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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ADVANTAGES AND MEANS OF KEEPIN( UP HABITS OF READING AMONG THE CLERGY. A PAPER ^BEAD BEFORE THE CLEKGY, ASSEMBLED IN LENNOXVILLE FOl: THE VISITATION OF THE LORD BISHOP OF QUEBEC, ON THE 6th JULY, 1864. BY THE REV. HENRY ROE, B.A., 3NCUMBEMT OF ST. MATTHEW'S, QUKHEC, AKD EXAMINIMG CHAPLAIN TO THB LOKD BISHOP OP QUEBEC. Published by desire of the Lord Sishop. P0tttwal: PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 1864. ADYEETISEMENT. This paper was written with too evident haste, and to be read, not printed. It is published at the individual request of most of the Clergy who heard it, as well as by the desire of the Lord Bishop. The proceeds of the sale will be given to the Diocesan Clerical Library, which it is decided to establish at Quebec. Quebec, 1st August, 1864. I ADVANTAGES AND MEANS OF KEEPING UP HABITS OF READING AMONG THE CLERGY. It is with unfeigned diffidence that I approach the consideration of the subject which has been assigned to me by his lordship the Bishop. My apology for presuming to speak upon such a theme to the reverend clergy must be that it has been so assigned to me, and not selected by myself. This, however, is a subject upon which I can fairly claim to speak with some confidence, because I have always been in some measure a reading man, while at the same time I have never been without that which is the only plaus- ible excuse for not reading, viz., a large and toilsome pastoral charge. I have had experience both in country and in town, and am acquainted with the difficulties and hinderances of each. I can therefore say something from experience; and this is what I pro- pose to do, to lay before my brethren some of the results of my own reading and observation, but chiefly of my own experience. It is appointed me to treat of "the advantages and means of keeping up habits of reading among the clergy." I. The advantages may be summed up in one sentence, that with- out systematic reading our ministry must prove a failure. There are certain portions of our duty, it is true, which we may successfully perform by the aid of natural ability and pru- dence, joined to real earnestness of spirit— such as reading prayers, admimstering ordinances, and doing all the ordinary routine of our ministry; yes, and even keeping our flock together by diligent pastoral visiting, preventing them from breaking the fold, and all that is implied in the words ruling the church. We uay do^ J?^J/ more ; we may warn and exhort, wc may succeed in awalcening the slumbcrinL; conscience, and brin^ men to begin in earnest to seek the way of salvation, and, thank God, to find it. And how easy it is to fill up our whole time with these things, so as to have none left for what is far more important, I feel safe in appealing to the experience of every one of my brethren. When wc have done our Sunday duty, — gone through our fre(iuent week- day services, teachers' meetings, and Bible classes in town, or our mis- sion services far from home in the country, — catechised our schools and confirmation classes, — performed our regulated amount of pastoral visiting, — attended our committee-meetings, — given that time to social intercourse which society not unreasonably exacts, and which our own mental and bodily health no less inexorably demands ; — when wc have done all this, (in addition to our domestic duties, which cannot be neglected,) how little time is left ! — and how easy do wc find it to persuade ourselves that none of tliat little can be spared for study, — that wc are doing all we can, and can do no more, — that we arc wholly absorbed in our Master's work — yes, and even more profitably (cspocially if we think that we are continually engaged in testifying the gospel of the grace of God from house to house) than we should be if we could find more time for even the highest studies 1 But, after all, can we ever forget that, when we have done all this well and successfully, our work is only fairly begun ; that ours is principally if not exclusively a pastoral ministry ; that first and last we are pastors ; — and that, as the word itself teaches, we are to be mainly employed in feeding those who are already the sheep and lambs of Christ our God ? Now all those functions of our ministry which I have enume- rated, of wliatever importance they may be, are not feeding the flock. To feed the flock is to provide spiritual nourishment suit- able to the various and varying wants of itL various members, such spiritual food as may enable them, if they take it in and assimilate it, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, and to go on from strength to strength. This will include, it is true, the removal of difiiculties and stumbling blocks, subjective and objec- tive, the continual laying open of the man to himself, and pursu- ing the deceitful heart, through all the manifold windings and aouM,„., of U, dccoitrul„«, to oo„viclio.;-a„a the knowlcj™ an.1 power ra,,u.ite l... this is. of „o„„o, to bo ob.:,i„o.l re f™» prayer a„d personal holi„c», fr„,„ „o„„„u„io„ ; r and w,tl, our own hearts, than from book,. Bnt the fi„ d of thi »u ,,, s„n,e,hj„,. beyond and beside, even this. F l"/ Z floek eo„s,s,s I apprehend, of two things,-,,.,,^;,,, ,ke FaM and exjimmdug Scripture. "'r ^T' '"'">' J "Jk'"" '. "f» P»»tor i, to teaeh his people h Cathobe I.a,.h,-to teaeh it as a system, so that they shall bold It a a system flnnly and intolli,ently, and as the very heart and soul isaZr /'•'''; ■ r:" ^"""'"° •'"'"-•-i. we have to teaeh .9 a Th,o/„)- ure Zf" ".7"°'"™' " S"-"""""""" "f 'he man of learned Ids- ure, bnt for the eomraun.eat.on to the hearts of all men of that knowledge .„ whieh standetb onr eternal life. If on. people are togrowspnatually, they must bo fed with Christian knowLd^a ,d jed on u, .t fro,u .tage to stage. But how ean this be do„o°exeeM by those who are themselves uneeasingly students i„ tl i s cent - n e^ we aequa.nt ourselves .and imbue our minds with th^ woils of the great n.asters of theology, who luve from a-e to age been rau.ed up to enlighten the Chureb? The amount of IS I thcolofrical Icaminf]; wliich we carry forth with us from Colloj^c at our ordination is in most cases very small indeed. Our training there but puts into our hand the key of divine, as of human, knowledge. And it i.' a law of our intellectual and moral nature that knowledi:;o, which is not beini^ continually added to, fades from the mind more and more. Many and many a man, — yes, many and many an earnest man knows far loss of theology when he has been twenty years in the ministry than lie did when he first set out. Nowhere are the nice distinctions which are found in every science more abundant and of greater importance than in theology; and these distinctions do fade from the mind which is not kept familiar with the subject by continual study and medita- tion. Moreover every pastor is continurlly producing new ser- mons upon the great points of theology. If he is not a studious man, what can his sermons be, but poor and b.ire repetitions — no matter liow earnestly and warndy they may be enunciated — of vague and pointless generalities upon his great theme ? And what effect can this have upon his flock but either to keep them dwarfed and stationary in their spiritual life, or else to disgust and detach tliem from his ministry, cither practically by their simply staying away from Church altogether, or else by their join- ing some of tlic more earnest-minded of the orthodox doriomina- tions around us ? 2. T'le staple of our teaching, however, must always be the exposition of Ihihj Si'rlj>fitrc. TliG g oat masters of pastoral theology in all ages have urged upon the clergy the duty of introducing largely, very largely, the expository clement into their preaching. That notwithstanding this, our sermons are so little expository in their character, and so largely text and subject sermons is a confession of the difficulty, if not of the exposition of Scripture in itself, at least of so expound- ing it as to make the result acceptable and edifying to the people. Now, though there is no duty more difficult than that of a really deep, thorough and practical exposition of Holy Scripture — of such an exposition as shall not content itself with diluting the surface meaning of the text in a multitude of words, but shall seek to enter into the inner shrine of God's Holy Word, and draw out the secret, the deeper and better meaning, which only reveals 3 hough I say, there :s no duty „„re difficult .|,a„ ,his, yet ^, should be most ungrateful if we were not ready thankfnllv T! aeknowledge the abundant and „o». valuable help^t 2 a^ e.p«, u>n w,,h whieh we are furnished by the labour, of tiegrea studen , a„. expounders of the Bible of our own day FoftTe to he tnfidel faefon It, genuinene,,, its authentieity, its insni- r, „ have been all called in question, and assailed wfth a pr d . g. ty of learning, „f aeuteness, and of power. But side by side .n h neeessary work of answering and removing difficulties and ZlT' rP°''"°"!';r '"™ P"""™^ °f-»ly every book of Holy f,er,p,ure, espee.ally of the New Testament, of a vonderful m:'""?';"™ '•."™ '"" °^ - '^■"S t'anslat!: i t met /' " .^ '' "° """^ '" ""^ •>=»' "oO"" English com- mentanos and reat.ses, the results of the learned and pious labours of Uiose bibheal giants, if not their ij,,M,„a ve,-ha. works of B.bhcal exposmou really ezeellent and yet really origi- or hodo. and m the best sense learned divine, who, to the joy and wuh the graftude of the whole English Church, was lately made Archb, hop of Dublin. Archbishop Trench's Lks are golden books, treasunes of profound learning, sound divinity-good od from the charm of the style, that to read them is rather a deli-ht than a labour. His Notes on the Miracles and Parables of our Urd leave nothing to be desired. His exposition of the Sermon on the on r V . ^''^"'"'"''' '"'^ " P"""" ™l«" His Lectures °nfer or .rff'" " '°™" *"'""''"' *™8'' S«od. are, I think, «xposrt,ons of Holj Scripture, ouglit never to be off the table of the Biblical student, but should be read and read again until they are thoroughly mastered. Trench's books have this additional value to us, that they are accessible, being all reprinted in the neighbouring States. These reprints are cheap and good, repro- ducing the originals with groat correctness. Next to Trench, I place Bishop Ellicott's Critical and Grammat- ical Commentaries on the shorter Pauline Epistles. They are in- trinsically of a higher order than Trench's books,but are less valuable to the general reader because they are more difficult and require for their thorough mastering a higher scholarship than is in many cases found w reasonably to be expected among us. This, however, is to be said, that no rstudent of the Greek Testament, however small his acquirements in point of scholarship may be, could fail to derive real profit from the study of Ellieott j and he who by a few months' or a whole year's study, shall have mastered Bishop Elli- cott's five thin volumes, or even one of them, will have laid up for himself a store of sound critical and exegetical knowledge that will stand him in good stead to the end of his ministry. Ellicott's books take the first place for sound and advanced scholarship, being in the best sense and beyond all other English books critical and grammatical commentaries. But, besides this, so transparent is the honesty of purpose and fairness of Bishop Ellieott, so beautiful his gentleness in dealing with opponents, so deep his reverence for Holy Scripture, so impressively and yet unobtru- sively does his own personal devoutness of spirit well up at every turn, and so thoroughly is he a true orthodox Church of England man, that I could scarcely wish anything better for a friend or for myself, than that our mind and heart should take their tone from his. Ellicott's books are being reprinted in the States* ; but I should fear (unless I had the very highest guarantees as to the character of the editors) that they would suffer in the reproduc- tion — they being books in which misprints are most difficult of detection, and most fatal to their value. *The Commentary on the Galatiana is published by D. F. Draper, N. Y., price $1.50, extremely cheap at present rates of exchange. A friend tells me that it is carefully done. 9 Wordworlh's Greek Testament excels in patriotic lore • i, ■ , nch in valuable reference, (llwugh in thi, resrTt i, ' " " by Ellicot.) to the work, oLnr great diner rTt' ap^sage in Dean Goodwin's befntifui and tone ingfeoth™ his Whole tinfe, watl« a ^adi: Itr^r^^"'""'' -"P-^ his value for s„n,e of the works ^fTh r/ht '.Tri? ^ describing his hut at Slagomcro- "Ah„™ m . , '^° '" thrusting the ends of ba^^ hroug, Telf ^Vtl "f "' which are my Bible, Christian Year, Thorn sTkI 'w '?" Ti^ t" ?"r™'' ^™*' -^ °"° 'WO 0^2'"' " ""'^■ If to Trench, Kllieott, and Wordsworth we add tt , u and learned commentary of Dr. Pusev on t L M 1 "* shall have a series of boot, „l m ^ •''"°'' P™Phets. we possible value in Tn^^el™ bl at "" ""I °"'j °' ""^ '"■«-^^' a real credit to the English Chu^t "' °"^''"" *"'' I have not included Alfbrd in the above list because th u H Tnottm^Xticttt T " "'' «-^-^ as the others, ^bit':nr'::re'''ri:;:t::"fr'"?'™^^ sources— nor is it bv nnv »,. ^on^Pi^'ition from German 'hen. as a true t^Cj"^:Z:l^" "T "^* Church of England upon the grlH: r^ver 1 o^ Zif T, the same time. Dean A Ifnr^ ,•„ • ^'''^'''^ t>r tne day. At T.-f . 7 ' "'"^ "^^'^ one book only on tho V Testament, as the critical valno of Word.wnvfl, ? ^^"^ and as Biehop EUiootfs Inl 1 ''V ^^^'^^^^^^ '« »ext to nothing, •up iiijitott s labours have extenderl •!« vot +^ ^, a portion of the Ne^ Tostampnf T d u v. ^ ° '° '°^^^^ choosing Alford. "^ ''*'^"^^°*' ^ '^'^^^^ ^ave no hesitation in The voluminous commentaries of Isoon Wjii- different class, devotional rathor L . ,!'""' '"" °^ » 10 the ricTiness of their learning, and perhaps sometimes carrying out the mystical interpretation of Scripture to unwarrantable lengths. But, besides these works of English divines, most of which are largely indebted for their excellence to the learning, scholar- ship and piety of Germany, we have direct access by means of translations, to most of the best expository works of the orthodox German divines, to whom Christendom owes the deepest obliga- tions, both as defenders and as expounders of Holy Scripture. I am now speaking of modern books, but I must first speak a word about a book which is not modern. To Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament, though now more than a century old (and certainly not to be read in a translation but in the original Latin), is to be assigned the very first place among all the commentaries on the New Testament that ever were writ- ten. There is not a sentence in this truly aureiim opus that does not throw light upon the sacred page. The terseness and brevity which Bengel attained are wonderful, especially when contrasted with the enormous and most wearisome length of the modern German writers. This terrible endlessness is a serious drawback not only to one's comfort, but also to the advantage one derives from these books. Nevertheless, I know of no books in point of spiritual insight into the inner meaning of Scripture at all to compare with Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus, and Olshausen'p commentaries on the New Testament.* And after all it is only fair to say that this lengthiness is not mere word- iness, but arises from the writer's earnest desire fully to develope the meaning and emphasis of every word of Holy Scripture. I was invited some time ago, in conjunction with a friend, to pre- pare for the press a condensed edition of Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus (which is now in 8 vols. 8vo.), with a view to make it more useful to the clergy in general, as well as within their reach ; and on reading over a portion with this view, I could with difficulty find anything that could be left out without loss ; every word seemed of value. * Stier, however, I place much above Olshausen. I m ,.l!T/H°''™"i'' '™'" """'"f""-' English commentaries .„ch as Scot , Henry, Patrick, D'Ovly and Mant, fe„ (and fL ^11 the p™.e bestowed on it, Home on the Psalms s We bl ' where vou are wearied to death with pious mp^i.,.- '' vious truths, a„ the rea, difficulties i: LTet 1;^ over ■„ s,le„ec, so that one has no remedy but to ca.t th m a) to the mo c, and to the bats in utter disgust and vexation 1 ; "ally .c rto :!T ""'"t""'^ '""^ ''"■"'""'"■ "f-'i-riptural seep' icsm to awab.n us from our most anti-scriptural laziness and apathy as to anything lite car„e,tness and reality it" "ritcal study of Holy Scripture, That the state of New Testmert 1 ges.s (especially when such a book as Ben^el was for?™ t d:: tf f.r "=""* ^'!'"-> *™'^ ^-"e::LeT;rz church '"" °«°' " "" '"''""'■^ *'8™- '» ft^ English How difFer^ntly furnished for the work of expounding the New i! t ;:: r t" '°r "'?^"™ """ ""'■ ™=^ "-^^ » *"w: Ell .■;!?;'• "t '"? ^'"-'"-^ °"^ «'™gl>«-"l works as Jl l.eo I s and Andrews'f, and now (a work deeper and more valu- St Plui, tad r, "■'' ''°"^*^"'' """^ Howson's Life of St. fan (,„ ,ead,„g which one really is admitt-d into a new world of knowledge), and Dr. Mill's Christian Advocate's publ Itl ' These works arc not only valuable, but attractive and intrtstin' so th.at when once you get into them you cannot res" sit Id without going through them. nnoi rest satished Wh,.„ I speak of the study of the New Testament with a view to >ts exposmon, I moan, of course, the original text. ThebX wh.ch I have been speaking of, would be, mo.,t of them of 1 tl use except to one fau.iliar with the Greek oririnal. Fam lia I say, not mer..ly slightly acquainted, but famiuar. And he eiiel i Lincoln, ,802. Price j'.oo. "'" "" ''™"='- «"'»". Gould t The Life of our Lord iinon the Earth i .-♦= u- * • , , and geographical relations/brifev S L' j 1"? ' ^'^"^"'"^^ Straiiaii & Pn Ti,;c ■ • ^- ^"'^^'ews. London, Pritablil. " " """"' "' '"' °"«''"" ^•"""=- Wilion: 12 the value of that habit, so much recommended but so little I fear practised, of reading through a chapter of the Greek Testament every morning and evening as a devotional exercise. I remember that after I began to do so, many long years ago, I thought it very dull and unprofitable work, tlowevcr, I persevered, rnd found ia time the fruits of it in the familiarity it gave me with the text and the ease and pleasure with which I was able to use the great works I have been speaking of, when I obtained access to them. I wish I could convey to the minds of my younger brethren ray own deep sense of the paramount importance of a familiar acquaintance with the original text of Holy Scripture, especially of the New Testament. The late Professor Blunt, in one of his many invaluable works, his Duties of the Parish Priest (a book, by the way, which surely ought to be a text book in all our Thoological Colleges,) shows, by along and interesting induction of p issages from the New Testament, how liable a clergyman is to slip at every step, if he expounds from the English version, and does not keep the Greek before him ; and how such an one, even if he on the whole catch the right meaning, loses many of the beauties and finer touches. I can imagine nothing more impressive and convincing than Professor Blunt's argument on this subject. I had thought of introducing here a few instances of my own collection as illustrative of the great advantage the student who is familiar with the Greek possesses over him who only studies the English version, but the limits of this paper oblige me reluctantly to omit them. I mus,t content myself with referring to one passage only, St. John's beau- tiful and affecting account of the interview between the riseix Lord and his Apostles at the sea of Galilee, in which He commits His lambs and sheep to Peter to be fed. I think there is no passage of the New Testament which has suffered such loss in the transla- tion as this. In the original there are two words, ayairc^v and ^iXtti/, intended to convey quite distinct ideas, and intentionally put in contrast, which are in the English rendered by the same WCid love] two more, ftoa-Kav and 7rot/i,aiv£i:/, quite as distinct rendered by the one word feed; and yet two more etSerat and ytvojo-Kciv rendered by the one word know. The instructive and beau- tiful play of feeling between the Lord and Peter, as conveyed by the variations of these words in the original, is quite lost in our i 13 version. Let any one but read Trench's brief exno^Jtinr, f.i or He„,, „„a he win need „„ .„. TXtT:::^^ I mean Wi,„'s Gran,n.ar of ,U .V.'SI L C 1 f ' mner the Now .estunient diction was supposed by eritics to h. almost made np of anomalies, solecisms, pleonasms, andX Im mafeal .mproprieties. Diffleulties weie^IainerbVgtvewTav' for the future, n comparative for a positive, and so on ThHls tem, wh,eh the great Hermann rightly characterised as so 3 :"tT:;dt:L:,isr- r/- "'-- ^^ :^t:t:x;-att:^;:ir^^^^^^^ may wc not reasonably indulge the hope that Dr. Colel s' mise rable assault upon the Books of Moses will have the effect of Zt placing within our reach a series of works of enunl ll . booksofthoOldlcstameut. I am^pSuldrha UtlT: st course of the Colenso controversy, that already there are a hun tt^rbir^^^ -'''- Hebrew ScriptLs for ...t^Z Now what is the conclusion of the whole matter? Whv urely xt . th. If the chief part of our p.storal work con^ts m expounding the Scriptures to our flocks, and if all these he^s * Published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark. Edinburgh. Price, about i^ ? 14 to a deeper and better knowledge and exposition of those Scrip- tures are within our reach, how shall we stand excused if we do not avail ourselves of them? What censure of us can be too severe if we wilfully remain incapable of expounding the Holy Oracles with a growing power and insight, so that our people shall feel and share in the growth which is in us, — share in it directly, aud also by being themselves attracted to drink more and more deeply of that living fountain from which they see us to draw both grace and life ? And this, I am deeply persuaded, is the true solution of diffi- culties about the inspiration of the Scriptures so far as they assail the mass of the Christian people. For them, those difficulties must be solved, not by argument, much less by strong and fierce assertions without argument, but by the self-evidencing nature of the Holy Oracles themselves — by our so reading and expounding them to the people as to bring home to their hearts the convic- tion that they are tLe voice, the words of the living God, quick and powerful, entering into them, searching them, and finding them * Theories of inspiration are of no use ; but if the Bible is the word of God, then, if it be handled, studied, meditated, digested by us with reverence and diligence, it will infallibly mani- fest in our hands and vindicate its own divinity. And this leads me to say, in passing, that if habits of reading are so necessary for the right discharge of our ministry in itself, much more are they necessary for the times in which we live. We live in a reading age ; we live also in a sceptical age. We live in an age when education is widely, almost universally difi'used, when all have at least that dangerous thing, a little knowledge. The controversies of the day are not now confined to a small circle of learned writers who communicate with one another in the learned language, which is a dead letter to the multitude ; they are read of, and inquired into by all, by mechr.nics and tradesmen, by the working as well as the wealthy classes. To these classes indeed the controversialists of the day, and especially the sceptics address themselves, appealing to them as judges. No one who has paid any considerable attention to the Essays and • As Coleridge speaks. 15 appeal. .0 the common .trandl^'fT™:' ""^ ^'^'"' "■■'' oon^ing to us oponl/„„Ve 3„ * t^h ""''> " '^ "'"'°»' "ia us, or from the style of o„r 1, 1 f ^7 ""^'""^ '°"'™'"^ ■igent of our people Ireeive Ifi'' TT'' ""^ "'"^ -«*'- thought upon these suW, at a 1 ? ^^^ 'T ""'"" -"^ »- awful and tremendous Tlo,r° "''"'' ""= '" 'k™ »f J% m.y net treat^uVXh ' o^:;;! "'Jt "^ ^"^^^ "^^ doubt what they will feel Tf ° "f' •"" 'h™ rannot be s guides of the people, we mu Tte^tte 7 T""' ""^ ^P'"""^ deserve their e„„fide„ee WM, fh , """' '° ^' °"'^^'^'=» '» selves intellectually in advance of ,h! ""! 7' "'"'' '"" '"'"P ™f- coneern our office, and to tha end t '• l°T '" °" *'"S» *»' 'ha' we sheuld be^arnes: a^ dm^:: ir-'^'^ '"^^»P-^^^ *"oftfc:r're:i"""r^ r\"'''- ^^ *« -- »f keeping up habits f'Sn. sCl >" ""I °'"^ '"«™ say under three heads with f °' "'""8° "'"" I have to backs which „: s r our^rpir; ?™'"- -^ ^- The difficulties mav ai^L 7 . '"'"S" *» ''"'J'- ti-,wa„tofhooL,:7d: „;flru„s'°a:dT "'™' ""'"^ the absence of literary society encouragement in Is U n'ofratrld : "c"""'""';,™'^ " ™'" °-^ "- tod little or no time for reX " N " T ,'°" ^™' " ^ »» which we should all b prepared witb 7 '"' ","' "^ '•°"- are tempted to auiet onfT '"*'."S'"'«'t ourselves, when we that if t^ read is' dis™ Lrrr'* ™t ,"" ^^™^^' '' ">'». ministry, then we musfrat timV 0,™" W ""'"«" °' »"' and rememberiuK the s-reai,!! , . Y' """"> "' "" ""^ts, last day, exercise great'SdaW, T '"'"" '"" '° 8'™ "' 'l^ M pastors. Let 1' Z ?' "'"' ™ """? ''° '^ue and faith- engling, we 1" „° rt'tv oft T" T""'""' --^ branches of our dutv Zt ^ "^ ''"""'' »' "« other But .ft n f ^' "" "»y '^0 something i„ this But, after all, there is no reading man who L n„: know ho. ™eh may fe done by gatherin., up the fragment, of time and Z*rtLu to ,00.1 account. If you ha« a book m band tba !ou a™ tercst^d iu, it is wonderful how rapidly you wd get ^r 1 i, h, inltin" it up at little odd spare moments. Why t°n the imetod good of the critical study of the Greek tstatc ' ' Ad! tt i^r our motto mla ^Us ^nc linea,^ we Testamen ,[ j%, Ellieott, or Wordsworth, and read on .oou be astonislicd at the progress we have made. r/rossi" public duties for learned researches and successful SSrp and the list might be indefinitely e.tende^. And i we ask, how did these men accomplish such wonderM ," .11. er is /!re( by being possessed with a real love for s:':; pi uCa^k-":!!*., by'.-. ^. ™^.":v.^=r; S which nothing great or good is eyer aecomph— - ny 1, • vf^ Wo surelv ou<-ht to love our sacred studies, ana Zfa^vetil CM;d::tought to live by rule, and by rule ought a we, above ai ^^ j.^_. ^^^^^^^^ j^„l„„,,y .CTan^sl'cYfgaiL all intrusion of other, however Ta:oC « which we have to contend with is, ^e .ant J'oot Many of the books which I have spoken of aboye are Se-some of thebest of them-Alford, Ellicot., and Words- expensive s ^^.^.^_^^^ g^.^^ ^^^ q,^,,^„ :::~d n Alican "editions, both of which (I am tol foTl tae not seen them,) are decidedly superior .n po.nt both of 1 and of accuracy of translation to ^^^f^^^^^Z Oonvbeare and Howson's invaluable Life of St. Paul there ?, "n Ameriean edition. Bengel must be got from home, and costs abo".t 20s. The S. P. C. K. helps us to a very good cnt.eal Xn the Greek Testament, suitable for constant use, I mean IT the Cambridge or Scrivenert Greek Teatament, which mav ho hod m this country for about 58.* ^ is I ™T' °'-'"'°'" """"^ ""= "'''■By i» *•>« -eighbourhood WhoX'orB-Cs Sr 7hf t- '\ ''' "^ °' rotr:r;::\K-™^^ I W V i ."' "" ""' *» *<"» of "» ''•'0 live at a distance. IrauVt. ^^ f "f ' "' various points where they can have ;«8y and free access to them at all times. Dr. Bray's Associates *nd would alo, I am persuaded, on application send out such books as should be selected by the cC applying for them I related to us all) and others, would readily, if the Bishop would kndly consent to apply to them on our behalf, give one or J^ the use of the clei^y. Would it not be worth while to try ? one L fi»w 'r ""'^^ *° ^'- ^ '"°^' »»^ ■■> tcnnoxville, one m Gaspd, one ,n Megantic, and one in Quebec. To these B K Tn '• ' "' '°°"' "^ *" »«' ^'-aWe new works of abhcal Cr.t.c,sm, English Divinity, or Church Histo.y,'tlg year by year from the English Press. I do trust also iat thf rurrco"'"' °" *; ^*''' >"*'"^^ "^ *^ %»"- t Dean Cook ""y'f. r ''"■"'""S "»^^^ the editorship of Dean Cook, around which cluster so many bright hopes and wkch cannot fail to be very far superior to anytLg of'th; s °t perhaps no clerffvman whrv ^«„., * i^u^^nomug prices, iiiere 13 Wo„M H net .^e,,! "jr. r.e-i.Ta Zk't^^ 3^^ B 18 OS yet in the English language, will bo within the reach of all our clergy. Might not a special effort be made to obtain copies of it for our clerical libraries, as suggested above ? We in Quebec have had for some five years the privilege of very freo access to the truly noble library of our Parliament, even the theological depart- ment of which is of great excellence, and is especially rich in modern works of Theology and Church History. As we arc about to lose this privilege, there is the more necessity for us to make an earnest effort to help ourselves. I would submit for the consideration of my brethren whether, if we decide upon attempting to form these libraries, wo should not make them to consist almost exclusively of modern books — books which shall reflect the mind of the Church of our own day and put us in communion with the thoughts and feelings of our brethren at the Church's centre at home. In some departments of divinity, it is true and must always remain true that the old is better. But there is a freshness and crispness, a certain flavour, as it were— a sympathy with the times and the age~an earnestness and enthusiasm about modern books, a power to touch the heart, and arouse it to present action, which are not reasonably to be looked for in the books of ages gone by. When I read such charming and admirable books as Harvey Goodwin's Life of Bishop Mackenzie ; or books so heart-searching and arousing as the Bishop of Oxford's addresses, or books of Divinity so solid and thoroughly satis- factory as Moberly on the Great Forty Days, Freeman's Priir^i- ples of Divine Service, Lee on Inspiration, or Aids to Faith ; or such thoughtful and suggestive books as Mansel's Bampton Lectures, Bishop Thompson on the Atonement, or Bishop Ellicott's Destiny of the Creature; it almost breaks my heart to think that so many of my brethren are by the unavoidable misfortune of distance from the great centres of intelligence and literature — but most by the res angustoe domi, shut out from the great pleasure and the greater profit— profit not only to themselves, but also to the souls of their people — of ever seeing them. I am per- suaded, however, that by a little management much improvement in this respect could be effected. Might not, for example, a little branch of the Bray's Associates be formed in Quebec, and the generous and lai'gc-hearted among our laity be appealed to, to help 19 in fbrnung „ ecnM fund for Iho purcha* „f books to be ,li,. tnbutca „t various point, for the use of tho clor-y ? Th.ro ,, one dopartmont of religious literature, from which our ZZ: -fn^'"'^ '""'' "' -' '» ™-criouslos,ri mean the penodiml hteraturo of our Church at home. mind rf 2 or f f" '"™''"^' *™'"S to "P«Bent tho mmd of the t hnrch, from which we are happy in bein- bv our dtstance from E„„laud, delivercd-ncwspape^, and m';,!^i„: rospecfng which one ia ta in wonder that any person., couTd bo could be found to buy and read them. Anything more puerile dehght to call them«,lve.,) school in England, as represented bv their newspapers, I cannot imagine. «presonted by There are other periodicals, however, which are an honour to our Church, and would prove a help in their study, and a solid meZ of .mprovement Jo the best men among us, as^ll a, an unfX source of rcf«,,hment and delight. I refer particularly to ho London 0,..rd;an, tho Colonial Church Chronicle, and the thril UanJlcncniranccr. lean imagine nothingmore likely to form and keep up a man's taste for really good reading, to stir him up to read and to help htm in his selection of books, tha^ these three admir Me penodieals-allof them sound, and orthodox, modewt ehurchmanshtp, htgh-toned in their religious sentiment, and cot ducted ™th most marked ability. Ought we not to make .» car„e.^effort_to avail ourselves of this means of improvement? S. Ihore IS one more very serious discouragement to readin.. and w.th the eonsideratiou of it I wi'll eonelule this l^dy S lengthy paper-I mean, the want, in most of our missions Tf htorary soe.ety. There can be no doubt that mixing "Ziv w.h those who are beneath us in point of refinement edS a ,d hterary taste has a tendency to drag a man do™ wh e on the other hand, the knowledge that he has to meet S wUh men h.s equals or superiors in intellect and S attainment, and to speak to them as their pastor n™n .1, '^ weighty of all subjects, must stimulate a lot: Jy" „d lolt and diligence in the preparation of his sermons. ^ We muT however, take things as they are and m.ke the best of till We I 20 cannot create in h ilay a society tlmt does not exist, but it is our duty to help to form it; tliercibro we must look to ourselves that wo do not gravitate to a lower level by the state of society that does exist. There is one safeguard against this degrading ten- dency, which I would suggest for the consideration of my breth- ren, and I believe it would prove more effectual than any other. It is the establishment of stated clerical meetings for conference, for the discussion of questions of present interest, such as would lead us to read by way of preparation for the discussion, and more particularly for the oludy, or discussion of Holy Scripture. Such meetings of the clergy are frequent in England under the name of Clerical Associations ; and in the neighbouring States they are becoming quite an institution under the title of Convocations. We have a Clerical Association in Quebec, under the presidency of the Bishop, which does something, and which is about to be reor- ganized with a view to monthly instead of quarterly meetings. From those meetings we always retire refreshed, and with the feel- ing that we have been drawn by such intercourse closer to one another. But in the country they arc even more needed than in the town. And if there could be connected with them a certain (so to call it) reviewing of certain works, of one book at each meet- ing, whi"h should be read by way of preparation by all the members in the interval before the meeting, the effect could not fail to be good. In any case the study and discussion of a passage of Holy Scripture at such meetings must be attended with the best and happiest results. One thing, let me say in conclusion, I have always found a great help in my own studies — both Biblical and general — and that is, when I was able to read with a special object in view, and for the purpose of bringing the results of my reading immediately to bear — of reproducing at once what I should acj-iiie. It is wonderful how reading in this way sharpens, the intelle'it, and gives quickiicssi to the eye, and strength and order to the mciuory. Sit down to Grote's History of Greece, for example, as a matter of duty, and you may read page after page, or chapter after chapter, and year mind retain nothing at all — being ore-occupied by more inter- esting thoughts. But design a popular lecture for your people upon some point of Grecian History, the History of Alexander the ;i 21 Great— c. g., in Its bearing on the prophecies of Daniel— or tlu; gradual spread of the Greek language and literature, as a piepara- tjon for the spread of ( "hristianity, and you will rote and remember what you read without an effort. Even in the preparation for one's ordmary sermons, how much reading may be brought to bear ! We may choose a connected set of subjects, and read with a view to the writing of the sermons. Take the Creed, and prepare a sermon on the Descensus ad inferos, and how easy will it be to read (with a view to the sermcn,) and to master all that we can find in our books on the subject I Sermons so prepared for, and written from a mind fail after such reading, will be listened to by our people with no dull or listless ears. Events, also, are continually occurring in the contemporaneous history of the Church which give a peculiar zest and interest to certain classes of subjects. Would it not be well to take advantage of those seasons, and read up the subjects under discussion ? As, for example, the literature of the Inspiration of Holy Scripture, and of the doctrines of the Atonement and of Eternal Punishment, how comparatively easy is it to go into these questions thoroughly, and master them now I At such seasons, too, wc maj. not only without impropriety, but generally with great bcnefi, to our people, bring those subjects before them, and thus make c ur knowledge of them accurate and exact. Nearly all my_ study of Theology, Church History, Controversy and Holy Scripture, has been with a view to immediate reproduction in Sermons, Lectures or Bible Classes. This sort of study— when you study, I mean, with a view to reproduction in writing— has the double advantage of making you both •e.full man and an exact man. Ordinary reading, simply with a view to knowing a subject gives a man a sort of fulness of knowledge, but it is an unhealthy fulness— a fulness without exactness or order— for no man knows a subject that he cannot reproduce in writing. I commend this mode of reading to the consideration of my brethren, with the utmost confidence of its many solid advantages, and of the cer- tainty of its success. In concluding, let me express the hope that I shall not be mis- understood, as if I made the whole of our ministry to consist in reading. No : however important, it is not the whole. There is even a danger— though among us I think it is slight-of our bein^ 22 so absorbed m study as to neglect the ministry. There is a further danger attending earnest study, the danger of forgetting tliat religion is not a matter of the intellect; that spirituurthings are not intellectually but spiritually discerned; that it is our spirit not our intellect which holds communion with God. But these dangers must not keep us back from study and the cultivation of our minds. We live in very awful times, when, in the words of the greatest living prelate, we seem to see " the first stealing over the sky of the lurid lights which shall be shed profusely around the great antichrist." The sudden and startling development of the existence of an infidel faction within the bosom of our own church is surely such a sign. The battle cry of these miserable men is, the supremacy of reason over faith, and, human intellect the measure of all truth. On their own ground we must meet them ; and, while we deny tiieir position, be nevertheless prepared to show the entire accordance between faith and reason, and that Divine truth though above, is in no instance contradictory to, the laws of the human mind. If, relying upon the divinity of our holy religion, and the certainty of God's promises to the Church- that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her— we sit calmly down to wait the issue, instead of boldly and manfully joining battle with our foes, as if all depended on ourselves, what will the result be? The result will be that we shall be left behind in the awful onward march of the intellect and progress of the age; and the ark of God, which is upon our shoulders, will, for a time, be left beliind with us. The truth has often been assailed, and has, it is true, always come forth victorious from the contest. But how ? By reason of the earnest efibrts, the successful efforts, of the living members of the Church, vindicating her position by their writings, their labours, and their blood. One, alas ! not now of us, said, and said truly, " Our Church could do anything, humanly speak- ing, if it knew its own strength, and if its members were at peace xoith each other! This inestimable advantage, we, in this Diocese, thank God, possess ; we are, as nearly, I believe, as we can expect to see it on earth, " a city at unity witii itself." If, with this vast advantage, we, the clergy, show ourselves worthy of our position- by our zeal, our love for the souls of men, our devotion to our ministry, our spiritual-mindedness, our learning, our thoughtful- I 23 ness, our mental vigour; if we take care not to be behind the pro- gress and intellectual activity of the age, but to keep still in front of It as leaders in the work, each in his own sphere and pince what, indeed, may we not hope, under God, to see the Church accomplish ? Wo should see her accomplishing her holy mission and acknowledged by all, even her enemies, to be " the light of the world, and the salt of the earth."