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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. irrata to pelure, n d □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 1 365S6 Of3Y2 5 RETROSPECT OF THE fH AMERICA. # s n; A SERMON PREACHED SUNDAY, MARCH 31, MDCCCXXXIII., AT ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, NEWFOUNDLAND, BY EDWARD WIX,M.A., ARCHDEACON. mm t 1 it* St. John''s : J. M'COUBREY, PRINTER. 1833. ,}n..., BUMTO EXOtlDiO A LAUDE NOSTRA GENTIS, QVJE NAVIGAN0I 80LERTIA CETERAS FACILE VINCAT, EXCITAVI EOS, UT HAC ARTE, TANQUAM DIYINO BENEFICIO, NON AD SUUM TANTtM QUiESTUM, SED ET AD VERiC, HOC EST CHRISTIANS RELIGIOMS PROPAGA- TIONEM, UTERENTUR. H. GROTIUS DE VERITATE RELIGIUNIS CHRISTIANAS. Lib. 1. /• " WITH MY STAFF I PASSED OVER THIS JORDAN, AND NOW I AM BECOME TWO BANDS."— GV«. xxxil. 10. (latter part.) In this sinrifde, but significant, expression, the patriarch Jacob ficscribes \ho state of his fortunes at two different periods of his life. When he left his father's house, on his departure for Padan-aram, in Mesopotamia, h*^ had passed over the river Jordan alone and destitute. The staff, which he carried in his hand, was his only earthly protection ; I mijht almost say — his only earthly posses- sion. He then remained several years in the service of his rela- tion Laban, and his family and retinue and possessions increased there very much. He was, after twenty years' absence, moved with a' very natural desire to behold again his native coimtry and his aged parent (xxxi. 30.) He, therefore, made his way towards Canaan ; and, when he cama, in the course of his stolen journey, to the pass of the river Jordan, he cast his eye around upon his increased family, and his large retinue of dependents, and his many flocks and herds, and he called to mind the great alteration of his fortunes, since he had last crossed that river. " Now I am become two bands." His improved condition is made the subject of humble thankful acknowledgement to God. " I am not wor- thy," he says, " of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands !" Brethreu ! I have selected this expression of one of the fathers of the faithful for the introduction to this day's appeal, because the experience of this patriarch, who was one of the chosen depositories of the knowledge of God and a representative of the Church, and (he experience of the Chunh herself, are alike. The promise of the Divine guidauce, [>ruleclion, and sup])ort is given to each. r The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who led, through somanj- trials and troubles, the patriarchs, who looked forward to the Mes- siah's sacrifice, is pledged to be the guardian of the Church of the faithful to the end of the world. (Matt, xxvin. 20.) His sus- taining and guiding and disposing power may be clearly beheld in the wonderful success which attended the ministry of the few sim- pie fishermen, and their followers, who were the first teachers of the religion of God in the flesh. His continual presence may be proved by the steady spread of this fiiith, in ihe face of every diflli- culty, during those later ages in which miracles have been unknown. The operation of His Holy Spirit may be seen in the rery exten- sion of missionary efforts, and in the successful issue which rewards the faithful efforts of the Christian missionary, wherever they arc exerted. It may be seen in the flourishing condition of the Church in that portion of North America which is now uncon- nected with our mother-country. It may be seen, with gratitude let us acknowledge it ! in the general condition of the Church in our Colonial possessions, and even in this Island, at the present moment. In America there is a very healthy branch of the Catholic and Apostolic Church to which we belong. This sister-branch of the Church substantially preserves all our articles, and symbols, and formularies. She preserves, equally with ourselves, the proper mean between a blind reverence for unauthorized ancient tradition on the one hand, and that hasty adoption of novelties which is no less mischievous upon the other. She owes, under God, to our Church, or, I may say, with truth, to this Society, so fruitful in her old age, (Ps. XCII. 14.) which is the missionary institution of our Church, her very existence. This I may be allowed to say ; for she is herself most willing, at all times, to acknowledge it. The meface to her book of common prayer— owr common book of com- mon prayer — ^by which she would instruct her members in the most proper matter, and the most becoming manner, of their petitions and thanksgivings, at the throne of grace, does not allude to the Church of England, without the grateful confession that to her the Protestant Episropal Church in America is indebted, under Goo, /> I, T for lior first finindation, and a long contimiancoof nursing; rare and protection. This, our sister-rhurch, held, a few months back, her general meeting at which her spiritual governors and her lay- directors arc called together every third year. It then appeared that she numbered five hundred and ninety-two Clergy, fifteen of whom were Bishops, or persons in the first of the three orders in the ministry established by Christ and the Apostles. She had four hundred and sixty-two parishes ; thirty thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine members who are receivers of the Holy Commu- nion, and twenty-four thousand two hundred and eighteen .cholars, whom she was carefully bringing up, within her numerous Sunday- schools, according to an admirable uniform system, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Lot us contrast this her present state with that of which I have the record in the early reports of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In the sermon preached before the Society, in the year 1744, we are informed* that there appear no traces of any attempt towards a settlement of religion in the provinca of New-York earlier than in the year I * By Pliilij) Bearcroft, D. D., Chaplain in Ordinary to HisMajesty King George II., who quotes Colonel Dudley ((Jiovernor of New England), Account of the English Plantations in North America, laid before the Society Sept. 19, 1701, Colonel Lewis Morris (Governor of the Jerseys), Memorial concerning the Jerseys, and Trot's Laws of the British Plantations in America, p. 203. From the authorities which he quotes. Dr. B. represents that, at the time of the Society's incorporation, there were in New Euffland at least 70,000 inhabitants in the go\ernment of MusxacliuseVs Bay, 30,000 in that of Connecticut, 3000 in New Hampshire, 2000 in the province of Ma?/n, and but one Chnrtli of our Holy Communion, viz. in the city of Boston, among so many thousand sonls. In Rhode Island and Providence were about ^000 people, and there was the beginning of a Church in the town of Newj)nrt, but in tiie adjoining j)lantation of Narrac/auset were 3000 people v.'illiout any form of religion ; in the province of New-York were 23,000 persons and one Clnirch just opened there ; in East Jer- sey were 8000, in West Jersey 5000 inhabitants, with very few places of public worship, and not one according to the liturgy of the Church of England. In Pennsylvania were computed 15,000 people, and there was one Church in Philadelphia, the capital of the province. In North Carolina were 5000 of our people, besides negroes and Indians, who all did only what was right in their own eyes as to religion, and seem»'d nmchtoo literally to live without God in the world. In South Carolina were 7000 white people with one Churihin Charles Town. fi lf)5)i). 'riion, iib piofunonoss ;ith1 ri(oiUi()Usnr'«s liad ovrrsproail the province for want of ;i selili'd ministry, H was ordained hy au act of thi;ir provincial asiouibly that six Prolc-itant niini.itcrs sliould bo appointed in it. Tliis act, howoviT, did not bogin to opi^ratc Mil f.iur years later in 1();)7. They, then, set ab mt build- ing a Cluirdi in New-York. In this they happily succeeded ; and chose (the Ilev. — — Vesey, afterward^i Cominissary of New- York) its pastor. The salaries promised by the public, however, to the incumbents of the other five Churches, which were to bo built in other parts of the Provinco, were sm II indeed — too small to promise a sudiciont support — too small, we w y suppose, to uflford to any, who would devote themselves to the work of evan- gelists, the expectation of a bare sap{>ort, for there was oidy one Clergyman in the whole province when the Society was incorpora- ted. The charitable aid of this Society was immediately cxtendi'd towards it; and she was supplyinij salaries in 1744 to nine nussi- onaries in that Province, in which there were then about twenly Churches or Chapels with crowded congregations. At the time, indeed, of the formation of this Society, merchants and governors, and other persons of distinction, who were person- ally acquainted with our American colonies, as well as entire com- munities (we cannot call them congrcgatious) of the people them- selves, agreed in the same melancholy relation respecting tiie state of religion there. They rt'presentod that the very Indian darkness was not more gloomy and horrid than that in which some of the English inhabitants of the colonies lived. In 1718 the whole compass of the United States, except, perhaps, 3Iaryland and Vir- ginia, which, it is biilieved, were better provided, had only twenty- one Episcopal Clergy, and in 1744 fifty-three, who wore main- tained by this Society. As wo lo' world, did, ul iho tilovoulli hour, effect that the boon, which hiiA been so lony i iipoliiidy withheld, «lioiiid bo granted. Ill 1787 episcopacy was obtained by the American cjlonies ; and one of the greati-st hindrances to the pi mis endeavour* of our Society was thus removed. Besides the appointments wliich havo since taken place—of one Bishop in 1814 to the uuperhuin:ui charge of heathtm India, and of two in 1824 for the Hist India Isluiuh—lhvxo wore appointed two Bishops fir British North Ame- rica, one over Nova Scotia in 1787, and the other over Quebec in 171)2. In the joint dioceses of Quebec and Nova Scotia, the latter of which sees includes the Bermudas, Capo Breton and Prince Ed- ward Islands, Newfoundland, and a part of Labrador, there weiv, last year, an hundred and forty-tlirco Clergy supported by this Society, besides the Clergy of Bermuda who arc supported by their own local government, or, by virtue of their do-k-yard appoint- ments, from England ; there wcro an hundred and fourteen school- masters and twenty-eight students in a course of education for the ministry. In 1787, howevi-r, when the see of Nova Scotia was first created, the whole number of Clergy for both of these large dioceses was twenty-throe, and the number of catechists and school- masters with salaries, nine. Their scanty supply of episcopal governors, of ordained missionaries, of lay-readers, catechists, and schoolmasters, is yet far from meeting the wants or wishes of the members of the Church. When wq contrast the present condition of the Church, however, in these dioceses with what it presented, even as late as forty years ago, are we not again reminded of the unmerited mercies of God, of the two bands — the improved out- ward fortunes— of the pilgrim patriarch, who, at the first, passed over the waters with a staff the sole companion of his pilgri- mage To you of Newfcmdlatid, however, it woujd, without a doubt, be very interesting to take a nearer survey of the progress of the Church within your own island. I find it recorded in works of 9 acknovfl ! cd niUliority* that Iho first pormanont Iin{;lish sctlK'- inont was niadi! horn in U'tU); but that, from tho general poverty of thi> scttli^rs, and tlicir utter inability tu support a Clergyman, this island, which is actually larger than IiJund, had not a single Minister of any description upon it, at the time of tho incorporatU on of this Socioly, nearly an hundred years afterwards.t We may well imagine tho justice of tho assertion in the Society's charter, as applied to settlements thus circumstanced, that, from a want of learned and orthodox ministers to instruct them in the principles of true religion, or to administer among them God's word and sjicraments, many of the foreign subjects of tho British realm had liecome perverted to superstition and idolatry, or abandoned to atheism and infidelity. Wo may easily conceive, that, although the first planters, those of the British nation especially, going, aa they did, from a country blessed with tho purcat religioi ..nd the truest liberty, retained some remembrance of both, and lived, 'yM*- sequently, in those wild parts, in human courtesy and decency— in Christian order, wo cannot say — (Humphre3'3 p. 3,) — yet their children — tho generation after them — who had not, themselves, seen what their fathers had, must havo l)eon very slightly affected with what they might hear from their parents of the primitive Christian worsliip and the ordinances of the gospel. Can we won- der that, when whole colonies wero thus living, without the cele- bration of any public worship of Almighty Cr»D, without tho uso of tho sacraments, without teachers of any kind, many should have lived literally and truly without God in the world ? In this dark period our Society was established. Very soon after its incorporation it sent a Clergyman (the Rev. Jackson) i * " Historical account of the incorporated Society for the Propaga- tion of l!io Gospel in Foreip;n Parts containing their fonnclatioi), pro- ceedings and tho success of their missionaries in the British Colonies to the year 172?, by David Himiphreys, D. D," London, 1730, p. 39. " History of Newfoundland, by ilev. Lewis Amadens Anspach," Lon- don, 1819, p. 111. t It ap[)ears incidentally from a loiter of Rev. E. Langman, of Balliol Collojje, Oxford, missionary at St. Jolin's, Newfoinidland, ( 1752— 1 781) Nov. 30,1 778, and t\unUn\ in the Sorir! y's report of 1 779,1 liat, ahoutl 778, the first Protestant DisaiMiling congregation was collected in that town. 10 to St. John's. It g-ave him a gratuity to cover the expense? of his voyage, and a fixed annual salary. I find that there was an handsome Church here before 1705. This Church, however, was destroyed by the French, with ibe rest of the town, in that year, by fire. The bounty of this Society, in supplying them still with a pastor, soon encouraged the inhabitants to rebuild it upon another and a safer site. In 1730 I find record of the appointment of a missionary (Rev. — Killpatrick) for Trinity. In 1732 the labours of another settled minister (Rev. Henry Jones) are mentioned, at Bonavisia; and, two years after the death of one of those three r.iission..ries who were, at the last mentioned date, supported in this island, we find Dr. Philip Bearcroft, in 1744, saying that there were then in Newfoundland two missionaries of good reputation in the holy orders of our Church. These laborious men were en^^a- ged, he observes, at the charge of the Society, in teaching the knowledge of the only true God and of Jesus Christ our Lord to the poor nd uninformed residents upon the island, and to the thousands of occasional inhabitants, who, even at that distant pe- riod, r^isorted hither in the summer season to fish. These fishers of men, he remarks moreover, had so far reclaimed the people to a sense of religion that they had buiH three Churches in the Island for the public worship of God and the more decent celebration of the blessed sacraments according to our holy liturgy. He states, too, that the Society's missionaries, being, even at that time, occa- sionally catechists and schoolmasters, as well as preachers, instruc- ted the young, as well as the old, in these Churches—that the unbfptized were brought thither to th(^ sacred laver of regeneration, and the regenerate to the holy table of the Lord, for the strength- ening and refreshing of their souls, that they might all grow more and more in grace every day, and walk more worthy of the voca- tion wherewith they were called. At later periods 1 find that a praiseworthy missionary zeal led (the Rw. Edward Langman) the incumbent of this Church (St. John's) to undertake tours, in the spring and fall of the year. North and South of St. John's, as far as Trinity, which is, at the least, sixty-five miles in tho one direc- tion, and Placentia, which is, at least, an huudred and forty odd «», i 11 *? I tniles, in the olhcr. fa these excursions ho took within his range oi:. large bays for an extent of coast, which, itself, included a line of more than two hundred miles. These distant journies must evidently have bee:, undertaken with most injurious effects upon this his primary and principal charge ; — ^jet he could not — (what missionary could ?) — resist the importunity with which he was con- tinually pressed to carry God's word and Eacraments into those remote settlements. In the summer of 1759 we find that he re- mained a month in the neighbourhood of Placentia, that, while there, he officiated two Sundays in a little Chapel belonging to a Major Hamilton, and baptized,* in and about Placentia, fifty per- sons, some of them forty, some thirty, and some twenty years of ago, and fifteen indents. The adult is often still presented here for baptism bifore the rite of confirmation, or the sacrament of communion, is approached ; and the sanctions of religion and of law are yet often sought here for marriages which have been con- tracted and cemented many years without any opportunity for their due celebration ; yet we may contrast, with lively satisfaction, the existing state of the island with that which it presented in those darker ' * List of Churches and Chapels in the Island of Newfoundland, with the names, so far as they can, at tliis moment, be ascertained, under which those already consecrated have been dedicated and set l 13 s' » •public. The instruct thus given, being drawn fron> the pub lished volumes of our i,uperi(jr divines, and chiefly from tho excel lorit works of the Society for Promotinjj Christian Knowledge must be acknowledged by us to bo often bettor — aye, generally better, than that which, in the midst of their unceasingly distract- ing labours, your ordained servants, with the greatest care and desire to profit you, can provide for yourselves. Consider the character of the works thus selected for our lay-readers, and the tendency of the liturgy which they read, and the inflacnce of their generally pure and sober example upon the settlers among whom they live, then calculate the effect which such a band must have in bringing your less favoured brethren to the knowledge of Christ. May I say one word on the qualifications of the Clergy, who are at this time, honoured by the confidence of the Society, or have, in apart for ever to the solemn worship of Almighty Cod, by the Right Rev. Bishop Inglis, according to the rites of the Church oY England: f>. 11 i! Barenced, St. 31ark, Bay-de-Verd, St. Barvahas. Bay Roberts, St. Mattheto. Bird Islands, (not (iiiislied.) Boiiaveiiture New, St. John. Bonavista, Christ Church. Bread-aiid-Cheese Cove, St. John. Carbonear, St. James. C'atalina, St. Peter. English Harbour, St. Silas. Fenyland, (name not known.) Fogo, St. Andrew. Crates' Cove, (new Church building.) Greenspond, St. Stephen. Harbour-Grace, St. Paid.f Heart's Content, St. Mary. Heart's Delight, (uuconsecra- ted.) Island Cove, St. Peter. Kiels, St. Philip. King's Cove, St. Jcnncs. Moreton"s Harbour, (name not known.) New Harbour, St. George. NewPerlitaii (name unknown.) Petty Harbour, Sf. David. Pinchard's lUand, (not finish- ed.) Placentia, (name unknown.) Port-de-Grave, St. Lnhe. Portugal Cove, St. Bartholomew Pouch Cove, St. Thomas. Salmon Cove (Trinity Bay), name unknown. Salva<2;e, »S7. Stephen. St. Jotin's Town, St. John. Sillee Cove, St. Lnhe. Swain's Island, (not finished.) Torbay, St. Nicholas. Trinity, St. Paul. Twillingate, Si. Peter. Vere Islands, (not consecrated.) t Burnt down vv^th a great part of the town in 1832. £200 have been voted by the Society for Propagation of Gospel, and £25 by So- ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, £70 have been raised, by a sale of work, and £18 by a sermon, in St. John's, for re-building it on the same site. i 4. 14 former times, been employed by her. It was said of them, so long ago as 1712, by a layman of other sentiments than theirs, that, taking them altogether, a better set of Clergy was not to be found in the reigning Queen's dominions. In 1731 the Rev. Dean Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, whoso zeal had led him to visit the Clergy of New England in person, and who is above all suspicion of flattery or deceit, said of them, " I speak it knowing- ly, that the ministers in those provinces, sent and supported at tho expense of this Society, have, by the sobriety of their behaviour, and a competent degree of useful knowledge, shewn themselves worthy of the choice of those who sent them, and, particularly, in living on a more friendly foot with those of the separation, who, on their part, are, also, very much come off from that narrowness of spirit, which formerly kept them at such an inamicable distance from us." — " May the God of love, joy, and peace," says the Se- cretary of the Society, when alluding, more than ten years after- wards, to Dean Berkeley's testimony, "bring us daily nearer to each other, and heal all our breaches, that we may take sweet coun- sel together in the unity of the spirit, and in the bond of peace, and walk in the house of God as friends in all sincerity and truth ; but, if any be contentious, this Society hath no such custom, neither tho Churches of God." To this we heartily respond Amen ! The general instructions of this Society to her missionaries have long been these : Keep always in view the great design of your undertaking, which is the promoting of the glory of God and the salvation of men by propagating the gospel of our Lord and Sa- vrouR ! Often consider the qualifications requisite for those per- sons who would effectually promote this noble design, a sound knowledge, namely, and an hearty belief, of the Christian religion, an apostolical zeal, tempered with prudence, humility, meekness, and patience ; a fervent charity towards the souls of men, and, finally, that temperance, fortitude, and constancy which become good soldiers of Jesus Christ. In order, too, to your attaining, and preserving these qualifications, offer up fervent prayers very frequently in your retirements to Almighty God for Ilis direction and assistance ; conviTse much with tho holy scriptures ; reflect 1 t T i '\ f T IS seriously npon your ordination vows, and consider the account which you are to render to the {jreat shepherd and bishop of your souls at the last day. « We must live,' ' said the Right Rev. Bish- op Drumrnond, of St. Asaph, when preaching before the Society in 1754, that sermon which is printed each year and sent to all its niissionaries— « we must live according to the gospel in all purity if we think to preach the gospel effectually. A missionary," he observes emphatically, « must consider himself as set up for public observation, and subject to the severest scrutiny. He knows this to be the case, and, therefore, he ought to be most exemplary iu discreet behaviour and holy conversation. If he fail in this, his misconduct will not only sully his own reputation, which ought to be most dear to him, but the fault of one will be, however unjustly, strained to affect the whole mission, increase the disregard to our Church, to public worship, to pastoral instruction, and either pre- judice weak minds against religion in general, or make them indif- ferent about it. It is hardly possible for the most cautious to preserve such a conduct as may not be liable to exceptions from captious men ; but I think there are fow, very few examples amongst our missionaries (and we answer for no others) whose conduct can be justly censured by candid and welUinforuiod per- sons. * * * * If there is any failure in morals among them it. is desired to be represented to us, and resolved to be amended." Such as I have above described is the continual counsel of the Society to her missionaries ; such is the awful idea which those who send us forth have themselves, and would desire us constantly to have, of our deep responsibility ; such is the honourable verdict of history as to the demeanor of those who, having been occupied before us ir. this arduous work, have gone to their reward. As respects ourselves, our own qualifications, our own roputation for ability, prudence, judgment, and sobriety, it becomes not us to speak. We may say of ourselves, and of our flocks, what the Bishops of the Church in America have said in their late pastoral letter (1832.) « T. ..vhat extent the piety and the morals of the members of our communion are agreeable to our holy profession, it is not fur us to eitimate. But when we contemplate" the measure 16 If/ in which there are countenanced the expedients put in operation for the extending of the kingdom of the Redeemer, we cannot but hope, that there is a correspondent increase of genuine devoti- on in a considerable proportion of our population ; however many the instances to the contrary, by so\m, from indifference to their eternal interests, and by others, in unholy lives. In this there is an incentive to zeal and to every g'uce on the part of our reverend brethren of the Clergy ; and it gives to us occasion, in our attenti- on to the documents now noticed, to lament the continuance of the complaint of our Saviour, " the harvest is plenteous, but the labou- rers are few," and to invite both the Clergy and the laity to put up their prayer to « the Lord of the harvest" that He would «*send forth labourers into His harvest." We may ask, however, concerning ourselves, in particular, with all humility, and with a deep sense of our own deficiency — we may ask you, when you have witnessed the extreme care which is taken by this Society that those, whom she sends forth, be duly qualified, as far as human judgment can ascertain human qualifica- tions, for their office ; when you consider that she requires of those, who recommend any priest or deacon to this office, a testimonial of their personal knowledge of his temper, prudence, learning, sober and pious conversation, his zeal for the Christian religion, and his diligence in his holy calling ; that she solemnly requests all per- sons, as they tender the interests of the Christian religion, and the good of men's souls, to recommend no man out of favour or affec- tion, or any other worldly consideration, but with a sincere regard to the honour of Almighty God and our blessed Saviour ; that she never publishes her yearly report, but she requests, that, if any person should appear abroad, in the character of a Clergyman of the Church of England, and disgrace that profession by improper behaviour, her friends inspect the list of the Society's missiona- ries ; and then pledges herself that, if it should be found that ho came thither with her knowledge, she will, upon due informati- on, put away from her that wicked person. When precautions so numerous and so wise are used by the Society for tlio preserva- tion of the "^jurity of the character of her missiunary bands, where '> / 17 must the fault bp, if any, in this rulation to lier, sliouM, fur a longlh of tiiiiR, coiitiiuio to brin"- tlisli »y onourontlioirrallin'r ? Tl le / fuilt— I hope I may say it without ofTeiico— must bo your own. It U your clear duty, as you vaUm the souls of your fi'llow-crcaturos, not to be silont if you ub^orvs ill conduct in any of hor missionaries! Tho Colonial Church has moans, which older Churches, of more con)p!icated frame-work, might envy, of thus purgin- hers'lf from the evil influence of imj-ropcr ministers; and I trust (hat 1 have succeeded in proving to you that it is your duty thus to promoK; her purity. A far truer zeal for religion, a far more sincere r(>gard for th'.^ souls of your fellow-creatures, which (awful thougjjt !) must be endan-ered by tho entertainment of pre;iidicos, grounded or ungrounded, against iheir proper pastors, a far greater regard for the unfortunate delinquent, be he who he may, would be exhibited by that person, who, knowing: of any censur.? which may justly attach to one of the Society's missionaries, should represent it iu that quarter where rests the power immediately to remove such a scandal fi-om the Church ;— far more charity to the oneiiding indi- vidual would be exhibited in the open disclosure of tho cause (or scandal, than in indelicate whispers of alleged delinquency, Avhich cannot be noticed; in dark insinuations which can never uJ suitably tnet and remedied; in scattering sparks of that little run- ning fire, which may kindle into a great flame, and smoulder on, and work insidious mischief of wliicli the thoughtless originator, and the equally thoughtless propagator are little awaro,°or the' eternal never-dying effects of which they can never, never quench, though they seek " place of repentance" (Heb. xn. 17,) and reparation of the evil done, «« carefully with tears !"— nay, far greater charity would be shewn in the discreet discharge of the pamful duty of disclosure, than in silence respecting the iniquity, in which, though she bears and believes and hopes all thin-s rh'i- rity must think there is evil, (1 Cor. xiii. 4-7,) and cannot con- sequently rejoice. I have thought it right, on the present occasion, to allude, thus plaudy, to the measures which are continually put forth by the Society for the preservation of the purity of the character of her IS iiHssIonaries, not only becaaso it is essential to the success of thetr mission that thoy be well esteemed, but, also, because it is impor-> futit to the success of the present, or of any future, appeals, on behalf of the Society, that all prejudice, reasonable or unreasonable, against her missionaries should bo removed. This Society, at a great charge to herself, sends you missionaries. The character of these mijiitionaries, separated as they are by the great atlantic from the inspection of their patrons, is, in a very great degree, within your own ke:,'piiig ; and, if, from contact with u careless and un- godly wcrld, the principles and practises of any of her missionaries should become corrupted, after they have been honoured by the Society's appointment, she should not be allowed unjustly to suffer in your estimation, and to be deprived of your good-will and of your bounty, throujo not, I pray you, then, excuse yourselves froni impartin:^ liberally in the cause for which your contributions are now soli( i- ^ed, from any feeling of perso.ial dislike, or disrespect, deserved, or undeserved, for any wlio are, or have been, the lepresentativcj* of this Society within your knowledge. Shew your sincere regard for the welfare of the Church, and of religion, by becoming actively interested in the welfare of this Society. Support her by your i>tn-- sonal influence, your purse, and your prayers. Your contributions will help to create witln'n you a feeling of interest in her afrairs. Tfiis interest will urge you to the duty of representing to your zea- Um episcopal governor and to the Society, any real matter of scan- dal which you conceive to be injurious to the character and inle- resH of the Society and of the Church which she represents. What Archbishop Seeker, one of the early and steady friends of tht.{ Society, observed of the resident Clergy of the Church of ling- "' + 19 land, may be justly applied to the case of her missionary band?, (Fast-day Sermon on 2 Chron. xv. 2.) « Next to tho rulers of a nation, its instructors are usually the great object of censure ; and wo acknowledge there is cause. We have not been so serious and rdigious, so zealous and diligent, so disinterested and humble, ri mild and charitable as we ought. The public must have suffered by this : we have suffered by it ourselves ; and, unless we repent, we have ground to expect a yet fuller execution, than wo havo ex- perienced already, of what Heaven inflicted on our predecessors in the Jewish nation : « Therefore have I, also, made you contempti- ble and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways.' (Mai. ii. 9.) Yet we cannot but hope, that a very considerable part of tho accusations brought against us would ap- pear, upon inquiry, to be without foundation. But, however that be, we must remind you, that our faults will !,e no excuse for yoni transgressions: and we earnestly beg, that they who complain wn do not the good we ought, would at least not hinder, but give us opportunity and assist us rather, to do both others and themselves the good we would." The Church, however, must expect, like the patriarch of the texl , to moot with enmity, if for no other reason, still for this, that, having passed over this Jordan with her staff, she is now two bands. In St. Paul's allegory of the children of Abraham he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after th.? spirit. (Gal. IV. 29.) Of the children of Isaac the man of tho field, the worldly-minded dissipator of his time, the lover of plea- sure, hated the plain man Jacob. Of tlie children of Jacob, the less spiritual brethren of Joseph scoffed at him for an enthusiast and a dreamer of dreams. (Gen. xxxvii. 19.) « Even so it is now." The messenger of Christ, who shall separate himself from frivolous intercourse, shall be condemned for hypocrisy and austeritv ; he who shall mingle,ever so moderately, in social entertainment, shall be deemed gluttonous, and a wine-bibber. (Matt. xi. 16—19.) It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord: if they called tho master of the house Beelzebub, hoAv much more shall they call them of His household ? (Matt. x. 25.) 20 I i I. Vi Vmt we hope; better tilings of you, Brellircn ! We trust that you will shew, this clay, and for tin? rest of ydur lives, the value whith you attach to the prlvilejjos of reli-ion, and the csteoui in which you hold your pastors, by contiibutinjf freely to an institution, which, like the ladder of the patriarch's vision, (fion.xxvm. 12,) ronnnuuicates blessed foretastes of heaven to the inhabitants of oarth. Of whatever prosperity the Lord has given you, devote a portion, like this patriarch, (Gen. xxviir. 22,) unto the Lord ! Pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified. (2 Thess. in. I.) Pray for this Society that, warned b\ the sad example of the patriarch's early unjustifiable deceit, and the long deep punishment which fallowed it, (Gen. xxvii.) her members may never adopt any doubtful policy, any of those intri- guing arts which bring disgrace upon any respectable, or holy cause, and argue a sinful distrust in the promises of God — may never do evil that good may come. Pray for them that, like the patriarch, they may shew an holy zeal to put from them all un- deaiiness and all strange gods, (xxxi. 32, xxxv. 2.) that their counsels may be so conducted that the omen of the reconciliation of the patriarch and his brother (xxxiii. 3,) may be realized, that anger may be turned away from us by our soft answers, ( Pro v. xv. 1 , XVI. 7,) and that our ways may so please the Lord that even our ene- mies may beat peace with us. Pray for us that, though the counten- ance of our nurdiig-fathers, (although with all our powers wo have served them in all lawful things,) be, like the countenance of Laban, not toward us as before, (Gen.xxxi.2 — 7,41,) and we be deceived, and our wages changed, our comfort be that the God of our flithers is yet with us, and will not suffer them to hurt us. Pray for in that, even in this evil day, when so many have bowed the knee to Baal, (1 Kings, xix. IS,) we may be preserved from the patriarch's despairing cry, (Gen. XLii. 00,) " all these things are against us," and encouraged by the experlenco of the past, and firudy relying, for the future, on the truth of Him who has promised to be with His apostles to the end of the world, (TJatt. xxviri. 20,) may yet endure; that, the drought consuiulng us in the day and the frost by night, the stone being our pillow, (Gon. xxviii. 11, xxxi. 40,) F I i 21 and uur sleep (Icpiirtiiij; from oiir oycs, \^o may vol p.iflcnllyscrva our appoiiitc'chimo for onr brido, the ('liiir(li;--aml that Goi>, who sees our afHiction and tlio labour of our huiid^, may not scud us away euipty, l)ut prosper uj and lipmnl U3 in our appointed task of toacliin^ all nations. Friends of this Socieiy ! imitate the patrian li in tlie ll'rvcr of your prayers llmt they may brin^' down upon us the bjesiiniy of thu patriaiu h's Cod, (xxxn. 'Ji!,) pray tl af, a:> we go up to the moun- tains an 1 biin.i;' wood to build her houses, and set up lier ajtari, the Loud may suroly be in tlio^T plifes, and take pji-asu!-' in thein, and bo ijlorificd in them (Ceii. xwrrr. Ki. 17. — ]\.v^. r. H,) th it Ibey may b^ the houses tif Coi>, the rhar^-oable, or burdeiisome, tu none of you, or witli the broths r oi" our pulriurch (Cen. xxxf? <).) " \v(3 have onou-^h, keep that thou li;ist, uiKo thyself." This however, I am bound to tell you, is n;)t the case ; and, as mailers are, wn will r(>J!)ico, r>ryour sakes, that there is a .something luking' v\hicli it may be your liij;li privilege to supply ; that you may becume tha honoured fellow-workors wilh us in acromplisliiug- the Lord's pur- poses oouceriiing' the extendi )u and (he ultimale triumph of llis Chun h. " The progress wide!) one s' ii<^le cafecliist makes, m;iy be very ^reat when it is his w!io/e employmeui ; so every person who rontribufesto the mainteuanco of that one, has the sai .lactiviii to think that he is an instrument under Goi> of converting and saving a proportionable number of sonh. Sjiuo few seeds, ra;t into this ground and watered by the blessing of God, may produce an increase exceeding grei!, and will be no siisal! addition to our happiness in li(!aven. But whatinor the success lie, siuh sincere te.-,timonios of a desire to see the go^-pel propagated, and such cha- ritable endeavours for the salvation of our feilow-creatures, will most assuredly fiiul, a very plentiful reward from the hands of God." (Humphreys, p. 2';j.) 1 feel convinced that your generous aims, thus drawn forth, will rather need (o bo checked, than stimvdated ; and, that, when Iho *2'2 promise of till) I.oiio to tlm patriarch, conceriiiii-f llio Mossiair* kinjjdom, shall ho fuUillod, ((Jen. xxviii. U,) when His smi shall hi us tlu> dust of the earth, and llo shall have spread abroad to tho West and to the ICust, to the North and tv> the South, and all th« families of the earth shall be blessed in His seed, then you shall shine as stars in the firtnainont anion^ thoso who shall have been br<)U|;ht themselves to the bri^'htness of His rising, and have be- come instruments in Ilis hand* for the cou version of others to ri{^htcousnes.s. Now to the one Cod of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, to tho three pcrsoni of equal majesty in one adorable Trinity, be given all glory, worahip, and praise, henceforth for ever ! J 4. AiTot-nnEV, Printer, St. Joliti'.s. »f? I 1 I