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My Dear Friends, — Two years have elapsed since, as your Minister, I addressed you m a printed pastoral letter, a custom which I have follow- ed at various times during my ministry here and elsewhere. I am encouraged to do so again, by having heard that plain, as have been the words I have thus written, they have been gener- ally acceptable, and, I hope, profitable, and the desire has often keen expressed that I would continue the practice. Not that I can say anything new or stiiking, or differing from what you have heard from the pulpit Sunday after Sunday. But perhaps the same truths, exhortations and encouragements in print, will be more deliberately weighed, and, by repeated perusal, will be grafted more fiimly in the heart than when preached in the church, or delivered in my pastoral visits to your places of abode. And especially as years roll on, and my season of work IS advancing to its close, so as to make it doubtful whether I shall be permitted to put forth another biennial address, I would wish once more to circulate among you " the message which I have declared unto you from the beginning." ° • And first of all, I would humbly and thankfully record my gratitude to the Giver of all good, that He has " let me alone " another and another year, and that I have been permitted, how- ever imperfectly, to exerci&e my ministry among you, without a single day's interruption since my New Year's letter of January, 1867. I fear I am not thankful enough for the con mt health and strength which are vouchsafed to me. enabling mo. in mv 71st year to continue, without assistance, my services each Sunday, besides the supcrlntcndancc of our large Sunday School, and besides tho usual Wednesday night lecture, iind the Thurs- day preaching and room visitations of the Poor ITouse, with its 400 or 500 inmates, and also besides my daily visits from house to house among you. Deeply sensible of the many imperfections and shortcomings which have marked each and all of these duties, I humbly beg the Great High Priest to be my Intercessor, and to procure forgiveness foi them all ; and I think I often feel what i pious Bishop of our church long ago said, that " my repentance needs to be ropented of, and my very tears require to be washed over again, in the blood of the Redeemer." I desire, howG»er, to work the works of Him that has sent me while my short remain- ing day lasteth, helping you, as far as He enables me, to " glori- fy Him in your bodies and in your Spirits, which are His " — to " make your calling and election sure," and '• so to »\ass through things temporal as finally to lose not the things eternal," — to live " by faith " in Christ, and not by " the sight " of any thing in this passing scene, — to look upwards and Duward to that Eternal world, where we are all ere long to bo, when the bustle of life with its cares and trials and short-lived pleasures will be over. The freshness and the vigor of my early ministry were given for twenty-seven years to tho iriueh-lovcd and never-to-be-forgot- ten fields of Lunenburg. AVhatever of strength and ability may yet be granted to me is now given, and shall be given, by the help of tliu Lord, my dear people, to you. " I desne to spend and' be spent for you." " My heart's desire and prayer for you all is that you may be saved." I would *' exhort you daily while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulncss of sin." It is no* task for me to labor among you for your conversion to God, and for your growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is no self-denial, but my pleasure and delight. " Ihave no geater joy than to know that any of you obey the truth." I never feel easy when I lie down at night unless I have been in and out among you during the day, and I would not desire to leave your dwellings on any occasion without saying something for your souls. ^ i. Wlien I last addressed you we had just taken po.s.session of Trin- ity Church, and I called upon you to feel and to shew your thank- fulness for having such a house provided to your hands for the " free " worship of Almighty God. You have since that time enjoyed the uninterrupted privilege of having its doors open to you twice every Sunday, and also on Wednesday evening, he- ^ides the BWAe Class on Fridays. While I am glad to say that very many avail themselves of these golden opportunities, (and I trust with pro3t to their soul;5, j I liment that many others seem to bo too careless ; some absenting themselves altogether, others putting off their God and robbin^x their own souls, bv comino- only oHce a day, beginning, as it were, their Sabbaths, just when tiiey aij abo.it to end. And with regard to the week nights, I have good reason to complain that so many "forsake the Hoase ofthv^ Lord, ' while tlioy still find time to walk the streets, and visit tl;.3 shops, c* misspend the precious hour in some place of nmuscipcnt. T hoj)o all this will be amended in the new year, whic.'. God is now giving us, — that you will all remember the Sabbath Day (the ivhole of it) to " keep it luly," and not put offthe iiOrd with half a service, — and that you M'ill pay more regard to my repeated requests to n^.oet me on the Wednesday evening, You will find the good of it in the wholesome inter- rupMon of worldly thoughts and cares, and the prevention of Sunday impressions from passing away. Coming in the right mind, you will bo sti-engthened and refreshed for vour daily work, i\\\^ will be better prepared to meet the various trials and anxieties of life. Then, again, as to the Lord's Supper, I have to express my great sori'ow that, while many regularly resort to it, and seem duly to value its blessed privileges, there are yet so many more who have not yet done as their dying Lord, their best and ever- lasting Friend, commanded them; and not a few only come at long intervals, thus neutralizing the holy influence which might be expected from a regular attCRdanco on this ordinance. My voice is so often raised in your hearing, on this subject, that! need not enlarge upon it, but I may well enquire — i " Why are its dainties all in vain Before unwillin}? hearts displayed ? Was not for you the Victim slain, Are you forbid tlie children's bread ?" Let mo hope, as I do constantly pray, that tho many among you in whose lives and conversations I can discover no one reason for depriving themselves of this Christian privilege, and neglecting this Christian obligation, will no longer " halt between two opinions," nor put off that compliance with your Saviour's command, which you know to be your duty, and will 6nd out t6 be a gracious privilege. And, if admitted to be such, it must also be allowed that to intermit its exercise for months and even years, as tho manner of some is, must be very unprofitable, if not dangerous. You perhaps cannot fully understand with what painful feelings a minister sees the greater part of his con gregation habitually turning their backs on the table of the! Lord, and the memorials of his dying and inestimable love. I is in your power to banish such feelings from his mind, and to cheer him on each second Sunday of the months of this new year with an increasing number of guests, clothed in the "marriage garment required by God in Holy Scripture." But while endeavoring to arouse you to a sense of your duty and your interest in this matter, let me guard you against errors, becoming too prevalent in some quarters, in regard to which, however, you will bear me witness that my trumpet has often given " no uncertain sound." In those days, indeed, errors abound on every side. Some are exalting the Sacraments too high ; others are regarding them with feelings too low. Some are teaching the old false doctrine of the " real bodily presence " of Christ in the elements of bread and wine. Hence their "elevation" of them — their bow- ings to, if not their adoration of them — their teaching that there is a change made in these '* creatures of bread and wine " when they are removed to the "Table " from some other place, and when a prayer has been said over them by the minister. But that is not what you have been taught by me, nor what your Church teaches. You will see in your prayer books at the end of the communion office that " no adoration is intended or ought to be done, either to the Sacramental Bread or Wine, there bodily received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood. For the Sacramental Bread and "Wine remain still in their very naturul substance, and therefore may not be adored (for that were idolatry to be ab- horred of all faithful Christians^ ; and the natural^ body and blood of Christ are in Heaven, and not here ; it being against the truth of Christ's natural body to be at one time in more places than one." Thus speaks tho church here, as in various other places. But, as I have often told you, and as I hope you do comfortably feel, there is such a thing as the " real presence of the Lord in that Sacrament. Not, however, in the bread nor in the wine, but in the heart and soul of the faithful receiver, who thus " takes that Holy Sacrament to his comfort; spiritually eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood, then he dwells in Christ and Christ in him, he is one with Christ and Christ with him." And in the 28th Article of our Church it is said " the change of the substance of bread and wine in the supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture. . . . The body of Christ is given, taken and eaten in the supper, only in a heavenly and spiritual manner, — and the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper is faith." Here is sound doctrine for you, which no real Protestant can gainsay. If any hold the contrary the Church of England is not their proper place. I beg you to read this and mark it well. While then I enjoin upon you the frequent and devc- '. and rever- ential partaking of the Holy Communion, you are to regard it as a memorial of your Saviour's dying love, which, when duly re- ceived, will be blest to the "strengthening and refreshing" of your souls, and your growth in grace and godliness. I am the more particular on this point, dear brethren, because of the anti- Protestant views of this ordinance, which are alas ! so prevalent in England and in the United States, and from which it is to be feared the church in these colonies is not entirely free. From such " false doctrine and heresy, good Lord deliver U3 !" 8 And now, how is it among you ^vltli regard to otlicr essential duties? What about family pi.iyer? My exhortations to this seemly practice have been many and oft, as being productive of family peace and order, and a sort of morning and evening ser- mon in the household, reminding them of the " God of all the families of the earth," and of their responsibilities to Him for time and eternity. Once more, let me exhort you, fathers and mothers, to make your houses houses of prayer. Tboro is no lack of forms to help the most diflBdent and the most ignorunt. If only a few verses of scripture bo devoutly read and some col- lects from your prayer books, with that most excellent of all prayers, made by the Lord himself, it will be accepted on high. Let not the Lord any longer look down upon a pryyerlcss family ip my congregation. And if family prayer bo good, and a characteristic mark of a goJly j)eoplo, still more essential is individual or private p 'ay- er. Need I enlarge on this ? I trust you are all convincec of its necessity and ol' its benefits " The life of God in the soul of man " cannot exist without its regular and devout exercise. Though we may " understand all mysteries and all knowledge," though wo may be active and zoalous in all good works, though we may have the tongue of a Paul or an Apollos, all will be of no avail without heartfelt, fervent intercourse in our closets with the " Father of Lights." Tc pray to Il'.m in secret, to ask, to knock, is as needful now is when our Lord uttered the precept. And all the exhortations of his apostles, at a later period, to " pray without ceo sing," to " pi-ay always," to " make our re- quests known by prayor and supplication," are as much to be regarded by us as 'y those to whom they were first addressed. And, no doubt, much of tko coldness,, and carelessness, and worldly mindedness, prevailing among us, must be traced to a failure in private devotion. Cultivate, then, dear friends, young and old, the spirit of prayer. Fray that you may be taught and enabled to pray, since you know that we cannot do it aright witbout the Holy Spirit's influence, which, however, is promised to all that seek it. Let no morning dawn and no night close in upon you without finding you on bended knees before Him, who *' I / is ''about your bed pml spieth out all your ways." And vo moinbor, too, that tills intercourse with God can be inaintained as you "walk by the way," as you mix with your fellow-men, in the work&hop, at your daily labor, in your household c-m- ploymonts. For in the words of a beautiful hymn which I can- not bear to shorten : — Prayer is the soul's aiucere desire, Utter'd or unexprcss'd, The motion of a hidden fire, That tremble* the breast. Prayer is the buiden Oi" •> sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward gl" ncing of an eye. When none itiut, God is near. Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try ; Prayer the sublimest strains that reach The majesty on high. Prayer is the Christian's "vital breath — The Christian';^ native air — The watchword at the gates, He enters Heaven -tyith prayer. Prayer is the concrite sinner's voice, Keturuing from his ways, AYliile angels in tlieir songs rejoice, And cry " Behold he prays !" 0, Thou, by whom Ave come to God — The Life, the Truth, the Way, The path of prayer thyself hast trod, Lord, teach us how to pray. Then, again, what report can the past years give of you as to the reading of the Word of God, which is " able to make you wis-' unto salvation ?" I fear we are all too negligent in this matter, and that the privilege of an open Bible in every ono's hand is not duly regarded. The days were, even ii old Eng- >->,. land, when there was out one Bible in the native tongue in each parish, and that was chained to the desk in the church, lest in the eagerness to possess such a treasure it might be carried away. And grey-headed men and women used to learn to read, in order that thej might see in their own language the wonderful truths of God's Word. It was indeed '• precious in those days " — " a famine of the Word " prevailed. And even in our own Pro- vince, I remember well when the smallest bible was too costly for the poor man. Now alas ! when that blessed book is, or may be, in every hand ; when it is to be found in our schools, in th3 prison, in the poor house, when every man, woman and child may have a copy, it is to be feared that it ia not so highly prized, nor so diligently read. How is it with you ? Do you resort to it daily for light and comfort, not merely on Sundays, but every morning and every evening reading some portion, however small? But let prayer for Divine teaching accompany your reading. " Open, Thou, mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law," — ** Give me understanding that I may understand the Scriptures," — "The entrance of the Di- vine Word giveth light," and never was that light more needful than now. Never was constant appeal to "the Law and to the testimony " more needful than now. " Search the Scriptures," therefore, this year more than ever, that you may lay up their, saving truths in your hearts, and exemplify them in your lives. Our Church is not afraid to trust her members with the bible, nor does she make it imperative to seek its interpretation at the mouth of her ministers, although directing you to their aid when you are in doubt as to the true sense of the Word. And, you know, it is one of the peculiar advantages of the Church of Eng- land that she requires so large a portion of it to be read on every occasion of Divine Worship, so that the poorest may hear and understand. Thus have I often found that people who could not read a line have, by their uniform attend- ance on the service of the church, stored their minds largely with the doctrines and comforts of that "Book of Books." There- fore brethren read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. Don'^t put it on the shelf from Sunday to Sunday. Do not content ,, yourselvos with setting;; it on your tables, to shew its gilded leaves and ornamented covers to your visitors. But look in it for your " Daily Bread," which your Lord has sent you to nourish your spiritual life. Remember that it is the only Book by which we are to be judged on the final day. May it turn out then that you have all so profited by its saving truths, now in your day of salvation as to have your " names written in the Book of Life." Would that we could all realize, as we ought, the nearness and certainty of that great account. We live in serious times. The past year has been ;narked by startling events, beyond the usual course of the world, many of them agreeing with the signs of the " last days " set forth in Holy Scripture. We have had wars and rumors of wars ; earth- quakes of unparalleled character in divers places, with famines and pestilences ; revolutions and other violent commotions are now at work in various countries. Unusual awakenings are seen among Jews and Gentiles, indicating, as wo may hope and be- lieve, the approach of the " Ep'phany," or the manifestation of Christ to all nations. But "of the times and the seasons knoweth no man, not even the angels that are in Heaven, but the Father only." Yet this we all know, that Death, which seals up the soi'l to the final account, is ever near. How many, even of our own congregation, who read my last New Year's ad- dress, can read this no more. How many more besides, who were then full of life and hope, have since been ihut up in the silent grave. Nay, have not the last few days added to the evi- dence of the uncertainty of life by the sad fate of numbers ship- wrecked on our rocky shores when v.l:hin a few hours of their homes, as well as of many in our community suddenly dying in other ways. Beneath our feet, and o'er our head , Is eqnal warning given ; Beneatli us lie the countless dead, Above us is the Heaven ! Death rides on every passing breeze, He lurks in every flower ; Each season has its own disease, Its peril every hour. 12 Our eyes have seen the rosy light Of youth',- soft cheek decay, And Death descend in sudden night On manhood's middle d y. Our eyes have seen the steps of age Halt feebly towards the tomb, And yet shall earth our hearts engage And dreams of days to come ? Turn, Christian, turn ! thy soul apply To truths divinely given ; The bones that underneath thee lie, Shall live for Hell or Heaven ! May siieli be the lesson learned by us all from the unceasing records of mortality. Tims shall we be prepared for lon^r life or for an early death. Thus shall we be led to set our affections on things above, where Christ sittoth at God's right hand. To remember that here is not our rest, and to seek for it in the "Father's house with many mansions," in which the Saviour has already gone to prepare a place for them that love liim. Meanwhile, brethren, we must bo up and doing. To each of us the Master saitb, " Go work to-dat/ in my vineyard." Work for God. Work for His church. Work for your souls and tho.se of all who ar' near and dear to your. Work for the good of others, for " none of us liveth to himself." God would have none of us idle, either for this world or th(^ next. And work "