" Were I to adopt the figurative lanenage of Bnnyan, I might date this letter from the land of Benlah, of which I have been for some weeks a hn|)py inhabitant. The ce- lestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon nie, its odors are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothinj,' separates me from it but the river of death, which now appears but as an insigniticant rill, that may he crossed at a single step whenever God shall give perniissioii. The Sun of Righteousness has gradually been drawing nearer and nearer, appearinji larger and brighter as he approach- ed, and now he tills the whole hemisphere, pouriug f(n-th a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams ofthe sun ; exulting, yet almost trembling, wliile I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wondering, with nnutierable wonder, why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm. A single heart and a single tongue seem altogether inadequate to my wants. I want a whole heart for every separate emotion, and a whole tongue to express that emotion."
Among his uncommon intellectual powers, a rich, philo- sophical, and consecrated imagination was the most con- spicuous. Without any ofthe graces ofthe orator, his preaching had the most vivid eloquence of truth and feeling. In his prayers especially there was a solem- nity, fulness, originalitv, variety, pathos, and sul)limity seldom equalled. His elociuent address to the Bible So- ciety has been published as one of the tracts of the American Tract Society. He published a discourse on the Worth ofthe Bible, an Add?-ess to Seamen, and a Thanksgiving Sermon. A memoir of his Life, by Dr. Asa Cummings, was published (2d ed. 1830); also a volume of Sermoris (1828, 8vo) ; another volume (1831. 12mo); another, to fainilics (1833). In 1M59 Dr. Payson's Com- plete Wo)-ks were brought out at Philadelphia, with the memoir by Cummings (3 vols. 8vo). The Xoj-th Brit- ish Review (Nov. 1859), in noticing this edition, takes
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occasion to say of Dr. Payson : " To a close and fa- miliar acquaintance with the Scriptures, he added great breadth of intellect and varied literary attainments. In- timate knowledge of the human conscience was joined to massiveness of thought vouching the ways of (iod to man. In several of the sermons we have again and again had suggested to us one in whom these features found an almost perfect expression — the late Edward Irving. . . . We are not acquainted with any recent work in practical theology v/hich better deserves a place in the library of every Christian gentleman and minister than this edition of the memoir and works of Dr. Payson." We regret to say that the edition of Dr. Payson's life and works is now exhausted. They should certainly be reissued in a more popular and abridged form, so as to have a wide circulation among ministers and Christians of all denominations. The Rev. E. L. Janes, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has done a good work in extracting from the volumes referred to some of their choice gems, and giving a very concise view of the salient points of his character and ministry. In the absence of the large volumes, this book (N. Y. 1872, 8vo) maj^ be read with great profit. See also Sprague, A finals of the A me?: Pulpit, ii, 503 ; Allen, Diet, of A met: Biog. s. v.; Dr. Levi K. Dunn, in Christian Advocate, 1872; Our Pastor, or Reminiscences of Rev. E. Payson, D.D., by one of his flock (Boston, 1855, 12mo) ; Sketches of Eloquent Preachers (1864, 12mo) ; AUibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer, A uthors, vol. ii, s. v.
Payson, Seth, D.D., a Congregational minister, father of the preceding, was born in September, 1758. lie graduated at Harvard College in 1777, and was or- dained pastor at Rindge, N. II., December, 1782. He was made D.D. by Dartmouth College in 1809, and trustee in 1813; and in 1819 was one of a committee to choose a site for Williams College, about to be re- moved. Immediately after finishing this duty, he was taken sick, and died Feb. 2G, 1820. Dr. Payson pub- lished ''Proofs of the Existence and dangerous Tendenci/ of modern Illuminism" (1802), and several occasional sermons. See Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, ii, 299.
Paz. See Gold.
Pazmany, Pkter, a Hungarian cardinal, was born Oct. 4, 1570, at Grosswardein. At the age of thirteen he was converted to Romanism, and shortly after en- tered the Order of the Jesuits, and taught theologj' at Griitz. In 1G07 he returned to his own country, and de- voted himself from that time to combating the progress of Protestantism. Joining to an enchanting elotiuence the most charming manners, he succeeded well in his efforts. Appointed in 1G16 archbishop of Gran, he used his posi- tion as primate of the kingdom to elect to the throne, in 1618, Ferdinand, archduke of Austria. In 1632 he re- turned to Rome, to negotiate the mediation of pope Ur- ban VIII in favor of the establishment of peace. Three years previously he had been appointed cardinal. He died at Prcsburg March 19, 1637. Pazmany spent more than half a million of florins in founding institutions of learning, such as the University of Tyrnau, which, trans- ported to Pesth, still exists; the Pazmaneum, at Vienna, etc. He wrote in Latin and Hungarian; the latter tongue he used to better advantage and with greater purity than any of his contemporaries. Fifteen works of his are polemic and devotional, and among these we -vvill quote, Hodegus, sen dux ad verifatem, in quo ostenditur vanitas sectantm Catholicm fidei adversan- iium (Pesth, 1813, 3 vols, fol.) : — Condones in Evangelia omnium Dominicarum (1636 and 1767, fol.). See Ho- ranyi, Afemorice Ilungarornm, vol. iii ; Podhradezky, Life of Pazmany, in Hungarian (Buda, 1836). — Iloefer, Kouv. Biog. Generale, xxxix, 43.