Mrs. Leifchild might well be proud of her husband; and here, in conclusion, let me repeat what I have said elsewhere: his sermons were constructed upon the principle of reaching a climax in the peroration. All prepared for that, and he used to lay down this maxim for pulpit oratory: “Begin low, proceed slow; rise higher, catch fire; be self-possessed when most impressed.” Though he produced wonderful effects at public meetings, the pulpit was his throne, where he ruled his audience with a kind of imperial sway. His skill in the introduction of religious topics into common conversation was very remarkable, and he abounded in anecdotes illustrative of scripture truth and spiritual experience. On his death bed he fancied himself entering within the everlasting doors, and exclaimed, “Why, don’t you hear it, those beautiful harps? You can’t all go in with me. I must go first; but keep close behind me, and open the gates wide, wide, wide for all.” On his tombstone are inscribed these words of his own: “I will creep as well as I can to Thy gates. I will die at Thy door. Yea, I will be found dead on the threshold of Thy mercy, with the ring of that door in my hand.” {55} IV. THE FOURTH PASTORATE. _THE REV. ROBERT VAUGHAN_, _D.D._ 1825–1843. DR. LEIFCHILD relinquished the pastorate in August, 1824. Dr. Vaughan received a “call” signed by about eighty members, and this he accepted in February, 1825. His acceptance is dated from Worcester. “It is not,” he says, “without being truly thankful for the many blessings which have accompanied my religious connection in this city that I yield to the influence of circumstances, which in my own view and that of the more judicious of my friends, fully warrant the step which I now take in freely stating my acceptance of your call. I do, however, wish you, my dear friends, to be fully aware that I have not dared to proceed thus far without confiding greatly in your deeper sympathies, and more fervent prayers in my behalf. The doctrines I have preached in your hearing will never I trust lose their prominence in my ministry. To my own heart they yield its best, its only stay, and to apply them as a balm of never-failing efficacy to your spirits is what I now propose as the one object of my life while continued as your pastor.”