times on each Lord's-day. In all the Churches of the city he was welcomed as a preacher, and his services were gladly sought, for occasions when there was a special desire to make an impression upon the mind of the community, or to enlist their interests in any proposed object. Probably no clergyman of any denomination has ever acquired and sustained, in the city of Philadelphia, so large a share of public admiration and acceptance as a preacher, as Dr. Bedell. This was the fact upon his very first removal to this city. Wherever he was expected to preach, a large crowd was sure to be present, and few, it is believed, went away disappointed.

In the autumn of 1822, he commenced a regular service for the benefit of his own congregation. This was held for a time in the Masonic Hall. Subsequently, and through the succeeding winter, the Vestry of St. James' Church, with great liberality, granted to him the use of their house of worship on Sunday evenings. And when these services were closed, preparatory to his entrance upon the new Church which had been erected, they permitted him also to take up a collection for the benefit of his new enterprise. His preaching during this year was eminently useful. His powers as an orator attracted very general attention, and the directness and freedom with which he preached the great truths of the Gospel of Christ, constituting, in a great degree, an advance upon-the general style of preaching previously heard, was made, by the Spirit of God, espe

cially effectual in the conversion of souls to God. His reputation, which had spread far and wide in the Church while he was at Fayetteville, prepared the way for great interest in his efforts, and much inquiry for them, when he came to Philadelphia, and few could attend his ministry and listen to his powerful appeals without impression. One striking incident, among others, may be recorded as an evidence of the power which attended his preaching at this time.

On one of the Sunday evenings during the winter in which he was preaching at St. James' Church, a dissipated young man was passing the Church with a number of gay and thoughtless companions, when their attention was arrested by the sound of the preacher's voice. Some of the company exclaimed, “Come, let us go in and hear what this man has to say, that every body is running after." He vociferated in reply, "No, I would not go inside of such a place, if Jesus Christ himself was preaching." On another evening, some weeks after, this young man was again passing the same place, and the former invitation of his thoughtless companions occurred to his mind. Being alone, and with no particular object in view at the time, he resolved to indulge a momentary curiosity, if he could effect it without being observed. On opening the door he was awed by the solemn silence of the place, though the house was excessively crowded. Every eye was fixed upon the preacher, just rising to commence his discourse. He mingled in the crowd

without fear of observation; but his attention was suddenly arrested, and he was riveted to the spot, by the solemn annunciation of the text-"I saw a young man void of understanding." His conscience was smitten at once by the power of truth. The sermon progressed, and he became more and more convinced that he was the "young man void of understanding." A view of his profligate life passed before his eyes, and for the first time he trembled and was humbled under the consciousness of his sin. He heard the sermon through, and was the last person to leave the Church. He gazed with an intense interest on the preacher, until he, with the congregation, had passed out of the Church. He found himself alone in the house before so crowded, and walked slowly out and returned to his home, conscience presenting to his astonished view, the awful picture of ruin in this world, and eternal perdition in the world to come. He had early imbibed the awful principles and adopted the habits of French infidelity, and he had these, with all their connecting circumstances, to oppose him in the new views which he had been compelled to take of himself. But the Spirit which had aroused him in his folly, led him to a persevering attendance upon the ministry of him who had been the chosen instrument of awakening his mind. His proud heart was made to yield. He cast away his besetting sin, and made his new arrangements for a life of virtue and holiness. He subsequently made a profession of faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ, and of personal devotion to his service, and has been made a seal of God to the apostleship of this valued minister of Christ.

Another interesting incident, though of a somewhat different character, may be introduced, as occurring in the same year. A lady in South Carolina, who was well acquainted with Mr. Bedell, accidentally mentioned his name in the presence of a respectable Presbyterian clergyman, who, attracted by the name, asked her if she knew him. On her replying in the affirmative, he took her by the hand, and said, "I must be better acquainted with you, for I am exceedingly interested in him." She asked the reason of his peculiar interest? He answered, "The last summer I was in Hartford, Connecticut, when he visited that place. I attended his preaching on every occasion there, and am indebted to him, under God, for making very lasting impressions on my mind, and altering, in a very important manner, my views of religion. It would be a great gratification to me, and, if I were able, I would willingly undertake the journey to Philadelphia, for the purpose of hearing him preach once more.' When this circumstance was related to Mr. Bedell, not long after it had occurred, he remarks, in reference to it in a letter to Mrs. B., "It is exceedingly gratifying to me, and must be so to you, for of all the sources of gratification which a clergyman can have in this present world, that of being useful is the most abundant, and I am hearing every day of per

sons on whose minds serious impressions have been made. Let these remarks, however, be between ourselves, and let God have the glory, for 'Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God alone can give the increase." "

With such evidences of the acceptance and power of God attending his ministry, and with his unusually attractive manner as a public speaker, it is not surprising that much attention should have been awakened by him. By these continued labours he prepared the way for the opening and occupation of his Church in the ensuing spring, and the community around were found to appreciate the worth of his services, and prepared fully to sustain the effort of private enterprise and responsibility which had proceeded in the erection of the house of God in which he was to preach the truth of Christ. On the first Sunday of June, 1823, Mr. Bedell preached for the first time in St. Andrew's Church. A large congregation immediately took possession of the Church, which continued to increase in numbers until the whole house was fully occupied, and many were unable to gain the accommodations in it which they desired. On the day after it was opened for public service, the sale of pews amounted to $33,000, and from that day sales were gradually effected, until the accommodations of the Church were all disposed of. Of this subject it is sufficient to say, that the temporal concerns of this establishment were at once, and have always since been, in the highest degree prosperous.