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ZS^'i

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>.'

THE ANGEL OF THE CHUKCH.

A SERMOISr

PREACHED IN QUEBEC CATHEDRAL,

ON SUNDAy, JUNE 21, 1863,

AT THE CONSECRATION OF TUB

RIGHT REV. JAMES WILLIAM WILLIAMS, D.D.,

LOSD BISHOP OF QUEBEC.

J. H. THOMPSON, M.A.,

CAirOlf OP CnBIST CnUECn cathedral, and EXAMININa CHAPLAIir TO THB

LORD BISHOP OF MONTREAL.

tonlwal :
PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAjJ STREET.

1863.

EottJ ISisfjop oC fflontreal,

anb

.etropoUtan of CanaUa,
^ublisficU at |}is request,

laespectfuHs UcUicateti.

SERMON.

"The mystery of the seven stars whicli thou sawcst in my right hand,
and the seven golden candlesticks; The seven stars are the Angels of
the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest arc
the seven churches." Revelation i. 20.

The occasion on which wc arc here assembled, my Chris-
tian brethren, from its unusual interest and importance must,
in any cusq, have rendered the office of the preacher one of
considerable difficulty and delicacy. But in the present
instance when the preacher who has been selected belongs
to the second order of the ministry only, he cannot fail to be
possessed with an almost overwhelming sense of this difficulty
and responsibility, and may Avell pause on the threshold of
his subject to ask for an indulgent consideration. When a
Presbyter rises in the pulpit to deliver words of exhortation
or advice to candidates for the Diaconate or the Priesthood,
he may be supposed to draw from the depths of his experi-
ence ; ho addresses them at least from the level of that order
to which they aspire ; and the weigM of knowledge, of age,
and of position, is on his side. In tho^o instances, moreover,
the Church has pointed, by an express rubric, to the leading
topics of the discourse : the duty and office of such as come
to be admitted priests and deacons ; how necessary these
orders are in the church of Christ, and how the people ought
to esteem them in their office. But in the consecration of a
bishop, she has given the preacher an unlimited discretion ;
for doubtless she felt that it would be invidious and unseemly
to call upon one who might be merely of Prosbyteral rank to
Bpeak with authority on the duties of an office of which he

could have no experience, and that too in the preacncc of the
fathers of the Clmrch, men whoso tcini)le3 have grown grey
in the active discharge of those very duties of wliich a mere
ideal was being drawn.

But of the office itself, of the authority which it claims and
of the advantages which that form of government confers upon
the Church, there is no reason why we should not speak. It
seems on the contrary to be our proper tlicme and subject at
this time when a new member is about to be grafted into the
Episcopate. We seem called upon to state the commission
by which we act, and to remind all present of the light in
which they are to regard him who is so soon to become their
Father-in-God. Whatever temptation there may have been
in times past to dwell on matters of Church polity from the
pulpit, that su])ject is now but seldom handled. To bring it
prominently forAvard, unless the occasion should so demand,
is felt by many to be an assault on those who differ from us,
or an undue magnifying of ourselves. Some value their own
privileges so cheaply that they hardly care to dwell upon
them ; others are so strongly convinced of the primitive and
scriptural character of their polity that they are disposed to
think that the truth can take care of itself. But whatever
may be the reason, there can be no doubt that many of our
lay brethren have been hitherto but imperfectly awake to the
strong, I might say the impregnable position of their Church,
and have in consequence withheld from her much of that zeal
and confidence and love which she so fully merits and
demands. But now the line of our Canadian bishops is no
longer to be continued from the other side of the Atlantic.
The Church, complete in her organization and machinery, has
taken root in our midst ; she stands boldly forward to court
observation, to challenge inspection, to demand scrutiny.
And we cannot but hope that the great event of this day will
not only tend to knit together more closely the bands of union
between the several dioceses of Canada, but will create in

the minu.1 of all who have taken part in this ceremonial an
intellif^cnt and reverent appreciation of the ofliee and work of
a hishop, which will make them hotter and moro attached
memhern of the Church all their life Ion;;.

We shall not, however, attempt in thin dinconrse a view of
the whole art^ument for Episcopacy. Such a review would
of itscU* a(*((uire no ordinary powers of compression, covering
as it must needs do so p;rcat a space both within and without
the books of the New Testament. The subject has moreover
been so thoroughly handled in a discourse whicli nmst be
fresh in your memory, that it would be presum})tuous in me
to attempt to follow in the same footsteps. Let it sulfice us
to select the latest period of the Inspired Record, and en-
deavour to ascertain how far the present form of our Church
polity may be traced therein. If we shall find that some-
thing very like it in its essential features was there perman-
ently established, and that it received indirectly at least the
stamp of the Divine approval, then surely for all thoughtful
and earnest minds the (question will be solved. And even if
the evidence be insufficient to carry absolute conviction to the
mind, still, if it is of such a character as to render it probable
in a high degree that Episcopacy has the sanction of Christ,
the duty of adhering to it will be nearly as stringent as would
arise from an entire certainty ; for where there is a doubt, it
is the part of faith and love to take that side which on the
whole appears most in accordance with the will of our Blessed
Redeemer.

The book of Revelation stands in marked contrast to the
other books of the New Testament, and even to the other
writings of the same inspired author. It is the link Avhich
connects the prophetical elements of the two covenants.
Abandoning the simple practical style of the Gospels and
Epistles, the Revelation introduces us into a region of visions
and symbols, by which arc shadowed forth the great mysteries
of God's dealings with His Church. Nor are the Epistles

to the seven cliurclies any exception. They aro not to be
viewed as ;i distinct and dctaclied portion of the hook. Sim-
ple as they ap[)ear, they are full of niystenous and syniholieal
Dieanin^H. The very number chosen (»it of so many Asiatic
cliurcheH, — tlie Hmall rehitivc importance of some of them, —
the solemn ap])eal so often renewed, " he tliut hath an ear let
him hear what the Spirit saitli to tlie churches," — all ^o to
prove that these churches are selected as representatives of
the Cluirch Universal. In some way or other their distin-
guishin;:; characteristics arc more or less repeated in all tlie
churches of Christendom. They are a summary, an epitome
of church life and decay ; and every diocese of (Jhrist's Holy
Catholic Church may hehold in one or other of this mystical
seven its own features, with the appropriate warning or pro-
mise that belongs to it.

Another (juestion now presents itself. The messages of
Christ are not sent directly to the churches, but arc addressed
in every instance to the Angel of the church. In what sig-
nification are we to understand this term V Is a member of
the heavenly hierarchy intended ? or is it a mere pcrijjhrasis
for the church itself ? or can we hence deduce any conclusion
as to the constitution of these churches which are thus set
forth as types of the Church Universal ?

It belongs to tlie mystical and prophetical character of this
book that the ordinary and familiar 'lamos of things are not
employed. There is no evidence, I believe, that the name
" angel " was ever in use in the church for any grade of
church officer, unless with conscious reference to this passage.*

• It was however well adapted to express the office and function of the
ministry, as bearing God's commission, and bound to labour in His ser-
vice witli zeal, constancy, patience and perseverance, like their heavenly
prototypes, The very terra had indeed been already used in the Greek
version of Malachi (ii. 7), "The priests' lips should keep knowledge,
and the people should seek the law at his moulh, for he is the messen-
ger (&yyf\os, angel) of the Lord of Hosts."

The word tlion ia one wliioh does not intorprct itself, and
wo arc left to fall hack ujion sii(!}i internal and external cvid-
once as may be available , if we would fix the nature of the
an^^el to uliom the meHsa;^o is sent.

Perhaps some one will maintaiti that '' an;^el.s," properly
80 called, ai-e here intended, the invisihle ministers of the
Almighty, aii<l some namesof wei;j;htmay he (|uoted in defence
of this view, liut we may ask, why should St. .John, a man
upon earth, ho ci)nnni>>sioued to address an;i;els whose place is
in heaven before (lod's throne ? A^ain, this invisihle ])atron
or president (tf the church must assuredly he one of the holy
angels, one of that •j;lorii)Us company who are held up in the
Lord's l*rajer itself for our encouragement and imitation.
But how can the praise and blame bestowed upon those officers
suit the character of the holj angels ? Here are promises of
a crown of life, if faithful unto death, rebukes for suftering
the unchecked growth of heresy; threats of total and absolute
rejection. How could it be said to an angel of heaven " I
have somewhat against thee because thoii hast left thy first
love ? " We may theref()re safely dismiss from our encjuiry
the id(!a that a guardian angel (so to speak) over the several
churches iw to be here understood.

But perhaps by the angels are meant the churches them-
selves. Thus it would not be the angel, some particular
officer, that is addressed, but the clmrch itself, viewed as
God's angel or messenger to the world. But a distinction is
drawn between the stars which are the angels, and the candle-
sticks or lamps which represent the cluwches. Besides if
this were the meaning, the epistles would l)c throughout forced
and unnatur-al. If the angel is a mere synonym for the
church, how vague and indirect is the message ! We lose our
grasp of its meaning, and become enveloped in a -haze of
obscurity. We may then at once set aside this interpretation
as the least likely of ail that have been suggested.

Shall we then see, as some German commentators have

recently seen, in these angels the messengers, literally ao
called, who were deputed by the several churches to lay their
state before the apostle, and to request his assistance as the
channel of intercommunion between themselves and the en-
throned Saviour? If these messengers were indeed respon-
sible for the government of the churches, — if they were the
chief men in each, on whoso shoulders rested the keys of doc-
trine and discipline, — there might be something in this view.
But there is no trace of such an embassage ; it is a mere im-
agination, and the only supposition which could explain the
style and tone of the replies vouchsafed Avould leave these
angels in possession of that dignity and authority with which
the ordirarily received explanation would invest them.

Since then we cannot discover in the angels cither mem-
bers of the celestial host, or messengers from the chiir^hos,
or a circuitous mode of expression for the church itself, the
conclusion is unavoidable that some kind of church officer is
meant. Indeed the " stars " to which they are compared
would of themselves lead us to this result. '" As the lamps
represent the churches," actual vessels containing light, so the
stars which are "concentrated sparks of light" represent
actual persons in or connected with the churches. " The
star in scripture is the recognized symbol of authority whether
ecclesiastical or civil. Thus the highest dominion of all was
typified by the star which should come forth out of Jacob ! . .
Faithful teachers are stars which shall shine for ever ;
false teachers are wandering stars or stars that fall from hea-
ven." (Trench.)

Shall Ave say then that each of these churches represented
one congregation only, and that the pastor or minister or
elder of this congregation is the " angel " of the apocalypse ?
But this view will hardly suit the case of Ephesus, where
many years before there were several Presbyters, whom St.
Paul summoned to Miletus, and to whom he addressed a
partuig charge. Again some years later we find that Timothy

has authority given him over a number of teachers of various
ranks and orders. We have moreover the non-inspired testi-
mony of St. Ignatius, who himself wrote Epistles to three of
the seven churches not long afterwards, that there were in
Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia many Priests and Deacons.
So that the hypothesis that the " angel " is the pastor of a
single congregation is inconsistent with the known facts of the

case

Perhaps it will be said that the star is put for the collective
body of the clergy. No doubt it includes them. All who
have directly or indirectly a share in building up the body of
Christ are amenable to the censure or partakers in the praise.
But it is as connected with the one head, as virtually con-
tained in him. For it is a star that is spoken of, not a con-
stellation. And though the star might stand for a series of
men, continued by succession, it would not be a very apt
figure for a body of individuals. Moreover the " angel " is
addressed as solely and individually responsible for the state
of the whole church, which would not hold of a body of pas-
tors who could only be responsible each for his own share, and
of whom a portion by their lukewarmness might thwart and
neutralize the energies of the rest. Again, elsewhere in the
Revelation the titles of " angel " and " star " are never fig-
uratively applied to bodies of men, but always denote single
persons. And lastly, if we suppose the ministry collectively
to be meant, that would be to take for granted what it is im-
possible to prove, that those ministers were united in <mic body
corporate or presbytery so that they could be contemplated
as an organic whole.

There is now but one conclusion left, that which the church
has always held, viz., that in every separate church or diocese
there was one person vested with authority over both clergy
and laity, to whom belonged the powers both of ordination and
of jurisdiction, who is here figuratively termed an " angel,"
and who is now known to us by the name of " bishop."

If this reasoning be correct, and it is certainly no question
of private interpretation, but the view adopted, as far as I can
ascertain, by the great majority of the learned and thoughtful
in all ages, — if, I say, this reasoning be correct, we have a
sanction distinctly and directly divine for that form of church
government which we term diocesan Episcopacy. And since
the seven churches typify and set forth the churches of uni-
versal Christendom, we may say that all churches are contem-
plated by the Divine Mind as existing in their perfect state
at least through all ages and in all countries under this polity
and constitution.

We conclude then that in the latest stage of church history
of which inspiration has preserved to us the record, Episco-
pacy was the recognized and normal type of government, and
that that type was intended to continue. We would now pro-
ceed a step further and reverently enquire into the reasons,
if any such should be discernible, which may have led the
Divine Wisdom to select this polity rather than another.
God no doubt chooses what is best, and that which He chooses
may be said to be the best, because He chooses it. Yet, we
cannot but feel that there must be some strong and deep-
lying reasons for the divine approval of one form rather than
another. The ground of those reasons mr^* for a time be ob-
scure or imperceptible, but sooner or later, by the efflux of
time or the course of events, they will be vindicated to man.
Nor is it indeed as a mere arbitrary appointment that wo ven-
erate and uphold Episcopacy. We regard it as a continual
token of Christ's presence with his church : the pledge of
innumerable blessings ; the guarantee for tlie unbroken pre-
servation of a great system of faith and worship bequeathed
to us by the earliest and purest ages of Christianity. And
therefore though we would not deny, God forbid, our brother's
hope, nor pronounce dogmatically that Episcopacy was essen-
tial to the being of a church, yet we do maintain, and with
the facts before us we cannot choose but to maintain that it is

necessary to the well-being of a church ; and that to those who
reject or contemn it the evil effects of such disparagement will
hi due time, most assuredly, make themselves felt.

There are many results which might be obtained equally
by any form of government, provided it be firmly established
and vigorously administered. We are therefore to look for
the distinctive excellencies of Episcopacy not in that which
it has in common with all government, but rather in those
distinguishing features which belong to it as a form in which
one order is permanently elevated above the rest and entrusted
with undivided responsibility and with the powers of govern-
ment and ordination.

First in order in the advantages of an Episcoi)al form of
government, I shall reckon that which the Epistles to the
Seven Churches suggest — the concentration of responsibility.
In all well-regulated governments, the onus of any particular
duty is thrown upon one man. There are rules indeed, canons
and statutes and laws to restrain and indicate his course,
which he may not contravene. But still he is the guidin^r
spirit. Whatever is to be done, he is directly or indirectly
the doer of it. He may avail himself of all the help or coun-
sel he can command, but he may not shrink from or evade
the duty laid to his charge. The duty of the Bishop is in
accordance with the rules of Scripture and the canons of the
church to superintend, arrange, d=.ect, appoint subordinates,
command, rebuke, exhort, remove. In the discharge of this
his appointed work, he must enjoy a certain freedom of
action, crippled by no undue responsibility to others. If the
work of the church drag languidly along, if indifference
and worldliness consume her very life, if her rules and ordi-
nances are trampled upon with impunity, and her faith and
worship despised and rejected, the blame must rest some-
where ; and though each must bear his own burden, we are
taught in these Epistles that the spread and continuance of
such disorders are due to the culpable remissness and luke-

warmncss of the prelate, to whom belongs the power of
enforcing the discipline of the church, and who is the main-
spring of the whole ecclesiastical machinery.

Next in the catalogue of the advantages of episcopacy, we
would place the fact that it aifords a proper and legitimate stand-
point for the extended influence of the best and wisest and
holiest men that can be chosen. It was doubtless the inten-
tion of the Great Head of the church — it has been the rule
for the most part, that those who sit on episcopal thrones,
should be in piety and ability eminently able to influence
and sway others. In that position of pre-eminence their tal-
ents and their zeal become mighty engines for good. There
is little danger of jealousy, and rivalry and personal ambition.
Their position is secured and unassailable. Their only object
is to attract men to Him whose commission they bear. They
illustrate the church with their virtues ; and while they pro-
mote and deepen personal religion, at the same time they
strengthen the bands of attachment to the church, of whose
faith and practice they set so fair an example.

But were all ministers of the same order, possessed of
equal powers and privileges, then commanding talents and
force of character must often prove a source of mischief and
danger to the Church. There is no one who by his position has
the right to check and control any new or erratic practice or
doctrine, and the interference of equals in rank but inferiors
in personal endowments is apt to be resented. There is no
position of dignity and influence in which such powers may
find their proper exercise, and develop themselves under suit-
able safeguards for the edifying of the church. Deprived of
a legitimate outlet, they will make a channel for themselves ;
adherents will be gathered, a party founded, and perhaps
at last a new schism will be set up.

Hence we may perceive a third great good of episcopacy
in checking jealousies and divisions, and securing unity.
According even to Presbyterian writers, it was found needful

at a very early date to change their supposed system of minis-
terial parity into that which for so many centuries prevailed
universally in the church. The danger of universal equality
is soon found out. There is no sufficient principle of cohesion,
no centre of unity, and therefore no sense of the sin of divi-
sion and no scruple in rending the body of Christ. The Ms-
tory of all the Protestant non-episcopal bodies will prove the
truth of these assertions. They have all been divided and
sub-divided, while on the other hand, no schism worthy the
name has ever taken place from the church of England or its
daughter churches since the reformation. The^'short-lived
schism of the non-jurors is the exception which proves the
rule. And this unbroken unity is the more remarkable,
because it is well known that two strongly marked schools
of opinion have existed for centuries within our pale. The
adherents of each have been no doubt sincerely and conscien-
tiously attached to their principles, but they nevertheless
have felt that unity was above all to be prized, and that the
worst way of preserving the precious treasures within was to
break the casket in which they were contained. Here we
have an answer ready to all those who would reproach us with
the permitted varieties of opinion on points of grave impor-
tance—that at all events they were not so held as to lead to
a breach of charity, and that subjects which elsewhere had
rent great communions asunder, had not been permitted to
disturb the unity of the episcopal church.

The advantages of our polity in preserving unity can be
seen not only from that instinct which it fosters, but from the
difficulties which it throws in the way of schism. A breach
in the church cannot be effected merely by the withdrawal of
one or two congregations, but involves the falling away of an
entire diocese. And even if that took place, still the divi-
sion would not be perpetuated, unless sufficient Bishops
could be found to consecrate a successor— no ea^y task in
face of certain disapproval and non-acknowledgment by the

rest of the church. So that episcopacy, though it docs not
make division impossible, renders it difficult in the greatest
conceivable degree.

Nor is the reverent estimation in which the Bishop's office
is or ought to be held altogether a matter to be despised. In
the overgrown dioceses of England, this influence has scarcely
a healthy course. The Bishop is often too much of a great
state functionary. But in a simpler state of thing?', where the
Bishop can visit every parish at no remote interval, and become
personally known to every church family, the salutary effects of
his office can hardly be over estimated. It leads an additional
weight to the position and teaching of the resident parish-priest.
It corroborates what is right, it rectifies or supplements what is
incorrect or insufficient. The respect shewn to the chief
pastor tends to strengthen the respect shewn to the local
pastor, to call forth increased love to the church, to animate
to new and increased exertions. The periodic visitation and
the anxious preparation for that event may serve to recall
His coming, of whom the Bishop is the chief earthly minister.
and keep fresh in the memories and hearts of all the presence
of Him who walketh up and down in the midst of the Lamps
of Fire.

Again, the fixed, irremoveable position of the Bishop is a
great element of good. In this continent especially, every-
thing is in motion. There is a great up-heaving of men's
minds — institutions are being tested to the full — new forms
start into life — the popular will is all in all. Amidst this
scene of confusion, the church stands forth as ever the bul-
wark of peace and order, combining fixity of doctrine and dis-
cipline in fundamentals with the flexibility in minor matters
demanded by the times. Where shall we look for the secret
of her stability ? where indeed but in the divine presence with
that episcopate, which does not owe its authority to the popu-
lar will nor is amenable to its control, but which traces its
commission in unbroken spiritual descent from the apostolic

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eleven upom when Christ breathed after His resurrection and
whom lie sent forth from the Mount of the Ascension ?

Again, we would specify as an additional benefit of this form
of government, the powerful incentive to active piety afforded
by a long evergrowing line of spiritual ancestry, and by the
conviction that all that is done for good or evil will, in its
turn, bear fruit in the generations yet to come ? There is a
verse 'f a living poet, quoted only too often in the popular
literature of the day, to this effect :

" Lives of great men nil remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time."

Now as commonly understood and applied, this passage
teaches a hideous fallacy. It is not in the power of every
one to make his life sublime, in the manner here indicated.
To tell him so is to make him unhappy, and discontented
with himself, with his position, and even with his God. The
only sublimity which most men can reach is the sublimity of
doing their duty, however humble anc* unprepossessing, with
all their might. If they are to rise in the world, this is their
path of progress. Indeed Solomon tells us, " Seest thou a man
diligent in his business ? he shall stand before kings, he shall
not stand before mean men." But it is otherwise with him who
is entrusted with government and control over his fellows, who
is as a star in the right hand of his Lord. The memory of
the good men who have preceded, — the hope of leaving a name
of which the church may be justly proud, — the consciousness
that his public acts are matters of history ; — these are motives
than which stronger can scarcely be found to rouse and an-
imate the heart of man. The portraits of his predecessors
which hang around the walls of the Bishop's dwelling, — the
institutions they have founded or cherished in the diocese, —
the monuments which tell of the account which they have
gone to render, — must daily and hourly remind him. whose head

\ I

now wears the mitre of the work he has to do, of the mighty
results that depend upon it, and of the undying praise or
blame with ifhich his memory will be associated.

But it may be said, these are mere secondary motives, of
the earth, earthy, insufficient to reach and stir the depths of
the heart. Then we would place as the last and strongest of
all that solemn sense of nearness of Christ and of direct res-
ponsibility to Ilim Avhich must arise from any adequate view
of the episcopal office. The Bishop is the lineal inheritor of
the promise made to the Apostles, " Lo ! I am with you
always even to the end of the world." He is the chief
representative and ambassador of Christ. He is the reci-
pient of special grace and blessing to qualify him for his work,
of which St. Paul speaks, writing to Timothy : " Neglect not
the grace that is in thee by the imposition of my hands."
What glorious privileges are here set forth ! what storehouses
of wisdom and strength are here opened ! what a mighty call
and summons to be faithful is here sounded ! The Saviour's
presence is pledged to His ministers. He is no distant unap-
proachable being, whose very reality seems to fade away in
the dimness of history, but an ever present Helper, who
walketh up and down in the midst of His church or body
mystical, and thence dispenses the rich gifts of His Spirit to
all His servants, accoi-ding to their several offices and degrees,
and especially to him who is the symbol of His presence and
the star in His right hand.

Nor is it without His presence and sanction, let us be fully
assured, that we are here met together in His name to add
another link to the chain which binds the church of this gen-
eration to the primitive church of Judea. Although we do
not po33ess any direct mark of His approval, although no lot
disposjd by heaven has indicated the successor to the vacant
see yet Christ, we know, has not resigned the government of
His church, and that which He effects by His secret influence

upon the minds of men is as truly His appointment as if Ho
had spoken audibly from heaven.

This is but the second time that a bishop has been coinse-
crated in Canada. The former consecration was that of the
first bishop of a new diocese and was t'lereforo free from thoso
sad remembrances which throw a shadow over the present
occasion. Amidst our hopes and anticipations and prayers
for the future, we cannot but recall that tall commanding form,
that loving earnest voice, that pure disinterested kindness,
that fervent charity an 1 active benevolence which we havo
so long known and esteemed and reverenced in the good bishop
who his so lately entered in'o his rest. No one who knew
him could be insensible to the charm of his conversation and
character, or unconscious of the pure and lofty principles by
which his conduct was always regulated. He is gone, the
father of the Canadian Episcopate, the last bishop of the
undivided province. He is gone, but his work remains ; and
the church that can count names like his in her line of prelates
need not fear that her candlestick will be speedily removed.

" In sacred sleep the pious bishop lies ;
Say not in death ; a good man never dies."

We may not linger on this theme. Our thoughts must now
be turned to him who is about to be consecrated your bishop.
We have seen the high sanction which that office claims, as
well as the heavy responsibilities which it entails. Give then
to him, whom God has set over you, your full loving con-
fidence, your hearty co-operation, your entire respect.
Strengthen his hands by your willing service, by your devo-
tion to the work of Christ, by your continual and earnest
supplications before the throne of grace. for a church in
which such godly union and concord could be fully realized,
in which bishop and priests and people were all linked together
in one holy brotherhood of faith and prayer and mutual a'Fec-
tion and good works and considerate allowances and fervent

zeal ! Such was the church of Ephesus in the days of her
first love ; such is the perfect ideal of a christian church, as
** a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master's
use, and prepared unto every good work."

And to you, the bishop-elect, hitherto our brother in the
ministry, soon to be reverenced as a father in Israel, we would
Bay but a few words ere we close. You have by the faithful
discharge of laborious and important duties purchased for
yourself (unwittingly indeed, and unwillingly so far as the
honour was concerned,) "• a good degree and great boldness
in the faith of Christ." May you continue to display in this
new and wider sphere the same qualities of discretion and
faithfulness and energy which have hitherto distinguished
your course. And ! may he into whose nearer service you
are now about to be raised pour out upon you in rich abund-
ance the treasures of His blessing. May ho give you a con-
stant sense of His presence, a holy care to please and obey
Him in all things, and a courageous heart to contend manfully
for the faith against whatever adversaries may arise. May
He enlighten your mind to discern what is just and right
amidst the haze of doubt and difficulty, and to follow it unflinch-
ingly without partiality or the fear of man. May He give you
the word of wisdom to speak that which is needful in due
season. May He comfort and protect you in your long and
lonely journeyings by land and sea. As life rolls on, may He
vouchsafe you ever more and more the seals of His approval
to your ministry. And finally, when your work and labor of
love is ended, may He, the chief shepherd, " bestow upon you
a crown of glory that fadeth not away !"