This page has been validated.

[ 32 ]

the ever faithful pastor. As it regarded his manner of preaching it was remarkable. He abounded in anecdotes, for he was a close observer of everything that was transpiring around him, and having travelled extensively and gathered much information therefrom, he could illustrate his subjects to the comprehension of, all classes of his hearers from things seen, and, like his great teacher the Lord Jesus, whose life and example he sought to imitate, he had the peculiar faculty of drawing abundantly from the book of nature a variety of subjects, and adapting and applying them to some text of Scripture so easily comprehended as to give a point and edge to his subject that convinced and cut into the consciences of sinners, convincing them of the truth of God's Word. His manner was bold, his voice clear and loud. In his invitations to the trembling mourner and earnest inquirer he was interestingly mild and inviting; but to the careless sinner, in his denunciations he was terrible. The flashes of his eye, in contrast with his tall, commanding and noble figure, his gestures at the same time giving a cast to his earnestness of soul, at once struck and awed the most wayward and inconsiderate; it has been said of him "he was wise to win souls."

Mr. Gloucester was not only a faithful man in his pulpit, but out of it; he visited extensively among his people, not only among his own followers or members, but wherever he could find access. The poor, the lowly, the outcast found in him an adviser, a friend. In this he was the reformer as well as the Gospel minister. He became, so to speak, all things unto all men, that by all means he might save some. He had the peculiar gift of entering into the feelings of the people. If he saw anything wrong among the families he visited, in their domestic matters