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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 /a / a irC/ iPdaCi C^klel 2 c^ /S 10\ /^^ 7 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE CLEEGT OF THE PKOTlirCE OF NEW-BRUNSWICK ARCHDEACON BESt; -'■yS ' ■■€,■ :'»'-:*'^^ AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION, llELB AT KINGSTON, ISTH JULt, 1827^ Published at the unanimous request qf the CUrgy. " i.s . ■f I FREDERICTON : PRINTED Bt GEO* K. LUGSIN, Printtr to the King's Most Enttlknt Mt^jtitp ' 18 27. ^ •■■ ^\ f \ • • * . ■* -^ * ' \ ' i- ■ ■ ■« ■■■*•■ ■ ' * ■ * i i • ^;, f .:-. .t r^ U ...■ /.. '^ ^ •> '■» '^ ^ • 1 1 i; • >: .\^^''> r..:*:: ::^T:r ,/:.. :"-;n?. 1:. c., .^ 1. .-.V '.-.._. ^ , y ^ \ \ / . 7' , " .^\ U: r \ : / .'. «t ^ $ ^ . r ? ' ' ■** '•/ 1 » - ^ ' .« • ■ "^ -V • \ . * •> 1 ( .- V ' ■ • • 1 i ^ "■■■■ . ■■•' - -t^ ' '^ - .. "" ;' ' ' ' '■" '■ - '■'- ^ tll.il O THE PUBLIC. IMPRESSED with the feeling that the earnest solici- tations of my Reverend Brethren to publish the fol- lowing CHARGE, proceeds not from a wish to pay any formal unmeaning compliment to the author, but from a zealous desire to promote the interests of the tfue Church of Christ, in setting forth the Duties and ' Importance of her Ministry, and making known certain Truths which the nature of the times requires, I, am induced to. place it- at their disposal. ^ It contains, I am ready to allow, some tilings painful to bring forward; for I am anxious, **as much as in me lieth, to live peaceably with all men ;" and 1 believe I may without presumption aver, " I have" hitherto " lived in all good conscience" with my fellow creatures "before God": But there are circumstances under which it would be a gross dereliction of duty to be silent ; and" that such have occurred here, will, 1 am sure, be the candid opinion of "every sensible and just Englishman,*" of every true and sincere Christian, who shall peruse the following Pages. Therefore, with a few slight corrections I give this Charge as delivered, and tho* it cannot claim any credit as a literary composition, and may be thought defici- ent in that order and regularity which would constitute it a well arranged work, yet I may venture to hope, through the blessing of God, it will not prove ineffectual in producing the desired good. And I would " put ymi in remembrance" that as this, (like works of a similar nature,) has been written, so it is now published, for the use of the Church. GEORGE BEST. Fredericton, Jtdy^ 1827* Ji ■Ti-r.i' 0Wir.:,w«i!>jKri,Ti ; ' i * i I ■' i ! i I ^^JiiA-ii^^pH 'br^ ;-^:!J':Cj ;v,fT lino,; :;^i.lmt cv J^viv'J 'Ui ^di).?-rT -:''^,ii..^*) )t^^x;iU }uii4ii;^:- h'^i^' ■itii^-hixl -vjn ')o ori) 3(1 ,T?i;'i -n^^rl J!i\y ,'ij::i(l>--;'f'-iO'j'* ^..jv.^!, ibr- .r-^'^- «r nt,i:;j;,'jr;j-nn. ;-„; j;??:- !:^!''jr/:, >. '■:ni'^'KVO h'r'i'Ai'} ■"•■'! ^,uvr '^.ct _is"%- 'V}:.Tu yvu ou Vv.ii- i;/*jqo.n': vu-:>i^i '• '-'iv . 4 . % /i , * t . ^' . * T -^ '^ ■ ' ■'.\, rs ;'.5 / win mt he negligent to put you always in remem" hratice of these things, though ye know them, and he estahlished in the present truth, I ♦' v ^r« ^ " 2d Epistle St, Peter^lst chap,-^l^ v, ' ,y: r ■» I ! >'v :)i sp •:* > ;.*■, . - t«L-,.»WiSft^tr:sTt*v „ ' ■.":?:' •-•.-•.^i: ;;.a*t*i;-."_ rv.".-..-;;,;j -i-, tjKsiaSj^^^ i^; * . *i 9'i:-^^-:^;'^ ^ier«..-^-'?sr\ .v?. s^'i-^^v^ v^^ miut.i»ti>-. , T ia < K»i4— *i*a* i«f -•• ■-^-!rs...-''-r^--l -V ■ l.'W""' *■!■ ^^^^^^^■■^^^^■^»^ . i si I,, . *-rii ; ^' 1 ■ hI.; )«.»« .;;,*,. M-.^' •]-> ■ '• •;■• :. -' ■•■, 1 r.'f. .J» » ; ','t>'. vi. Keverend and beloved brethren :-— ■ . ■>.i-<.. '. '>■ ...- -:-'r.J;.r,:v •.!)■» fJlHE circumstances under which I appear before you in •■• this place are such as to create within me those feelings of diffidence, which originate in a fear of proving unequal to the task I have assumed ; that of publicly addressing so respectable a body of my Brethren in Christ as I now see before me : and in such a situation as the present, where nought but the language of sincerity can or ought to be used — where dissimulation should never be known nor the voice of flattery be heard, I bow before you my Brethren, with respectful deference, to the worth and ability I know you to possess. Those there are among you who from long standing, tried integrity, and known talent, ought on this occasion rather to speak than to hear, to teach than to learn, to dictate than to obey; and who may be said, in every respect, to be better qualified to stand here than he who now ventures to address you : — ^ But, in those arrangements necessary for the external management of the Christain Establishment unto which we have the happiness to belong, for the preservation of that order and decorum so essential to its respectability and well doing, certain degrees of office/ must, as from the primitive times, be maintained and supplied ; and like all other establishments, where the interference of man is required, as they cannot always be filled by those who perhaps have the greatest right to occupy them; as merit must oftentimes go unrewarded and the most deserving be overlooked, it lias in this instance devolved upon me to as- an :H ■ CM •ume that office, in virtue and autliority of which you ard this day assembled together. The motives by which I am actuated in this proceeding originate in a sense of duty, attended by a desire to discharge with faithfulness and candour so liigh a calling; which consideration or sense points out to me the advantage of an intimate and brotherly acquaintance with those over whom I am des- tined to preside — the necey-sity of a knowledge of the progress and eflfccts of liieir ministry, and the expediency of assuring tlicm tliat * I will not be negligent to put them always in remembrance of* the * things* apper- taining thereunto, however they may already " know them ;" and of " the present truth," the end and aim of all our preaching and exertions, however theymay alrea- dy "be established in it." Under these impressions, then, in commencement, I would lay before you the duties of the Ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; first, in general view, as attached under all circumstances to the sacred office ; and afterwards, as connected with ourselves in the character of christian Missionaries. The gener^ duties of the Christian Teacher, it may be urged, are amply explained and enforced by many of our inspired writers, and even by our Great Master himself; but " though ye know them," and though they may be, and are sufficient to show us our line of conduct, and point out the general co'irse we ought to pursue as fellow Minis- ters of the Gospel ; still, as " we are but men of like passions" with the rest of our fellow creatures, we re- quire not only that they be sometimes called to our "re- membrance," but that they be impressed more forcibly upon our minds by frequent study and particular expla- nation — " that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works." Ist To be impressed with a proper sense of the high importance and awful responsibiHty attached to the sacred office of the Ministry, is certainly the primary duty of all those who are called to undertake it; for there is not on earth r situation wherein man can be placed,. or hu- man agency be employed, of such vital consequence as that which the Preacher of the Gospel occupies — his own eternal existence not only depends upon the faithful per- t7] Tormance or neglect rTthe trust reposed in him, but the welfare of his fellow creatures, the salvation of their im- mortal souls. Without such impressions, however he may assume the work of an Evangelist, he cannot 'wait on hii ministering' effectually, in as much as it evidences a want of that Holy Spirit by wnich he should be moved, and which Christ had promised should be with his faithful Preachers to the end of the world — and hence he appears before God but as an hireling to the Flock ; he is used merely as the scaffold to the building, which, when com- pleted, is cast aside ; and after a life of earthly toil to no heavenly good, he is^ taken away and his place knoweth him no more : — a want of this feeling again induces a carelessness of manner and an idleness of disposition that is prejudicial to the Institution he professes to serve, and injurious, in the extreme, to the cause of Religion — Therefore my Brethren, ** I would not be negligent," even in this instance, to put you in remembrance oi these things** — that we may " in all thingsy* and especially in this one, the first and most important, approve ourselves ** as the Ministers of God.** The Calling to which our lives are devoted, my Brc. thren, as ye well know, is distinct from all others, its ap- pointment is not of this world, nor is the influence un- der which it is supported, vested in man. We are as Ministers of the Gospel, a peculiar people, set apart by God to good works ; to works divested of all secular views, and which tend only to the furtherance of the Will of God in the salvation of the Souls of Men through Jesus Christ : it follows then, that to approve ourselves as such, as " faithful ambassadors fjr Christ," we must be impressed with a proper sense of our duty, and make it paramount to every earthly consideration : we must be persuaded that our determination to assume the minis- terial office emanates from an internal desire to become ser- viceable to God, to show his ways and teach his laws unto man by precept, and enfore an obedience thereto by ex- ample. We should commence our labours under the in- fluence and power of that Spirit through which all holy men of old have been moved, and which by the sure word of God, shall never fail us; and we should pursue them :f ". i : with a siHgleness of heart and sincerity of intention, that will at once convince our respective flocks, it is their benefit and not our own we pursue; "that we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselvei their Servants for Jesus sake." These are the principles upon which the Christian Ministers duty, under all circumstances and in every situation, should be pursued. The principles upon which, ill obedience to the Apostolic injunction, he should " preach the word, be instant in season and out of season j reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long ■ufFering and doctrine" — It is thus that " by pureness, by knowledge, by longsufFering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand, and on the left," he should make full proof of his ministry. ^ ^ -'■- * - Thus, that * through honor and dishonor, thro* evil report and good report, lie should by manifestation of the truth, commend himself to every mans conscience, in the sight of God ;* until through the merits of Him, whose faith he hath preached, and whose glory he has sought, he passes to that " crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall" in the great day of final account, bestow on every faithful steward of His mysteries, and upon all who through their instrumenta- lity, are made to ** lo^e his appearing." ^" ' The thought of being instrumental under the Divine Guidance in the great work of Salvation, is suf- ficient to inspire us with the dread importance of our of- fice, and to create in us an anxious fear lest, * afler hav- ing preached to others we ourselves should be cast away.' And does there not, my Brethren, often whisper within us, "a still small voice" that bids us beware how we ne- glect our duties ; nay, that even awakens in our bosoms a painful apprehension, I may term it, on the approach of the Sabbath, that we shall not acquit ourselves to the approval of our God, or the edification of his people ? But on the other hand, a due sense of the honor, the dignity conferred upon us by tic^y in calling us. to the viinistry, is sufficient to hold us, not above our fellows, 191 evil the suf- urof- hav- ■ ■ • T but above the Worlds to render us proof against any temporary advantage it may hold out to our spiritual injury, and make us rise superior lo the numerous allure- ments and attractions by which its votaries are ensnared. But Sndly. wide and comprehensive as the duties of the Ministry are, generally, we find others more particu- larly, more peculiarly incumbent upon us as 3Iissionaries for implanting the Gospel in the foreign parts and possess- ions of the Empire — as messengei-s of *' the glad tidings of Peace" sent out, not precisely in the same character as those in some other parts of the world, who have the Hea- then prejudices only to contend with, but to minister to those who already to a certain degree believe in the name of Christ — to confirm the Word, which hath already been disseminated for us, and in the literal meaning of the term, to "turn the hearts ofthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just." The way of the Lord is prepared and made ready to our hands ; and unlike the Teachers in the apostolic age, or the Reformers of later periods, we have no difficulties to contend with, but those which the perverseness of human nature at all times presents. The road is opened to us through the wilderness, and we have only to make more * straight the high way of our God j- to exalt the humble valleys, and bring low every lofly mountain that would raise itself in opposition to Him, to make the crooked straight and the rough and difficult places plain,* to remove the lets and hindrances to the pro- gress ofthe Christian Traveller, and to furnish him with such aids and comforts on his journey, as shall enable him, however laborious and difficult he may sometime- find it, to "go on his way rejoicing,*' in thefuU assurance of finding, at the end, that glorious rest which is prepar- ed for the people of God. But although some portion ol this arduous task is spared us, as we may undoubtedly be said to possess "wells" of re- freshing water, which we " digged not," " vineyards and oli^'e trees which we planted not," but which the Lord in his mercy hath furnished unto us — though we dread nc^ the barbarous cruelties of the Heathen, or the more inhuman tortures pf some who profess and call them- [ 10] selves christians ; still we have, through that evil spirit which continually goeth " to and fro in the earth, and walketh up and down in it," much every way to demand our unwearied, devoted exertions. Separated as we are from the Parent Establishment, and sharing but occasion- ally in those advantages which the Chief Pastoral pre- sence ever affords, the duties of the private Clergyman are consequently increased, and many things devolve upon him, which under other circumstances would not be required — it is not sufficient that he abide by the bare line of '^uty marked aut for him, and think that when he has attained thereto, he has done all : the one who rests^ contented with, perhaps, a formal tho' at th*; same time, heartless and unfeeling round of duty, whatever good he may do in his degree, need never expect that proof of a valuable Ministry and approved labour, which, is af- forded by the increase of the Church, and the progress of true piety — no ! he must, with true apostolic zeal, labour hard in the vineyard : exertions both mental and physical must be kept in action ; the study of the minds iuid dispositions of those with whose spiritual guidance he may be intrusted, must be apphed to ; and if possi- ble, a personal knowled^j of every child under his charge, attained. St Paul, who had attained a thorough know- ledge of human nature, used it, as we find, in many instances, to the happiest and best effects. He knew iwell how to <* be all things to all men," in the true un- reserved scriptural acceptation of the expression, * that by all means he might save some' — * unto the Jews he became afi a Jew that he might gaui tlie Jews *, to them that were under the Law, as under the law that he might gain tliem that were under the Law ; to them that were without Law (being not without I^aw to God but under the Law to Ciirist) that he might gain them that were without Law — To the weak again he became as weak, that he might gain the weak' — and all this did he, not from sinister and base motives, but as we should do 'for the Gospels sake, that he might be partaker thereof with them.' ; That there are different tempers, feelings and ideaff,» existing ia every flock, cannot be denied* and none more so, I may venture to observe, than atnotij^st those over whom many of our Clergy are here called to exercise spiritual authority — unlike a country wherein they have long established custom and well digested rule to smooth their way, where all, comparatively speaking, are " of one mind in a house," they have in many instan- ces the temperaments of all climes to deal with ; and occasionally to answer and withstand the prejudices ^nd opinions of almost every denomination of Christians, who conceive there should be no exclusive advantages, such as National Establihments afford, but that all should be equally cherished and adopted by the State : which, to meet effectually and inoffensively, requires the utmost caution, lest a want of that knowledge I am now urging, betray us at one time, with an undue asperity agarffSt involuntary error ; at another, with a dangerous inacti- vity, where interference and decision are absolutely re- quisite. But knowledge, however accurate and extensive it may be, is not every thing that a Christian Minister needs ; disposition and manner are also important in the account. In all our dealings with those who oppose our opinions, or dispute our right to privileges, as members of a reli- gion adopted by the state, a mild disposition and conci- liatory manner are brotherly' and politic. " A soft ans- wer turneth away wrath"— a patient and modest de- meanour is a powerful assistant in the inculcation of truth. Where shall kindness and endurance be looked fbr, if not in the ministers of that religion, among the most genuine fruits of which are "long suffering and gentleness," and especially whilst those Ministers pre- tend to press upon the unenlightened, or the superstiti- ous and bigotted, a Gospel of Love and universal Charity? It is indeed highly requisite that we be always pre- pared to exhibit the true spirit of our Church, in allow- ing that others have rights as well as ourselves. Liberty of conscience is the unalienable right of all. Our Ec- clesiastical Constitution supposes it. The state express- ly grants it to every denomination of Christians, &s a chartered franchi^ie. This toleration, however^ must be mm 'i ! [ 12] "■ .1 .:':■■'■ ■ \ the same, and neither more nor less than the laws in the Mother Country define it. It conveys a freedom to worship God according to the best conviction of the mind, upon sober and candid inquiry ; but no right to political power in the community without the common securities which the State requires. ^^ ^ This is a thing totally different from that wild and disorganizing liberty which is too often assumed as the permission of the Laws towards the Settlers in the dis- tant dominions of the Empire : a liberty, which, as it operates upon the unwary and the ignorant, produces to us, the most afflicting and humiliating trials, in our pro- ffsssional labours. In the view of it now stated to you, it is all that any Government can safely extend to the subjects which dissent from itself in Religious creed:^ : and so far ours most freely, and liberally concedes to its dissenting sub- jects, the liberty to decide and to act : but neither its, countenance, nor support ; nor consequently can ours of the establishment, which is incorporated with it by indissoluble ties, be fairly asKed, or conscientiously granted, to principles, which we know to be opposed to. the doctrines of the Gospel. Towards the persons how- ever of those who seek us in the spirit of Controversy^ we are to profegss no sort of hostility. In cases where we are called upon to give a reason of the hope that is in us, we may explain with temper, and argue with modera- Hon ; and, if we fail to convince, at least recommend that blessed spirit which " never taileth," but ** beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." — This we should do, even wlien men ar» perverse and contentious, striving for victory rather than truth /how much more are we then bound to this course, when we know their leading principles and lives to be m accordance with the precepts of the Gospel, and that they only dissent from us in unessential matters, or because their education, and previous habits of reasoning have too powerfully engrossed their faculties, to admit of any full or salutary concessions. ^ Far it be from me to advocate the slightest change or innovation upon what we' all know and feel to be, the CIS] good old way. The blessings which have alteady been diffused ; and the light it is hourly extending through the world, prove it to be * the truths in which we are already so firmly established j* and which, under the influence of the means now at work, shall (perhaps soon)* so spread, as literally to fulfil the Prophets* prediction, " Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad ; and the desert shall rejoice and" blossom as the rose.** For nothing earthly would I urge a compromise of principle. — Where this is required, no choice or discre- tion is left ; but let me find Christian sentiments under any form, I shall feel it my duty to respect them. This is the temper and the uniform injunction of that branch of Christs* Church, in whose service we are^ engaged. She fondly cherishes the appointments which experience has sh&wn to be wise. She respects settled order as conducive to the most beneficial efl^ects ; but she is a considerate Church j "wherever Christ is preach, ed she rejoiceth therein.*' We may, my brethren, with becoming pride, (if pride under any shape may be allowed) point to her preemi- nent tolerance and charity, as sufficient evidence, that she is founded on the rock of Christ ; that she is derived from God, and not of man. A further duty which seems especially although not peculiarly incumbent upon the Provincial Clergy, arises, from our supposed relation, in past and present times, to the Church of Rome. Among the many objections urged against the Church of England by Dissenters, no oiiii is more common than that she bears too ne?r an affinitv to the former, to be a saving Church. It is a singular circumstance, that she should at the same time be liable to such opposite objections. — Whilst one party brands us with our dissimilarity y as a damnable thing ; and calls us a rotten branch, rut off for our unworthiness, and perished in our separation ; the other imputes it to us, that we are still in effect, but a connexion and de- pendant of that Hierarchy ; and that our sameness is the principle of our ruin. Errors, both of which I would i.. •■■■ [14] earnestly enjoin it upon you to correct, that we may be freed from aspersions so ungrounded, so injurious. ?> Say to those who would make the inquiry, that, deep- ly as we deplore Schism and estrangements, amoiig children of the same father, and brethren of the same Redeemer ; yet, as the conditions of her Communion, exacts from us, according to our conception, a deadly sin ; we cannot at that price, seek salvation within her pale. Tell them, our faith is built on the doctrine of the Bible; not of the See of Rome. t,-^H'M Tell them that " we believe Christ meant what he said,** when he brake the Bread and gave the Wine to his Disciples ;• buti:hatwe receive that declaration pre- cisely in the same sense as that wherein he says, " I am the door** — " I am the vine.*'t Say to them also that we consider " «cforfl^w»,** and " worship*' as synonymous terms in Scripture, therefore we withhold our addresses to the Saints and Angels. Bid them remember we do not substitute "Penance*'^; for Repentance, nor can any of our learned translate the word METANOEiTE, or attach any other signification to it, but that of " Repent ye.** ,r»- m? vj4 -^ji? ^'ifiu -^* Say we have no commutation for the punishment of sin in our Church ; that no ** Corban,** however rich or valuable it may be, can in any degree atone for wicked- ness or the neglect of moral obligations : Tliat we hold not to works of supererogation, for we know that having " done all those things which are commanded us,** we are after all but " unprofitable ser. vants,** and that we never can do more than is " our duty That we abhor and detest the abominable principle that the end will justify the means — that we may "do evil** in order that ** good may come.** = .. . . c ,,. * M*rkc. 14, T ••, 14— " TkUiiMy body"— *' tkU U my blood." . > :. f Jokti, c to, t{. V 9, |. X Sac the Englisb rrinilitioa of th« Dauay Editioa of (he New TeiUmMt — Miihew 3, ▼, a. — " Do Peninec." alio th« txfltnAtory note thereon — ** D« Penance — Pmnitentiam ajite mbtanoii tb ; which w«r4, aceerding to the aie of the ScriptHres vti the Haly f athcri, duet not only (ignify TC|MBtancc and amendaieat of lite, but alio puaiihing pail tint by faating andiuch like peaiteatiil exerciiei," ^ That we withhold hot the Scriptures from the great mass of the people, but elucidate and explain their bless- ed pages, and open the on^e sealed book to all who will look therein, .j.^^^m i;f/r,fcj*,f'i,; • ^ .. ""?v :":;■•-■*' i^;: And above all assure them we are not a branch of the Papal Hierarchy, .lor were we ever ; for a season we grew together with the Roman Church in friendly communion, but when she departed from the faith whicn was once delivered to the Saints ; at the bidding of the Lord we *came out from among them, resolving not to be partakers of other mens errors— And " these things I will that ye affirm constantly,** not in the spirit of con- tention, but in the spirit of meekiless and charity ; to exonerate our Institution from such charges and sus- picions as I know from experience are not unfrequently alledged against it ; and which caiinoi but tend to its serious injury, if suffered to go uncontradicted. It happily falls not upon us to counteract the influence of the many blasphemous and immoral productions with which the Mother Country has of late years been delug- ed ; but it is with regret I acquaint you, there is now ex. tant in this Province, secretly lent for the purpose of injuring the Protestant Faith, a Work as infamous almost as ever was penned. It is entitled '* a History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland ; shewing how that event has impoverished and degraded the main body of the people in those Countries : In » series of Letters addressed to all sensible and just En- glishmen.*** It is replete with narrations of the most immoral tendency, and couched in language of the gross- * '*' By William Coibitt." This it one of the inramoui meant by which (he F»- EUh Pricsti in Irclind have endeavoured to dcttroy the Protestant Faith in that distracted and, and perpetuate those miseries and degradations under which all Roman Catholic Countries labnur at this very day : and it is believed that a supply of the above work'haa keen received in this Province tor a similar purpose ; Indeed « glance at the latr Controver- ay (on the Catholic side) in the public prints of the City of Saint John, will at •■ceahow how deeply indebted the writer is to his worthy friend for the coarse anmannerly languago he adopted, aad many ample quotations, replete with vulgarity, invectivcand falsehood. It ■lay now easily be seen where he burrowed the " armour wherein he trusted," but through which, tho' he fought with the effrontery and deftsnceot the giant, he was so unsuspecting- ly kit, fromthe simple "sling of the Shephrrd " lut however isjuriout this book may b« to the unlearned and alreadv ill-dupoied ; however corruptive it may prove, in somein> dUnces^ to the honor oi the ma«, or the virtue of the female ; we are perfectly eonvincecl every •' iciisible and jHU lagluhaia" will throw it down ia «lt*fiii^ u4 av»i4 it Mkt %OttMi»jp«itil«iic«. (jftt nature, and is altogether a. work as beastly as it is false ; nnd you will scarcely credit me when I assure you I lately gained a brief perusal of it through the means of a young female into whose hands it had been secretly ptacv'tl, to confirm her in the Popish Faith, in lieu of the Bible, I would ** put y(>u in remembrance of these things" also, my Brethren, and pray you to be on your guard. On the title of this book I would offer one word more. It professes to show how the Re- formation has "impoverished and degraded the maii> body of the People in England and Ireland." In answer to this I would bid the author look around those Countries where Papal Supremacy holds sway : let him look at Catholic Romp, — C^latholic Spain, or Ca- tholic Ireland, and compare them with Protestant Eng- land ; and tell me tvhere the most abject Poverty, or the most squalid degradation prevails, or where more is absolutely wrung from the suffering poor, to the nominal support of the Church. -Na mental reservation will here avail him, no perversion of the truth in which we are es- tablished will be of atiy use ; for it will cry aloud and spare not, it will lift up its voice in the streets and cry, while it compassionates his blindness, I^ie upon thee, Jie upon thee, tor the falsehoods thou hast uttered. And having thus feebly, and imperfectly, I fear, laid before you, my Brethren, the duties of our Ministry as proposed, I would now, in conclusion, humbly exhort you to a strict attendance thereto, reminding you how essential it is that we be careful to " offend not in any thing, lest the Ministry be blamed." The Word we preach assures us we shall never be left unaided ; and although we must expect to meet with difficulties and dis- appointments, the encouragements held out on all sides are such as will make us more than Conquerors over them; for " as God is with us, who shall be against us ?" Can the Minister of Religion receive stronger coun- tenance or encouragemerft, or have greater cause to * magnify his office' than in that admirable commenda- tion of the sublime Isaiah, as speaking iu the voice of Christ — " How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publishetK [17] peace, that publishetb Salvation ; That brin^eth good tidings of good, that saith unto Zion, Thy God leign- eth !" And never were any set of men placed ifi I situations where their office coald insure more respect, satisfaction, and esteem, from their fellow crea- tures, than in this happy Province. Kindness and atten- tion are the characteristics of the people imto whom we are called tQ preach, and the Minister of the Gospel, for his office* sake, bears every where amongst them, a pas- port to their hearts ; and for the most common atten- tion to their spiritual comfort and well-being, he is re- quited with such tokens of sincerity, affisction, and love, as cannot be mistaken. '. . Shall we not then, in return, resolve to wait diligent- ly on our Ministering, and foster such kindness lor our religion's sake; and in brotherly union with each other, go hand in hand in the great and good work ? The success which has hitherto attended the long and arduous labours of some now before me, is proof sufficient of their acceptance with God, and afford the strongest excitement to the } ounger brethren, to " go and do like- wise." Therefore, in the "unity of the Spirit, and the bond of Peace, " not handling the word of God deceitfuUi/, but hy manifestation of the Truths commending our- selves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, " let us tlirough him by whom God " commanded the Light to shine out of darkness** in the preaching of the Gospel ; the great High Priest who is over and above us all, resolve to make such proof of a faithful ministry at will entitle us at his last appearing, to the grateful com- mendation, " Well done, ye good and faithful Servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." And may the Almighty of His boundless mercy grant, • that all the Ministers and Stewards of His Mysteries, may thus find favour in His sight, and with all those over whom they have, been placed, become " an accepteble people," through Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Anien^