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 i^-v.- i. 
 
 AN ECSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 
 PAROCHIAL VISAING, 
 
 Read before the Home District Clerical Aatociationf 
 
 March 19th, 1861, &y the Rev. W. S. Darling, 
 
 assistant Minister of the Holy Trinity Church, 
 
 Toronto, and published by request. 
 
 No c et minded parish priest can fail to be 
 deeply d to the great necessity and importance 
 of tho regular and systematic visitation of his 
 parishioners. Apart from all considerations of 
 profit to himself and the flock over which the 
 Hoiy Ghost has made him overseer, he is bound 
 to fulfil this part of his duty, if he would deliver 
 his own soul from blood guiltiness, and if he 
 would be instrumental in delivering th^ souls of 
 others from the power and penalty of sin. It 
 may be safely said that no clergyman, however 
 able and exe^jplary his other ministrations, ever 
 exerted that-iimonce for good wer his flock, to 
 which he misHmgitimately have laid claim, who 
 habitually faUs to discharge this part of his duty. 
 And while as an individual he thus looses power 
 over the individual members of his j^ock, tho 
 church at large, through the same fault, suffers 
 both in the estimation of her own children And in 
 the opinions of those who are without. 
 
 t 
 

 2 
 
 
 .*V* %JL IKA 
 
 Duties of great importance and necessity how- 
 ever, are commonly duties of considerable diffi- 
 culty, and that of pastoral visitation forms no 
 exception to this rule. It may be asserted v^ith 
 some confidence that it is an almost instinctive 
 feeling of the difficulty of its proper and efficient 
 discharge, that deters some of the clergy from 
 devoting themselves to this department of their 
 work with the zeal which they display in others. 
 Its difficulty arises from a great variety of 
 causes — but at present we will advert to two only, 
 the first of which springs from ourselves, the 
 other arises from those to whom we are called to 
 minister. 
 
 As regards ourselves, we are tempted to shrink 
 from the fulfilment of this duty by the feeling 
 that, in prospect at least, it is ic' the most part 
 very irksome, and this feeling of repugnance is 
 •^ of course stronger in some minds than others, in 
 consequence of peculiarities of individual tem- 
 perament. 
 
 The fastidious man feels himself repelled by 
 course manners, and if his lot is cast in a town 
 or city he will at times find it necessary to put 
 force upon himself, before he can face the filth 
 and squalor and degradation which not unfrc- 
 quently marks the dwellings of the poor and 
 vicious who specially need his ministrations. 
 
 The young man who happens to possess a shy 
 or timid manner will be sensible of a great and 
 almost painful eflFort before he can bring himself 
 to call upon those to whom perhaps he is an utter 
 i stranger, and to admonish those who it may be 
 
 arc far his seniors in age. 
 
 The earnest hearted and devout will be tempted 
 to despair when, on reviewing the conversation 
 which has taken place between himself and his 
 parishioner, he sees how then he failed in the 
 moral courage which was necessary to make some 
 home thrust, and here how he allowed his most 
 direct appeal to be parried by some conventional 
 phraseology, or some miserable common-place. 
 
 The great bulk of the clergy feel that to spend 
 day after day in constant intercourse with those 
 who in education, feelings and social position, are, 
 
ways be, inferior in th«se respects to themselves ; 
 to labour in the proof of what is self-evident, 
 often without success, to endeavour with the like 
 result to disabuse their minds of errors, which 
 are as preposterous as they are mischievous — to 
 meet with indifference which we are unable to 
 overcome — with hardness which we are powerless 
 to soften — with ignorance increased in a triple 
 panoply of presumption — to labour on among 
 those with whom we seem to have nothing in 
 common, and to labour on with little apparent re- 
 sult, this is no small trial to our poor foeble faith, 
 and many who have begun this important part of 
 their work zealously and diligently, have allowed 
 such discouragements as have been alluded to so 
 to cast them down that they have bpconae weary 
 of what appeared to them so barren of good re- 
 sults. 
 
 In thus briefly hinting at a few of the difficulties 
 of this work arising from ourselves, some of those 
 arising from our flock have been also indicated, 
 this with yet greater brevity. They may, not- 
 withstanding the vast variety of their aspects, be 
 summed up in this general assertion, that there 
 is to be observed among all classes an almost un- 
 conscious dread of our coming, as it were to too 
 close quarters with them on those matters which 
 influence their own spiritual state — an adroitness 
 in turning aside the point of any observation 
 which may seem to have any direct application 
 to their own individual cases ; and a resolution 
 in all our intercourse with them to keep on the 
 safe ground of the merest generalities. Before 
 leaving this part of the subject it may, for the 
 sake of connexion be observed, that wo are our- 
 selves almost as apt to shrink from closer and 
 deeper communion on these points as our par- 
 ishioners, and that the want of it is often as 
 deeply felt and deplored by them as by us. As 
 we ore referring at present only to the difficulties 
 of this portion of our office, any suggestion by 
 which they may be overcome must be postponed. 
 
 But beside the difficulties which encompass the 
 fulfilment of this duty, there are also great 
 dangers against which wo must ever be on our 
 guard. Dangers of which we must all to a 
 
fw'Y' 
 
 s ■• 
 
 ' I,: 
 
 I 
 
 sr t)r less <di<^fee be sensible, and which 
 tfareikten both our own goals, and the souls of 
 those committed to our care. 
 
 ETory parish must have felt how much greater 
 the cliffieulties are of ministering directly to the 
 u^per class of our 'parishioners, than to those of 
 a. more humble station, and in no department of 
 jduty are these difficulties more manifest than in 
 patochial ministration. There is a sort of con- 
 ventional restraint which embarrasses such per- 
 :8on» when topics of a grave nature are introduced, 
 which often leads to so great a feeling of discom- 
 fort on both sides as to prove a constant and too 
 frequently MUBcessful temptation to slip into the 
 common place subjects of ordinary conversation, 
 and we leave the house with the unsatisfactory 
 conviction that instead of having paid a visit, we 
 have merely made *' a call." It is not said that 
 sueh calls are not of use, or that even if we fail 
 in being able to turn them to better account, we 
 should therefore neglect them — nothing should 
 be omitted by us which may tend to cultivate a 
 kind and friendly feeling between ourselves and 
 all the members of our flock, and we must not 
 consider ourselves exonerated from the obligation 
 to attend to the proper attentions and conven- 
 tionalities of society. It is merely suggested 
 that the temptation to be satisfied mth making 
 mere ** calls " upon the higher class of our par- 
 ishioners, is a great danger to which we are 
 exposed, and which every conscientious clergyman 
 has felt — a danger which it requires unusual tact, 
 earnestness, and ability altogether to avoid. To 
 assume an unreal and professional sort of gravity 
 •*— to feel ourselves bound to adopt a stiff and un- 
 natural manner is a mistake so great as to be 
 seldom fallen into, unless by young men who 
 unite great conscientiousness, and a deep sense 
 of the responsibility of their office with inex- 
 perience and ignorance of mankind — to drag in 
 the subject of religion upon all occasions, is so 
 offensive and indeed so irreverent that it has even 
 been productive of more harm than good. But 
 in avoiding one error we are bound to be very 
 watchful against the great danger of falling into 
 the opposite mistake ; in avoiding assumed gravity 
 
5 
 
 Etnd trfaicfh 
 e souls of 
 
 ich greater 
 ctly io the 
 to those of 
 artment of 
 st than in 
 rt of con- 
 i such per- 
 introduced. 
 of discom- 
 [int and too 
 lip into the 
 nversation, 
 satisfactory 
 a Yisit, we 
 3t said that 
 n if we fail 
 iccount, we 
 ling should 
 cultivate a 
 rselves and 
 re must not 
 ) obligation 
 nd conven- 
 suggested 
 rith making 
 of our par- 
 Lch we are 
 3 clergyman 
 nusual tact, 
 avoid. To 
 t of gravity 
 itiff and un- 
 eat as to bo 
 5 men who 
 deep sense 
 with inex- 
 .to drag in 
 isions, is so 
 it has even 
 good. But 
 to be very 
 falling into 
 imed gravity 
 
 we must in our earlier days especially be watch- 
 ful against yielding to our natural levity, and in 
 guarding against our unwise introduction of the 
 subject of religion, we must be careful lest we 
 fall into the equally great error of leaving it out 
 altogether. 
 
 Every one howevpr who feels bound to make 
 the attempt to steer this middle course must be 
 ready to acknowledge how much more easy it is 
 to point the way to others than to follow it him- 
 self. 
 
 The suggestion of Professor Blunt in his very 
 valuable book, " The Duties of the Parish Priest," 
 that with the class of our parishioners alluded to, 
 our conversation on ordinary occasions should 
 be ecclesiastical rather than religious, appears 
 the most judicious course that can be adopted, 
 and the experience of the writer convinces him, 
 that it is in attempting to follow out that sug- 
 gestion that the best and most frequent oppor- 
 tunities occur for adverting briefly but naturally 
 to those deeper and more directly spiritual topics 
 to which we should ever be anxious to refer, re- 
 membering that the nature of the work we are 
 called upon to do is nothing less than to " win 
 souls to Christ." 
 
 In visiting our parishioners of the humble class 
 we are at once set free from the difficulties which 
 encompass our pastoral intercourse with those 
 just alluded to, but we meet with others hardly 
 less formidable in the danger to which they 
 expose both the shepherd and the sheep. As 
 this, however, is a paper read before those who 
 having been for the most part for years in orders, 
 and not a treatise intended for the instruction of 
 those about to enter upon the work, there 
 is no necessity as there is no space to enter upon 
 any detailed description of them. It may suffice 
 to give expression to what we all have felt that 
 much of the unprofitableness of our religious in- 
 tercouse with this portion of our flock is to be 
 attributed to our want of some definite object in 
 our visits. We are too apt to " drop in " upon a 
 parishioner of this class without thinking of any 
 special topic of religious faith or duty to be urged 
 upon his attention, and therefore, after the ordi- 
 
nary salutations and common places are over, we 
 often feel somewhat at a loss how to proceed, 
 and the feeling being common both to oursehes 
 and the person visited, the time is apt to pass 
 away in a sort of objectless parochial gossip very 
 little profitable to either party. 
 
 The great necessity^ the great difficulty and 
 the great dangers of this part of our work having 
 thus been briefly indicated, it seems better before 
 oflfering any suggestions for its efficient fulfilment 
 to draw encouragement to attempt that fulfilment 
 from the equally brief consideration of its great 
 rewards. 
 
 And first among them stands the great gift of 
 inward peace. There is no duty (it may be said,) 
 to the faithful discharge of which God so imme- 
 diately and abundantly vouchsafes this blessed 
 return. Who has not felt on setting out in the 
 burning sun or the blinding snow for a long day's 
 ride or drive over heavy lonely roads, the irksome- 
 ness of the duty he was about to undertake ; who 
 has not experienced the reluctance with whlcli, 
 at the imperious bidding of his conscience, he has 
 closed his book or laid down his pen, to enter 
 upon this necessary — but less congenial occupa- 
 tion and never ventured to repine at the burden 
 of that necessity which was inwardly laid upon 
 him to preach the Gospel from house to house. 
 And who that has thus gone forth, almost sor- 
 rowing but returned again rejoicing — rejoicing, 
 but not that he had returned, but that he had 
 gone forth, feeling that notwithstanding all his 
 feebleness, and mistakes, and inefficiency, yet 
 so merciful is the Master whom he serves, that 
 He has vouchsafed to accept his humble but 
 honest attempts to obey His will, and has lifted 
 up the light of his countenance upon him and 
 given him the blessing of peace. The heart that 
 in the morning was weighed down by the thought 
 of the weariness of the work, is now, even amidst 
 bodily fatigue, singing with calm and holy joy, 
 and he lies down knowing not at which most to 
 marvel, his own slowness and selfishness in 
 shrinking from or hesitating in the discharge of 
 such a duty, or the greatness of his Saviour's 
 love and condescension in granting to so poor a 
 
over, we 
 proceed, 
 ourselves 
 )t to pass 
 OS sip very 
 
 [iculty and 
 ork having 
 tter before 
 ; fulfilment 
 fulfilment 
 its great 
 
 reat gift of 
 ly be said,) 
 d so imme- 
 biis blessed 
 
 out in the 
 
 long day's 
 le irksome- 
 rtake; who 
 with v?hich, 
 jnce, he has 
 en, to enter 
 lial occupa- 
 
 the burden 
 jr laid upon 
 e to house, 
 almost sor- 
 — rejoicing, 
 hat he had 
 ding all his 
 [ciency, yet 
 serves, that 
 humble but 
 d has lifted 
 »on him and 
 e heart that 
 
 the thought 
 even amidst 
 id holy joy, 
 lich most to 
 Ifishness in 
 discharge of 
 lis Saviour's 
 to so poor a 
 
 IV V , "i 
 
 service such a rich reward. 
 
 In addition to this, however, we have another 
 inducement to the fulfilment of this part of our 
 work in the addition to our knowledge which we 
 obtain from close personal intercourse with even 
 the most unlettered of our flock — knowledge 
 which is absolutely necessary to the eflficicent 
 discharge of our duties, and which cannot be 
 otherwise obtained. Clergymen who have been 
 highly educated, but who from circumstances 
 have never been thrown into intimate contact with 
 the untaught mind, are often so manifestly want- 
 ing in this description of knowledge that it has 
 been one means of keeping alive that most pre- 
 posterous of all fallacies that ever seized upon 
 the mind of an unreflecting mob, viz., that high 
 intellectual culture is not necessary for the 
 clergy. Nothing seems a more unquestionable 
 truth than this, that those amongst us who by 
 circumstances have been debarred from the pos- 
 session of this advantage, whatever other know- 
 ledge they may possess, or however efficiently they 
 may use it, are not equal to what they would 
 themselves have been had they enjoyed that 
 thorough mental training which a proper uni* 
 versity course honestly and heartily improved is 
 calculated to convpy. But we must also remem- 
 ber that it is very possible indeed for one who 
 has GDJoyed all the advantages of such a course 
 to be comparatively speaking a very inefficient 
 clergyman for want of that knowledge which no 
 such training can convey, and which he can ob- 
 tain only through close and kindly intercourse 
 with his people in pastoral visitation. 
 
 Such a man can form no idea of the altitude of 
 the unlettered mind, he is, as you may learn 
 from any sermon you may hear him preach — pro- 
 foundly ignorant of their modes of thought and 
 expression— to the old woman, who sat with open 
 mouth drinking in his grand words .and lofty 
 thoughts with wondering admiration, you have on 
 Monday morning to explain what was the leading 
 idea whioh he had been endeavouring to enforce, 
 for you find that she had not gained the faintest 
 glimmer of his real meaning. 
 
f 
 
 8 
 
 for his work — he ought to have that intellectual 
 training which education bestows, he must have 
 that knowledge of the needs of his people's souls 
 which intercourse with them can alone conyey 
 before he can prove himself " a workman that 
 needeth not be ashamed." It is in the houses of 
 his parishioners that he will gather the ideas for 
 his most effective sermons, and it is there also 
 that he will gradually learn the language and the 
 illustrations in which those ideas can be most 
 forcibly and clearly set forth. As regards our 
 flocks, I need hardly say to this audience how 
 undoubted are the benefits resulting to them 
 from the wise and affectionate discharge of this 
 part of our duty, how difficulties are explained, 
 how misapprehensions are overcome, and how 
 indifference to religious duties turned through 
 God's grace into earnestness. ' - 
 
 Neither need I enlarge upon the unequalled 
 power which it possesses in winning for us that 
 place in our people's hearts which rightly used is 
 one of our most potent instrumentalities for good. 
 On these points much might be said which cannot, 
 however, without presumption be said to those 
 who are now addressed, and therefore we will 
 |)ass on to the consideration of some suggestions 
 for the carrying out of this work — suggestions 
 which have borne the test to a greater or less ex- 
 tent of practical experience, and which though 
 they cannot present much of novelty to those who 
 have been long in orders may nevertheless be 
 possibly of some use to our less experienced 
 brethren. 
 
 First, as regards country parishes. 
 
 One of the great difficulties with which the 
 country clergyman has to contend, is the usually 
 wide extent of his mission, and the thinly 
 scattered character of the population. Great 
 expenditure of time and labour is necessarily in- 
 volved in the production of comparatively small 
 results, for a longer period is frequently required 
 to reach his distant parishioners, than to visit 
 them when he has arrived at their abode — system 
 therefore is very necessary in order to overcome 
 this difficulty and to render this department of 
 our work thorough and satisfactory. One of the 
 
first measures which the writer ventures to sug- 
 gest is that as soon as the clergyman is sufficiently 
 acquainted with the locality to which he has 
 been appointed he should divide his mission into 
 "routes," which from the regular manner in 
 which our rouds are laid out in the settled parts 
 of the country is generally (though not invariably) 
 a matter of little difficulty. These "routes." 
 numbered or otherwise distinguished, should, in 
 the fulfilment of our ordinary visitation, be sys- 
 tematically followed up, and never left unless for 
 "sick visits," or some other equally urgent call, 
 until every household within their limits who 
 will accept, our ministrations has been visited. 
 
 I venture to think, from some experience, and 
 from many blunders made during its course, that 
 to adopt some such arrangement and faithfully 
 to adhere to it, is productive of benefits far be- 
 yond the mere systematic character which it 
 would give to our eflForts. 
 
 Every parish priest must have felt that their 
 are certain families within his cure, who from 
 vicious habits, indifference to religion, dislike to 
 its ministers, or a variety of other causes he finds 
 it extremely irksome to visit, and whom there- 
 fore he \8 tempted to pass over, though perhaps they 
 more than any other require his pastoral care. 
 Again there are families who live in some out of 
 the way corner of the mission, far from the 
 roads which he is accustomed to travel, and who 
 in consequence are (without any deliberate in- 
 tention,) apt to be overlooked. And once more 
 there are parishioners who live close at hand, 
 whose houses are just over the way — and who, be- 
 cause they can be visited at any time, are therefore 
 often hardly visited at all. Now it appears to 
 the writer that the adoption of the system of 
 "routes," in some one of which each one of 
 these families has its place, is the most effectual 
 remedy against the danger of these neglects — 
 supposing of course that each of them is con- 
 scientiously followed until every family belonging 
 to the church and resident upon them had been 
 visited. Beside this danger of neglect there is 
 the almost greater danger of "favouritism." 
 There are a few families in the parish perhaps, 
 
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 1 
 
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 10 
 
 who fram Bocial poution, manners, and education 
 form the naturally congenial society of the cler- 
 gyman and household, and our intercourse with 
 them may (within reasonable bounds) be 4nore 
 close und frequent than with the rest of our 
 parishioners, withou^. much risk of offence or 
 jealousy on their part. But if our intimacy with 
 theim leads to manifest neglect of those in a 
 humbler sphere, then we must be prepared for 
 the existence, if net the display, of discontent. 
 A inore dangerous and a more frequent temptation 
 to favouritism is met with in those families who 
 though on a social equality with their neighbours, 
 are their superiors in the earnestness and de- 
 voutness of their christian character, and iu the 
 hearty and understanding nature of their attach- 
 ment to the Church. It is a great relreshment to 
 the clergyman to visit such persons, and his visits 
 are welcomed by them with great and unfeigned 
 pleasure, but by yielding too frequently or ex- 
 clusively to the gratification it affords, offence 
 has been given to a whole neighbourhood, and 
 the [clergyman's influence seriously crippled. 
 Now the adoption and faithful carrying out of 
 the system of " routes " will tend to guard us 
 against the evil of '* favouritism " on the one hand 
 ns effectually as against the evil of neglect on 
 the other, yet it will prove sufficiently elastic to 
 allow us to pay a somewhat larger measure of 
 attention to the more earnest and prominent 
 members of our flock ; while it will keep us from 
 the sin and danger of altogether overlooking those 
 who are remott) in po»ition, humble in station, or 
 cold and indifferent in religion. 
 
 Supposing, however, that we have resolved to 
 adopt some such system as the one suggested, the 
 thoughtful and conscientious clergyman will ask 
 himself how he is to render these systematic and 
 periodical visits most profitable to those com- 
 mitted to his cai'e. 
 
 In an earlier part of this paper, when adverting 
 to the difficulties of this work, the unprofitable- 
 ness of yielding to an objectless parochial gossip 
 was mentioned as one with which we should meet 
 espooially when our visits become frequently 
 repeated* In avoiding this temptation by the 
 
11 
 
 Lcl education 
 of the cler- 
 rcourse with 
 Is) be jmore 
 rest of our 
 f offence or 
 timacy with 
 tbose in a 
 prepared for 
 f discontent, 
 it temptation 
 families who 
 r neighbours, 
 ness and de- 
 )r, and in the 
 ' their attach- 
 'ireshment to 
 and his visits 
 nd unfeigned 
 uently or ox- 
 fords, offence 
 3ourhood, and 
 isly crippled, 
 rrying out of 
 i to guard us 
 a the one hand 
 of neglect on 
 ntly elastic to 
 3r measure of 
 ad prominent 
 L keep us from 
 irlooking those 
 I in station, or 
 
 ve resolved to 
 suggested, the 
 jrman will ask 
 ystematic and 
 to those com- 
 
 vhen adverting 
 I unprofltable- 
 rochlal gossip 
 we should meet 
 me frequentiy 
 itation by the 
 
 introduction of directly religious topics, we shall 
 find, without some previous care, that we shall 
 be prone almost unconsciously to recur to the 
 same subjects again and again, and then run the 
 risk of rendering our visits tedious and unaccept- 
 able. To escape this error, some clergymen con- 
 fine their conversation over-much (the writer 
 humbly ventures to think) to merely secular 
 subjects — the weather, the crops, and the markets 
 must more or less come up among an agricultural 
 people, but if we would be faithful in our work, 
 they must soon be left for higher topics, or made 
 subservient^to their inculcation to do so naturally 
 and without constraint, is a talent well worthy 
 of thought and cultivation on the part of every 
 clergyman who desires through divine grace to 
 become *' an able minister ef the New Testament." 
 
 One means of avoiding these diificulties which 
 the experience of the writer leads him respect- 
 fully to suggest to his brethren is the desirability 
 of the priest before setting out on the ordinary 
 visitation of the parish, to select some one sub- 
 ject, and resolva that unless deterred by some 
 special reason, he will draw the conversation 
 towards that particular doctrine or duty in every 
 house which he enters, adapting his application 
 of it, as lar as his tact and judgment aids him, 
 to the different character and circumstances of 
 the several families. 
 
 On one round of visitation, the subject of pri- 
 vnto prayer may be the topic chosen. On the 
 next round, the duty of fataily prayer may 
 bo enforced. Public worship, the Holy Com- 
 munion, the duty of joining in the singing, or in 
 the responses; the responsibilities of parents; 
 truthfulness; honesty; almsgiving; in fact the 
 whole round of the faith and practice may by 
 degrees bo presented in this way to our flocks in 
 their more simple and practical aspects. The 
 adoption of some such plan gives a point and 
 profit to our visits which they can never possess, 
 if paid without plan or object. A single word 
 entered in our parish note book will guard us 
 against a too speedy repetition of the same sub* 
 ject in the same "route," and the w<de scope 
 supplied by all these subjects affords the means 
 
12 
 
 of bringing them homo with greater or less dis- 
 tinctness in the way of warning, exhortation, or 
 encouragement to the various classes with whom 
 we may come in contact. 
 
 It will have been observed that hitherto the 
 writer has spoken of ordinary visitation only, by 
 which, of course, is meant those regular periodi- 
 cal visits which are called for by no special cir- 
 cumstances, beyond the earnest desire of the 
 diligent parish priest to discharge his duty, and 
 to benefit his flock. The regularity of this work 
 will, however, be frequently interrupted by the 
 necessity of paying visits of a special character, 
 arising from the occurrence in the parish of sick- 
 ness or affliction, and more commonly still 
 by the oft-recurring absence of some of the 
 congregation from public worship, and some of 
 the communicants from the Holy Eucharist. The 
 visitation of the sick is a subject which ought not 
 to be omitted in such a paper as the present, 
 and if time will permit, the writer hopes before 
 concluding to make some remarks upon this most 
 difficult but imperative duty. In the meantime, 
 he would draw your attention to a plan which though 
 possessing nothing very novel or brilliant has 
 nevertheless been found in the experience of the 
 writer very useful in a small community in bring- 
 ing pastoral influence to bear on those who were 
 irregular in attendance at church or unfrequent 
 in their approach to the table of the Lord. 
 
 We must all have felt how easy it is, even 
 in small congregations, to overlook the absence 
 of some of our ordinary worshippers. We at 
 last detect the fact that his place is vacant, 
 or it is, perhaps, mentioned to us, and then 
 it strikes us that it has been so for a con- 
 siderable time, and wc wonder that we did 
 not observe it before. We resolve that wo 
 will go an<l see him without delay ; but some 
 urgent duty on th< Monday detains us from 
 our purpose, and then perhaps it escapes our 
 recollection, and in this way weeks will sometimes 
 go by before we fulfil our purpose, and that with- 
 out intentional neglect on our part. 
 
 Now, it is to guard against this, that in small 
 fixed congregations the plan alluded to is rccom- 
 
13 
 
 mended — it simply consists in having a small 
 book in -which are entered the names of the 
 various occupants of the pews or benches in the 
 church or churches wherein we minister, and 
 opposite the names a column (or where there is a 
 double service, two columns) for each Sunday. 
 In running the eye down the list of names it is 
 astonishing how accurately, at all events after a 
 little practice, we can decide upon the presence 
 or absence of its owner. A mark set down in the 
 column shows that the person opposite whose 
 name it stands was at church — the want of that 
 mark proclaims to our eye the fact of his absence. 
 Our Sunday evening's work should be the filling 
 up of this book, and making the list in our note 
 book of the absentees ; and in a village charge it 
 has a most powerful intiuence, if, during the 
 week, we can manage to call upon them. This, 
 however, in an extended rural parish, where a 
 clergyman has two or three stations to serve on 
 the same day, would be impossible; but the 
 adoption of the plan is highly beneficial even then, 
 for though it would manifestly bo far beyond our 
 power to make a special visit on the occurrence 
 of every casual absence, yet our church attend- 
 ance book, if carefully kept, (and to do so involves 
 very little trouble,) would prevent us from over- 
 looking cases of very frequent irregularity, or of 
 continued absence, and make our people feel 
 that their neglect in this particular would be 
 sure to bring us to their houses, and be made the 
 subject of kindly but uncomfortable remon- 
 btrauces. 
 
 Another list in the same book, consisting of the 
 names of the communicants, with a column headed 
 with the date of each celebration of the Holy 
 Communion, and treated in the same way, would 
 be found of the greatest service both to pastor 
 and people, and when the avornge number of 
 communicants vary from ten to thirty, there can 
 be no possible dlHiculty in keeping such a record. 
 
 There is one more suggestion which, with all 
 deference, 1 would submit to the consideration 
 of my brethren engaged in the rural districts. 
 
 A young clergyman generally and very naturally 
 endeavours to bring his influence to bear upon the 
 
r*l*f1^ 
 
 XJm^ 
 
 i \ 
 A: ■ 
 
 
 !i 
 
 i 
 
 14 
 
 heads of the families committed to his care. He 
 feels less difficulty with the seniors of the flock than 
 with the young people. He is too much on a level 
 with them in point of years to be able to treat them 
 in a paternal way, and his dread of their regard- 
 ing the subject of religion ag at all events without 
 interest, if not absolutely a bore, renders him 
 anxious to hold communion chiefly with those 
 who readily recognise his office, and acknowledge 
 the importance of his work. 
 
 As a matter of fact, however, the elder mem- 
 bers of our flock are usually those who are most 
 difficult to direct. Their religious views, if they 
 over have any, are usually fixed, and have 
 become part of themselves — their prejudices are 
 often absolutely inveterate — their standard of 
 perfection is usually the practice of some clergy- 
 man whom they knew in their youth, and whether 
 that practice was ri»ht or wrong, to vary from it 
 lays him who does so open to disapproval or per- 
 haps opposition. The children and youth of the 
 parish are those, to the instruction and improve- 
 ment of whom he should chiefly direct his efforts. 
 In a strictly rural mission, however, the great 
 difficulty is to attain this object. Sunday is a 
 day so fully occupied in the celebration of the 
 public services at two or three churches, many 
 miles distant from each other, that the country 
 clergyman can do little or nothing in the work of 
 the Sunday School. He finds it impossible to get 
 teachers. If ho succeeds in doing go, they are 
 often the very embodiment of incompetency; and 
 even whtn they are zealous and efficient, it is only 
 the children who are within a reasonable distance 
 from th«i church who are able to attend. A large 
 proportion, therefore, of the children of the mis- 
 sion must, even under the most favourable 
 circumstances, grow up with very little religious 
 intercourse with their pastor, and consequently, 
 as a general rule, with little intelligent grounding 
 in their faith and duty as christians and church- 
 men. 
 
 Now, an adaptation of the system of parochial 
 visitation might be turned into a remedy for this 
 state of things, and though the idea about to be 
 n/^med did not suggest itself to the wrii'^r until 
 
_ care. He 
 le flock than 
 ch on a level 
 treat them 
 icir regard- 
 ents without 
 renders him 
 with those 
 acknowledge 
 
 elder mera- 
 rho are most 
 lews, if they 
 1, and have 
 rejudices are 
 
 standard of 
 some clergy- 
 , and whether 
 
 vary from it 
 )roval or per- 
 youth of the 
 and improve- 
 ect his efforts, 
 er, the great 
 
 Sunday is a 
 bration of the 
 lurches, many 
 t the country 
 in the work of 
 ipossible to get 
 5 so, they are 
 ttipetcncy; and 
 cient, it is only 
 onable distance 
 ttend. Marge 
 'en of the mis- 
 ost favourable 
 little religious 
 i consequently, 
 igent grounding 
 ns and church- 
 em of parochial 
 remedy for this 
 lea about to be 
 the wriJ-^r until 
 
 15 
 
 nearly the close of his connexion with a rural 
 parish, yet a somewhat extensive subsequent 
 experience among the young, convinces him of 
 its perfect practicability, and of the very great 
 benefits both to old and young, which might 
 reasonably be expected from it. Certain local- 
 ities in the mission where several church 
 families reside, should be fixed upon, and the 
 clergyman should appoint a certain day after 
 school hours, when he would visit the particular 
 house, in that locality, which was most centrally 
 or conveniently situated, the object of the visit 
 should be for the express purpose of instructing 
 and catechising the children of that family. The 
 children of the neighbours should be requested to 
 attend, and the elder members of the several 
 households should be invited to be present, if 
 agreeable to themselves. A reasonably good 
 catechist, who sought to cultivate with the young 
 a genial and somewhat vivacious manner, and 
 who (by previous preparation) proved himself 
 clear in statements, and fertile in illustration, 
 would not want catechumens among the young, 
 or auditors among the old. One such gathering 
 would do more good than half a dozen sermons. 
 The power which would thus be obtained over 
 the young, would be greater than can be easily 
 expressed; the interest of parents in the instruc- 
 tion of their children, would lead them heartily 
 to support such endeavours for their good, while 
 they would themselves gain many a lesson which 
 it^would otherwise be impossible to convey. 
 
 Having thus brought before you such sugges- 
 tions as from experience and observation appear 
 to the writer most important in carrying out the 
 work of parochial visitation in country missions, 
 let us now turn our attention to some considera- 
 tions connected with the same work in large towns 
 or cities. 
 
 The general feeling on the part of the country 
 clergy is, if I may judge of them by my own, 
 that a town charge aflords scope for much more 
 satisfactory labour, in consequence of the greater 
 accessil^ility of the people, their proximity to the 
 church, and, generally speaking, their greater 
 intelligence. No one of course doniea that in 
 
 !l^ 
 
 •I • 
 
 < / 
 
'fV 
 
 r 
 
 MPWRM 
 
 > 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;* 
 
 
 ■■ 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 !h 
 
 16 
 
 towns we do enjoy these advantages, but there 
 are a variety of obstacles to be met with in a 
 dense population which far more than counter- 
 balance them. Indeed, the difficulties of regular, 
 systematic, satisfactory pastoral work in a large 
 town parish are, as we are at present situated, 
 overwhelmingly great, and in endeavouring to 
 reduce one's ideas to order, a feeling of bewilder- 
 ment is experienced ; and now after a period of 
 nearly twenty years passed in parochial work, 
 and spent in nearly equal proportions between 
 the country and the town, the writer has little 
 hesitation in asserting that though the city is the 
 more important, the country is, on the whole, the 
 most satisfactory sphere of work. 
 
 The difficulty of town work arises, first, from 
 the great mass of persons to be attended to, and 
 secondly, from the multiplicity of occasional duty, 
 arising from this dense population and necessarily 
 interrupting the work of parochial visiting; and 
 thirdly, from the insignificant number of the 
 clergy, as compared with the large masses to 
 whom they are called to minister. The time 
 required by the clergyman in town for preparing 
 for his public duties is usually greater than that 
 demanded of his rural brother, inasmuch as 
 services in the same church and congregation are 
 more frequent. When, amidst bewildering hurry, 
 he has prepared for sermons, lectures, catechiz- 
 ings, ana bible classes, he will find his time eaten 
 up by numberless, yet unavoidable occasional 
 duties. The poor will devour his mornings, and 
 the investigation and relief of their distress does 
 much, at least in winter, to consume his after- 
 noons. The sick, of which he is sur^ to have a 
 permanent list, must be visited ; the dead must 
 be interred — a duty that involves a groat expend- 
 iture of time. He is also sure to be placed upon 
 various committees, whose met'Angs being almost 
 invariably fixed for the afternoon, which is his 
 most valuable time for regular pastoral work, 
 seriously interferes with its efficient discharge. 
 With all these draw-backs, it is no marvel that 
 parochial visitation in towns, with the great 
 number of people, and the small number of clergy, 
 should be very inadequately carried out, and 
 
17 
 
 no one "who has had any practical experienc® 
 in such a sphere of duty can wonder that com- 
 plaints of parochial neglect should be loud and 
 frequent on the part of those who never, perhaps, 
 reflect ugon the countless calls upon a clergyman's 
 time and energies. 
 
 Evans, in his valuable work on " The Bishopric 
 of Souls," sets down eight as the average number 
 of parochial visits which a clergyman, in a good 
 sized parish in England, should pay daily. This 
 is a high average even in such circumstances, to 
 be maintained steadily throughout the year. 
 Experience convinces the present writer that five 
 visits daily is as high an average as even a very 
 diligent pi lest can maintain, after the fulfilment 
 of the multifarious other duties which in a city 
 are forced upon him. As Saturday must generally 
 be regarded as a dies non, as far as visiting is 
 concerned, (unless it be to the upper class of his 
 parishioners, ) he has but five days in the week; 
 for the prosecution of this work, and if, with the 
 other calls upon his time, he can maintain the 
 rate of five visits a day, or one thousand two 
 hundred and fifty in the course of the year, he 
 cannot fairly accuse himself of idleness. The 
 writer has kept up the average to eight, or two 
 thousand in twelve months, but it was, when 
 being little known, the calls for the discharge of 
 occasional duty were comparatively few. 
 
 The question presents itself, how in the dense 
 population of a city shall the system of visitation 
 be carried on, so as to bo most eflicient ? It is a 
 question which is not easy to answer, if we regard 
 ourselves as responsible for all who, in a certain 
 locality, would be willing to accept our ministra- 
 tions, which is certainly the theory of the church. 
 There are two circumstances, however, which in 
 this country tend to obscure this theory, and to 
 turn the clergy into the chaplains of the few, and 
 not the spiritual pastors of many. These are, 
 first, the want of properly constituted parishes 
 with clearly defined territorial limits; second, the 
 prevalence of the pew system. The operation of 
 these two facts is very injurious both upon priests 
 and people. The first leaves the clergyman with- 
 out any knowledge of where his work commences, 
 
 ii 
 
 / 
 
;• i<w2-'^eBwj-c.*«wrti«:? vi" 3FMfr*.^idmwmntmmmtmm 
 
 -as 
 
 FiMi 
 
 or where it ends. He is sent forth with the most 
 Awfttl responsibility resting upon him, respon- 
 sibility for the welfare of immortal souls, but he 
 ie hoi; told' who those are for whom he has to 
 answer. With the burden of this indefinite 
 charge resting upon him, and after suffering from 
 the bewildering hopelessness of being able to 
 fulfil it, the second fact, namely, the pew system 
 coitnes in, and presents an almost irresistible 
 temptation to sink from the high character of the 
 shepherd of a definite, but often wandering and 
 waiyward flock, into the chosen chaplain of those 
 comparatively few who, perhaps, least need his 
 care; hence, clergymen may be heaid to declare 
 that as no limits are assigned them, they hold 
 themselves responsible for only those who attend 
 their church, and that they recognise no claim of 
 right on the part of any others, either to temporal 
 relief or spiritual ministration, i. e., they become 
 chaplains of those who, having some earnestness 
 about their souls, choose, of their own mere 
 notion, to place themselves under his pastoral 
 care, by renting or occupying sittings iu the 
 church which he is appointed to serve. 
 
 The temptation to act in this way arising from 
 our present want of ecclesiastical order is ex- 
 tremely great, but it is a course of action very 
 different from the vow of our ordination, " that 
 we would seek Christ's sheep, which are dispersed 
 abroad, and for His children who are in the 
 midst of this naughty world, that they may be 
 saved through Christ for ever." 
 
 Such, however, being the state of things exist- 
 ing in our principal towns and cities, we had 
 better enquire how we may best fulfil the impor- 
 tant part of our work, under the difficulties 
 alluded to. 
 
 Our communicants or pew-holders — or where 
 there are no pews, the regular worshippers in the 
 church which we serve, have unquestionably the 
 first claim upon our pastoral attention. Where a 
 church is pewed, the clergyman having only to 
 apply to his churchwardens for an absolutely 
 correct list of the names and residences of the 
 holders thereof, can have no excuse for omitting 
 to T^it them, and in carrying out that visitation^ 
 
19 
 
 he might easily proceed upon those general 
 principles which have been adverted to as neces- 
 sary for the efficient discharge of this duty in 
 village or rural parishes. 
 
 In a large church which is absolutely free, the 
 difficulty of this department of pastoral work is 
 immensely increased by the extreme, and often 
 insuperable difficulty of learning the names and 
 residences of the worshippers. If a clergyman 
 assumes a district of the town as tbat which 
 naturally pertains to his church, and confines 
 himself thereto, he leaves unvisited, it may be, 
 the larger part of his congregation, who, perhaps, 
 reside beyond the limits to which he directs his 
 eftbrts, while they are not visited by the clergy- 
 man within whose bounds — or rather supiposed 
 bounds — they live, because they are not pew-hotd- 
 ers or attendants at his church ; and the result is, 
 that smarting under the idea of neglect, they 
 often become alienated from the church, and 
 unite themselves with some dissenting body. 
 
 On the other hand, however, if he devotes him- 
 self to the very arduous task of endeavouring to 
 discover and visit those who actually form his 
 congregation, he will find it necessary to traverse 
 the whole city, and will often spend so muchi time 
 in looking for those whom he does not know, that 
 he must neglect those with whom he is acquainted, 
 and this, from want of thought or knowledge of 
 the multiplicity of his engagements, will often 
 prove a cause of olfence to such persons. 
 
 The order, then, in which (it appears to the 
 writer) we should devote ourselves to this part of 
 our work, is the following: — 
 
 1st. To the sick, some of whom in a large town 
 will always be upon our list. 
 
 2nd. To the poor, the urgency of wh6so suflfer- 
 ings, especially in the winter, often brook no 
 delay, and tlie danger of being deceived by whom 
 is so great as to demand personal investigation. 
 
 ord. To the communicants, especially those of 
 the humbler class who have leceutly been con- 
 firmed. This is a kind of parochial visiting which, 
 carried on in a kindly, earnest spirit, is often fol- 
 lowed by great rewards. 
 
 4th. The general worshippers (pew-holders or 
 
 ul 
 
V" 
 
 ■■tf^Tl' 
 
 f 
 
 I I 
 
 \ 
 
 ' I: 
 
 iii:| 
 
 20 
 
 attendants) at the church in which we minister. 
 
 Any one able to reflect must know that when 
 one clergyman (or even two in a populous parish) 
 has attended to these various classes, he can have 
 but little time to give to another and most impor- 
 tant class, of responsibility for whom no earnest- 
 hearted parish priest, who seeks to realize the 
 value of the souls for which Christ died, can 
 wholly divest his mind, however occupied he may 
 be. I mean 
 
 5th. The great mass of careless, worldly, ignor- 
 ant. Godless, and vicious people, who throng on 
 every side, and who, though christians in name, 
 privilege, and responsibility, are heathens, and 
 often worse in life and practice. 
 
 Now, according to the theory of our church, 
 these are part of our flock, and a part of it requir- 
 ing very earnest, wise, and loving labour, and yet 
 how miserable are the attempts which, with our 
 countless engagements, and insignificant numbers, 
 we are able to make on their behalf. These are 
 Christ's sheep, which through their own way- 
 wardness indeed are dispersed abroad ; these are 
 his children, deeply errring and disobedient it is 
 true, but still his children, who are in the midst 
 of this naughty world, and whom, with his oirn 
 commission. He hath sent us forth to seek, that, 
 being saved through Him, they may not, by 
 reason of their sin, perish under a deeper con- 
 demnation than the heathen can ever know. 
 
 What then, in the way of pastoral visitation, 
 can be done on their behalf? 
 
 There are many of course who utterly refuse our 
 ministrations, in consequence of schism. 
 
 They place themselves beyond our reach by de- 
 claring themselves attached to various dissenting 
 bodies, and christians They not unfrequcutly 
 avoid good influence from every quarter, by 
 asserting to the denominational minister that 
 they are strong churchmen, while they declare to 
 the clergyman that they belong to "the meet- 
 ing;" many among them, however, profess to 
 belong to the church, but as they habitually 
 abstain from all religious worship, there is no 
 way to discover them but by regular domiciliary 
 visitation, begun at one end of every street, and 
 
21 
 
 we minister. 
 DW that when 
 pulous parish) 
 s, he can have 
 id most impor- 
 m no earnest- 
 to realize the 
 rist died, can 
 cupied he may 
 
 worldly, ignor- 
 vho throng on 
 ians in name, 
 heathens, and 
 
 )f our church, 
 artofitrequir- 
 labour, and yet 
 iiich, with our 
 Scant numbers, 
 -If. These are 
 tieir own way- 
 ■oad; these are 
 sobedient it is 
 e in the midst 
 with his own 
 to seek, that, 
 may not, by 
 a deeper con- 
 rer know. 
 )ral visitation, 
 
 erly refuse our 
 hism. 
 
 ir reach by do- 
 lous dissentinpj 
 ; unfrequcntly 
 ' quarter, by 
 minister that 
 hey declare to 
 ) "the meet- 
 er, profess to 
 cy habitually 
 I, there is no 
 T domiciliary 
 y street, and 
 
 carried on faithfully and impartially to the other. 
 Now, after years of effort in this special work, and 
 thousands upon thousands of applications made 
 at the doors of the houses in the neighbourhood 
 wherein he ministers, the writer has been brought 
 to the conclusion, that without a large increase 
 in the staff of clergy, it is a work that cannot 
 adequately be carried out by the parish priest — 
 in fact it is not the work of the priest at 
 all, but that of the deacon. In the practical 
 abeyance of that office in the church, the system 
 of lay co-operation, known by the name of 
 district visiting, has been resorted to, often with 
 good effect. We cannot, however, expect a 
 human device, however excellent, to produce 
 results which would flow from a divine institution, 
 and therefore, while district visiting is under 
 proper direction, most useful and desirable, we 
 need something more regular and systematic, and 
 more immediately under the controlling hand of 
 the clergyman. 
 
 In view of the difficulties which appear to sur- 
 round the question of the restoration of the 
 diaconite, the writer has been convinced that 
 measures involving little outlay might be adopted 
 in town parishes, which would secure us many of 
 the advantages which would arise from the 
 restoration of the order named, and which advan- 
 tages we could secure at once, without waiting 
 for the settlement of the vexed question alluded to. 
 
 In carrying on parochial work with the assist- 
 ance of others a cleric should be recognised as 
 such, and a laic should remain distinctly a laic. 
 The confusion in the popular mind on the nature 
 of the distinction between them is already suffi- 
 ciently great without our doing ought to render 
 it greater. The writer, therefore, is conscien- 
 tiously opposed to all such names and offices as 
 lay missionaries or scripture readers. He thinks, 
 however, that a lay assistant as such might bo 
 employed in everj town parish with tiic most 
 beneficial effect. 
 
 If the territorial limits of each parish were 
 defined, a young man of respectability and intelli- 
 gence might be engaged for some sixty pounds 
 per annum, whose ostensible character should be 
 
22 
 
 that of a parochial church book agent, as beside 
 the good arising from the work suggested by the 
 name of his office, it would aiford a sufficient and 
 acceptable reason for his visits to the parishioners 
 without the appearance of unauthorised intrusion. 
 He should endeavour to sell at fair prices Bibles, 
 prayer books, and sound publications of a 
 religious character; and such profit as should 
 accrue from the sale, should be his own per- 
 quisite. 
 
 His field of operations should of course, be 
 the parish with which he is connected. He 
 should leave no street, court, or lane, until it had 
 been thoroughly visited, and a record made of all 
 the inhabitants, with such particulars as he 
 could gather regarding their religious opinions, 
 characters, and circumstances. 
 
 It should be his duty to aiford every informa- 
 tion to the families visited, concerning the parish 
 church, the hours of services, Sunday and day 
 schools, the names and residence of the clergy, 
 with their willingness to minister to any one 
 Tf.^ ding their services, and in cases of poverty, 
 «ick!j.ess, or affliction, to report them to the parish 
 priest without delay. 
 
 He should be expected to be present in the 
 Sunday School, provided with a complete register 
 of all the children, with their names, ages, and 
 places of abode. A list of those absent should 
 be made by him, and his invariable work on 
 Monday (and if necesRrry on Tuesday) should be 
 to visit the parents of those children, ascertain 
 the cause of absence, and exhort them to regu- 
 larity. 
 
 In cases where books or tracts were not likely 
 to be purchased, he might be furnished with 
 some of the latter for distribution. 
 
 On Saturday, a day when all visitation of the 
 poor should be abstained from, his duty should 
 be to enter fairly in book?, to be kept for that 
 purpose, a report of the *.ti*^'''3 work. These 
 books should be indexed, on- ; r t' e names of 
 the families, the other mt\i tbc aames of the 
 streets, and each name sh\.aid bo ■entered in both 
 books. 
 
 With such aa assistant, constantly revolving 
 
23 
 
 i^ 
 
 round the parisb, the clergyman would obtain a 
 hold upon it which could not otherwise be ob- 
 tained, a large amount of valuable time would be 
 saved, and his pastoral yiaits would be directed 
 to those quarters y/here they were most likely to 
 be efficient. 
 
 The remarks and suggestions which have now 
 been made on this very important subject, have, 
 notwithstanding all attempts at brevity, extended 
 far beyond what the writer originally anticipated 
 or intended. He must, therefore, \v ■ iqi ish the 
 purpose previously expressed, oi aavwiing to 
 that difficult department of pp .Iotti! miniatration 
 — the visiting of the sick— a duty of imperious 
 obligation, to treat of ■^■hirii with point and clear- 
 ness, and yet more to discharge which with pro- 
 per effect, demands a wisdom, tenderness, skill, 
 and devotion, to which the writer is not presump- 
 tuous enough to lay claim. 
 
 As regards that part of our office which has 
 been treated of, it is impossible (if the writer may 
 judge by his own experience) to be too careful of 
 the spirit in which it is fulfilled ; there is a strong 
 tendency to allow it to sink down to the level of 
 a duty which we dare not neglect, but which we 
 reluctantly perform, instead of regarding it as a 
 labour of love to be gladly undertaken out of regard 
 to the souls for whom Christ died. 
 
 Not to be weary in well-doing, is a scriptural 
 precept which very strongly applies to this 
 department of our work, and the only way to 
 avoid such weariness to which our poor, weak, 
 worldly hearts are so prone, is to maintain, by all 
 proper 
 price 
 carf^^ 
 ing 
 
 fv7lU 
 
 i.;u 
 
 means, a deep and lively sense of the 
 valvie of the souls committed to our 
 , ' Ua weig' . J responsibility devolv- 
 us. 
 
 There are two or three methods which, in the 
 judgment of tho writer, should tend to produce 
 these results. 
 
 The first is the frequent study, after the Holy 
 Scriptures, of good, earnest-toned books on the 
 duties of the ministerial office. Among the many 
 difficulties and discouragements with which we 
 are encompassed, it is one of the most hopeful 
 signs of the times that so many of such books 
 
 I'l 
 
 i?" 
 
 
 I ii 
 
 HI 
 
 I' 
 
 \ ,' 
 
. w,rrty««3«»r-- 
 
 I i 
 
 t 1 
 
 24 
 
 should be written, and that they should be so 
 eagerly read. 
 
 Brydge's, though somewhat out of date, and 
 very distinctly belonging to the lower school of 
 theology, contains, especially in the earlier portion, 
 much that is useful. Evans' Bishopric of Souls is 
 invaluable. Munro on Parochial Works, though 
 mostly adapted to England, has much that is ex- 
 cellent ; his sermons on the responsibilities of the 
 ministerial office are very searching and awakening. 
 Blunt's Duties of the Parish Priest ; Hegatis' 
 Ember Hours ; and last, and perhaps best of all, 
 the Bishop of Oxford's ordination addresses, are 
 books that we should often read, and being so 
 read, they could hardly fail to rouse us to that 
 diligence and labour that becomes our office. 
 
 Secondly — There is great need that we should 
 be more devout in our supplications to Him who 
 is the Great Shepherd and Bishop of all our souls, 
 that he would grant unto us such measures of 
 His own Spirit, as will make us able ministers of 
 the New Testament, for who, in the painful con- 
 viction of his own weakness and unworthiness, 
 has not felt that it must bo a power that is more 
 than human, that can enable us to filfil so 
 weighty a work as that to which we are called. 
 
 The love of Christ must constrain us to love 
 and labour for those whom He has redeemed, or 
 else our work will grow cold and formal, but 
 that love can only be made to glow with a 
 calm and stt* vdy radiance by the breath of the 
 Divine Spirit shed upon onr hearts in answer to 
 our earnest supplications. 
 
 We are full of weakness liowcver, we know 
 what is right but we often fail in its performance, 
 we want help in almost every thing, and in 
 nothing more than in our prayers for our people. 
 Evan's in his Bishopric of Souls tells us that the 
 parish priest comes in from his clergy's Avork, 
 with his heart and n\ind full of the needs and 
 dangers of his ilock, and falling down J)efnvo Ood 
 pours forth in luiprcmeditatcd words his earnest 
 intercessions on their l)ohalf. He asserts that 
 forms of prayer are insufficient for such moments 
 and serve to hamper rather than to help us. 
 Doubtless there are such moments, and he can bo 
 
ley should be so 
 
 25 
 
 )ut of date, .and 
 lower school of 
 he earlier portion, 
 jhopric of Souls is 
 il Works, though 
 much that is ex- 
 onsibilities of the 
 g and awakening. 
 L*riest ; Hegatis' 
 haps best of all, 
 n addresses, are 
 d, and being so 
 rouse us to that 
 es our office, 
 id that we should 
 ions to Him who 
 p of all our souls, 
 uch measures of 
 able ministers of 
 the painful con- 
 nd unworthiness, 
 )wer that is more 
 us to filfil so 
 we arc called, 
 nstrain us to love 
 Uas redeemed, or 
 and formal, but 
 to glow with a 
 lie breath of the 
 arts in answer to 
 
 iwcver, we know 
 I its performance, 
 y thing, and in 
 1*3 for our people. 
 i tells us that the 
 is clergy's work, 
 f the needs and 
 
 down befovo God 
 words his earnest 
 
 lie asserts that 
 for such moments 
 liun to help us. 
 tts, and he cau be 
 
 little in earnest in his awful work who has not 
 experienced them; but at all events for us feebler 
 and less ardent souls — these moments are the 
 exception and not the rule, and wearied and 
 jaded with long continued labour, we often need 
 the help that earnest and holy forms provide ; of 
 this kind of help however the clergy have com- 
 paratively little. Hele's Offices are more valuable 
 for their admirable arrangement of scripture 
 bearing upon our duties than for the forms of 
 prayer which they provide. In Bishop Arm- 
 strong's beautiful little manual however, called 
 '•The I'astor in his Closet," wo have an aid to 
 our devotion which no clergyman should be with- 
 out. If those beautiful praycs could be slightly 
 jre-cast, and if evening devotions could be added 
 [to them breathing the same spirit of devout 
 [humility and loving tender care for the immortal 
 well-being of Christ's Church and people, and the 
 [same anxious desire for grace to enable us to fulfil 
 J our duties toward them it would be a gift for 
 [which no parish priest could be too thankful. 
 
 Lastly, to keep us alive to the greatness of our 
 l^vork ai\d to obtain the grace which is necessary 
 rto doit, we need, as has been well said, "a broader 
 [and deeper stream of prayer than can flow from 
 •our own souls." We very urgently need the 
 fprayers of our people — but this blessing which 
 Ithey have it in their power to confer upon us, wo 
 |receive, it is to be feared, but sparingly. This 
 jsad truth that our people are more disposed to 
 criticise than to pray for us, may in some degree 
 be attributed to the too general neglect of the 
 Ember seasons, and it has often seemed to the 
 writer, that if some special forms of praj'er were 
 Idistrihuted among our people and earnest ex- 
 hortations to use tiicm on our behalf during these 
 ^•eason«, were addressed to them, that many of 
 the more devout and stable .souls might be led 
 to pcrfornj this duty on our behalf who now from 
 jcre f'orgetfulness neglect it. 
 
 If moreover, in these days when special and 
 xlditional services aro being suggested, the 
 Bishop with the sanction of the Synod would 
 frame a form of prayer for those times, ha 
 
 « 
 
^ 
 
 2G 
 
 those about to be ordained, a point and force 
 -would be given to them that would tend much to 
 the spiritual welfare of both priests and people. 
 
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 1 ■ * ■. 
 
 
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a point and force 
 irould tend much to 
 priests and people. 
 
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 B, WHO StmiiT TORONTO.