Excerpt from The Evidences of Christianity, in Their External Division: Exhibited in a Course of Lectures, Delivered in Clinton Hall, in the Winter of 1831-2, Under the Appointment of the University or the City or New York To lay them all aside in their wonted retirement, and begin anew both in study and writing Thus in the midst of exhausting duties, as a parish mi nister, and in a state of health by no means well established, he was unexpectedly committed to an amount of labour which, had it been all foreseen, he would not have dared to undertake. Mean while, a class of many hundreds, from among the most intelligent in the community, and composed, to a considerable extent, of members of the New York Young Men's Society for intellectual and moral improvement, had been formed, and was waiting the commencement of the course. A more Interesting, important, or attentive assemblageof mind and character, no one need wish to address. The burden of preparation was delightfully com pensated by the pleasure of speaking to such an audience. The lecturer could not but feel an en grossing impression of the privilege, as well as responsibility of such an opportunity of usefulness He would thankfully acknowledge the kindness of divine Providence, in his having been permitted and persuaded to embrace it, and for a measure of health, in the prosecution of its duties, far beyond what he had reason to e'xpect. His debt of gratitude is inex. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.