colored 
 people of this land, and their relations to the well-being of 
 this country and of Africa. He believed the Colonization 
 Society to be the best medium of blessing the African 
 race in this country and their own. He was grieved that 
 it received so feeble a support from the Christian com- 
 munity. He had of late deeply interested himself in the 
 cause. He had called the attention of clergymen to it, 
 as he had opportunity. He was exceedingly anxious to 
 attend the recent meeting of Consociation in Southport, 
 for the purpose of laying the subject before the ministers 
 and delegates. He had prepared himself to start; but 
 found himself so ill that he was obliged to desist. From 
 that time he sunk rapidly, and before the lapse of a fort- 
 night, was released from all further earthly toils and 
 responsibilities. 
 
 As an upholder of good public objects, a counsellor 
 and adviser in private and public affairs, Mr. Sherman 
 was much resorted to from this parish, town and vicinity, 
 and indeed from a still greater distance, and from wider 
 spheres. In this respect his loss will be, to human view, 
 irreparable. But in his own church and society, it will 
 be most directly and intensely felt. They w r ere dear to 
 him as the apple of his eye, for he preferred Jerusalem 
 above his chief joy. He was ardently devoted to its 
 peace, welfare, and enlargement. While he gave it a 
 large pecuniary support ; yet this was not the most im- 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 portant of the services he rendered to it. He was an 
 invaluable counsellor. By the amenity of his temper, the 
 suavity of his manners, and his persuasive eloquence, he 
 gave a strong support to all important measures, and did 
 much to preserve peace and unity. He delighted to attend 
 and sustain all our social meetings. And when the aid of 
 the brethren was needed, he was a powerful helper. In 
 expounding the Scriptures and giving the word of exhorta- 
 tion, he was mighty. And how shall the void be filled 1 
 Of late he often expressed his grief to me, that his feeble- 
 ness disabled him from attending our evening meetings. 
 May his mantle fall upon his surviving brethren ! If be- 
 yond the sanctuary of domestic grief, one place more than 
 another feels an aching void, it is the sanctuary of God ! 
 If any beyond his own desolated fireside have cause of 
 weeping and lamentation, I more ! He was peculiarly 
 fond of the society of ministers, and far and wide enjoyed 
 their confidence and esteem. His influence and opinions 
 were highly valued by them. To his own pastors he 
 was ever a stay and helper, doing his utmost to promote 
 their usefulness and salutary influence, as my brethren 
 who have preceded me will bear me witness. And in 
 these things, with which a stranger intermeddleth not, 
 they alone can fully appreciate my meaning. 
 
 For the bereaved and estimable lady, who is now sud- 
 denly left solitary after having been so long cheered by 
 his presence, and the helper of his joy, this occasion has 
 the deepest, tenderest interest. It is our hope and prayer, 
 that in this sorrowful crisis she will be supported by that 
 gospel which she has so long received, and which was 
 the sufficient stay of her departed husband in the still 
 more trying hour of death ; and that she will be enabled 
 so to improve this melancholy dispensation, that it shall 
 
19 
 
 work out for her a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory; and that when her summons also shall come, 
 she may go to her rest as a shock of corn ready in its 
 season. Great, peculiar mercies are mixed in this cup of 
 affliction. Indeed, all that in the character of her be- 
 reaved husband which renders his loss peculiarly great, 
 is of God's peculiar mercy. 
 
 Let me exhort this church and society, together with 
 his public associates, professional brethren, and personal 
 friends, particularly, and all this great assembly generally, 
 to lay this dispensation to heart. It is a great, a solemn, 
 a mournful event. How are the mighty fallen ! The 
 fathers, where are they ? One of our strong pillars is 
 shattered and torn from underneath the temple. He must 
 be scarcely a man who is not softened and humbled by it. 
 As human helps fail, let us go to the Lord Jehovah, in 
 whom is everlasting strength. Although men die, he ever 
 liveth ; and because he lives, his church shall live also, 
 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Let us 
 then be moved to especial and extraordinary prayer, that 
 God would supply what he has taken from us. " Help, 
 Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from 
 among the children of men." It is exhibited as a sign of 
 a degenerate and sinking race, to be unaffected by the 
 deaths of God's servants. The prophet sounds the alarm, 
 because the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to 
 heart. Let then those that survive, ponder these things, 
 and be subdued and chastened. Let them consider, that 
 to them are now passed the burdens and responsibilities 
 hitherto borne by God's servants, whom he has taken to 
 their eternal rest. Let them manfully, and in dependence 
 upon God, meet the crisis, and discharge the high trust 
 he has confided to them. Let them put their two talents 
 
20 
 
 to use, and he shall give them other two. Let them come 
 up to the help of the Lord, the help of the Lord against 
 the mighty. And the set time to favor Zion will come, 
 because his servants take pleasure in the stones and favor 
 the dust thereof. 
 
 Let me speak a word to those who are without that 
 faith, and rejecters of that Savior, which were the support 
 and solace of our venerated and deceased brother, in his 
 dying hour. With all his vast endowments and resources, 
 his possession of all worldly good to which human ambi- 
 tion aspires, he counted all but loss for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Jesus Christ. He deemed man in his 
 best estate to be altogether vanity. If he then dared trust 
 no other foundation but Christ crucified, received by faith, 
 and honored by a holy life, how shall ye escape, if 
 
 YE NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION ! 
 
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