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A 
 
 GUIDE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW ENGLAND: 
 
 WITH A BRIEF IIIS^OIW OF THE DENOMINATION. 
 
 BY JTOHX MITCHELL, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE EDWARDS CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 " Beholding your Order and the steadfastness of your Faith in 
 Christ." COL. ii. 5. 
 
 > K / 
 
 NORTHAMPTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. H. BUTLER. 
 
 1838. 
 
K? 
 
 J H i' ' 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ABOUT three years since, the author publish- 
 ed, at New Haven, a volume on the principles 
 and practice of the Congregational Churches ; 
 which was favorably reviewed by a number of 
 our theological quarterlies, and was generally 
 approved of, it is believed, as a correct exhibi- 
 tion of the subject. He has often been desired 
 to have it re-printed, with a more full discussion 
 of some of its topics, and the introduction of 
 others which he had omitted. The present 
 volume is a partial re-print of that ; and might 
 be published as a revised edition. But so thor- 
 ough has been the revision, and so considerable 
 is the amount of new matter introduced, that it 
 is thought proper to publish it as a new work. 
 A new title has been given it more descriptive 
 of its present design and contents. 
 
 It is hoped that this volume may be a useful 
 guide to church members and an acceptable 
 auxiliary to pastors. While it is very desirable 
 

 iarcbe* and congregation! should be 
 well iofetmed respecting the principle* and 
 usages of their own eicellem tyttem, there m 
 not, 00 far as I know, any treatise u 
 pressJy for them, and adapted to popular r. 
 
 no o Full and particular as to rrpder 
 
 that tinr pastor* should, amid their man? la- 
 bor*. gite as much mstiuatmn an ts tasira- 
 bl oo the topics here diioeesirf. Some of 
 fbeee topics ate 9 Moreover, of so delicate and 
 personal a nature, that, howerer important they 
 may be, lew pastors %rUI choose to disc ass them 
 .n iheu 
 
 I do oot suppose that chorch order, which 
 10 the leading, though not the solo topic 
 of thi* volume, is the moat imports* thing 
 in religion : hoi neither it it the km 
 
 rtamljr is oot *mimporla*t. Chttrcki 
 iostitoted hy Christ for particular porno* 
 
 >e edifkatioo of the members, and the e&V 
 propagation of religion in the world 
 i that the snooff cf tter f* 
 flaw, that is, their polity, must bate much to do 
 r adaptednees to tho ends in 
 
 tt it ran never be otherwise 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 than an important subject to be studied and 
 known. 
 
 I cannot but think it has been too much neg- 
 lected by us. Our fathers sought truth on this 
 subject with the same conscientiousness and 
 care, as they sought the mind of Christ on other 
 subjects. They sought it at the expense of per- 
 secution and e^ile ; and having, with unwearied 
 pains, found it, they rejoiced in it. It was to 
 them " like unto a treasure hid in a field ; the 
 which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and 
 for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, 
 and buyeth that field." In that age of ecclesi- 
 astical confusion, and of turning back towards 
 popery, they professed that " they looked upon 
 the discovery and settlement of the Congrega- 
 tional way, as the boon, the gratuity, the largess 
 of divine bounty, which the Lord graciously be- 
 stowed on his people that followed him into the 
 wilderness." But we, their descendants, so far 
 from entering into their studies, are almost con- 
 tent to be ignorant of the very results of them, 
 furnished to our hands. Is it not true that not 
 a few of our ministers do not inform themselves 
 even, much less acquaint their people, thorough- 
 ly, with the principles and grounds of our eccle- 
 siastical system ? And does it not hence arise^ 
 1* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 that our people are often too little intelligent in 
 this matter properly to discharge the duties 
 which our system requires of them as members ; 
 and too little established in their views to be 
 not soon unsettled and drawn away to churches 
 of a different order, whose polity they find to be 
 more insisted on, and whose claims they are not 
 qualified to canvass ? Ought we not, as a part 
 of our duty to, our churches, ' and especially 
 when large accessions are made to them of the 
 subjects of our revivals, to instruct them, not 
 only in the doctrines and moral duties of their 
 religion, but in the polity also, under which it 
 is their duty and privilege to act ? 
 
 Besides the direct practical importance of the 
 subject, it is always desirable that we should be 
 informed respecting it that we may be able 
 properly to appreciate the claims of our own 
 system in comparison with others. 
 
 And we shall be excused for believing that it 
 is particularly desirable that the true character 
 of our system should be extensively made known 
 at the present time : when large numbers of 
 emigrants from New England, arid their chil- 
 dren, have been ejected from another commun- 
 
PREFACE. I 
 
 ion ; and are reproached for their Congregation- 
 al partialities and habits, as though all the evils 
 in the world had their source in Congregation- 
 alism ; and, as the price of peace, must adopt 
 the entire polity of the church which has ex- 
 scinded them, or else be settled on some other 
 plan. For their sakes, we could wish that they, 
 with all our emigrants to the great West, would 
 consider well the principles of the churches 
 of their fathers.* 
 
 A knowledge of these principles becomes the 
 more important in view of the place which these 
 churches occupy, and doubtless are destined to 
 occupy, in relation to the great cause of Christ 
 on earth. Tt is not" to be supposed, indeed, that 
 the world is to be converted by means of this or 
 any other single denomination of Christians. 
 But if we consider the history of these church- 
 es, with their numerous arid increasing offspring 
 in the east and in the west if we consider the 
 
 * Tt is with no unkind feelings, much less with any party 
 feelings, that this allusion is made to the Presbyterian church. 
 We love and honor that church. We pray for her prosperity, 
 and for the healing of her dissentions 5, and can say, with long 
 cherished affection, Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity 
 within thy palaces. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 way in which God has led them from the be- 
 ginning ; how he planted, and has watered 
 them ; if we consider their principles and spir- 
 it ; their institutions ; their intelligence ; their 
 presses ; their zeal, enlightened, principled, 
 and constant ; and their liberal devotedness to 
 the work of missions and other objects of uni- 
 versal philanthropy ; we cannot but suppose 
 that they are to have a very prominent agency 
 in the renovation of the world. It is therefore 
 important that every member of their commun- 
 ion should be prepared with every sort of in- 
 struction and qualification for the fulfillment 
 of so high a destiny. 
 
 If this humble volume contribute at all to 
 such a result, if it cause so much as one 
 church, or member, of so important a commun- 
 ion, to be better informed, or more judicious 
 if it cast a little salt into so great a fountain, 
 it will not be valueless, nor the labor of it lost. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 X ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONAL 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 A knowledge of it important. Early developements of the 
 Congregational plan. The Leyden church. Settlement 
 of New England. The denomination in England. 
 Character of the settlers of New England. State of so- 
 ciety. The first ministers. Discussions of church poli- 
 ty. Platforms. Present character of the New England 
 churches. Page 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF THE CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 
 
 Constitution of churches. Members. Church power. Offi- 
 cers. Creeds. Independence and self-government of 
 the churches. Practical results of the System. . 36 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHURCH COVENANT AND WATCH. 
 
 Nature of the Covenant. Mutual watch of members. Ob- 
 ject spirit and manner and importance of the duly. 74 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Ends of discipline. Means. Private offences our Sa- 
 vior's rule remarks. Public offences specification of 
 them manner of proceeding rules of evidence. For- 
 saking communion. Miscellaneous and general remarks 
 on discipline. Treatment of excommunicated persons. 84 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHURCH MEETINGS AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 
 
 Duty of attending such meetings order to be observed 
 in them. Articles of practice terms of admission and 
 membership pledges. Standing Committees. . 135 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RELATIONS OF PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 The pastoral office value of a settled ministry. Itiner- 
 ants. Settlement for lifesettlement for a limited time 
 evils of frequent dismissions. Prerogatives of the pas- 
 tornature and measure of his authority his rights in 
 regard to the pulpit* his right of private judgment the 
 freedom of the pulpit invaded by different sorts of per- 
 sons, on account of its influence. Rights of the people 
 in regard to the pulpit. Conventional rights how in- 
 vaded. ' . . . 144 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEACONS. 
 
 Origin* qualifications duties manner of introduction in- 
 to office 170 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 r RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY PARISH 
 
 AFFAIRS. 
 
 Call and settlement of a pastor order of proceeding the 
 contracting parties. Support of the pastor the grounds 
 of that duty inferences. Different modes of providing 
 for parish expenses taxation rent of pews subscrip- 
 tion funds Sabbath collections. Meeting houses and 
 lecture-rooms. Secular use of churches. Parsonages 
 and libraries. Young men. . . . . . 175 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE OF CHURCHES 
 WITH ONE ANOTHER. 
 
 Dismission of members from one church to another. Coun- 
 cilsoccasions on which they are called mutual and 
 ex-parte consociations powers of councils. Associa- 
 tions. Discipline of ministers. Church membership of 
 ministers 221 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 
 
 It should be liberal and candid not bound to encourage 
 them to the disparagement of ourselves. Proselytism- .' 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 its unworthy arts. Joint ownership of meeting houses 
 Union meetings Catholicism. .... 243 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DOCTRINES AND MEASURES. 
 
 Doctrinal system of our churches importance of a faithful 
 adherence to it. Measures system of means appointed 
 by Christ importance of relying on that system rather 
 than on human expedients. Lay-preaching. Female 
 speaking in promiscuous assemblies. Hasty admissions 
 to the church. General observance of order. . 261 
 
tt 
 
 usii 
 
 PRACTICAL CHURCH MEMBER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE CONGREGA- 
 TIONAL CHURCHES. 
 
 IF every man should know something of 
 the history of his own religious commun- 
 ion, it is especially desirable that such a 
 history as that of the founders of the 
 Churches of New England should, by ev- 
 ery means, be kept alive in the minds of 
 their posterity. The character of our Pil- 
 grim Fathers, the causes and objects of 
 their removal hither, the hardships they 
 suffered more for the sake of us their 
 children, than for their own, have a most 
 sacred claim upon our memory. It is a 
 history which every son of New England 
 2 
 
14 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 should value as his birth-right. " No so- 
 ber New Englander (says Dr. Dwight) can 
 read the history of his country, without 
 rejoicing that God has caused him to spring 
 from the loins of such ancestors, and given 
 him his birth in a country whose public 
 concerns were entrusted to their manage- 
 ment :" and it may be added, that no New 
 Englander who is willingly ignorant of that 
 history is worthy of his origin ; or capable 
 of appreciating, or competent to defend, 
 the inestimable inheritance which has de- 
 scended to him. " I shall count my coun- 
 try lost, (says Cotton Mather) in the loss 
 of the primitive principles, and the primi- 
 tive practices, upon which it was at first 
 established :" that loss, however, will en- 
 sue, and New England will cease to be 
 New England, when her degenerate child- 
 ren, (if that should ever be,) shall be gen- 
 erally ignorant of her history, or cease to 
 revere the memory of her founders. 
 
 It is not, however, the design, nor is it 
 within the compass, of this volume, to give 
 such a history. A few things only can be 
 
v CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 15 
 
 noticed, as introductory to the matters 
 which are to follow. 
 
 The Congregational polity, at least in 
 some of its leading features, began early to 
 be discussed, among the schemes which 
 occupied the Reformers of the sixteenth 
 century ; but did not assume a visible and 
 permanent existence till about 1600. The 
 exiled church at Leyden, under the care 
 of the celebrated Robinson, which after- 
 wards removed to Plymouth, in New Eng- 
 land, is regarded as the mother of the 
 Congregational sisterhood, and its pastor, 
 as the founder, or rather restorer, of the 
 Congregational plan. We of course be- 
 lieve that this scheme of church order is 
 essentially that of the first Christian church- 
 es, and that our Savior and the apostles 
 were its authors. 
 
 The Leyden church was gathered in 
 England in 1602. Being harrassed by an 
 intolerant establishment, they removed, a 
 few years after, to Holland, and thence, in 
 1620, to Plymouth ; where the first detach- 
 
16 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ment of them arrived, in a forlorn condi- 
 tion, in the depth of winter. From the 
 distresses of the sea, which had detained 
 them long upon its bosom, they escaped, at 
 length, to encounter the greater distresses 
 of a houseless forest and an inclement 
 season, distresses, both of sea and land, 
 which only a piety like theirs would have 
 been willing to encounter, and a faith like 
 theirs, been able to sustain. 
 
 The settlement at Plymouth was the 
 first of the religious colonies which, within 
 a few years after, during the " Laudian 
 persecution," peopled the streams and har- 
 bors of New England. And this was the 
 beginning of Congregationalism in this 
 country. 
 
 Meantime, a branch of the same vine' 
 was beginning to take root in England. 
 The first church which was gathered there, 
 after Mr. Robinson's, was organized, with 
 simple and affecting solemnities, in 1616. 
 Its pastor was a Mr. Jacob, who during a 
 visit to Leyden had embraced Mr. Robin- 
 son's views. In that unpropitious soil it 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 17 
 
 struggled with even greater difficulties, of 
 another kind, than these encountered which 
 were planted in the wilderness. ".It sub- 
 sisted almost by a miracle for above twen- 
 ty-four years, shifting from place to place, 
 to avoid the notice of the public," till, the 
 times changing, it openly appeared in a 
 house of worship in 1640.* From these 
 oppressed beginnings, Congregationalism 
 in England has gone on increasing and 
 flourishing, " as a grain of mustard seed," 
 till it now numbers, in that country and in 
 Wales, above two thousand congregations. 
 Of its numbers in Scotland I am not inform- 
 ed ; but if the eulogy of the celebrated 
 Chalmers, (a Presbyterian) be just, who 
 says of the Scottish Congregationalists, 
 that they are " the purest body of Chris- 
 tians in the united kingdom," it is to be 
 wished that the number were greater than 
 it is, whatever it may be. 
 
 The state of society in the Naw England 
 settlements, as might be expected from the 
 
 *Neal. 
 
 2* 
 
18 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 causes which originated them, was alto- 
 gether peculiar. It was entirely and emi- 
 nently religious. It might be said of every 
 family, that it was a pious family ; of every 
 adult individual, that he was strictly mor- 
 al, if not religious ; and of every child, that 
 he was piously educated. They were of 
 the best people of England. For it is the 
 best people, the most pious and exempla- 
 ry always, and commonly not the 1-east in- 
 telligent and respectable, that persecution 
 banishes from its communion, while it re- 
 tains the worst. They were the best peo- 
 ple of Jerusalem, " who were scattered 
 abroad upon the persecution that arose 
 about Stephen." They were the best 
 people of France who fled on the revoca- 
 tion of the edict of Nantes. And England 
 had no better people within her bosom 
 than she exiled from it, by the intolerable 
 vexations of her High Commission and 
 other spiritual courts. The immoral and 
 unprincipled people of lax lives and pliant 
 consciences are not the people who either 
 disturb the persecutor, or are disturbed by 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 19 
 
 him. When the Rev. Mr. Cotton, the first 
 minister of Boston, a man of excellent 
 learning and piety, and of much repute in 
 England, as he afterwards was in this 
 country, was informed against in the High 
 Commission, and applied to the earl of 
 Dorset for his interest with the primate, 
 the earl sent him word that, " if he had 
 been guilty of drunkenness, uncleanness, 
 or any such lesser fault, he could have got 
 his pardon ; but the sin of puritanism and 
 non-conformity was unpardonable, and there- 
 fore he must fly for his safety." It was for 
 " the sin of puritanism and non-conformi- 
 ty," and for no other " fault," that our 
 fathers were forced to leave. 
 
 The settlers of New England were all 
 of one persuasion. There was no mixture 
 of emulous and proselyting sects. All the 
 inhabitants of a parish were called by the 
 same bell to the same sanctuary ; all loved 
 and respected the same pastor ; instructed 
 their children in the same schools, and 
 catechisms ; mourned together in the same 
 church-yard : all kept the unity of the 
 
20 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Spirit in the bond of peace ; being called 
 in one hope of their calling ; having one 
 Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
 Father of all. If they originally brought 
 any diversity of views with them, their 
 common piety, and common trials, and the 
 earnestness and simplicity of their common 
 search for truth, soon matured them into 
 harmony. 
 
 This happy unity prevailed, without any 
 schism among themselves, or appearance 
 of sects, for several generations^ Nor was 
 this a drowsy and secure state of things. 
 The presence of God was eminently with 
 them. The first age of New England was 
 one of an almost continuous revival. Preach- 
 ing was attended with so much power, in 
 ^some places, " that it was a common inqui- 
 ry by such members of a family as were 
 detained at home on a Sabbath, whether 
 any had been visibly awakened in the 
 house of God that day." " Few Sabbaths 
 did pass without some evidently converted, 
 and some convincing proof of the power 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 21 
 
 of God accompanying his word."* Thus 
 the children of the settlers, as they came 
 forward into life, under the faithful care of 
 their parents, and ministers, were gather- 
 ed, by the favor of God, into the same com- 
 munion with themselves. The Spirit of re- 
 vivals has overshadowed these churches 
 from the beginning.f 
 
 * Prince's Christian History. 
 
 t There was one considerable period of extensive and alarm- 
 ing 1 declension in the early days of New England. It com- 
 menced, visibly, about 1660 or 1670, i. e. with the third gene- 
 ration. The days of trial had by that time passed away, and 
 prosperity, the greatest of all trials to churches, had succeeded. 
 
 But even of this period, Mather, the historian, says, that 
 " the people of God in this land were not so far gone in degen- 
 eracy, but that there were further degress of disorder and cor- 
 ruption to be found in other, yea, in all other places where the 
 proteslant religion is professed j and the most impartial ob- 
 servers must have acknowledged, that there was proportiona- 
 bly still more of true religion, and a larger number of the strict- 
 est saints, in this country, than in any other on the face of the 
 earth." MagnaL Book V. In view of this declension there 
 was a special meeting, or synod, called at Boston, to consider 
 a work of reform: and it is remarkable with what fidelity and 
 minuteness this synod went into an inquiry respecting the pre- 
 vailing sins, the result of which they published. A similar 
 reform was engaged in in Connecticut. Many churches set 
 apart seasons for special prayer, faithful inquiry, and solemn 
 renewal of covenant ; and " very remarkable was the blessing 
 
22 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The first ministers of New England were 
 episcopally ordained, and had been settled 
 pastors previous to their coming hither. 
 " I have before me, (says Neal,) a list of 
 seventy-seven divines who became pastors 
 of sundry churches and Congregations in 
 New England before 1640, all of whom 
 were in orders in the Church of England." 
 They received their ordination, generally, 
 in the time of the mild arch-bishop Abbot, 
 a man of such piety and temper, that had 
 his predecessor, Bancroft, and his succes- 
 sor, Laud, been men of the like views and 
 spirit, New England had not been settled 
 as it was. They received their education 
 at the Universities of Cambridge and Ox- 
 ford, and were all of them respectably, and 
 some of them extensively, if not profound- 
 
 of God upon the churches which did so." " Many thousands 
 of spectators will testify, that they never saw the special pres- 
 ence of the great God our Savior more notably discovered 
 than in the solemnities of those opportunities." 
 
 Though there was no general revival during this period, 
 which continued till the great awakening of 1640, there were 
 numerous local ones, as for example in Northampton, where 
 there were five such seasons during the ministry of Mr. 
 Shepard. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 23 
 
 ly, learned. Their excellence, both as 
 preachers and as men, has been abundant- 
 ly testified to by men, not only of their 
 own, but of other persuasions. Two per- 
 sons,* who well knew them, have left, the 
 following account of them. "We that saw 
 the persons, who, from four famous colo- 
 nies assembled in the synod that agreed on 
 our Platform of Church Discipline, cannot 
 forget their excellent character. They 
 were men of great renown in the nation 
 from whence the Laudian persecution ex- 
 iled them : their learning, their holiness, 
 their gravity, struck all men that knew 
 them with admiration. They were Timo- 
 thies in their houses, Chrysostoms in their 
 
 * Rev. John Higginson, son of the first minister of Salem, 
 and Rev. William Hubbard, minister of Ipswich 5 both born in 
 England. These venerable men ; at an advanced period of 
 their lives, anxious to perpetuate " the old principles of New 
 England," drew up a joint paper, expressly for after genera- 
 tions, which they left behind them, with the following super- 
 scription : " A testimony to the Order of the gospel in the 
 churches of New England : left in the hands of the churches by 
 the two most aged ministers of the. gospel yet surviving in the 
 country." The former died 1708, aged 93 ;, the latter in 1704, 
 
24 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 pulpits, Augustines in their disputations. 
 The prayers, the studies, the humble in- 
 quiries, with which they sought after the 
 mind of God, were as likely to prosper as 
 any means upon earth. And the suffer- 
 ings wherein they were confessors for the 
 name and the truth of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, add unto the arguments which 
 would persuade us, that our gracious Lord 
 would reward and / honor them, with com- 
 municating much of his truth unto them." 
 
 There w T as no one subject which en- 
 gaged the attention of the founders of New 
 England more than the subject of church 
 polity. Having escaped from the half re- 
 formed protestantism of their native land, 
 they were deeply anxious to establish a 
 system here according to the true primi- 
 tive model. 
 
 They were^now in circumstances to do 
 so. The reformation in England had stop- 
 ped short of the reasonable expectations 
 of its most enlightened friends. It was 
 often stationary, often retrograde. It re- 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CH 
 
 tained, at its best estate, too^m^ny of t 
 habiliments, and by far too much of the 
 spirit, of the popish religion which it had 
 professed to supplant. It was retarded by * 
 the habits of the people, which had been 
 formed under Catholic influence. It was 
 involved in numberless controversies. It 
 was entangled with interests of State. It 
 was opposed by the claims ; of arrogant pre- 
 rogative, and repressed by arbitrary pow- 
 er. Freedom of thought was " an heinous 
 crime," and liberty of conscience, " an in- 
 iquity to be punished by the judges." But 
 the New England puritans were now be- 
 yond the action of all these adverse influ- 
 ences. They had come out from among 
 them, and were separate ; and with an 
 ocean intervening, and a wilderness about 
 them, there was no impediment to their 
 free inquiries. 
 
 In these inquiries the Bible was their 
 guide. The Bible alone. They were not 
 ignorant of history, nor slow to avail them- 
 selves of any light which fathers, councils, 
 or reformers, might shed upon their minds ; 
 3 
 
26 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 but they regarded the Bible alone as au- 
 thoritative. If alone authoritative, it must ' 
 be sufficient alone ; and the man of God, 
 possessing the Bible, is, in respect to all 
 that is essential to faith or practice, perfect, 
 thoroughly furnished unto all good works. ' 
 So the Puritans believed and acted. They 
 built their system upon the Bible, and 
 thought the foundation broa'd enough. 
 They needed no traditions, or inventions 
 of men, or reasons of State, to make it 
 broader. Deeply feeling their responsibil- 
 ity, to the God of the Bible, to that law and 
 testimony they constantly referred their 
 own and other men's opinions. " The su- 
 preme judge, (say they, in their Platform) 
 by which all controversies in religion are 
 to be determined, and all decrees of coun- 
 cils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines 
 of men, and private spirits, are to be exam- 
 ined, and in whose sentence we are to 
 rest, can be no other, but the Holy Scrip- 
 ture delivered by the Spirit ; into which 
 Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally 
 resolved." What a world of confusion 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 27 
 
 and darkness would have been prevented, 
 had all men been as simple in their appeal 
 to the Scriptures as .were the Puritans of 
 New England ! 
 
 Besides their numerous tracts and vol- 
 umes on the subject of church order, it 
 was abundantly discussed in sermons, and 
 in other forms. The results of these dis- 
 cussions were embodied, generally, in the 
 Cambridge Platform, which was consider- 
 ed and agreed to by a Synod convened at 
 that place, in 1648, and recommended to 
 the acceptance of the churches.^ This 
 Synod was composed of ministers from all 
 the colonies ; the invitation being general, 
 and the interest a common and important 
 one. They also adopted a confession of 
 faith, namely, the Westminster ; which had 
 then 'lately been set forth. For this the 
 Savoy Confession was afterwards sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 Having finished their work, in which 
 they had proceeded with great harmony, 
 66 they did, with an extraordinary elevation 
 of soul and voice, then sing together the 
 
28 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 song of Moses and the Lamb, in the 
 fifteenth chapter of Revelation:" and thus 
 the session was closed. 
 
 From that time onward, the Cambridge 
 Platform, (till it was superseded in Con- 
 . necticut, in 1708, by the Saybrook Plat- 
 form) was the general directory of the 
 Churches. It did not originate, or essen- 
 tially modify their practice, but rather re- 
 cognized and digested the principles upon 
 which they were already established. It 
 is an instrument the wisdom of which will 
 be more seen, the more it is studied, and 
 compared with the Scriptures. 
 
 The Saybrook Platform is based upon 
 the same general views as the Cambridge ; 
 differing from it only, or chiefly, in the 
 further provision it makes in respect to 
 councils, and associations of ministers. 
 
 Such, briefly, is the rise and early histo- 
 ry of the New England Churches. Of oth- 
 er institutions which have had their origin 
 and growth with these churches, 1 can 
 take no notice. 
 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 29 
 
 It is the habit of infidels and vain per- 
 sons, of Catholics, and, I am sorry to add, 
 of some others, from whom better things 
 might be hoped, to disparage the memory 
 of the Pilgrims, with what motives, it 
 need not be mentioned. But the attempt 
 is vain. Their works speak for them. 
 Their schools, their colleges, their laws 
 and governments, to say nothing of their 
 churches, institutions which all men ad- 
 mire, liberties which all men are breathing 
 after, a state of society which, for its intel- 
 ligence and morals, has no parallel in any 
 country, these are their memorials. When 
 our praise of the Pilgrims, or, rather, when 
 our gratitude to God on their behalf, sur- 
 passes the benefits received through them ; 
 when it rises higher, or spreads farther, 
 than the healthful influences which they 
 originated, then shall our gratitude be 
 abated, and our praise restrained. 
 
 As it regards the Congregational com- 
 munion at the present day, its members 
 still cherish, in- a good degree, the princi- 
 3* 
 
30 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 pies and habits of their fathers. They are 
 still the enlightened friends of liberty and 
 religion ; the efficient patrons of education ; 
 the advocates, even to a proverb among 
 the licentious, of law, and order, and vir- 
 tuous morals. If in some degree they 
 have declined from the strictness of former 
 times, it may yet be said that they are 
 among the most strict of the existing de- 
 nominations. If, as a body, they keep the 
 Sabbath with less exactness than the 
 fathers did, (a fact to be deplored) it may 
 still be asked, what body of Christian pro- 
 fessors respect it more than they do, or 
 have shown themselves more solicitous to 
 protect it from profanation ? If less se- 
 vere, or strenuous, in their opposition to 
 vice, which of the sister denominations is 
 before them in every work of reform ; or 
 against which has the enmity of the profli- 
 gate been more manifested on this account? 
 I hope we may never be backward to 
 confess our sins, and to lament our degen- 
 eracy. But whatever our sin, or degener- 
 acy, may be, may it never be that of aban- 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 31 
 
 doning the principles and habits of our 
 fathers ! 
 
 We revere the memory of the pilgrims. 
 We revere their principles. We cherish 
 their institutions. We cannot but love the 
 churches of their planting; not merely, or 
 blindly, because of their origin with them, 
 but because of their scriptural simplicity 
 and tried excellence. We hold fast that 
 which is good. We contend earnestly for 
 the faith once delivered to the saints, iden- 
 tical, as we believe, with the faith of these 
 churches ; and for its precious fruits, as 
 developed in their influence. 
 
 We cannot look at the results of the 
 Congregational system, ecclesiastical and 
 doctrinal, as we behold them in New Eng- 
 land, and elsewhere, without feeling that 
 for us to abandon it, would make us culpa- 
 ble as freemen and philanthropists, as well 
 as degenerate as sons and Christians. If it 
 was an enlightened piety in the fathers 
 which devised the system, must it not be 
 either ignorance or degeneracy in the sons, 
 
32* ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 that discards it ? And though we can ap- 
 preciate and acknowledge whatever is ex- 
 cellent in other communions, yet, after 
 more than two centuries experience of the 
 fruits of this, unaided as it was, and for a 
 long time unmolested, by other systems, 
 and operating alone in forming the charac- 
 ter of New England ; we may, without big- 
 otry we trust, say to such as would prose- 
 lyte us, or our children, to other modes, 
 brought in to rival or supplant the Con- 
 gregational, Show us better fruits, before 
 we forsake the tree which produces these.* 
 And we cannot help demanding, if this 
 
 * " Let it be recollected, that for nearly a hundred years af- 
 ter the settlement of New England, there were very few of any 
 denomination in the land besides Congregalionalisls. In 1700 ; 
 there were in all the New England states then settled, 900 
 Episcopalians, [equal to one moderate congregation] of whom 
 185 were communicants. There were no Methodists ; and 
 with the exception of Rhode Island, very few Baptists. Not-a 
 single church of this denomination existed in Connecticut, and 
 but two or three in Massachusetts. There we're at the same 
 time one hundred and twenty Congregational churches, besides 
 thirty churches composed of Indians. It is plain then that New 
 England is, what it is, chiefly from the influence of the Con- 
 gregationah'sts, and of Congregational principles." Haives's 
 Tribute. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 33 
 
 land were now a wilderness, as it was, and 
 the foundations of our welfare were now 
 about to be laid, who were the men, or 
 what the principles, which were better fit- 
 ted for the work than those we are con- 
 sidering ? And if these principles are any 
 less valuable now than they once were, 
 if they are less scriptural, or less effica- 
 cious, let the system be brought forward, 
 of all the existing systems of faith and or- 
 der, which is more scriptural, and endued 
 with greater efficacy to make men virtuous 
 and happy. " Where is truth, where is 
 piety, where is hope and salvation to be 
 found, if not in these Christian societies, 
 which, for two hundred years, have shared 
 so signally in the protection and care of 
 Almighty God, and which, for the same 
 period, have exerted so happy an influ- 
 ence on all the dearest interests and hopes 
 of this favored community ?"* Or if these 
 principles do not now reside in the Con- 
 gregational communion, if the gold has be- 
 
 * Hawes. 
 
34 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE 
 
 come utterly dim, and the most fine gold 
 changed, let it be shown in what commun- 
 ion they do reside and we will be con- 
 verts to that communion. But if no such 
 church or system can be named, then let 
 the Congregational descendants of the Pil- 
 grims sustain, under God, to the latest 
 times, the faith, and the order, of their 
 Congregational progenitors. 
 
 Meantime, we repeat the testimony of 
 the venerable men before quoted,* and 
 hand it down to our children. " We do 
 therefore earnestly testify, (say they) that 
 if any who are given to change, do rise up 
 to unhinge the well established churches 
 in this land, it will be the duty and inter- 
 est of the churches to examine whether 
 the men of this trespass are more prayer- 
 ful, more watchful, more zealous, more pa- 
 tient, more heavenly, more universally con- 
 scientious, and harder students, and better 
 scholars, and more willing to be informed 
 and advised, than those great and good 
 
 * Messrs. Higginson and Hubbard. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 35 
 
 men who left unto the churches what they 
 now enjoy. If they be not so, it will be 
 wisdom for the children to forbear pulling 
 down with their own hands the houses of 
 God which were built by their wiser fath- 
 ers, until they have better satisfaction.' 5 
 And they conclude with their " prayers un- 
 to the Lord for these holy churches, [in. 
 which, who will not unite ?] that he would 
 surely visit them, and grant much of his 
 gracious presence and Spirit in the midst 
 of them ; and raise up, from time to time, 
 those who may be happy instruments of 
 bringing down the hearts of the parents in- 
 to the children. The Lord bless these His 
 churches, and keep them steadfast, both in 
 the faith, and in the order of the gospel, 
 and be with them, as he was with their 
 fathers, and never leave them nor forsake 
 them!" 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF THE CONGREGATIONAL SYS- 
 TEM. 
 
 As the rights and duties of the church- 
 member are essentially modified by the 
 polity of the church to which he belongs, 
 it is important to him, and also to the 
 church, that he should understand the 
 principles of that polity. The government 
 of a church, like any other government, is 
 a practical thing : it defines relations, dis- 
 tributes powers, prescribes duties. And 
 these vary with the character of the sys- 
 tem. It is therefore obvious, that though 
 all believers, considered simply as disci- ' 
 pies of Christ, have the same duties to dis- 
 charge, yet considered as subject to this or 
 that particular ecclesiastical organization, 
 their duties, as well as their privileges, 
 may be quite diverse. As the active du- 
 ties of the citizen of a republic are not the 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM.. 37 
 
 same as those of the passive subject of an 
 oligarchy ; being more numerous, more 
 responsible, more noble : so 3 under the va- 
 rious schemes of church order, there is 
 more or less for the laity to do, or to sub- 
 mit to, in the management of affairs, as the 
 schemes have more or less of the charac- 
 ter of free institutions. 
 
 The following are the, essential features 
 of the Congregational system. They re- 
 late to the constitution of churches, their 
 members, powers, officers, and relations. 
 
 A church is a society of believers united 
 together, by their own consent, or cove- 
 nant, in obedience to the will of Christ, for 
 the observance of ordinances, their own 
 edification, and the propagation of the 
 faith. Each society, thus formed, with its 
 proper officers, is to all intents a church. 
 
 No persons are to be received as mem- 
 bers but such as are hopefully renewed by 
 the Spirit of God, giving credible evidence 
 of the same. 
 
 Church power, as it is called, that is, the 
 4 
 
38 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 power to receive, and discipline members, 
 to elect officers, and to do such other acts 
 as concern the body, in matters of prac- 
 tice, is vested in the church itself, and not 
 in its officers. The latter have their prop- 
 er authority and influence, (as will be no- 
 ticed elsewhere,) but have not power to 
 rule the church, except by consent of the 
 brotherhood. 
 
 The officers of the church are of two or- 
 ders, namely, presbyters (or ministers) and 
 deacons. They are elected by the breth- 
 ren, and ordained by presbyters. 
 
 The churches are, in a qualified sense, 
 independent. No church admits the right 
 of any other church, or number of church- 
 es, or church officers, to interfere authorita- 
 tively with its faith or discipline. "They 
 maintain, however, an endeared and ex- 
 tended communion and co-operation with 
 one another ; and are so far mutually sub- 
 ject to discipline, that an erring church is 
 open to the reproofs of others, and, if the 
 case require, may be disowned from the 
 general communion. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 39 
 
 They do not allow the imposition of hu- 
 man creeds, or standards, as tests of ortho- 
 doxy, or terms of communion. 
 
 The relations of Church and Society, as 
 they have been established by New Eng- 
 land Congregationalists, recognizing both 
 their distinct and their united existence 
 and capacities, are, it is believed, peculiar, 
 and eminently happy. 
 
 I have merely stated these items, without 
 the grounds or proofs of them. For the 
 elucidation of some of them, I subjoin the 
 following remarks. 
 
 1. Churches are, in a limited sense, vol- 
 untary associations ; being formed by the 
 free consent of the members. They can 
 be properly formed in no other way. Men 
 are not born into the church, but into the 
 world: though volumes have been written 
 to the contrary. Nor can any act of pow- 
 er, ecclesiastical, or civil ; or any parish, 
 or diocesan, or other geographical lines, 
 make them members. It must be by their 
 own intelligent act. 
 
40 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 It is only in this restricted sense, howev- 
 er, that they are of the*nature of voluntary 
 associations ; being in all other important 
 respects dependent, not upon the will of 
 the members, but upon the will of Christ.* 
 
 2. Though we have no pufilic Articles 
 of Religion, to which, as a denomination, 
 we require subscription, each church has 
 its own Confession of Faith and Covenant. 
 
 These Confessions are usually brief and 
 comprehensive, comprising only those arti- 
 cles of the Christian system, which are 
 regarded as fundamental. Their uses are 
 these. They are declarative of the faith of 
 the church j showing in what sense it un- 
 derstands the Scriptures, and what scheme 
 of doctrine it embraces, in distinction from 
 other schemes. They also show the har- 
 
 * A proper voluntary association is one whose existence and 
 whole economy are a conventional thing. It is self-constituted, 
 prescribes its own laws, admits to membership whom it will, is 
 without responsibility, and may change and modify its form 
 and policy, or cease to be, according to its own pleasure. The 
 churches of Christ ought not in any manner to be confounded 
 with these ; as perhaps they have sometimes been, by those 
 who are fond of calling them " voluntary associations." 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 41 
 
 many of the members in respect to faith. 
 The ends for which the members are asso- 
 ciated require that they should be substan- 
 tially agreed in their views ; and this agree- 
 ment is signified by their assent to a com- 
 mon confession. 
 
 The Covenant is a solemn recognition 
 of the practical duties of the Christian pro- 
 fession. It is an engagement on the part 
 of the members, personally entered into as 
 it respects God, and mutually as it respects 
 themselves, to walk agreeably to the laws 
 of Christ's house. 
 
 Regarded as forms, also, the Confession 
 and Covenant are important, as giving dis- 
 tinctness and solemnity to the act of a 
 Christian profession. 
 
 The practice of religious covenanting is 
 very ancient. For covenanting with God, 
 see Gen. 17. Deut. xxix. 10 13. Exod. 
 xix. 8. Neh. ix. 38, (in which instance 
 the covenant was written and sealed?) and 
 other passages. For covenanting with one 
 another, see Neh. x. 2831. 2 Cor. viii. 5.* 
 
 *See Upham's Rat. Dis. 2931. 
 
 4* 
 
42 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 3. Congregationalists hold to the local 
 and separate being of churches, as compos- 
 ed of single societies of believers, in oppo- 
 sition to the idea of an extended church, 
 composed of many societies ; as a catholic, 
 a national, or a diocesan church. The 
 New Testament never uses the word 
 church in this extended sense, (except as it 
 speaks of the whole family of the redeem- 
 ed,) but applies it only to local assemblies ; 
 as the church of Ephesus, the church in 
 Smyrna, at Corinth, &c. When it speaks 
 of provinces, or countries, it uses the plu- 
 ral, churches ; as the churches of Galatia, 
 of Macedonia, the seven churches which 
 are in Asia, &c. 
 
 And this is the Congregational idea. 
 Each society is a church, a whole church, 
 and not a fraction, or constituent part of a 
 church. It is complete in itself, and com- 
 petent to all the acts which it is proper for 
 a church to do. Hence, while we hear of 
 The Church of England, The Presbyterian 
 Church, The Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 meaning extended bodies, -having common 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 43 
 
 and imperative articles of subscription, and 
 amenable to some central or common pow- 
 er, we never hear of The Congregational 
 Church, but they are spoken of as churches. 
 Nor do we commonly hear from intelligent 
 Congregationalists such phrases as our 
 Church, our Zion ; or such personifications 
 as her communion, her pale, and the like. 
 Such imposing phrases and ideas, though 
 there may be no great harm in them, per- 
 haps, are as uncongregational as they seem 
 to us unscriptural. In the mouths of some 
 they are unamiably sectarian. 
 
 The Congregational communion is not 
 one great, imposing, consolidated church ; 
 but a band of related Christian families ; 
 bound together by oneness of faith, affec- 
 tion, and aim ; having the Bible for their 
 common directory, and Christ for their 
 common head. Such were the New Tes- 
 tament churches. 
 
 4. That churches should be composed 
 of true believers, and of such only, is es- 
 
44 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 sential, not only to the purity of churches, 
 but to 'every object for which they exist. 
 Supposing them to be made up indifferent- 
 ly of believers and unbelievers, the child- 
 ren of God and the children of the world, 
 there could be neither fellowship, disci- 
 pline, co-operation, nor visible separate- 
 ness from the world. What fellowship 
 hath righteousness with unrighteousness, 
 or what communion hath light with dark- 
 ness ? This is clear enough in scripture, 
 and in reason ; but not every church has 
 acted upon it. 
 
 If churches are to be formed carefully 
 and strictly upon this principle, we may 
 see how wrong it is to invite the entrance 
 of the unconverted, either by urgency, or 
 by too easy admission. How often have 
 churches sought to enlarge themselves by 
 lowering the terms of admission ; by too 
 large or lax a charity, in respect to evi- 
 dence of grace ; by extolling the saving 
 efficacy of their sacraments, and " valid or- 
 dinances ;" or by the too ready embrace 
 of a merely sectarian and proselyting zeal ? 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 45 
 
 How often is " the temple of God" sinned 
 against, in these and similar ways ! " But 
 let every man take heed how he buildeth." 
 The apostolic churches were composed of 
 none but those who were hopefully renew- 
 ed, according to the best evidence that 
 could be had of them. They were all ad- 
 dressed as " saints," " saints in Christ," 
 " saints and faithful." Our Savior him- 
 self offered no facilities for the admission 
 of the impenitent, but discouraged them ; 
 as the Bible everywhere does. Ps. 1. 16. 
 Matt. viii. 19, 20. Luke xiv. 2633. 
 Eccles. v. 5. 1 Cor. iii. 10, 12, 13. 
 
 5. As the members are required to have 
 fellowship one with another, and as there 
 can be no fellowship with those who are 
 brought together without consent, or like- 
 ness of character, (for how can two walk 
 together except they be agreed ?) it is man- 
 ifestly fit and reasonable that new mem- 
 bers should come in by consent of the 
 brotherhood. 
 
 Again, as the brethren admit members, 
 
46 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 so it is for them to expel members, when 
 their conduct requires it. In other words, 
 as it was with them to say whether a per- 
 son was worthy of their fellowship at the 
 first ; it is with them to say whether he 
 continues worthy, or has forfeited their con- 
 fidence. That is ; the power of admission, 
 and of discipline, is properly in the broth- 
 erhood. Suppose it to be elsewhere, and 
 to be exercised independently of them : it 
 may force an unworthy and unwelcome 
 member upon them, but it cannot force 
 their confidence and love. He may be 
 among them, but he is not of them. 
 
 6. If the right of admitting and ex- 
 cluding members be important to the broth- 
 erhood, much more is the right of choosing 
 their own ministers. My edification, as de- 
 pendent on my minister ; the love and 
 respect I am required to bear towards him ; 
 my concern for my children and friends, 
 and for all who are to share with me in the 
 influence of his ministrations ; and many 
 other things, make it exceedingly desira- 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 47 
 
 ble to me, that I should have a voice in his 
 election. 
 
 Nor let it be said that the brethren are 
 not qualified for such a trust. Our Sa- 
 vior virtually judges otherwise, where he 
 says, the sheep know the shepherd's voice, 
 and a stranger will they not follow, but 
 will flee from him ; for they know not the 
 voice of strangers. True Christians soon 
 discern the spirit of their ministers ; and 
 are made to feel what occasion they have 
 in them either to rejoice, or to mourn. 
 Blind guides may satisfy the blind, but r^ot 
 the "children of the day." 
 
 " Of such moment is the preservation of 
 this power, [of choosing their officers] that 
 the churches exercised it in the presence 
 of the apostles."* Acts xiv. 23,f and vi. 
 
 35. 
 
 
 
 7. Of church officers we have but two 
 kinds, ministers and deacons, because but 
 
 * Carab. Plat. 
 
 f This passage reads in our translation, " they ordained," 
 &c. but the word in the original, means to elect by lifting up 
 the hand. 
 
48 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 two are recognized in the New Testament. 
 I speak of permanent officers. The apostol- 
 ic office was not a permanent one, but ex- 
 pired with the twelve. 
 
 The words bishop, elder, pastor, and min- 
 ister, are used in the New Testament to 
 signify the same office, being applied to 
 the same person. Hence the equality of 
 ministers. It was not intended that some 
 should be set up as overseers and lords 
 over the others. " Be not ye called Rab- 
 bi : for one is your Master, even Christ ; 
 and all ye are brethren." " Ye know that 
 they which are accounted to rule over the 
 gentiles exercise lordship over them ; and 
 their great ones exercise authority upon 
 them. But so it shall not be among you." 
 
 The three grades of bishops, priests, and 
 deacons, are not to be found in the New 
 Testament. The chapter and verse oan- 
 not be named. Of course, as they are 
 not in the Bible, they are not of divine 
 right, whatever may be said of them from 
 history or expediency. 
 
 JLay-presby t e r s , or ^ruljng^^elders, are 
 
> 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 49 
 
 V*L<* < Jb ^ 
 
 mv5r J^ WL CV 
 
 supposed, bpEceshyterians, to be author- /^ 
 ized by J_Tim. v. 17. " Let the elders 
 that rule well be counted worthy of HottEJy'ft*.-^ 
 honor, especially they who labor in word 
 and doctrine." But it is thought by very 
 judicious critics that they have misappre- 
 hended the meaning of the passage. Let 
 the elders (ministers) who rule well, espe- 
 cially those who are laborious in preaching, 
 be counted worthy of double honor. Com- 
 pare with 1 Thess. v. 12, 13, and Heb. 
 xiii. 17. Reference is also made, in sup- 
 port of the office, to Rom. xii. 7, 8, and 1 
 Cor. xii. 28. These passages speak of 
 ruling, and of helps and governments, but 
 specify nothing as to a government by 
 ruling elders.* The expediency, or lawful- 
 ness, of this method of government, is a 
 separate question, which every one will 
 settle for himself. 
 
 *" This distinction between teaching and ruling elders, if it 
 ever existed, (which I will neither affirm nor deny,) was cer- 
 tainly not of long continuance; for St. Paul makes it a qualifi- 
 cation requisite in all presbyters, or bishops, that they be able 
 to teach and instruct others. 1 Tun. iii. 2, &c. Mosheim, 
 Bk. I. 
 
 5 
 
50 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 8. From our having no public Confession 
 of Faith, or general Directory for the wor- 
 ship and discipline of our churches, it is 
 often imagined, and ignorantly alledged 
 against us, by those who think such things 
 essential, that we must necessarily be 
 chargeable with looseness and uncertainty. 
 
 But our practice in this respect is that 
 of the primitive churches. They had no 
 such Confessions and Directories. We 
 find no instance of our Savior, or the 
 apostles, or prophets, referring to any con- 
 fession, symbol, directory, rubric, or formu- 
 lary whatever, except the Sacred Oracles. 
 Our Confession and Directory are the 
 same. Though each of our churches has 
 its particular Confession, and, commonly, a 
 few simple articles of practice, drawn up 
 for the sake of convenience, they are never 
 appealed to as " standards," or matters of 
 authority. Our standard is the.Bjble. We 
 think we need no other. We think that 
 the Bible contains, in the form of express 
 statute or recorded practice a not only all 
 that is essential to the faith of churches, 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 51 
 
 but all that is requisite to order and disci- 
 pline; and that its instructions are suffi- 
 ciently ascertainable without the medium 
 of a human compend. The Bible declares 
 its own authority and sufficiency, and re- 
 quires a direct reference to itself on all 
 questions of a religious or moral nature. 
 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. John v. 39. Matt, 
 xxii. 29. Ps. cxix. 105. Prov. vi. 23. 
 Is. viii. 20. 
 
 If it be supposed, from our having no 
 standards, that w r e have therefore no dis- 
 tinctness or harmony of belief, or practice ; 
 or that our sentiments are uncertain, and 
 not to be known ; the supposition is a very 
 mistaken one. The sentiments of no de- 
 nomination are more widely or distinctly 
 known, gathered, it is true, not from Ar- 
 ticles, numbered and stereotyped ; but 
 from the living pulpit, from lucid and labo- 
 rious authors, and from thousands of tracts 
 and periodicals. And the harmony of our 
 churches has been proverbial. Notwith- 
 standing their perfect and universal free- 
 dom, as to what they shall believe or prac- 
 
52 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 tice, there has been a remarkable agree- 
 ment both of faith and practice among 
 them, and a prevailing likeness of charac- 
 ter, throughout New England ; and for 
 above two centuries. What churches have 
 dwelt together in greater affection and uni- 
 ty ? In what body of Christians have there 
 been fewer defections from the faith ? And 
 not only here, but wherever the denomina- 
 tion is known. The following testimony of 
 the Congregational Union of England and 
 Wales respecting the denomination in that 
 country, may stand for all. " They wish it 
 to be observed, (they say,) that notwith- 
 standing their jealousy of subscription to 
 Creeds and Articles, and their general dis- 
 approval of the imposition of any human 
 standard, they are far more agreed in their 
 doctrines and practices than any church 
 which enjoins subscription and enforces a 
 human standard of orthodoxy." 
 
 Whatever may be said of the utility of 
 creeds, we have, in the history of these 
 churches, a practical demonstration that 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 53 
 
 they are at least not indispensable, either to 
 the being or well-being of churches. 
 
 There can be no objection to creeds, that 
 is, to compends of doctrine, for certain pur- 
 poses. They have their uses, and perhaps 
 important uses. But Congregationalists 
 object to their being imposed as tests, or set 
 up as standards, to enforce uniformity. 
 We deprecate the authority they are apt to 
 grow to, to the prejudice of the rights of 
 conscience, and the word of God. As 
 fences against heresy, experience does not 
 prove them to be very effectual. As arti- 
 cles of peace, and bonds of union, we fear 
 they create divisions as often as they pre- 
 vent them. How large a proportion of the 
 internal troubles of churches which use 
 them, their "Acts and Testimonies," their 
 protests and counter-protests, their hot con- 
 tentions, and, in many cases, their violent 
 disruptions, arise from nothing else than 
 zeal for standards ? There are some who 
 think that heaven and earth should pass 
 sooner than one jot or tittle of the exact 
 wording of the prescribed creed and order 
 
 5* 
 
5.4 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 of their church be not fulfilled ; and any 
 brother that offends in one point, they hold 
 to be guilty of all, and obnoxious to ecclesi- 
 astical censure They put their strait-jack- 
 et upon the limbs of Charity, who loves 
 freedom as she loves truth, and make their 
 narrow views the jail-limits Within which 
 she walks afflicted and confined. 
 
 To those who have looked at history, or 
 at human nature, the conviction is hardly 
 avoidable, that the tendency of creeds, es- 
 pecially when enforced to the letter, is just 
 the other way from that which is claimed 
 for them. As to the entire uniformity 
 which is aimed at by means of them, this 
 is not attainable, as all experience shows. 
 And if the end itself be not attainable, still 
 less is it attainable by the means relied on. 
 The attempt to force an agreement is likely 
 to result in the opposite. Agreement, so 
 far as it is attainable, must be voluntary 
 and unconstrained. The human conscience, 
 made free by its Creator, revolts at the 
 idea of bondage to any human authority. 
 And this reluctance is in none stronger 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 55 
 
 than in the truest sons of the gospel ; who 
 have an injunction from their Lord, to call 
 no man their father upon earth ; for one is 
 their Father, which is in heaven, and one is 
 their Master, even Christ ; and an apostol- 
 ic exhortation to stand fast in the liberty 
 wherewith Christ hath made them free, 
 having reference to this very subject, the 
 imposition of a creed ; namely, that of the 
 Jews, upon the Galatian converts. The 
 tendency of religion itself is, to liberate 
 the conscience from mere human authority, 
 (viewed as such,} and to subject it to God 
 alone. 
 
 With regard to the Westminster and Sa- 
 voy Confessions, which were formally 
 adopted by the early New England church- 
 es, and are still esteemed by us, as sys- 
 tems of truth, they have never had the au- 
 thority of standards with us, as some have 
 supposed. They originated in England. 
 They were consented to, " for substance of 
 doctrine," by the New England churches, 
 instead of drawing up a confession for 
 themselves, (which they have never done,) 
 
56 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 for the sake of declaring their doctrinal 
 agreement with Christians on the other 
 side of the water ; from which some had 
 accused them of departing. 
 
 They were never, to my knowledge, set 
 up as standards, and made of the like au- 
 thority with us, as confessions are with 
 other communions. No candidate for the 
 ministry is required to subscribe them, ex 
 vnimo, or otherwise ; no church adopts 
 them for its private use ; nor is reference 
 ever made to them, so far as I know, in 
 cases of discipline for heresy. They have 
 the authority of truth, with us, so far as 
 they agree with the Bible ; and it is be- 
 lieved, that, regarded as systems, whatever 
 exceptions may be made to some of their 
 particular statements, they are far nearer 
 to " the faithful word," than the loose Ar- 
 minian systems which stand opposed 4 to 
 them. They have no other authority than 
 this. And the same may be said of our 
 Platforms. They are lights which all are 
 free to use, or not, as they please?) 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 57 
 
 9. The things which most distinguish 
 the Congregational plan from others, are 
 these jtwo : thalmportance it gives to the 
 suffrages of the brotherhood, in matters of 
 discipline and government ; and^ the inde- 
 pendence of the churches of foreign con- 
 trol, or supervision : which two things may 
 be stated in one, namely, the self-govezn- 
 ment of the churches. In other systems 
 the powers of government are vested in 
 the officers, chiefly in the clergy, exclusive 
 of the brotherhood. In the Congregation- 
 al, they are vested in the church as a body, 
 including its officers ; the latter acting, in 
 their official capacity, as the guides and 
 executives of the church. 
 
 These powers are vested thus in the 
 church, 
 
 (1.) Because it was so done in the New 
 Testament Churches, as our references to 
 the Scriptures show. Our Savior himself 
 gives such power to the churches. Matt. 
 xviii. 17, 18.* 
 
 *To the independence and self-government of the primitive 
 
58 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 It would seem to be the natural right 
 of the dhurches to govern themselves, un- 
 
 churches, we have the testimony of Mosheim. " In those 
 primitive times, (says that respected historian,) each Christian 
 church was composed of the people, the presiding officers, and 
 the assistants, or deacons. The highest -authority was in the 
 people, or the whole body of Christians 5 for even the apostles 
 themselves inculcated by their example, that nothing of any 
 moment was to be done or determined on, but with the knowl- 
 edge and consent of the brotherhood. Acts i. 15 : vi. 3 : xv. 
 4 : xxi. 22." " The assembled people, therefore, elected their 
 own rulers and teachers, or by their authoritative consent re- 
 ceived them, when nominated to them. They also by their 
 suffrages rejected or confirmed the laws, that were proposed 
 by their rulers, in their assemblies 5 they excluded profligate 
 and lapsed brethren, and restored them 5 they decided the con- 
 troversies and disputes that arose, &c." And this order of 
 things the same historian finds to have continued for near two 
 centuries. " During a great part of this [the second] century 
 all the churches continued to be, as at first, independent of each 
 other, or were connected by no consociations or confederations. 
 Each church was a kind of little independent republic, govern- 
 ed by its own laws, which were enacted, or at least sanctioned, 
 by the people." Dr. Murdochs Edition, 1832 ; Vol. I. pp. 81, 
 82, 86. 
 
 Mosheim has, of course, no reference in these passages to 
 modern Congregationalism, but has his eye simply upon the 
 primitive churches, and the matters of fact concerning them. 
 There can be no doubt that he has exhibited them as they 
 were, the same being evident from the New Testament itself 5 
 and the description exactly answers to our Congregational 
 system. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 59 
 
 less this right is denied them in the New 
 Testament ; which is not done, but on the 
 contrary, the right is there confirmed to 
 them. The exercise of this right is also 
 necessary to the due performance of duties 
 which are enjoined upon the body, those 
 namely, of watchfulness and discipline ; 
 which cannot be performed, and, in point 
 of fact, are not performed, at least accord- 
 ing to the intent and letter of them, in 
 churches whose government is aristocratic, 
 as may be noticed hereafter. 
 
 (3.) The powers in question- are no less 
 safely, than they are scripturally, confided 
 to the brotherhood. It is believed, that the 
 churches, with their pastors, are compe- 
 tent to the maintenance of their own puri- 
 ty, peace, and order, according to the laws 
 of Christ ; and that the powers requisite 
 to this are likely to be used as conscien- 
 tiously and judiciously, and are as little lia- 
 ble-to abuse or neglect, in their hands, as 
 in the hands of church officers alone. 
 Power in the hands of a few, in a hierar- 
 chy particularly, (such is the nature of 
 
60 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 man) is prone to be consequential and dic- 
 tatorial. It delights in the show and exer- 
 cise of authority, and in the submissive 
 reverence of its subjects ; and too often has 
 its own importance and preservation in 
 view, not less than the interests for which 
 it professes to legislate. I do not aver, 
 that it always assumes this bearing, actu- 
 ally, but such is its tendency, as there is 
 too much melancholy history to show. 
 How many have been the abuses of these 
 forms of government ! How many their 
 neglects ! How often have high church 
 prerogatives and powers lordly in nature, 
 name, and exercise ; and aspired to by im- 
 proper men, if they have not spoiled the 
 simplicity of good men been exerted in 
 ways immensely injurious to religion, im- 
 mensely foreign to its nature and interests 
 as a spiritual thing, and oppressive and 
 distressing to the most conscientious of its 
 subjects ; and how often, also, have they 
 been negligent and indifferent where cor- 
 ruption and disorders, doctrinal and moral, 
 have demanded their exercise ! 
 
CONGREGATIONAL. SYSTEM. 61 
 
 The government of the churches vested 
 in themselves, is a very different thing 
 from a government solely by officers. 
 From its nature here, it is incapable of os- 
 tentation or aggrandizement, or of far- 
 reaching abuses. Its exercise, in the 
 hands of the brotherhood, is the humble 
 discharge of duties where all are alike 
 responsible and alike concerned in the 
 consequences ; where the power of each, 
 if any be disposed to use it improperly, is 
 balanced by the equal voice and vote of 
 the others ; and where, in cases of censure, 
 particularly, each is reminded to do what 
 he does, " in the spirit of meekness ; con- 
 sidering himself, lest he also be tempted." 
 There may be in a reverend assembly of 
 divines, or house of bishops, or other form- 
 al legislative or judicial body, more learn- 
 ing and gravity, but there is not always 
 more simplicity and prayerfulness, than in 
 the humble church meeting; whose very 
 want of the consequence which learning 
 and office give, makes them the more self- 
 distrustful and circumspect, in what they 
 6 
 
62 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 do, and the more disposed, in their lack 
 of wisdom, to ask of God, who giveth to all 
 men liberally, and upbraideth not. 
 
 (4.) The discipline of the church is a dif- 
 ferent thing in the hands of ^the church, 
 from what it is in merely official hands. 
 -It is another and a better thing. 
 
 In the first place, we want the aid of 
 the brotherhood in our endeavors to reclaim 
 offenders. A member will often deal with 
 a fellow member, a plain man with a 
 plain man more hopefully than a bishop, 
 or any other church officer can. They are 
 better acquainted, and understand each 
 other better ; and have more that is com- 
 mon between them, of language and sym-* 
 pathy. This is precisely the means which 
 Christ has appointed in his rule, in the 
 xviiith of Matthew. He does not direct 
 the pastor, rector, or session, to take the 
 offender in hand, immediately ; but a broth- 
 er is to deal with him, in the first instance 
 alone ; then with one or two others ; and 
 then the church as a body. At the same 
 time, the pastor may use his influence in 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 63 
 
 addition to theirs. The benefit of this 
 method is such, and so^ obvious, that I 
 think that those who know what it is by 
 experience will not willingly exchange it 
 for others. 
 
 Again, the censures of the church are 
 more effectual, proceeding from the broth- 
 erhood. They are another thing in their 
 nature, and another thing in their efficacy. 
 A censure proceeding from the authority 
 of a church officer, or church judicatory, is 
 an official act, and is felt to be no more 
 than this by the subject of it : but proceed- 
 ing from the brotherhood, the equals and 
 associates of the offender, it has the nature 
 of public opinion, and falls 3 as such, with 
 peculiar force upon his spirit. It is so felt 
 by him, and by the church ; it is so regard- 
 ed by "them that are without;" and I 
 doubt not that such it was intended to be, 
 by him who instituted the discipline. c But 
 ye brethren, note that man, and have no 
 company with him, that he may be asham- 
 ed.' The shame arises from his having 
 forfeited the Christian esteem, and conse- 
 
64 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 quently the fellowship, of the society which 
 had received him. He is disowned 
 stricken from their list. It is evidently the 
 design of our Savior, in the result to which 
 he brings us, in his rule, and of much else 
 that is said on discipline, in the New Tes- 
 tament, to place the offender, not under 
 the simple ban of official authority, but, 
 which is much more painful and subduing, 
 in the strong light of an unfavorable 
 opinion, expressed by the voice of the so- 
 ciety towards him, " as an heathen man 
 and a publican," and one not to be com- 
 panied with as a Christian. And so, on 
 the other hand, if the delinquent be restor- 
 ed, it is the same popular voice, or opinion, 
 that restores him. It is that which alone 
 can restore him, in reality ; for the good 
 opinion of the society is that to which he 
 is to be restored, and not merely to a 
 "name to live." An act of power may re- 
 store him to his place in form merely, but 
 cannot restore him to confidence and es- 
 teem: without which his restoration is a 
 nullity. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 65 
 
 This, then, is the peculiar efficacy of the 
 Congregational method of discipline. It 
 lies in the expressed opinion of the broth- 
 erhood. It lies there, I mean, so far as its 
 efficacy is derived at all from men. Of 
 course the offender is to be sensible that 
 he has broken the laws of Christ, and done 
 dishonor to religion ; and from that source 
 chiefly his compunctions should arise. 
 
 And how much is discipline worth 
 where such is not its efficacy ? How much 
 is it ever worth, as to its moral effect, if it 
 do not come to this, if it be not sustained 
 by the voice of the church as a body ? 
 How much effect will the bare decision of 
 a judge, or a bench of judges, have upon 
 the mind of a citizen, so long as he is sus- 
 tained under it by the popular voice and 
 sympathy ? And how much salutary mor- 
 al effect did all the pompous solemnities, 
 mulcts, imprisonments, penances, or anath- 
 emas, ever have, that have proceeded 
 merely from mitred authority, and commis- 
 sioned power, independently of the voice 
 of the people ? 
 
 6* 
 
66 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 If the efficacy of discipline, must, after 
 all, then, depend on the opinion of the 
 brotherhood, why not come to that directly, 
 and surely, as we do in our Congregational 
 way ? The Congregational system " ar- 
 rives by a direct road, at the point which 
 other modes, [if they reach it at all J reach 
 circuitously, and by implication. It speaks 
 the voice of the church, and always speaks 
 as the church thinks. It is an expression 
 of the sentiments and convictions of the 
 whole body. As such, it has a force in 
 honoring Christ's laws, and in rousing the 
 conscience of an offender, which other 
 modes have vainly essayed to obtain by 
 imposing forms, solemn warnings, and 
 dreadful denunciations."* 
 
 The independence of the churches is a 
 necessary part of their self-government. 
 Their powers become a nullity if they re- 
 sign themselves to a superior jurisdiction. 
 If they are not competent to determine ul- 
 
 *Ch. Sped. 1831. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 67 
 
 timately for themselves, if their doings 
 either want confirming, or are liable to re- 
 versal, by a higher power, they are virtu- 
 ally void. 
 
 Our Savior himself gives this ultimate 
 power to the church, Matt, xviii. 17, 18. 
 He does not say, If the offending member 
 neglect to hear the church, let the case be 
 carried up to some higher tribunal ; but 
 the case is to be terminated there. 
 
 And while this ultimate power of deci- 
 ding, in cases of discipline particularly, is 
 important to the fellowship of the mem- 
 bers, (for how can they have fellowship 
 with a member whom they are forced to 
 retain against their consent ?) we are per- 
 suaded that cases generally can be deter- 
 mined better by the church, than by any 
 other tribunal. The church where the 
 case arises is best acquainted with the 
 facts and parties ; and it is not difficult to 
 conceive, that acting under a solemn sense 
 of their responsibility as the ultimate 
 judges, they will act more cautiously and 
 judiciously, than if acting under the im- 
 
68 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 pression, that if they commit an error, 
 there is another tribunal to revise and cor- 
 rect their doings. And in addition to this, 
 there is an advantage in the comparative 
 privacy and dispatch which are secured by 
 this method. A matter is settled sooner, 
 and with less publicity, when it is settled 
 within the church, than when it is carried 
 abroad, by one remove and another. It 
 cannot be carried abroad thus, without ex- 
 tending, more or less, its agitating effects, 
 and its unpleasant notoriety. Settled at 
 home, it is comparatively hidden and con- 
 fined. Settled in a public judicatory, it is 
 heard in its discussions, and reported on 
 its journals ; so that that which was done 
 in a corner is proclaimed upon the house- 
 tops. Why not apply our Savior's rule to 
 churches, as well as to members, and let 
 their private difficulties be settled in pri- 
 vate, as far as they may ? 
 
 I do not mean that cases should never 
 be carried beyond the church in which 
 they originate : but it should be done for 
 advice, rather than adjudication ; and the 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 69 
 
 more seldom it is done the better. It may 
 look well in theory to provide for a succes- 
 ion of appeals, it may look like a scrupij- 
 lous regard to justice, but I cannot help 
 thinking it an evil in fact. We know how 
 it is in civil litigation. The parties, be- 
 cause they may, are disposed to carry their 
 causes from one bench up to another, till 
 they come to the last ; and will never be 
 satisfied that justice is done them, so long 
 as there is a higher court to review the de- 
 cisions of the lower ; nor are satisfied then, 
 any better than at the first, if they are sat- 
 isfied as well ; while the community at 
 large, from seeing the case so long and 
 successively debated, are not unlikely to be 
 impressed with a belief that the case is 
 complicated, and justic,e doubtful. 
 
 The early Congregationalists of New 
 England were very tenacious of the self- 
 government of the churches ; as their des- 
 cendants, generally, and those of England, 
 are now. I will not enlarge on the sub- 
 ject farther than to observe, that the wis- 
 dom of our fathers in this particular, as in 
 
70 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 many others, receives increasing confirma- 
 tion from year to year. It is more and 
 more a matter of experience, that church 
 difficulties are soonest and most satisfacto- 
 rily healed by the churches themselves ; 
 and that when it is necessary to go to a 
 council, persuasion is better than authority : 
 that is, an advisory council, which is the 
 Congregational mode, is better than an ec- 
 clesiastical judicatory, or other law-dis- 
 pensing power.* 
 
 Finally ; It is no small argument in fa- 
 vor of this whole system of polity, that it is 
 eminently adapted to make practical men. 
 Though the position b.e admitted, which 
 
 *If this "be so, the question naturally arises, Have the sons 
 of New England been doing- well, in neglecting, as they have, 
 the approved wisdom of their fathers, in rearing up so many 
 churches, in new settlements, on another plan than theirs ? If 
 they deemed the Congregational plan worth all .that it cost 
 them, is it not worth preserving and extending by us, among 
 th'eir emigrant descendants in the West and South ? Its fruits 
 here are confessed to be excellent : is it not worth as much 
 there as here? Would not its fruits be as valuable upon the 
 lakes and streams of the West, as they are upon the shores 
 and rivers of the East ? Will not the vine bear transplanting 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 71 
 
 has been so commonly admitted in eccle- 
 siastical controversies, that there is no pre- 
 scribed form of church f order in the New 
 Testament, still there is a principle which, 
 plainly, ought to guide us in the framing 
 of our systems ; which is this. The ends 
 of church order must be the same as the ends 
 of truth itself. It must have been the di- 
 vine intention that they should conspire to- 
 gether to one result ; the latter as ancillary 
 to the former. Whatever the system be, 
 therefore, which we adopt, it should be 
 such as to concur with and promote those 
 ends of truth ; and that is the best system 
 which does this most effectually : so that 
 
 from the comparatively barren soil of New England, to the 
 rich tfoltoms of the great Valley ? 
 
 It is computed that 400 churches, or more, have been gath- 
 ered in the west for the Presbyterian church by the benevolence 
 of Connecticut alone. The men and means were furnished 
 here, and sent out chiefly by the Connecticut Missionary Socie- 
 ty. And I have seen it stated, by high Presbyterian authority, 
 that not less than fifteen hundred of their churches are essen- 
 tially Congregational in their origin and habits. A high com- 
 pliment both to the zeal and liberality of New England men. 
 Add these 1500 churches which are Congregational in spirit to 
 those which are such in form, and there is not in the world a 
 more intelligent, efficient, and pious body of Christians. 
 
72 PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 admitting that the New Testament does 
 prescribe no order, it does not follow from 
 this, that it is a matter of indifference what 
 our order is, and that we have unqualified 
 liberty to devise what system we will.* 
 
 What then are the ends of religious 
 truth ? They are, .first, to, make men pious; 
 secondly, to make them Jtsqful* First, pie- 
 t}fr- then activity, (or zeal?) directed by 
 knowledge, in the cause of Christ. That 
 is, the ends of truth are, in a word, to 
 make practical Christians. 
 
 And this the Congregational system em- 
 inently does. While other systems ex- 
 clude the laity from ecclesiastical affairs, 
 altogether, or in a great degree, regarding 
 them only as worshippers and tax-payers, 
 the Congregational churches devolve upon 
 their members the responsible duties of 
 discipline and government. They are 
 
 * Without either disputing or admitting 1 this position, I can- 
 not help observing that the New Testament does at least give 
 us precedents. The New Testament churches certainly had 
 some order ; and what that order was, it is not difficult to see. 
 Whether the form assumed by them was designed to be always 
 obligatory or not, we leave every one to determine for himself. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM. 73 
 
 thus called habitually to act together. 
 Their wisdom and piety are habitually put 
 in exercise ; and by this means are neces- 
 sarily increased. Each church is a school 
 of mutual instruction in the great princi- 
 ples and precepts of the gospel ; where 
 the younger are benefitted by the expe- 
 rience of the older, and all by the collected 
 wisdom of the body, and by that of the 
 pastor, their common guide. And the re- 
 sult is strikingly obvious, in the known 
 practical character of this body of Chris- 
 tians. Look at their movements in all the 
 practical concerns of religious and social 
 life. Look at their colleges, and schools, 
 and other institutions, designed and sus- 
 tained by them, for the good of the world. 
 Look at their efficiency in missionary ope- 
 rations, and in all movements of reform. 
 They are not merely devout worshipers 
 within church walls, and decent people 
 without ; but, notoriously and eminently, 
 they are intelligent, liberal, and efficient 
 business Christians. They serve God, as 
 well as worship Him. 
 7 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHURCH COVENANT AND WATCH. 
 
 HAVING looked at the principles of these 
 churches, we proceed to their practice. 
 
 On becoming members of the church, 
 besides professing our faith, we enter into 
 a covenant. This covenant is, first, with 
 God ; and embraces the duties of piety to- 
 wards him : .gep.on.cUy, with the members ; 
 with whom we engage to live in Christian 
 affection and harmony ; to walk with them 
 in a due observance of ordinances ; to 
 watch over them in faithfulness and love, 
 expecting the same from them ; to support 
 the discipline of the church, and to submit 
 to the same ; and, in general, to observe 
 and do all which the interests of the body, 
 and of the members, may justly require 
 
CHURCH COVENANT. 75 
 
 of us, and to refrain from all which may 
 reasonably grieve or injure them. 
 
 To love the brethren, next to the love 
 of God, is first among these duties. Love 
 is the soul of all. But I pass over whatev- 
 er pertains to the religion of the affections, 
 and confine myself, according to my de- 
 sign, to the practical concerns of the reli- 
 gious social state. The first which I shall 
 mention is, the 
 
 MUTUAL WATCH OF THE MEMBERS. 
 
 We covenant together to watch over 
 each other's infirmities and errors ; to ob- 
 serve each other with the eye of Christian 
 affection and concern, and to give and re- 
 ceive reproof, as occasion may require. 
 
 Any member knowing of any thing in 
 another, which is inconsistent with his 
 character or hopes as a Christian, whether 
 it be some impropriety of behavior, error 
 of faith, or neglect of duty, is bound to no- 
 tice it in a way of friendly admonition ; or 
 to take such other measures as he may 
 
76 CHURCH COVENANT 
 
 conceive to be best suited to his amend- 
 ment. " Brethren, if a man be overtaken 
 in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore 
 such an one." "Take heed to yourselves: 
 If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke 
 him ; and if he repent, forgive him. 33 This 
 was a law of the Jewish church, as well 
 as of the Christian. " Thou shalt in any 
 wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer 
 sin upon him."* 
 
 Positive faults are the first objects of this 
 duty ; but besides these, we are bound to 
 notice the danger a brother may be in, of 
 committing a fault. If we see him exposed 
 to fall, heedless of the pit that is before 
 him, or parleying with the enemy, we do 
 wrong to wait till he actually falls, before 
 we admonish him. There are those who 
 through their peculiar weaknesses or temp- 
 tations, are ready to fall, and that daily, 
 into " the sin which doth so easily beset" 
 them, and need our kind preventive vigi- 
 lance. Insensible of the approach of temp- 
 
 * Gal. vi. 1 5 Luke xvii. 3 5 Levit. xix. 17. 
 
 
AND WATCH. 77 
 
 tation, or too weak to resist it, how kind 
 then, how salutary, the faithful voice of 
 the brother, who, true to the trust which 
 he has assumed and given, comes once 
 and often, as the case may require, to 
 waken, strengthen, and recall them ! It 
 was such a duty as this, that Jesus enjoin- 
 ed on Peter : And when thou art converted, 
 that is, after thy fall and recovery, in 
 the matter of denying Christ, strengthen 
 thy brethren. The same is enjoined on all. 
 " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so 
 fulfill the law of Christ." " Looking dili- 
 gently lest any man fail of the grace of 
 God ; lest any root of bitterness, springing 
 up trouble you, and thereby many be de- 
 filed ; lest there be any fornicator, or pro- 
 fane person, as Esau, who for one morsel 
 of meat sold his birthright."* 
 
 I think, too, that that general state of 
 coldness, or declension in religious feeling, 
 into which all are too apt to fall, is within 
 the province of this duty. If we see some 
 
 * Luke xxii. 32 j Gal. vi. 2 5 Heb. xii. 15, 16. 
 
 7* 
 
78 CHURCH COVENANT 
 
 " waxing cold ;" falling off from the accus- 
 tomed prayer meeting ; no more speaking 
 out of the abundance of the heart, of the 
 things of the kingdom ; " sunk down with 
 sleep ;" it is incumbent on us, I do not say 
 to rebuke them, but affectionately to " stir 
 them up by putting them in remembrance." 
 " But ye, brethren, (should we say to these 
 drowsy ones,) are the children of light, 
 and the children of the day: we are not 
 of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, 
 let us not sleep, as do others ; but let us 
 watch and be sober. For they that sleep, 
 sleep in the night ; and they that be drunk- 
 en, are drunken in the night. But let us, 
 who are of the day, be sober, putting on 
 the breast-plate of love; and for an helmet, 
 the hope of salvation. For God hath not 
 appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salva- 
 tion by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died 
 for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we 
 should live together with him."* 
 
 I Thess. v. 410. 
 
AND WATCH. 79 
 
 The spirit and manner in which this duty 
 should be performed, should be always 
 kind and brotherly, as far as possible 
 from harshness and reproach. There is 
 no occasion for reproof being otherwise 
 than both kindly given and kindly recei- 
 ved ; for it is in reality a kindly act. 
 
 We should be faithful in this duty ; but 
 at the same time it will be well to remem- 
 ber, that a merely meddlesome, or fault- 
 finding habit, is no part of the proper per- 
 formance of it. There will be serious oc- 
 casions enough to require our faithfulness, 
 without our seeking them in the lawful 
 affairs of our neighbors, or in those mere 
 infirmities which are common to men. 
 
 1 need not remark that it is as much our 
 duty to receive reproof ,as to give it. He 
 who resents and rejects reproof, when justly 
 and kindly given, violates his covenant, 
 and wrongs his brother. "Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray for one 
 another, that ye may be healed." 
 
80 CHURCH COVENANT 
 
 This mutual watch of the brotherhood is 
 of much importance. It is one of the ex- 
 cellent benefits of church union ; and is 
 valued as such by every truly spiritual 
 member. " Let the righteous smite me ; 
 it shall be a kindness : and let him reprove 
 me ; it shall be an excellent oil, which 
 shall not break my head." " Faithful are 
 the wounds of a friend." 
 
 The faithful performance of this duty 
 has no tendency to promote disgusts and 
 alienations, as some may imagine ; but on 
 the contrary, as it is one of the best proofs 
 of love and confidence in brethren, so it 
 tends to produce and confirm those af- 
 fections. 
 
 It was ever a characteristic of the best 
 men, that they were faithful reprovers. 
 Such were the prophets and apostles, and 
 such, above all, was our Savior. On the 
 other hand, the most wicked men are ever 
 indifferent to the sins of others. They say 
 it is not their business to look after their 
 neighbors ; and they demand, with Cain, 
 " Am I my brother's keeper ?" 
 
AND WATCH. 81 
 
 It is one of the important effects of this 
 mutual watch of the members, that it is a 
 great preventive of church discipline. Most 
 of the grosser sins committed by members, 
 are preceded by lesser, but obvious depart- 
 ures from the ways of God ; and if the un- 
 happy wanderer had been affectionately 
 admonished at the first stages of his delin- 
 quency, take the intemperate for exam- 
 ple, it might have saved not only him 
 from a grievous fall, but the church itself 
 from the dishonor and grief of a case of 
 discipline. 
 
 There is more hope of reclaiming a bro- 
 ther at the first stages of his sin, than 
 when it is aggravated. He has then more 
 character and conscience, and less infirmi- 
 ty and blindness ; and the private labors 
 of his brethren, which then are proper, are 
 more winning, probably, than the open and 
 formidable dealing which afterwards is ne- 
 cessary. Let alone till the church takes 
 up his case, he is not unlikely to regard its 
 formal procedure as an organized persecu- 
 
82 CHURCH COVENANT 
 
 tion, a regular setting to work to effect his 
 disgrace ; which is a state of mind in the 
 last degree unfavorable to his reformation. 
 The case, at first curable, is become des- 
 perate before it is meddled with ; and is so 
 regarded, probably, both by the church and 
 by him. Taken up late and reluctantly by 
 the former, it is resisted, or sullenly submit- 
 ted to, by the latter ; and ends as both an- 
 ticipate. 
 
 Our discipline, in too many instances, 
 begins too late ! too late for the claims of 
 duty, and too late for the ends of discipline. 
 The pledge of the members to watch over 
 the offender has been culpably neglected ; 
 and this neglect, though it be no justifica- 
 tion, or, perhaps, mitigation, of his sin, be- 
 longs to its history, and makes them acces- 
 sory to a brother's ruin. 
 
 To conclude ; I cannot but think that 
 this duty of watchfulness and reproof, so 
 necessary, so naturally unpleasant to dis- 
 charge, so much neglected, is peculiarly 
 
AND WATCH. 83 
 
 pleasing to God, and that it will be pecu- 
 liarly rewarded. "Now we exhort you, 
 brethren, warn them that are unruly, com- 
 fort the feeble-minded, support the weak, 
 be patient toward all ;" and remember that 
 you are bound to this, by Christ's com- 
 mand, and by your solemn covenant. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 THE ends of discipline in the church 
 are, 
 
 1. The reclaiming of such as fall into 
 sin. " Restore such an one." " That the 
 spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord 
 Jesus." Gal. vi. 1. 1 Cor. v. 5. 
 
 2. The preventing of sin in others. 
 "Them that sin rebuke before all, that 
 others also may fear." 1 Tim. v. 20. 
 
 3. The purity of the church. "Know 
 ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the 
 whole lump ?" " Purge out, therefore, the 
 old leaven,' that ye may be a new lump, as 
 ye are [profess to be] unleavened ;" that 
 is, cast out iniquity, that ye may be a pure 
 society, as ye profess to be. " For the 
 temple of God is holy, which temple ye 
 are." 1 Cor. v. 6, 7; and iii. 17. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 85 
 
 4. The character of the church and the 
 /honor of religion in the view of the world. 
 v ^ Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the 
 
 salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it 
 be salted ? it is thenceforth good for noth- 
 ing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden 
 under foot of men." Matt. v. 13. 
 
 5. The preventing the divine displeas- 
 ure. " For if we would judge ourselves, 
 we should not be judged." 1 Cor. xi. 
 2932. 
 
 These ends of discipline show its impor- 
 tance. But of this I shall speak hereafter. 
 
 The means of discipline are private per- 
 suasion and reproof, admonition before the 
 church, suspension, and exclusion from its 
 communion. No other pains or penalties 
 whatever, such as fines, penances, impre- 
 cations, (such as the Catholics use) and 
 the like, are allowable. The New Testa- 
 ment knows nothing of them. The disci- 
 pline it inculcates is wholly of a corrective 
 and moral kind, and not punitive. 
 
86 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Cases requiring discipline are commonly 
 mentioned under two classes ; namely, 
 private offences, and public offences. 
 
 PRIVATE OFFENCES. 
 
 Private offences are those which are of a 
 strictly private nature, committed by one 
 member against another ; and which, be- 
 iing not known to the world, or not public- 
 ly scandalous, may be settled in a private 
 way. 
 
 The rule respecting this kind of offences 
 is thus laid down by Christ. 
 
 "If thy brother trespass against thee, go 
 and tell him his fault between thee and 
 him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
 gained thy brother. But if he will not 
 hear thee, then take w r ith thee one or two 
 more, that in the mouth of two or three 
 witnesses, every word may be established. 
 And if he shall n.eglect to hear them, tell it 
 unto the church : but if he neglect to hear 
 the church, let him be unto thee as an 
 heathen man and a publican. Verily I say 
 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 87 
 
 unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on 
 earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and what- 
 soever ye shall loose on earth shall be 
 loosed in heaven." Matt, xviii. 15 18. 
 
 This rule is so plain that it scarcely 
 needs comment. There are three steps to 
 be taken ; each successive one being ne- 
 cessary only in case of the failure of the 
 preceding one. 
 
 If a fellow member has injured you, 
 your first duty is to go and tell him his fault 
 in private, and endeavor, in Christian sin- 
 cerity and faithfulness, to bring him to a 
 just sense and acknowledgement of it. 
 Tell him his fault. Not that you are in no 
 case to mention it to others. This may be 
 necessary for inquiry, or advice. But to 
 make it a matter of your open talk, or cen- 
 sure, is contrary to the precept, and tends 
 to embarrass and defeat the interview. 
 
 If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy 
 brother ; you have recovered him from his 
 error*; and have attached him to yourself, 
 more strongly, perhaps, than he was be- 
 fore ; for these scenes of ingenuous ac- 
 
88 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 knowledgement and forgiveness between 
 brethren, have an effect mutually to reveal 
 character, inspire confidence, and cement 
 affection. If he acknowledge his fault and 
 is sorry for it, the matter is ended. You 
 are thenceforth to remember it only to love 
 him the more fo: the ingenuous Christian 
 feeling which prevailed with him, (so con- 
 trary to human nature,) to confess and re- 
 gret his error ; and to quicken the feeling 
 of your own infirmities and sins, which 
 daily need the forgiveness of your heaven- 
 ly Father, if not also of your fellow men. 
 Let there be no unchristian harshness, 
 triumph, or contempt, at the time of the 
 interview, nor coldness afterwards. Thou 
 hast gained thy brother : let that suffice. 
 
 But if he refuse to listen to you, you are 
 then to take the second step. " Then take 
 with thee one or two more, fyc." Let the 
 brethren chosen for this purpose, be of 
 good judgment, of acknowledged piety, and 
 not reasonably objectionable to the offend- 
 ing brother. If their endeavors joined 
 with yours prove unsuccessful, it then re- 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 89 
 
 mains to tell it to the church. This done, 
 your duty is discharged.* 
 
 Being brought before the church, it be- 
 comes its duty, in the presence of the par- 
 ties, with all patience and candor, to hear 
 and judge the case. If the accused be 
 found truly charged with the fault, and 
 still refuse satisfaction, it will be the duty 
 of the church, after due means used, to 
 exclude him from its communion : Let him 
 be as an heathen man and a publican ; and 
 our Savior declares, (verse 18,) that heaven 
 will confirm its decision. 
 
 As to the manner of conducting the 
 trial before the church, it is commonly 
 done by a committee. In some churches 
 the complaining brother is expected to do 
 it in person. But this exhibits him in the 
 unamiable light of a party and an accuser. 
 
 * It is worthy of remark that the word translated tell, in the 
 15th verse, means convince, slty^ov : go, convince thy brother, 
 argue the matter with him. But in the other instance, verse 
 17, it means simply to relate or tell } smt : report the simple 
 matter of fact to the church. 
 
 8* 
 
90 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 I must dismiss this class of offences with 
 two or three remarks. 
 
 1. With regard to the offence. It must 
 be a real and serious fault, and not an im- 
 aginary one. Things of ordinary occur- 
 rence, and such as result from the common 
 imperfection of our nature, ought not to in- 
 terrupt the fellowship of brethren, much 
 less, to occupy the church. 
 
 2. With regard to the offending member, 
 let it be observed that his refusing to give 
 satisfaction is a new and distinct offence at 
 each step of the process ; and especially 
 the last, compared with which, the origi- 
 nal offence may be a thing of minor impor- 
 tance. The original fault was an injury, 
 and perhaps not a very grievous one, to a 
 private individual. But his subsequent 
 conduct with regard to it, is a settled dis- 
 regard of private justice, the voice of the 
 church, and the authority of Christ. Nor 
 let it be said that he is excommunicated 
 for that private offence alone. It is for the 
 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 91 
 
 whole proceeding ; and especially for his 
 last act, in obstinately refusing to hear the 
 church. It is his neglecting to "hear the 
 church," more, apparently, than for his 
 private offence, that our Savior requires 
 his excommunication. For by this last act 
 of perverseness, this pertinacious, if not 
 contemptuous, disregard of the sentiments 
 and Christian endeavors of the brotherhood, 
 he shows himself no longer worthy, nor 
 indeed capable, of their communion. 
 
 If the offending member refuse to appear 
 before the church, being duly notified, he 
 of course refuses to hear the church, and 
 the church must proceed accordingly. 
 
 It may be also observed here, that the 
 offender ought to forestall this whole pro- 
 cess, by going of himself to the injured 
 party. Matt. v. 23, 24. 
 
 3. With regard to the member aggrieved, 
 it should be remembered that his duty is 
 explicit and imperative. He is not at liber- 
 ty to neglect the course prescribed, nor to 
 substitute some other ; but is bound to take 
 
92 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the precise steps, and all of them, should 
 it be necessary, which the rule requires. 
 
 You may say, if your brother has injured 
 you, it is his duty to come to you and ac- 
 knowledge it. And this is true ; it is his 
 duty ; but if he does not do so, it is yours 
 to go to him. 
 
 You may choose rather to put up with 
 the injury, or pass it over, than be at the 
 trouble of such a process. But your of- 
 fending brother is concerned in the thing, 
 as well as you, and more than you ; for it 
 is a greater calamity to have done the 
 wrong, than to have suffered it : and 
 though you may be willing to bear the in- 
 jury in silence, you may not suffer the sin 
 upon him. He has done a thing which he 
 ought to repent of ; and must repent of, to 
 be forgiven of God. Not only his charac- 
 ter as a Christian, but his 'hopes as a Chris- 
 tian, demand this of him. And you are 
 the person best fitted by the circumstan- 
 ces, as being concerned in the injury, and 
 specially required by Christ, to endeavor 
 to bring him to such repentance. You 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 93 
 
 owe this to him. You owe it to the church ; 
 the sins of whose members you are not at 
 liberty to be indifferent to in any case, and 
 particularly in this. And you owe it to 
 yourself; for your feelings can hardly be 
 right to sit down with this brother, nor his 
 towards you, probably, till the fault is ac- 
 knowledged, and confidence restored. 
 
 4. The duty of the church is likewise ex- 
 plicit and imperative. It is bound to re- 
 ceive the complaint when regularly brought 
 before it, and to dispose of it according to 
 the will of Christ. 
 
 Such is our Savior's rule. And let us 
 observe how strictly in this, as in other 
 things, the Congregational system has con- 
 formed itself to the scriptures. There are 
 systems of church order which are incom- 
 patible with this rule. A private member, 
 under those schemes, may, if he choose, 
 (but it is not, I believe, expected of him,) 
 take the first and second steps ; but what 
 then ? Shall he " tell it to the church ?" 
 
94 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 But the church has no cognizance of the 
 matter. The power to discipline is not in 
 the church, but in the hands of the clergy 
 alone ; or, in some cases, of the clergy and 
 subordinate officers. He may tell it to the 
 rector ; or to " the preacher in charge," if 
 he will ; but these are not the church ; and 
 this is not the rule. Besides, if the church 
 should be destitute of a minister, as often 
 happens, what then ? The process stops, 
 (supposing it to have been commenced ;) 
 a thing which can never occur under the 
 Congregational system ; because the church, 
 though destitute of a minister, is still com- 
 petent to discipline ; though the presence 
 and aid of a pastor is very desirable. 
 
 Is it said that the rector, or preacher, is 
 the representative of the church ; or that 
 he acts for the church, and in its name 
 and behalf? The answer does not satisfy 
 us. He is not the church ; nor is the dis- 
 cipline proceeding from his authority the 
 same thing, either to the subject of it, or to 
 the church, as when it expresses the voice 
 of the brotherhood. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 95 
 
 Where the scriptures have laid a duty 
 directly upon a private member, or upon 
 the church as a body, it does not satisfy 
 the scriptures, that another person, or 
 number of persons, should undertake that 
 duty for him, or them. Take, for exam- 
 ple, those passages where the church as a 
 body, the brethren, in so many words, are 
 charged with the business of discipline ; 
 as 1 Cor. v. 47, 13; 2 Thess. iii. 6. It 
 is plain enough that the preacher, or rec- 
 tor of the church, cannot discharge the du- 
 ty, and exonerate the church; inasmuch 
 as he cannot be " gathered together" for 
 the church ; nor fulfill the injunctions, 
 " Put away from among yourselves that 
 wicked person ;" " Brethren, withdraw 
 yourselves from every brother that walketh 
 disorderly." They only upon whom the 
 duty is imposed are competent to dis- 
 charge it. 
 
 By what authority then has this express 
 and salutary rule of Christ been laid aside ? 
 How comes it to have been formally laid 
 out of the schemes in question ; and to be 
 
96 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 still disused and made a dead letter to 
 large portions of the church of Christ ? 
 Where is the " apostolic commission" to 
 construct systems of church order in such 
 a shape as to abrogate, or modify, this more 
 than apostolic law of Christ himself? 
 
 OFFENCES OF A PUBLIC NATURE. 
 
 The following are specified in the New 
 Testament, as requiring the discipline of 
 the church. 
 
 1. Scandalous vices, or immoralities. 
 " But now I have written unto you not to 
 keep company, if any man that is called a 
 brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an 
 idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an 
 extortioner, ' with such an one, no not to 
 ea t." " Put away from among yourselves 
 that wicked person." 1 Cor. v. 11, 13. 
 These are a specimen of such offences. 
 The list may be enlarged from such passa- 
 ges as 1 Cor. vi. 10 ; 2 Tim. iii. 2 5, and 
 others. All open immoralities belong to 
 the catalogue. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 97 
 
 The denying of the essential truths 
 Qr the embracing essential 
 
 errors. " Though we, or an angel from 
 heaven, preach any other gospel to you 
 than that we have preached, let him be 
 accursed." "If there come any unto you, 
 and bring not this doctrine, receive him 
 not," &c. Gal. i. 8 ; 2 John 10, 11. Al- 
 so, 1 Tim. vi. 35 ; 2 Tim. ii. 17. 18 ; 
 Rev. ii. 1416, 20; Gal. v. 12. 
 
 These passages, relating primarily to 
 teachers, are constructively applicable to 
 private members. If we may not harbor 
 false teachers, we may not tolerate false 
 doctrines among ourselves. In both cases, 
 " they will increase unto more ungodliness, 
 and their word will eat as doth a canker." 
 
 It may be difficult to say to what extent 
 a person may " err from the truth," and 
 yet not be worthy of discipline or rejection. 
 All truth is important ; but not all is funda- 
 mental ; and to some extent charity must 
 be exercised. " Him that is weak in the 
 faith receive ye, but not to doubtful dispu- 
 tations." But with regard to those truths, 
 9 
 
98 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the denial of which would be subversive 
 of the Christian system, there can be no 
 question. Such doubtless are the doc- 
 trines of Christ's divinity and atonement ; 
 regeneration by the Spirit ; justification by 
 faith ; the necessity of a holy life ; and the 
 future punishment of the impenitent. The 
 denial of some of these is inconsistent with 
 " holding the head ;" w T hile others of them 
 make Christ the minister of sin, and are 
 licentious. 
 
 3. Troubling the peace of the church. by 
 
 raising parties in it. " A man that is a 
 
 heretic, after the first and second admoni- 
 
 jtion, reject ;" the word heretic, in the origi- 
 
 jnal, meaning the leader of. a faction, raised 
 
 Jcommonly on the ground of his peculiar 
 
 : doctrinal opinions ; but applicable to any 
 
 factious leader, whether the division be for 
 
 doctrines, measures, or men. Tit. iii. 10 ; 
 
 Rom. xvi. 17, 18; Gal. v. 12. 
 
 The case here does not respect the mor- 
 als of the individual. He may be very cor- 
 rect in other respects, and even devout ; 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 99 
 
 but this must not exempt him from disci- 
 pline. So far from it, the more he has of 
 these fair qualities, the more able he will 
 be, " by good words and fair speeches, to 
 deceive the hearts of the simple." 
 
 4. An idle, useless life ; with such un- 
 christian practices as an idle life begets. 
 " For we hear that there are some which 
 walk disorderly among you, working not at 
 all, but are busy-bodies." " Not only idle, 
 but tattlers also, and busy-bodies, speaking 
 things which they ought not." 2 Thess. 
 iii. 1114, 1 Tim. v. 13. These things, 
 always grievous, and always requiring the 
 private reproofs of the brethren, become, 
 in aggravated cases, subjects for formal 
 discipline. 
 
 5. JVeglecting to provide for one's depen- 
 dent relatives, especially one's family, and 
 le.aving them either to want the comforts 
 of life, or to live on charity, whether 
 through indolence or covetousness. This 
 is a sin against nature, justice, and reli- 
 
100 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 gion. " If any provide not for his own, 
 and specially for those of his own house, 
 he hath denied the faith, and is worse 
 than an infidel." 1 Tim. v. 8. 
 
 6. Refusing to bear a reasonable part in 
 the pecuniary support of the gospel. If 
 we consider that this is covetousness, (itself 
 a disciplinable sin ;) that it is injustice ; for 
 it robs the laborer of his hire, or robs oth- 
 ers to make it good ; that it is disobedience 
 to Christ^ who has " ordained that they 
 which preach the gospel should live of the 
 gospel," and made it the duty of " him that 
 is taught in the word to communicate unto 
 him that teacheth, in all good things ;" and 
 that it betrays such indifference to the gos- 
 pel, and such overvaluing of the world, as 
 is not far from denying the faith, in a man- 
 ner " worse than an infidel ;" we cannot 
 doubt that it is worthy of discipline. 
 
 In addition to these specific cases, we 
 have the general precept, " Withdraw 
 yourselves from every brother that walketh 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 101 
 
 disorderly." 2 Thess. iii. 6. What con- 
 stitutes disorderly walking the enlightened 
 moral sense of the church must determine. 
 
 4 
 
 It will be perceived that these offences 
 are all of a different character, and require 
 a different treatment, from that referred to 
 in the eighteenth of Matthew. There, the 
 offence is supposed to concern two individ- 
 uals, between whom if the matter be set- 
 tled, discipline is satisfied.* But the offen- 
 ces enumerated here are scandalous and 
 public. They concern the peace and puri- 
 ty of the church, and the honor of religion ; 
 and are no more a trespass against one 
 member than against them all ; who are all 
 therefore, alike concerned to remove them. 
 
 * I ought, perhaps, to have noticed under our Savior'^ rule, 
 that some critics conjecture, (but not with confidence,) that 
 the words against thee, (sig as) should be omitted 5 being said 
 to be wanting in some MSS. The passage is doubtless right, 
 as it stands j but allowing the omission, it would not materially 
 affect the rule. Instead of applying only to things of a person- 
 al nature between members, it would then include any sin 
 which, being done in private, and known only to a few, might 
 be privately healed,. For sins publicly injurious, there is pub- 
 lic discipline, which the rule of Christ does not supersede. 
 
 9* 
 
102 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 There a brother is injured ; but here, 
 Christ is wounded, and Zion mourns. 
 
 MANNER OF PROCEEDING. 
 
 In the prosecution of cases of discipline, 
 much must be left to discretion. Some re- 
 quire a more summary, and others a more 
 prolonged and lenient course ; some may 
 be healed more privately, others more 
 openly : according as the nature of the of- 
 fence and the interests of religion dictate. 
 Those steps are to be taken which, in the 
 exercise of a sound judgment, appear best 
 adapted to secure the objects of discipline, 
 and most agreeable to the laws of Christ. 
 
 Charges against an offending member 
 should be distinctly specified ; and should 
 be seasonably communicated to the ac- 
 cused, commonly in writing. They should 
 be sustained by evidence.* Rumor and 
 
 * Considerable embarrassment arises ; often, from the want of 
 established rules of evidence. What kind and amount of evi- 
 dence shall be required ? Is the informing member a compe- 
 tent witness ? Are two or more witnesses always requisite to 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 103 
 
 presumption, though they may justify an 
 inquiry on the part of the church, and of- 
 ten demand it, are not a basis upon which 
 to proceed to formal acts of discipline. 
 
 As the reclaiming of the offender is the 
 first object, commonly, it will be proper, in 
 most cases, to labor with him in private. 
 As the preventing of like sins in others, 
 
 the conviction of the accused ? May a series of offences of 
 the same kind, as for instance, the occasional utterance of pro- 
 fane words, or acts of dishonesty, be regarded as proved by 
 witnesses severally testifying" to the same offence, though not to 
 the same instances of its commission ? To prevent such em- 
 barrassment it is well to have the principles which are to guide 
 us well considered, and embodied in our written rules, or arti- 
 cles of practice. The following are copied from the rules of 
 an intelligent church, and communicated to the author by its 
 very judicious and respected Pastor. 
 
 u No member shall be convicted but by the testimony of two 
 or three witnesses, [Matt, xviii. 16] or that which is equiva- 
 lent : but habits of criminal negligence may be charged with- 
 out a specification of particular instances 5 and a series of overt 
 offences of the same kind, and specified in a complaint, may 
 be proved to the conviction of the accused, on the testimony of 
 several competent witnesses although no more than one com- 
 petent witness should testify to a single instance of offence in 
 the series."-" In the trial of any case the investigation shall 
 be conducted before the church by a committee annually 
 chosen for that purpose; and the complainant shall be consid- 
 ered a competent witness." 
 
104 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 and the public credit of religion, are other 
 objects to be regarded, it is necessary, in 
 grievous cases, to cite the accused before 
 the church, according to the direction, 1 
 Tim. v. 20. If he there make confession, 
 and the church be satisfied, to admonish 
 and forgive him is all that is requisite. 
 But if he appear not to be penitent, it is 
 customary, (though some object to this, as 
 having, in their view, no scripture warrant, 
 but I think without good reason,) to sus- 
 pend him from the communion, in the hope 
 that time being given him for reflection, 
 and further means being used, he may 
 come to repentance. If all fails, his ex- 
 communication terminates the proceeding. 
 " This (says President Edwards,) with the 
 counsels and admonitions by which it is to 
 be followed, is the last means that the 
 church is to use, in order to reclaim those 
 members which are become visibly wicked. 
 If this be ineffectual, what is next to be ex- 
 pected is destruction without remedy." 
 
 In cases extremely iniquitous, or shame- 
 ful, it appears to be the duty of the church. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 105 
 
 as its first act, to assemble and cast the 
 offender out. The honor of religion de- 
 mands it. This the Corinthians were di- 
 rected to do in the case of the incestuous 
 person ; 1 Cor. v. There were no prepar- 
 atory steps to be taken. 
 
 Some may question whether such sum- 
 mary dealing is suited to recover the offen- 
 der, and on that account may scruple its 
 lawfulness ; since the recovery of the 
 offender is to be regarded, as well as the 
 honor of religion. 
 
 But here are several things to be consid- 
 ered. 1. The objection is a matter of 
 opinion. The objector thinks the case is 
 so. But in the view of others, the imme- 
 diate excommunication of a heinous offen- 
 der may be the means best suited to his re- 
 covery. It may be argued, that this sol- 
 emn and sorrowful act of the church, ex- 
 pressing at once its abhorrence of the 
 crime and its sense of the deep injury done 
 to religion, while the shame of the culprit 
 is now fresh in his own consciousness^ and 
 legible in the faces of others, and while the 
 
106 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 judgment of the world loudly confirms the 
 judgment of the church ; is likely to be 
 more impressive to him, and to show him 
 more effectually to what a depth he is fal- 
 len, than a more gradual procedure. Such 
 was the effect upon the incestuous Corin- 
 thian. So long as he retained his place in 
 the church, he repented not ; but being 
 cast out, he was filled with sorrow ; and 
 was restored.* Besides, the act of excom- 
 munication does not hinder the church 
 from still using all hopeful means with the 
 guilty member ; who, though separated 
 from their communion, is not to be counted 
 as an enemy, but admonished as a brother. 
 There is no certainty that he will not be 
 reclaimed, being cast out ; and there is 
 none that he will be, if retained^. Though 
 the reclaiming of the offender be a very 
 important end of discipline, and ought to 
 
 *2Cor. ii. 6 8. This passage may serve also, as a com- 
 ment on the former, (1 Cor. v.) as to the manner in which the 
 discipline was executed. It was the act of the church as a 
 body : and not of its officers alone : " Sufficient to such a 
 man is the punishment, which was inflicted of many ;" literal- 
 ly, by the majority. 
 
CHURCH 
 
 call into exercise all the wisdom, tender- 
 ness and faithfulness, of the church, yet I 
 am not certain that either reason or the 
 Bible tells us that this is always the most 
 important end. If we might suppose that 
 the retaining him for a time, with all his 
 infamy upon him, would be such a discred- 
 it to religion, or so dangerous to the mem- 
 bers, as in all likelihood to occasion the 
 ruin of many souls, it would seem to be du- 
 ty to cast him out even to the probable 
 ruin of his, supposing this latter conse- ' 
 quence to follow ; which, however, is not 
 conceded. The question is, is his remain- 
 ing in the church of greater importance 
 than the church itself; and must we sacri- 
 fice, or even jeopardize the church, in the 
 uncertain hope of reclaiming him ? Grant 
 that he may be a Christian, or that he cer- 
 tainly is one, notwithstanding his crime ; 
 he may not be a fit person* to be in the 
 church at present. 3. If we have scrip- 
 ture for the measure, that must suffice ; 
 and this I think we have, in the case of the 
 church at Corinth. 
 
108 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 It is the opinion of some that our Sa- 
 vior's rule in Matthew is to be followed in 
 all cases, public as well as private ; and 
 this is the practice of some churches. But 
 in the view of others this is a misapplica- 
 tion of the rule. For, 1. It does not ap- 
 pear to consist with the obvious sense of 
 the passage. The offence there contem- 
 plated is a personal one : " If thy brother 
 trespass against thee." If it be said that 
 every offence may be assumed and treated 
 as a personal one, inasmuch as it is a 
 breach of a mutual and common covenant, 
 then it is personal to all the members, and 
 all ought to take the steps required : which 
 is no where practiced, and would be ab- 
 surd. 2. The rule, literally followed, does 
 not appear to be adapted to satisfy the 
 ends of discipline, in public cases. Take, 
 for example, such as are mentioned by 
 Paul, " If any man that is called a brother 
 be a fornicator, a railer, a drunkard, fyc" 
 A member goes to such an one and tells 
 him his fault in private, following the rule 
 of Christ. And suppose he confesses and 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 109 
 
 repents. Is the wounded honor of relig- 
 ion healed, in this private way ? Is there 
 a salutary impression made upon the 
 church ? Is the offender himself deterred, 
 by such easy terms, from a repetition of 
 his sin ? No, not at all. An open, scan- 
 dalous iniquity, blown far and wide by 
 fame, calls for something more than pri- 
 vate auricular confession. " Them that 
 sin, rebuke before all, that others also may 
 fear." 
 
 I am aware that it is said that the visit- 
 ing brother may require a public confes- 
 sion, as the satisfaction he seeks ; and that 
 so the public ends of discipline will be se- 
 cured. But still this is not the rule. It 
 does not say you shall go to your brother 
 in private and require a public confession ; 
 but it says, if he hear you in private, you 
 are to regard the thing as settled. 
 
 Our Savior evidently refers to a strictly 
 
 personal and private affair, such as is often 
 
 occurring between man and man, and of 
 
 which the world takes no notice. At the 
 
 10 
 
110 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 same time, this excellent rule is a standing 
 law of wisdom, from which, doubtless, we 
 are to draw lessons for almost every occa- 
 sion of discipline. It teaches us to regard 
 the natural infirmity of human nature, by 
 using, when we may, private endeavors, 
 rather than the more mortifying and pride- 
 alarming ones of a public nature ; and to 
 save religion itself from all needless ex- 
 posure of the errors of its disciples, ft 
 teaches us to be ever kind, gentle, and for- 
 bearing ; and to use means for the recove- 
 ry of such as are fallen, as mild, as various, 
 as protracted, and as hopeful, as the na- 
 ture of the case will admit. 
 
 The following is the doctrine of the Cam- 
 bridge Platform on the subject. 
 
 " But if the offence be more public at 
 first, and of a more heinous and criminal 
 nature, to wit, such as are condemned by 
 the light of nature, then the church, with- 
 out such gradual proceeding, is to cast out 
 the offender from their holy communion, 
 for the further mortifying of his sin, and 
 the healing of his soul in the day of the 
 
. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. Ill 
 
 Lord Jesus."* With this agrees the Say- 
 brook Platform. " Admonition is in case 
 of private offences to be performed ac- 
 cording to the rule in Matt, xviii. 15 17, 
 and in case of public offences, openly be- 
 fore the church, as the honor of the gospel, 
 and the nature of the scandal, shall re- 
 quire."! The doctrine of the Westminster 
 Assembly's, or Presbyterian Directory for 
 church censures is the same. 
 
 FORSAKING THE COMMUNION. 
 
 There is an offence not mentioned in the 
 foregoing list, which must ,be noticed. It 
 is when a member improperly forsakes the 
 Lord's table. 
 
 Why is the church to notice this ? 
 1. Because the member, having covenant- 
 ed to walk with the church in Christian 
 fellowship, and in a due observance of or- 
 dinances, his forsaking its communion is a 
 
 * Chap. xiv. 
 
 t Heads of Agreement, Sect. iii. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 violation of that covenant. 2. There is 
 something criminal in the motive) or state 
 of mind, which induces the delinquency. 
 Commonly it is some disagreement with a 
 fellow member ; or some offence taken at 
 the church, for some of its proceedings ; or 
 at the pastor ; or the table is forsaken be- 
 cause, in the judgment of the absconding 
 member, some are found there who are un- 
 worthy ; or it is forsaken through sloth and 
 indifference ; or in the conscious shame of 
 general declension and inconsistency. 
 
 None of these motives are very Chris- 
 tian ones : and I fear there is sometimes a 
 worse than any of these. I fear there are 
 instances, I hope not numerous, when the 
 absenting member is actuated by malevo- 
 lence. He forsakes the communion as an 
 expression of his anger, or hostility. He 
 does it supposing that it will disquiet the 
 member with whom he is at variance, and 
 that it will cast blame upon him. Or, if 
 the church or the pastor is concerned, he 
 thinks it will implicate and afflict them or 
 him. He takes a course which shows an 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 113 
 
 assumption of judgment in his own favor, 
 and an impeachment of the other party. 
 
 The conduct is wrong, and the example 
 bad, whatever be the motive. If you have 
 a difficulty with a member, it is your duty, 
 not to forsake the ordinances and -fellow- 
 ship of the church, but to take immediate 
 measures, according to the rule of Christ, for 
 the healing of the difficulty. If your dis- 
 satisfaction is with the doings or judgment 
 of the church in some matter, upon howev- 
 er clear or reasonable grounds your dissat- 
 isfaction rests, your course is wrong not- 
 withstanding ; for it is subversive of all or- 
 der, by setting up the will of an individual 
 above the whole, or perhaps, of a minority 
 above the majority. You have a right to 
 make your dissatisfaction known, if you 
 choose, but this is not the way to do it. 
 As to the presence of unworthy communi- 
 cants, if that is your difficulty, it is your 
 duty, not to forsake the communion on 
 their account, but either to endeavor to 
 have them properly disciplined, as you 
 promised to do in your covenant, or else to 
 10* 
 
114 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 bear with them, remembering that there 
 are "tares" in all, even the best of church- 
 es; and that wholly to eradicate them, 
 even when they are visible, is often a mat- 
 ter too difficult to be effected. But if all 
 will not do, there is no remedy for you but 
 to take an honorable dismission and remove 
 which you ought not lightly to do to 
 some other church. 
 
 It does not avail to say you commune 
 elsewhere. You covenanted to commune 
 with this church. Nor does your commu- 
 ning elsewhere help your example. It rath- 
 er proclaims what ought to be hid, nay, 
 what ought not to be. To those who 
 know the reason of your absence, it looks 
 as though you were living in a quarrel 
 with a brother, or with the church, or your 
 minister ; or had excommunicated them all 
 for unsoundness, or disorder, having dis- 
 owned and withdrawn yourself from them, 
 and gone to another and better fraternity. 
 To those who are ignorant of the reason, 
 you appear as a simple neglecter of ordi- 
 nances. They see your seat vacant in the 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 115 
 
 house of God, and at the Lord's table, and 
 knowing no other cause, naturally enough 
 conclude that you are abiding indolently at 
 home. Jn a word, the practice is too sin- 
 ful in itself, and too evil in its tendencies, 
 to be allowed. It ought to be, as it is, a 
 subject of discipline. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL REMARKS ON 
 THE SUBJECT OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 1. It is to be remembered that all cases 
 of discipline, once taken up, are to be 
 brought to one of two results ; the reforma- 
 tion of the offender, or else his excommu- 
 nication. They must never be dropped 
 short of one or the other of these issues. 
 
 Hence it follows, that no matter can be 
 a proper subject for discipline at all, 
 (though it may be, for private reproof) 
 for which the offender could not be scrip- 
 turally excommunicated in case of his per- 
 sisting in it. / 
 
 i 
 
 2. ExGQnmujnicadg^ though it is essen- 
 tially the same in its results in all cases, as 
 
116 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 cutting the delinquent off from the name 
 and privileges of membership, and is never 
 a trivial affair ; yet, in respect to the form 
 of it, it is susceptible of different degrees 
 of severity. In the case of one who for- 
 sakes the communion of the church, but is 
 not otherwise scandalous, the church may 
 simply disown, or cease to know him as a 
 member. " He having thereby cut himself 
 off from that church's communion, the 
 church may justly esteem and declare it- 
 self discharged of any further inspection 
 over him.' 55 * It may withdraw its watch 
 and care. But in the case of notorious 
 and obstinate offenders, the act of excom- 
 munication should be more formal and im- 
 pressive. It should be something more 
 than to pass and silently record a vote. 
 " If the case be notoriously bad, pronounce 
 sentence at the table of the Lord, with 
 great solemnity. 7 '! Some declare it from 
 the pulpit, in the most public manner. 
 With this the scriptures appear to agree. 
 
 * Saybrook Platform. t Doddridge. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 117 
 
 From some they direct us to ' withdraw' 
 ourselves ; in the case of others, the direc- 
 tion is, in language less mild, to c cut off? 
 ' reject? and 'put away from among your- 
 selves,' the wicked person. In the case of 
 the very heinous offender at Corinth, the 
 church was required to assemble, and in 
 the most solemn manner, in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, ' to deliver such an 
 one unto Satan, [that is, as I understand it, 
 to give him back again into that world 
 which is Satan's kingdom, he being " the 
 god of this world,"] for the destruction of 
 the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in 
 the day of the Lord Jesus. 3 
 
 3. It sometimes happens that an offend- 
 ing member is so uninformed as to imagine 
 that he can withdraw from the church at 
 will, and thus escape from its censure. 
 The gospel knows no such rule. It suppo- 
 ses no separation from the church, except 
 by regular dismission to another church, or 
 by excommunication. 
 
118 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 4. The censures of the church are to be 
 administered by the pastor, in accordance 
 with the vote of the brethren. 
 
 Though the pastor is not competent to 
 act without the church, he is not to be 
 considered as the mere chairman, or as 
 the mere executive, of the church, in the 
 business of discipline. Far from this. He 
 is set for the defence of the gospel as much 
 in respect to its discipline as in any other 
 respect ; and the Bible expects him to act 
 and to be regarded in this, no less than in 
 other things, as the guide and leader of 
 the church. 
 Vx 
 
 5. No member under censure of the 
 church, or excommunicated by it, can law- 
 fully be received to the communion and 
 fellowship of another church ; and any 
 church which should violate this plain law 
 of propriety and duty, whether of the same 
 or of another denomination, would be guil- 
 ty of taking sides with the offender against 
 the laws of Christ. If Christ himself has 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 119 
 
 declared* that he will confirm in heaven 
 what a church does in the faithful execu- 
 tion of his laws upon an offender, it is an 
 act not far from rebellion, it is presumption 
 not far from impious, in another church, to 
 nullify what that church does, and to 
 loose on earth what Christ binds in 
 heaven, by taking the excluded member 
 to its bosom. 
 
 6. The discipline of the church should 
 be attended to promptly. It is better on 
 every account, to -take an offence in the 
 time of it, than after long delay. Neglect- 
 ed sores are the most difficult to heal. Is 
 the good of the offender regarded ? The 
 reproof, lagging far behind the offence^ is 
 likely to fail of effect. Is the honor of the 
 church concerned ? Who delays, when 
 his reputation is suffering, for months or 
 years before he attempts to relieve it ? 
 And is not the character of the church as 
 valuable and as soon to be vindicated as 
 that of a man ? 
 
 * Matt, xviii. 18. 
 
120 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 It must be faithful. Every reason which 
 demands the discipline at all demands that 
 it be thorough. " Great care is to be taken 
 that we be not overstrict or rigorous, yet, 
 the winning and healing of the offender's 
 soul being the end of these endeavors, we 
 must not daub with untempered mortar, 
 nor heal the wounds of our brethren slight- 
 ly."* I have before remarked that it should 
 be carried through, when once taken up. 
 To commence a process of dealing with an 
 offender, and to drop or recede from it 
 without an issue, leaving his sin upon him 
 unrepented of, and the church unsatisfied, 
 and the honor of religion unrelieved, is not 
 only a sin against him, being an omission 
 of those means which Christ has appointed 
 for his recovery, but is disobedience to 
 Christ, proclaims the weakness or unfaith- 
 fulness of the church, and is a bad prece- 
 dent which is likely both to multiply oc- 
 casions for discipline, and to embarrass the 
 treatment of them. 
 
 *Camb. Platform. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 11 
 
 It must be uniform. Every offence, and 
 not merely some offences, should receive its 
 due attention. That is a badly adminis- 
 tered government which is unequal, pur- 
 suing some offenders and neglecting oth- 
 ers ; or which is fitful and capricious, now 
 negligent and now strenuous. 
 
 It must be impartial. No pecuniary or 
 family influence, no worldly consideration 
 whatever, may cover the man of conse- 
 quence, while a humbler member would 
 experience no such forbearance. Or, in 
 another view of the subject, let not the 
 soul of the rich or honorable man be less 
 regarded than the soul of the poor or ob- 
 scure ; but let the same means be used for 
 his recovery as for the other's. "I charge 
 thee before God, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the elect angels, that thou ob- 
 serve these things without preferring one 
 before another, doing nothing by partiali- 
 ty." 1 Tim. v. 21. 
 
 6. All the members should take part in 
 the discharge of this important duty. 
 11 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE, 
 
 They should all sustain the discipline of 
 the church by their presence and vote ; 
 not only because this is the equal and com- 
 mon duty of all, but because the efficacy of 
 discipline depends, in a great degree, upon 
 the concurrence of the whole society in it, 
 instead of its resulting from the action of 
 only a few. 
 
 7. It is of the greatest importance al- 
 ways to keep in view the ends of discipline, 
 and especially that end which, in all ordi- 
 nary cases, is the first to be aimed at ; 
 namely, the__recovery of the delinquent. 
 That gained, all is gained. It is at once 
 the most pleasing result in itself, and the 
 most honorable to the church and the gos- 
 pel. It is true that by the excommunica- 
 tion of the offender, the church has cleared 
 itself of the scandal ; but then a member is 
 lost to it, and perhaps to himself. But if 
 he be brought to true repentance, and to 
 newness of life ; if, like Peter, he weep 
 bitterly ; not only is the church relieved 
 from the scandal, but it is the honored in- 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE 
 
 'strument of his recovery. While an un- 
 feeling world would only have reproached, 
 discarded, and hardened him, he becomes 
 by means of the church, a man forgiven 
 of God, and worthy of the renewed confi- 
 dence and esteem of men. What more 
 honored instrumentality, what more grati- 
 fying result, than this ? 
 
 8. Too great heed cannot be taken as to 
 what spirit we are of, in this matter. If 
 the object be to gain our brother, this is 
 not to be effected by a process of barren 
 forms, much less by unkindness and re- 
 proach. We must feel and manifest a real 
 concern for his good. We must make him 
 see, if possible, that though an erring 
 brother, he is still regarded and treated as 
 a brother ; and, if'he compel us to go so far 
 as to divide him from our company, that it 
 is with unfeigned sorrow we proceed to 
 that extremity, in the discharge of a duty 
 we dare not disregard. 
 
 9. The faithful performance of this duty 
 is the truest test of a Christian church. 
 
124 > CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The apostle writing to the Corinthians 
 concerning the disorderly member whom 
 he had required them to excommunicate, 
 tells them he did it to prove the universali- 
 ty and the reality of their obedience to 
 Christ : " For to this end also did I write, 
 that I might know the proof of you, wheth- 
 er ye be obedient in all things." Whatev- 
 er a church may be in respect to its creeds 
 or its forms ; whatever diligence it may 
 use in gathering numbers to a visible pro- 
 fession within its pale ; however costly the 
 temple it erects and dedicates to God, or 
 thronged the attendance there ; ,! if it be 
 wanting in the article of discipline, it lacks 
 an essential proof of its being a genuine 
 church of Christ*/ Ye are my friends, 
 saith Christ, if ye do whatsoever I com- 
 mand you ; and on what subject are his 
 commands more explicit than on this ? It 
 was their remissness in this particular, 
 that called forth his rebukes of several of 
 the seven churches of Asia ; and the faith- 
 ful performance of it by others of them, 
 that received his commendation. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. , 125 
 
 Finally ; I know of no language too 
 strong to express the importance of this 
 subject^r to impress it suitably on the 
 mind. LThe discipline of the church, es- 
 sential to its purity, is essential to every 
 object for which it exists. Its increasing, 
 and, eventually, entire corruption, will be 
 the consequence of its neglecting this duty. 
 Sin not purged out, is by an apostle com- 
 pared to leaven, which leavens the mass. 
 No such church can truly prosper ; or can 
 answer the ends for which churches are 
 instituted. Forfeiting the favor of Christ, 
 through neglect of his laws ; losing the 
 respect of the world, and its self-respect, 
 through the tolerated scandals that spring 
 up in it and blemish its character: it will 
 go down hill decaying and losing its vitali- 
 ty, till little shall remain to it but its name 
 and form to distinguish it from the world. 
 It is no longer a city set on a hill. Its 
 comeliness, and beauty, and influence, are 
 gone. It may still bear the ' banners/ but 
 it no longer has the ' terribleness, 5 of an 
 
126 CKURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 army of Christ. Or, if it should appear 
 outwardly to flourish, as some churches do, 
 in whose assemblies the gay and the world- 
 ly find it convenient to worship, some for 
 fashion and some for form's sake, and 
 where church ambition builds more dili- 
 gently than godly sincerity and faithful- 
 ness to souls, if it should go on growing 
 in numbers, and accumulating materials 
 of some sort, its prosperity is deceptive. 
 " Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased 
 with goods, and have need of nothing; and 
 knowest not that thou art wretched, and 
 miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." 
 Whatever it may have of the form, it will 
 have little of the reality, of a spiritual so- 
 ciety. It will want the simplicity, it will 
 w r ant the fervor, the distinctness from the 
 world, the religious energy and influence, 
 and all that is proper to " a peculiar peo- 
 ple, 57 purified by Christ. It is a field 
 where tares grow by permission. They 
 may increase its greenness and luxuriance 
 for the time, and flatter the undiscerning 
 eye of the cultivator, or beholder ; but 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 127 
 
 what will the harvest be " in the end of 
 the world ?" 
 
 If such be the importance of discipline, 
 let it be faithfully attended to ; and let not 
 fear or policy prevent. The case may 
 arise, it often does 3 when to go forward in 
 a thorough discharge of this duty may seem 
 portentous of evil. It may threaten to har- 
 rass the church with the resentments of 
 disorderly but powerful members ; to. over- 
 whelm it with clamors ; to diminish its 
 strength ; or to destroy its existence. But 
 faith is to be exercised here as in every 
 thing else pertaining to the kingdom of 
 Christ. The. remembrance that it. is 
 Christ's laws that we are called to admin- 
 ister, and Christ's church that is concern- 
 ed in the consequences ; that it is his wis- 
 dom that appoints, his authority that com- 
 mands, his power that sustains ; and that, 
 whatever the issue may be, it can never be 
 worse than his displeasure ; should be 
 our sufficient encouragement to proceed. 
 There can be no ground to fear that he 
 
128 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 will not vindicate his own laws, and bear 
 out his church in a faithful administration 
 of them. Nor let it be imagined that these 
 laws can be dispensed with, without in- 
 curring his frown, and revealing, sooner or 
 later, the folly of forsaking the wisdom of 
 Christ, for the timid dictates of human 
 prudence.* 
 
 * Very many facts might be given corroborative of these re- 
 marks : showing in some cases the decay and corruption of 
 churches through neglect of discipline; and in others, their 
 great prosperity in consequence of its maintenance. Many in- 
 stances might be mentioned of churches blessed with succes- 
 sive revivals and large accessions in connection with the dis- 
 charge of this duty. And this is what ought to be expected. 
 For when is a church more prepared to be blessed in this man- 
 ner than it is in that peculiar frame which is suited to the work 
 of discipline 1 humble, prayerful, forgiving, and sensible of 
 dependence on God. Or when is its separateness from the 
 world more impressively evident to " them that are without/ 7 
 than when it divides the wicked from its company 1 
 
 A venerable minister related the following. He was the 
 pastor of a small country parish in Connecticut. Six of the 
 male members, persons of influence, became guilty of heinous 
 offences, at one time. He began, with a heavy heart, to take 
 such steps as the case required ; when some of the brethren 
 besought him to desist, at least for a time, thinking, in consid- 
 eration of the standing of these persons in society, and that of 
 their families, that to subject them to discipline would prove 
 the destruction of the church. To this timid policy he yielded ; 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 129 
 
 TREATMENT OF EXCOMMUNICATED PERSONS. 
 
 We have a twofold duty to perform to- 
 wards excommunicated persons. One re- 
 spects the deportment we are to observe 
 towards them in regard to society and in- 
 tercourse ; the other respects the endeav- 
 ors we are to use with a view to their re- 
 pentance and return to the Christian fami- 
 ly. We are to have no company with the 
 excommunicate, that he may be ashamed ; 
 yet we are not to count him as an enemy 
 but admonish him as a brother. 2 Thess. 
 iii. 14, 15. 
 
 and " from that time," his language was, " the church visibly 
 went down, down, down, till it scarcely existed, and seemed 
 threatened with a total extinction. I perceived my error and 
 awoke to my duty 5 and going to such of the members as I 
 could most confide in, whom I found by this time to be of my 
 mind, I said to them, ' We must go forward and execute the 
 laws of Christ's house. 7 We did so 5 and in one day cut off 
 the six. 
 
 " I had appointed a meeting that evening at a private house, 
 by desire of a poor sick woman whom illness had long detained 
 from our public assemblies. I went expecting to meet a few 
 neighbors only, when, to my great Surprise, the house was 
 filled. The Spirit of God was there, -and for those six, the 
 Lord gave us sixty ! that number being added to the church as 
 the fruit of the revival which then commenced." 
 
130 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 At 1 Cor. v. 11, the direction is not to 
 keep company with such as are there 
 described, " no not to eat ;" which some 
 have interpreted the not making them our 
 guests, or being theirs ; but which is more 
 commonly supposed to mean, that we must 
 not voluntarily sit down with them even to 
 an ordinary meal. I say, with such as are 
 there described, viz. " fornicators, covetous, 
 idolaters, railers, drunkards," and other 
 grossly licentious and vicious persons. 
 Some have understood the injunction, " no 
 not to eat" to apply to all excommunicated 
 persons ; but I think with doubtful propri- 
 ety ; for this is reducing all offences, the 
 most heinous and the least so, to a com- 
 mon level, and subjecting them all to a 
 common measure of abhorrence. Besides, 
 the words are applied by the apostle to a 
 specific class of offences ; " with such an 
 one, no not to eat." 
 
 From a view of the several passages 
 which speak of this subject, it appears to 
 me this general inference is to be drawn ; 
 namely, that we are to treat each excommu- 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 131 
 
 nicated person according to the character 
 of his offence. From a member who walks 
 disorderly we are to withdraw ourselves. 
 He is disowned of the Christian family, 
 and while he remains so, we are to have 
 no further communion or fellowship with 
 him. He is not to be recognised as a pro- 
 fessor of religion, or as a Christian. This 
 is a general rule. Others are more spe- 
 cific. Them that cause divisions we are to 
 mark and avoid. We are to treat them as 
 dangerous persons ; from whom we are to 
 keep at a distance, as the most suitable 
 way of expressing our disapprobation of 
 them, and, at the same time, the most 
 effectual way of preventing their mischiefs : 
 for factious leaders are soon out of counte- 
 nance when they can get none to adhere 
 or listen to them. The same remark may 
 apply to errorists in doctrine. " Let them 
 alone." A member persisting in an injury 
 done to another to that degree that he 
 contemns or resists the united endeavors of 
 the church, till they are forced to expel him, 
 is to discover, in their subsequent deport- 
 
132 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 ment towards him, that his religious char- 
 acter, in their view, is no better than thm 
 of " a heathen man and a publican," while 
 the indecent, licentious, and abominable,, are 
 to be avoided to the utmost degree, as to 
 our having any society with them, even so 
 much as to eat. They are to be viewed 
 and treated as men whose deeds are 
 shameful, and themselves abhorrent to the 
 Christian name. 
 
 In every case there is a greater reserve 
 required to be observed towards excommu- 
 nicated persons than towards the same 
 .grade of sinners who are not of the church. 
 See 1 Cor. v. 9 11, where a distinction is 
 made between sinners of the world and ex- 
 communicated professors. 
 
 As a general remark it may be observed, 
 that whatever our deportment is to be in 
 particular cases, it should in all cases be 
 such, towards persons under censure of 
 the church, whether before excommunica- 
 tion, or after, as to sustain and consist with 
 the object of the censure, and not to defeat 
 it. It were a vain thing to impose a cen- 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 133 
 
 sure by our vote, and then nullify it by our 
 actions. It is our behavior towards the 
 subject, and not the formality of a vote 
 merely, that must give efficacy to the 
 discipline. 
 
 But while we may manifest no compla- 
 cency in the excommunicate as a Chris- 
 tian, we are riot to forget his soul, or to 
 cast him off utterly from our Christian re- 
 gards, but are to use all suitable means to 
 bring him back to repentance and to 
 Christ. It was for this very end, among 
 others, we should remember, that he was 
 cut off from the church, that by his loss 
 of its privileges and its Christian esteem, 
 he might be made more sensible of his 
 fallen condition. Perhaps we should show 
 even more concern for him (though hope 
 be less,) than if he had never sustained to 
 us the endeared but forfeited relation of a 
 brother in Christ. 
 
 Exceptions are of course to be made in 
 favor of the common duties and offices of 
 humanity ; such as relieving the sick and 
 distressed ; and in favor of the domestic 
 
134 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 and other relations. " Excommunication 
 doth not release children from the obliga- 
 tion of duty to their parents, nor parents 
 from parental affection and care towards 
 their children. Nor are husbands and 
 wives released from the duties proper to 
 their relation. And so of all other less 
 relations, whether natural, domestic, or 
 civil."* 
 
 Whenever the excommunicate becomes 
 a penitent, and satisfies the church of the 
 same by a due confession of his sin, he is 
 then to be restored. 2 Cor. ii. 8. 
 
 * Pres. Edwards. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHURCH MEETINGS AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 
 
 EVERY church has its meetings for busi- 
 ness. It were to be wished that such 
 meetings were more frequent than they 
 are, in most of our churches. The desira- 
 bleness of them must be obvious to every 
 one who reflects on the variety and impor- 
 tance of the interests over which every 
 church is called to exercise its wisdom and 
 care. Besides attention to discipline, how 
 many occasions are there for consultation 
 on the state of religion and the means of 
 reviving it; for devising ways and means 
 for the support of the gospel at home, and 
 its extension abroad ; for attending to the 
 various concerns of the Sabbath school ; 
 the choir; the relief of the poor, and other 
 important matters ? " More time, (says 
 Dr. Beecher,) should be devoted by the 
 
136 CHURCH MEETINGS 
 
 members of local churches to consultation 
 and social prayer. No secular interest so 
 diversified, extended, important, and diffi- 
 cult, depending on the resources and 
 steady co-operation of so many individuals, 
 of different age and capacity, could be suc- 
 cessfully protected, and extended, without 
 reiterated consultation. And yet how dif- 
 ficult, how almost impossible it is, to con- 
 vene punctually the members of almost 
 any church, to attend to the public con- 
 cerns of Christ's kingdom, and to implore 
 the blessing of God upon their labors." 
 
 The duty of attending, punctually and 
 faithfully, the business meetings of the 
 church, may be urged upon every member, 
 on the ground that whatever is done, or to 
 be done, at these meetings, is the equal 
 concern of all ; being made so by their mu- 
 tual equality as brethren, by their mutual 
 and common covenant, and by their com- 
 mon relation and obligation to Christ and 
 his cause. Though the business can be 
 done perhaps, by a part of the members, it 
 cannot be done as well as if all were there 
 
AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 137 
 
 who should be. For where responsibility 
 is to be borne, or judgment to be exercised, 
 " two are better than one," and " in the 
 multitude of counsellors there is safety." 
 It cannot be done as well, and if it could 
 be, there is no propriety in some leaving it 
 to be done by others, whose obligation is 
 no greater than theirs. Let such reflect 
 that, were all to do as they do, who might 
 with equal propriety, the meeting fails en- 
 tirely, the business is deserted, and the 
 cause suffers. 
 
 In regard to the order to be observed in 
 these meetings, they should always be 
 opened, if not concluded, with prayer. In 
 the absence of the pastor, one of the dea- 
 cons presides. Every member has an 
 equal right to express his views ; and it is 
 desirable that as much freedom should be 
 used as is consistent with a becoming mod- 
 esty and despatch of business. Yet it is a 
 good rule, " Let every man be swift to 
 hear, slow to speak ;" and, " Likewise ye 
 younger submit yourselves unto the elder: 
 yea, all of you be subject one to another, 
 12* 
 
138 CHURCH MEETINGS 
 
 and be clothed with humility." Talkative 
 persons are an affliction in any assembly. 
 
 The meeting should be conducted 
 throughout with seriousness and dignity, 
 as in Christ's presence and about his busi- 
 ness. For where two or three are gather- 
 ed together in his name, whether for busi- 
 ness or devotion, there is he in the midst 
 of them. Especially should we observe 
 such serious deportment when we are met 
 to attend to discipline. It is the serious- 
 ness and dignity of the meeting, joined 
 with meekness and benignity, as acting in 
 Christ's presence and by his authority, 
 that makes its censures impressive to the 
 subject of them, and commands the res- 
 pect of all. 
 
 ARTICLES OF PRACTICE. 
 
 Many of our churches, it is believed, 
 have, besides their Confession of faith and 
 covenant, no written rules of discipline and 
 practice ; being guided by the few simple 
 and well known usages which have de- 
 
AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 139 
 
 scended from one generation to another. 
 Others think it expedient to have such 
 rules. 
 
 Care should be taken in forming them 
 that they be not more numerous than is 
 necessary ; and that they be not of a legis- 
 lative character, but only declarative of the 
 settled and acknowledged principles of 
 Congregationalism and the gospel. Their 
 province is to ascertain and record, and 
 not to originate, the usages of the church- 
 es. We have no power to legislate for the 
 church of Christ. We have no power to 
 institute conditions of membership which 
 he has not instituted ; to impose what he 
 has not imposed, whether in substance or 
 in form ; or in any manner to command or 
 prohibit beyond what is written : we have 
 no authority to construct churches on 
 another plan than his. 
 
 The terms of admission into the Chris- 
 tian family are, according to the New 
 Testament, cegeniance^tow-aFds- God and 
 faith in Jesus Christ. Any applicant for 
 admission, satisfying us on these points, is 
 
140 CHURCH MEETINGS 
 
 to be received. These are the great es- 
 sentials, the grand characteristics, which 
 distinguish the people of God from the rest 
 of mankind. Let them remain such. Oth- 
 er foundation can no man lay than that is 
 laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
 
 It would seem, then, to be an unauthor- 
 ized procedure on the part of a church to 
 meet the applicant with other conditions 
 besides these such, for example, as his 
 putting his name to a g]edge, by which he 
 shall bind himself to particular modes and 
 movements of reform. If once the churches 
 begin to depart from that original simplici- 
 ty in which they were instituted by Christ, 
 accommodating themselves to the shifting 
 fashions of the age, and assuming names 
 and forms unknown in primitive practice, 
 there is no end to the refinements, addi- 
 tions, and mischiefs, which are likely to 
 ensue.* 
 
 * If it he proper for a church to resolve itself into an anti- 
 masonic, anti-slavery, moral reform, plain-dress, dietetic, or 
 ven a temperance society, or church, then it may resolve it- 
 ielf into all these, and a multitude more. And if it may re- 
 
AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 141 
 
 It should be farther observed, that we 
 ought as consistent Congregationalists to ob- 
 
 quire the candidate for admission to subscribe one of the con- 
 stitutions, or pledges, pertaining to these reforms, as an unal- 
 terable condition of membership, it may require his subscrip- 
 tion to all of them, and to as many more as it may choose to 
 adopt, till, in the multitude of her new shapes and dresses, all 
 distinction is confounded between the church of Christ and the 
 institutions of men. 
 
 The sins themselves which are contemplated in these various 
 departments of reform every Christian is bound to abstain 
 from and to discountenance j and this the church has a right to 
 expect of him. But it has no right to prescribe to him the 
 mode in which he shall promote such reforms, except so far as 
 it is expressly prescribed by the word of God. It may require 
 that he shall give the testimony of his own good example 
 in favor of morality and against the sins in question ; and, 
 that lie shall u do good 11 as he conceives he has " opportunity." 
 So much it may require of him because so much is required by 
 Christ, and is necessarily involved in a profession of Christian- 
 ity. But it has no right to require that he shall subscribe this 
 and that pledge, or constitution ; attach himself to this and that 
 popular movement of reform 5 wear a particular dress ; con- 
 form to prescribed rules of health ; or put on any harness, pan- 
 oply, or armor, of man's devising. 
 
 And if he has a right to be free in these things, he has a right 
 to be perfectly free, without reproach or abatement of charity 
 on the part of his fellow members. The LIBERTY which the 
 gospel allows to its professors in things not essential to godli- 
 ness, is among its most delightful features and best gifts, and 
 ought not to be surrendered. Acts xv. 10, 28, 29 ; 1 Cor. x. 
 29 5 Gal. v. 1 ; Matt, xxiii. 4. 
 
142 CHURCH MEETINGS 
 
 ject to such articles of subscription. As 
 Congregationalists we profess to object to 
 all human standards as conditions of mem- 
 bership and good standing in the church 
 of Christ. But to what purpose is it that 
 we object to these, if in place of Creeds 
 and Directories imposed by Ecclesiastical 
 Authority, we are to have the Corporation 
 and Test Acts the pledges and constitu- 
 tions of our numberless societies and 
 schemes for reform ? 
 
 STANDING COMMITTEES. 
 
 Many of our churches have standing 
 committees. Such committees, charged 
 S with a general oversight of the ordinary in- 
 \ terests of the church, may be very service- 
 lable. But in assigning them their duties, 
 care should be taken not to violate the es- 
 sential principles of the Congregational 
 system. I have before me instances of 
 such committees invested with powers al- 
 most identical with those of a Presbyterian 
 
AND CHURCH BUSINESS. 143 
 
 session. To commit the watch and disci- 
 pline of the church to a permanent com- 
 mittee, in such a manner as to discharge 
 the church as a body from those duties, is 
 not Congregationalism. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RELATIONS OF PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 THE Congregational churches, like the 
 primitive, and most of the modern church- 
 es, have their settled Pastors. A ministry 
 wholly itinerant, or often changing, though 
 it may render much excellent service, is 
 not adequate to all the wants of churches 
 and societies, nor competent to all the 
 good which the Christian ministry is de- 
 signed to effect. The officers of a church 
 are essential to its organization. It is in- 
 complete without them, and especially 
 without its pastor. 
 
 The pastoral office is, by divine appoint- 
 ment, a permanent office in every church ; 
 its duties are permanent ; the necessities 
 of the church and community are such as 
 at all times to demand its exercise. Hence 
 the New Testament churches had their 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 145 
 
 permanent pastors. " They ordained them 
 elders in every city." And hence the ex- 
 plicit and careful instructions which are 
 given respecting the qualifications and du- 
 ties which pertain to this office, and the 
 duty of the people in regard to it. 
 
 A church, or society, that has no settled 
 minister, has no pastor. It may have a 
 series of occasional supplies, or a succes- 
 sion of evangelists, missionaries, or travel- 
 ing preachers, but the man that fills its 
 pulpit is not its pastor. He has not the 
 relations, and consequently has not the 
 sympathies, nor the responsibilities and 
 cares, which are peculiar to that office. 
 
 The benefits of a settled ministry are 
 very great. The relation is an endeared 
 one both to minister and people. He 
 dwells among them as a shepherd among 
 his flock, whose voice they know. He is 
 not a stranger held loosely to them by a 
 temporary connection ; but has his home 
 and his children's home among them. 
 
 He is acquainted with every family. He 
 knows their history, their character, their 
 13 
 
146 RELATIONS OF 
 
 circumstances, their joys, griefs, sickness- 
 es. He is with them at their marriages, 
 and at their funerals ; and on many occa- 
 sions of anxiety, of delicacy, of embarrass- 
 ment and distress, such as the stranger in- 
 termeddleth not with, is their tried friend, 
 counsellor, and comforter. 
 
 He is the baptizer of their children ; and 
 with a concern inferior only to that of the 
 parents, and often surpassing that, he 
 watches over their advancing childhood 
 and youth. 
 
 He is the judicious friend of education, 
 and of all which pertains to the good of the 
 community ; in which he has the threefold 
 interest of a pastor, a citizen, and a father. 
 He is identified with his people in all that 
 concerns their welfare. 
 
 His home is the well known place of re- 
 sort and entertainment for clergymen and 
 other religious strangers who visit the 
 place. 
 
 Being a permanent resident, he is more 
 concerned for the results of his ministry 
 than he naturally would be, were his stay 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 147 
 
 but temporary. He cannot, like those 
 whose stay is short, light fires, in his bold- 
 ness or imprudence, and then go off by the 
 light of them, and leave them to burn, or 
 be quenched by others. 
 
 He feels a growing interest in his flock. 
 The longer he is with them, the more he 
 labors and cares for them, -the oftener he is 
 called to sympathize with them, weeping 
 with those that weep, and rejoicing with 
 those that rejoice, and the more he expe- 
 riences of their kindness towards himself, 
 the deeper does his affectionate concern 
 for them naturally become. I know of 
 no affection more sacred and unquencha- 
 ble than that of a long settled pastor for 
 his people. 
 
 The settled pastor is acquainted with 
 the spiritual condition of his people, as a 
 stranger cannot be, and knows what is 
 needful for them, from time to time, in the 
 way of instruction, reproof, or consolation. 
 Directed by this knowledge, and compelled 
 too by the permanency of his ministry and 
 his unchanging auditory, he of necessity 
 
148 RELATIONS OF 
 
 takes a wider compass in his preaching, 
 and his hearers receive, in the end, a 
 greater variety and amount of instruction 
 than would, or perhaps could be given, by 
 a succession of transient preachers. The 
 itinerant preacher, with an audience al- 
 ways new, needs but a few discourses, in 
 memory or manuscript, to answer his calls. 
 He is not obliged to be very diversified in 
 his ministrations, nor is it probable that he 
 will be. He naturally selects a few topics, 
 and those commonly which are the most 
 exciting, and the most obvious and famil- 
 iar ; and with these begins and finishes 
 his temporary work. Another follows, 
 and then another, much in the same strain. 
 The consequence is that the people, though 
 abundantly and fervidly exhorted upon a 
 few topics, acquire but a defective knowl- 
 edge of truth. 
 
 It is not so with the settled pastor. It 
 depends on him, and he feels it to be his 
 duty, as one set apart for the instruction 
 of a particular people, to acquaint them 
 with the whole counsel of God. They 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 149 
 
 look to him chiefly for the bread of life, and 
 to him the injunction comes emphatically 
 and solemnly, "Take heed therefore unto 
 yourselves and to all the flock, over which 
 the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, 
 to feed the church of God." The church 
 cannot be fed as the pastor is required to 
 feed them, they cannot be instructed gen- 
 erally and fully in the knowledge of reli- 
 gious truth and duty, in a few random dis- 
 courses, however elaborately prepared, or 
 fervidly delivered. 
 
 An itinerant or changing ministry can 
 never be substituted for a settled and per- 
 manent one without great detriment to the 
 interests of religion. This is the growing 
 conviction of the land. It is a conviction 
 established by all history, but especially by 
 our recent experience of the results and 
 tendencies of itinerant labors. 
 
 It was formerly the practice of the New 
 England churches to settle their ministers 
 for life. The relation of pastor and people 
 was deemed almost as sacred as marriage 
 itself. The same is the practice now to a 
 13* 
 
150 RELATIONS OF 
 
 considerable extent : but there are too ma- 
 ny exceptions so many, perhaps, that the 
 exceptions have become the rule. The 
 practice of dismissing a minister " for eve- 
 ry cause" is one of the sins of the times. 
 And it has become quite common to pro- 
 vide for the dissolution of the union at the 
 time of its formation. A condition is in- 
 serted in the terms of settlement by which 
 either party is at liberty to terminate the 
 connection at pleasure, on giving a certain 
 specified notice. 
 
 It is easy to see the effect of such a con- 
 dition. Neither of the parties feels secure 
 of the permanency of the connection. The 
 pastor, (if it be proper to call him so in 
 such circumstances,) feels that he is still a 
 candidate, a preacher on probation, as much 
 after his ordination as before. And the 
 people feel that his connection with them 
 is to continue only till he can do better 
 elsewhere, and that his voluntary remain- 
 ing with them is a presumptive evidence 
 that his present situation is, for the time 
 being, the most eligible he can command. 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 151 
 
 He on his part feels that his continuance is 
 at all times precarious ; that the mere vote 
 of a majority, however obtained, in a par- 
 ish meeting, is all that is necessary to his 
 receiving the specified " notice ;" that the 
 very fact that his removal may be so ef- 
 fected is a standing temptation to any dis- 
 affected or restless individual, or faction, to 
 endeavor to secure such a vote ; and that 
 all that is servile, timid, indifferent, or dis- 
 organizing, in the materials of the society, 
 is available for his dismission, to such as 
 are seeking that result. And the people 
 are equally insecure on their part. 
 
 But how unpropitious is a connection of 
 this nature to that endeared, confiding, sa- 
 cred intimacy which ought to subsist be- 
 tween the shepherd and the flock ! And 
 is this the kind of union which Christ in- 
 tended should be formed between his min- 
 isters and churches? Did the primitive 
 churches settle their ministers so ? 
 
 The frequent dismission of ministers is 
 an evil to all concerned. Its tendency is 
 
152 RELATIONS OF 
 
 to unsettle the habits, and, in various ways, 
 to diminish the prosperity of our churches. 
 Every instance of removing one and set- 
 tling another causes some to be dissatisfi- 
 ed, if it do not produce division and defec- 
 tion. It has an effect, ^too, to multiply 
 itching ears, and to induce a habit of cu- 
 rious and speculative hearing, rather than 
 of sober profiting by the word. Its effect 
 on ministers is perhaps almost equally 
 bad. It unsettles their minds ; diminishes 
 the strength of their attachments ; embar- 
 rasses their domestic arrangements ; frus- 
 trates or prevents their plans ; and in va- 
 rious ways detracts largely from their effi- 
 ciency and usefulness. In every instance 
 of their removal it deprives them of that 
 acquired knowledge of the people, and ac- 
 quired influence, which in new circumstan- 
 ces it takes months and even years to gain. 
 It will be found by observation that those 
 churches are most prosperous which are 
 least addicted to a frequent change of 
 ministers. 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 153 
 
 It belongs to the present chapter to 
 speak of the powers and prerogatives of 
 the minister, and of his relations with the 
 people. 
 
 Though it is not the province of the pas- 
 tor to govern the church as a magistrate, 
 or legislator, yet he is not destitute of au- 
 thority. He has the authority of a spiritual 
 guide and overseer. He has authority as 
 Christ's ambassador, and commissioned ex- 
 pounder of his will ; and as such the peo- 
 ple are bound to respect him. I cannot 
 express myself more happily on this sub- 
 ject than in the following language of Mr. 
 James. 
 
 " Still, however, there is authority be- 
 longing to the pastor ; for office without 
 authority is a solecism. " Remember them 
 that have the rule over you" said St. Paul 
 to the Hebrews, xiii. 7. " Obey them that 
 have the rule over you. Submit yourselves, 
 for they watch for your souls," 17. "They 
 addicted themselves to the ministry ; sub- 
 mit yourselves to such." 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 
 16. These are inspired injunctions, and 
 
154 RELATIONS OF 
 
 they enjoin obedience and submission on 
 Christian churches to their pastors. The 
 authprity of pastors, however, is not legis- 
 lative or coercive, but simply declarative 
 and executive. To define with precision 
 its limits, is as difficult <as to mark the 
 boundaries of the several colors of the rain- 
 bow, or of light and darkness at the hour 
 of twilight in the hemisphere. The minis- 
 ter is to command, yet he is not to " lord 
 it over God's heritage." This is not the 
 only case, in which the precise limits of 
 authority are left undefined by the scrip- 
 tures. The duties of the conjugal union 
 are laid down in the same general manner: 
 the husband is to rule and the wife to 
 obey ; yet it is difficult to declare where in 
 this instance authority and submission end. 
 In each of these instances the union is 
 founded on mutual love, confidence and es- 
 teem, and it might therefore be rationally 
 supposed, that under these circumstances 
 general terms are sufficient, and that there 
 would arise no contests for power. If the 
 people see that all the authority of their 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 155 
 
 pastor is employed for their benefit, they 
 will not be inclined to ascertain by meas- 
 urement whether he has passed its limits. 
 The very circumstance of his prerogative 
 being thus undefined, should on the one 
 hand make him afraid of extending it, and 
 on the other, render his church cautious 
 of diminishing it."* 
 
 I will only add, that whatever the pas- 
 tor's authority may be, in kind or measure, 
 according to the scriptures, it is doubtless 
 graduated to the ends which the ministry 
 is designed to accomplish. It is such au- 
 thority as is requisite to the highest and 
 best effect of the office ; and either to exalt 
 it beyond its proper measure, or to depress 
 it below, is inauspicious, perhaps alike in- 
 auspicious, to the welfare of the churches. 
 If in the one case there is a usurpation of 
 the rights of the brotherhood, there is, in 
 the other, that want of respect for the 
 office which nullifies its influence. " Those 
 persons who are anxious to strip their pas- 
 
 * Church Member '* Guide. 
 
156 RELATIONS OF 
 
 tors of all just elevation, (says the author 
 quoted above,) cannot expect to derive 
 much edification from their labors ; for in- 
 struction #nd advice, like substances fall- 
 ing to the earth, impress the mind with a 
 momentum proportioned to the height from 
 which they descend." 
 
 There are certain things which have 
 been conceded to the pastor, In all denom- 
 inations. Among these is his right to the 
 occupancy of his pulpit. It is for him to 
 make his own appointments ; regulate his 
 own exchanges ; and to say whether oth- 
 ers shall preach in his place or not. He 
 has a right to expect that no preacher 
 shall be invited to preach, or to speak on 
 any topic affecting the religious interests 
 of his people, without his consent. It is 
 proper indeed that he should regard the 
 reasonable wishes of his people, as he nat- 
 urally will ; but for them to assume the 
 business of introducing another into his 
 pulpit against or without his consent, is an 
 invasion of his rights as a pastor. Suppose 
 
I <$> * 
 
 PASTOR AND PEOPLE. ^W 157 
 
 some mischievous errorist arrives among 
 you, and by authority of your society's 
 committee, or by vote of an inconsiderate 
 or clamorous majority, gains the admission 
 which he seeks ; and entering into your 
 minister's place and fold, " brings in dam- 
 nable heresies, even denying the Lord that 
 bought them ;" whose " pernicious ways" 
 many are likely to follow, and " by reason 
 of whom the way of truth shall be evil 
 spoken of." Would you judge of your min- 
 ister's feelings in such a case, you may 
 consider what your own would be, to see 
 an enemy traversing your field with tares. 
 It is beneath the character of a minister, 
 and subversive of his usefulness and com- 
 fort, to share his pulpit with those who 
 preach another gospel, and pull down what 
 he builds up. 
 
 It does not much alter the case if the in- 
 truder be orthodox. He is a preacher, 
 suppose, of another denomination, or a 
 traveling one of your own, whose piety is 
 not questioned, and whose labors in other 
 places are extolled in the newspapers ; 
 14 
 
158 RELATIONS OF 
 
 still there may be reasons, and sufficient 
 ones, in the mind of your pastor, for not 
 inviting him into the pulpit. 
 
 If it be wrong to force his admission, it 
 is wrong to compass the same thing by 
 such importunity, or intimations of displeas- 
 ure, as the pastor will not choose to with- 
 stand. It may be proper to express your 
 wishes to him, but beyond this you should 
 leave the matter to him. When you call- 
 ed him to be your pastor you committed to 
 him the spiritual oversight of the society. 
 You confided in him as a good anJ faithful 
 man. If you have ceased to repose such 
 confidence in him, it is better that the con- 
 nection be dissolved than that you invade 
 his rights. He may err in given cases, and 
 good be prevented ; but as a general thing, 
 more evil will result from the course which 
 is here objected to. 
 
 The pulpit is a sacred public interest 
 which must be intrusted to somebody. If 
 it be intrusted to the pastor, as the known 
 and universal practice, the people will gen- 
 erally be satisfied. But if it be assumed 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 159 
 
 by others, dissatisfaction, if not division 
 and open contention, will be the conse- 
 quence. And let it once be known abroad 
 that the pastor's wishes have ceased to be 
 regarded in reference to the pulpit, and 
 that it is given up to other and especially 
 to irresponsible persons, whether within or 
 without the parish ;. and that fact, while it 
 declares that he has too little of the es- 
 teem and confidence of the people to be 
 useful among them, is a general proclama- 
 tion to whomsoever will, to resort thither 
 to disseminate their doctrines. Such a 
 parish has no unity, and no head ; and its 
 ruin is neither problematical nor distant.* 
 
 Nor can the blessing of God be reasona- 
 bly expected on the labors of a preacher, 
 or lecturer, who so intrudes himself into 
 the place of another. He who has institu- 
 ted the pastoral office, and charged it with 
 
 * It is a matter of experience that any public building which 
 is thrown open to other than its appropriate uses, as, for exam- 
 ple, a court house, a town hall, or a joint stock meeting house, 
 built by several denominations and controlled by none of them, 
 is sure to be occupied by all sorts of speakers and assemblies. 
 
160 RELATIONS OF 
 
 its important responsibilities, and com- 
 manded the respect of the people for it, 
 will not sanction the intrusion. Nor is the 
 intruder himself, in whatever name or live- 
 ry he comes, entitled to common respect. 
 
 If the people may not thrust men upon 
 their pastor, still less may they thrust upon 
 him doctrines and measures. To require 
 that he shall surrender his private judg- 
 ment, and adopt opinions and pursue meas- 
 ures which are prescribed to him by oth- 
 ers ; that he shall allow others to think and 
 determine for him, and bow submissively 
 to the dictation either of individuals or as- 
 semblies of men, is an invasion of his rights 
 not only as a pastor, but as a man. And 
 more than this, it is an affront to his divine 
 Master. "Who art thou that judgest 
 another man's servant ? to his own master 
 he standeth or falleth. Yea he shall be 
 holden up : for God is able to make him 
 stand." Paul though he ' made himself a 
 servant to all,' strenuously asserted his 
 liberty, both as a minister and as a man ; 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 161 
 
 declaring himself to be " free from all men," 
 and accountable to God alone.* 
 
 A ministry without the liberty of judging 
 for itself would be worthless, a servile, 
 weak, uncertain thing, fit for the purposes 
 of designing and misguided men, but most 
 unfit for the ends for which it was institu- 
 ted ; and destined speedily to sink into 
 universal and merited contempt. Neither 
 God nor man can honor such a ministry. 
 Christ has enjoined it on his ministers to 
 preserve their moral freedom, under him, 
 and never to yield it to human fear or 
 favor. 
 
 The people themselves have the greatest 
 interest in the preservation of the freedom 
 and independence of the pulpit. For what- 
 ever else they may think it desirable their 
 minister should be, it is first of all desira- 
 ble that he should be an honest man. But 
 an honest man he ceases to be, and be- 
 comes a time-server and a dissembler, or 
 
 * See, among other instances of his noble vindication of his 
 natural and Christian liberty, 1 Cor. iv, 16 5 ix, 1 5 5 Rom. 
 iiv. 3, 4, 10, 13. 
 
 14* 
 
162 RELATIONS OF 
 
 at best a machine, from the moment he 
 surrenders his judgment and conscience to 
 the control of others, and consents to obey 
 men rather than God. 
 
 It ought to be borne in mind, that the 
 great influence which pertains to the Chris- 
 tian ministry has created a disposition, in 
 all ages, to invade its freedom. Wicked 
 men have sought to restrain it by intimida- 
 tion : while, on the other hand, men pro- 
 fessing zeal for God, and conceiving their 
 own wisdom to be infallible, have thought 
 it their duty either to coerce the ministry 
 into a concurrence with themselves, or else 
 to break it down. This latter influence is 
 far more dangerous and mischievous than 
 the other. It has done far more to annoy 
 and depress the ministry, and is unspeaka- 
 bly more to be deprecated. It is an influ- 
 ence which not only ministers themselves 
 are bound to withstand, with magnanimity 
 and constancy, in the name of their Lord, 
 but all are bound to do so, who have any 
 respect for the office as a divine institution ; 
 any concern for its legitimate results ; or 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 
 
 any regard for the personal rights of those 
 who are called to the discharge of its high 
 and responsible duties. 
 
 But while these things are conceded to 
 the pastor, there are, on the other hand, 
 certain things which the people have a right 
 to expect from him. They have a right to 
 expect that he will neither desert nor 
 abuse the trusts committed to him. Their 
 own feelings and rights are to be held as 
 sacred as his ; and while they commit to 
 him, with an affectionate confidence, as 
 the people of his charge, the important in- 
 terests of the pulpit, they have a right to 
 presume that he, as their affectionate and 
 faithful pastor, will not use the pulpit, or 
 suffer it to be used by others, for purposes 
 foreign to the general end for which it was 
 instituted, and tending to the destruction 
 of the peace, order, and integrity of the so- 
 ciety. They have a right to presume that 
 he will not introduce there, either men or 
 things, not necessarily connected with the 
 duties of his office, which are known to be 
 
164 RELATIONS OF 
 
 odious or strongly disagreeable to a res- 
 pectable portion of his hearers, if not to all. 
 And the same reasons which forbid his do- 
 ing so, forbid any members of the society 
 urging him to do so, to whom the introduc- 
 tion of such men and things might be 
 agreeable. 
 
 The organization of a parish and settle- 
 ment of a minister is to a certain extent 
 a conventional thing ; and involves prescrip- 
 tive and conventional rights which it may 
 justly be presumed none of the parties will 
 invade. 
 
 Thus the parties are supposed of course 
 to agree as to the general object of the ar- 
 rangement, viz. the promotion of religion. 
 They are also supposed to agree as to the 
 system of truth and church order which are 
 to be maintained there; as whether the 
 creed is to be Calvinistic or Arminian ; and 
 the order and discipline, Congregational, 
 Episcopal, or some other. Whatever is in- 
 cluded in the known faith and practice of 
 the denomination to which the society pro- 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 165 
 
 fesses to belong is supposed to be admitted 
 and understood by all the parties ; and no 
 conventional rights are infringed upon so 
 long as all the parties keep within the sup- 
 posed limits of the arrangement. Beyond 
 those limits rights are invaded. 
 
 When, therefore, a minister becomes the 
 pastor of that church and society he justly 
 presumes himself to be invested with all 
 the customary prerogatives, as well as 
 charged with the duties, of that office. 
 They are his by prescription and tacit con- 
 sent, (waiving other grounds of claim) un- 
 less he is previously and expressly appri- 
 sed to the contrary, and yields them by 
 stipulation. He may waive the exercise 
 of his rights as a pastor in given cases, 
 if he will, but they cannot justly be taken 
 from or denied him by the people. 
 
 The conventional rights of the other par- 
 ty may be invaded by the pastor in various 
 ways. 
 
 He may do it by using the pulpit for 
 purposes contrary to the objects for which 
 it was erected. Suppose that, being the 
 
166 RELATIONS OF 
 
 pastor of a Trinitarian and evangelical 
 church, he preaches, or lends his pulpit to 
 another to preach, the doctrines of Unita- 
 rianism, or Universalism ; or being the 
 pastor of a Baptist church, he administers 
 baptism by sprinkling, or administers it to 
 infants. He may hold those sentiments, 
 or modes, if he will, as a man ; but he may 
 not propagate them in the way supposed, 
 or hold them consistently with his existing 
 relations. The truth and falsehood of the 
 conflicting systems are not the question 
 here, but what are the just expectations 
 of the people ? The truth itself is not to 
 be preached in violation of common hones- 
 ty and good faith. 
 
 Again these rights may be infringed by 
 the introduction into the pulpit of subjects 
 foreign to the ends for which it was insti- 
 tuted. Thus if the discussion of political 
 questions be introduced there, it is unau- 
 thorized. The place was not made for 
 that end. I speak of political questions as 
 such. It is not to be denied that the great 
 moral questions, or principles, which are 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 167 
 
 often involved in politics, are proper sub- 
 jects for discussion, in a proper manner, 
 and as moral questions, in the Christian 
 pulpit. 
 
 Again it may be held to be an infringe- 
 ment of conventional rights to introduce 
 subjects which, though they may not be in 
 their nature wholly foreign to the pulpit, 
 are not necessarily involved in a due dis- 
 charge of its duties, and are at the same 
 time an invariable and known cause of dis- 
 sention and distraction. Such are some 
 of the agitating schemes of the present 
 day. The object which the schemes affect 
 may be benevolent and good, but the 
 schemes themselves are human. They do 
 not, like the precept, " Follow after the 
 things which make for peace, and things 
 wherewith one may edify another," come 
 within the revealed " counsel of God," and 
 may not be forced upon either the minister 
 or the congregation. The parish was not 
 organized, nor the house built, nor the 
 pastor settled, with these schemes in view ; 
 and since God has not commanded it, if 
 
168 RELATIONS OF 
 
 they are introduced, it ought to be by con- 
 sent of parties. 
 
 Once more. The people suffer wrong, 
 and their just expectations are disregarded, 
 by the pastor deserting or consigning to 
 other hands the trusts committed to him. 
 Suppose that in a time of special attention 
 to religion he is assisted by a stranger ; 
 and that this stranger, bringing his own 
 novelties with him, assumes that he knows 
 better than the pastor what ought to be 
 done, and acts accordingly. He takes it 
 upon him to direct what meetings shall be 
 held, what measures adopted, who and 
 how many shall be admitted to the church, 
 how soon they shall be admitted, speaks 
 with authority, and is in all respects, for 
 the time being, virtually the pastor. Now 
 can the pastor, consistently with his duty, 
 can he consistently with the trusts reposed 
 in him by the people that called him, and 
 the council that ordained him, stand aside 
 from his office, and give up the reins to 
 this stranger ? If the field has been com- 
 
PASTOR AND PEOPLE. 169 
 
 mitted to his keeping, may he consign it to 
 another ? 
 
 Or suppose a member, or members, of his 
 own congregation should rise up and as- 
 sume that they know better than he how 
 affairs should be conducted : may he re- 
 sign his charge to them ? Every conside- 
 rate person will answer, No ! The people 
 did not call these persons to exercise the 
 trusts of the pastoral office, and their doing 
 so is a usurpation. A minister certainly 
 should have the privilege of calling in as- 
 sistance when it is necessary ; but he 
 ought ever to maintain his place as a pas- 
 tor, and never resign up his judgment and 
 authority and hand over his parish to 
 others. 
 
 15 
 I 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEACONS. 
 
 THE office of Deacons was first institu- 
 ted, as is generally thought, Acts vi. 1 6. 
 
 The qualifications of the 'men who are to 
 fill the office are, as mentioned at the time 
 of its institution, that they be "men of 
 honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and 
 wisdom," that is, of unblemished reputation, 
 distinguished piety, and sound judgment ; 
 and more particularly, 1 Tim. iii. 8 10 ; 
 " Likewise must the deacons be grave, not 
 double tongued, not given to much wine, 
 not greedy of filthy lucre ; holding the 
 mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 
 And let these also first be proved; then 
 let them use the office of deacon, being 
 found blameless." Which may be para- 
 phrased thus ; grave, sincere, temperate, 
 not avaricious, of thorough knowledge of 
 
DEACONS. 171 
 
 the truth and sincerely attached to it, and 
 of tried and established worth. It is also 
 added that they should be men who " rule 
 their children and their own houses well." 
 These are the qualities which churches are 
 bound to seek in a candidate for the office, 
 and this is the character which every dea- 
 con should endeavor to sustain. 
 Their dutresjjare these : 
 
 1. To receive and distribute the alms of 
 the church. This was the service to 
 which they were specially appointed at the 
 first. It is commonly assigned to them in 
 our churches. 
 
 2. To distribute the bread and wine of 
 the Lord's supper. 
 
 3. To act, in some respects, as assis- 
 tants and substitutes to the pastor. In the 
 pastor's absence they preside at the meet- 
 ings of the church ; and when there is no 
 preacher, they conduct its worship. 
 
 They are to have some prominence 
 among the brethren in things pertaining to 
 edification, as teachers and leaders. This 
 is argued from their required qualifications, 
 
172 DEACONS. 
 
 particularly from their being required to be 
 men of more than ordinary piety and 
 knowledge of the truth. 
 
 " I see no reason why deacons should 
 be required to be such as hold the mystery 
 of the faith, a direction given concerning 
 bishops, Tit. i. 9, unless this qualification 
 was to be employed in some manner and 
 degree, for the same ends. In a bishop 
 this qualification is required, that he may 
 be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort, 
 and to convince gainsay ers. There is un- 
 doubtedly no warrant given to deacons in 
 the Scriptures to preach. But there are a 
 multitude of religious instructions, of very 
 great importance, which are to be given to 
 many persons, and on many occasions, and 
 which are still remote from preaching. 
 Of these the most formal is that class of in- 
 structions which are appropriately styled 
 catechetical. Another class is made up 
 of the teaching immediately given in pri- 
 vate religious assemblies. Another still 
 may be sufficiently described by the word 
 occasional. In all these it would seem that 
 
DEACONS. 173 
 
 deacons might with great propriety act : 
 and unless they were to act in these, or 
 some other similar modes, it seems difficult 
 to explain why they should be required to 
 possess skill and soundness in the gospel."* 
 
 From its being a part of their office to 
 distribute the charities of the church to the 
 afflicted poor, it seems peculiarly proper in 
 them to be much in the habit of visiting 
 that class of persons, for the purposes of 
 sympathy and prayer with them, and of 
 seeking them out and reporting their wants 
 to the church. 
 
 In regard to the manner of their intro- 
 duction into office, 
 
 1. They are to be chosen by the church. 
 Acts vi. 3, 5. 
 
 2. They are then to be set apart to the 
 office by prayer and imposition of hands. 
 This was originally done, Acts vi. 6 ; and 
 there appears to be no good reason why 
 the apostolic practice should not be follow- 
 ed by us. 
 
 *Dr. Dwight, 
 
 15* 
 
174 DEACONS. 
 
 Such being the place and qualifications 
 of Deacons in the church, they are to be 
 treated with that respect which is due to 
 such an office. 
 
 As a general fact the Deacons of the 
 New England churches have in a good de- 
 gree possessed the qualifications which are 
 required. They have been men distin- 
 guished for their sobriety, probity, and gen- 
 eral excellence of character. The matter 
 is proverbial. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY PAR- 
 ISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 IN the settlement of a pastor the church 
 and society act in separate capacities. 
 And in this they must act harmoniously, or 
 not at all ; their concurrence being neces- 
 sary to an election. In all other cases, 
 where their common interests are concern- 
 ed, they act as one body. 
 
 In settling a minister the order of pro- 
 ceeding is this. 
 
 The candidate usually preaches for a 
 short term upon trial, especially if he be 
 young in the ministry, at the invitation 
 of a joint committee of the church and 
 society. 
 
 The question of giving a call is first tried 
 in the church. If agreed to here, the vote 
 is communicated to the society, inviting 
 
176 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 its concurrence. In both bodies the ma- 
 jority decides. 
 
 The call, being concurred in by the so- 
 ciety, is officially transmitted to the Pastor 
 elect, by the committee ; who are expected 
 to communicate to him the state of the 
 vote, the proposed terms of salary, with 
 such other facts, or circumstances, as it 
 may be important to him to know. 
 
 If the call be accepted, the usual council 
 is convened to attend to the ordination ; 
 before whom the committee lay the respec- 
 tive votes and doings of the church and so- 
 ciety, with the answer received, and other 
 documents, if there be any, which the 
 council may need. 
 
 The parties to the contract, or legal act 
 of settlement, are the minister and the so- 
 ciety, or parish. The church enters into 
 no legal obligations, distinct from the 
 parish. 
 
 For the grounds on which the church 
 has a separate action from the society, and 
 takes precedence of it, in calling a minis- 
 ter, (the propriety of which is indisputable } 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 177 
 
 and which ought not to be departed from,) 
 the reader may consult Mather's Ratio 
 Disciplinae, and Upham's work with the 
 the same title. The principal and obvious 
 reason is, the securing a faithful ministry. 
 It often happens that the majority of voters 
 in society are not religious persons ; and 
 as such persons are too apt to consult their 
 worldly tastes and interests, there would 
 be danger of an unhappy election. It is 
 true that the present arrangement cannot 
 always prevent such a choice, but it affords 
 as much security as the case admits of. 
 Two majorities are not so easily secured as 
 one. And however the society may vote, 
 the distinct voice of the church, unless the 
 salt have lost its savor, will be for purity 
 and faithfulness. The usage in question 
 is scriptural, Congregational, and safe.* 
 
 * This usage is recognized in law. " The parish, when the 
 ministerial office is vacant, from an ancient and respectable 
 usage, wait till the church have made choice of a minister, and 
 have requested the concurrence of the parish 5 and if the parish 
 do not concur, the election of the church is a nullity ; and if the 
 church do concur, then a Contract of settlement is made wholly 
 
178 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 SUPPORT OF THE MINISTER. 
 
 The duty of providing for the mainte- 
 nance of those who preach the g-ospel is so 
 obvious., that to reasonable people there 
 needs no argument on the subject. As, 
 however, there are many who have never 
 distinctly considered it, and have but fee- 
 ble convictions with regard to it, while oth- 
 ers deny and decry the duty, it may not 
 unprofitably occupy a brief space, though 
 far too brief to do it justice, in this volume.* 
 
 between the parish and the minister, and is obligatory on them 
 only." Bigelow's Digest of reported cases in Mass. 
 
 The settlement is for life unless conditions be made to the 
 contrary. " Where no tenure is annexed to the office of a min- 
 ister by the terms of settlement, he does not hold the office at 
 will, but for life, determinable for some good and sufficient 
 cause, or by the consent of both parties." Ib. 
 
 The decisions of councils are also regarded in law. The 
 judicial proceedings of this Commonwealth furnish a lucid com- 
 mentary on our ecclesiastical affairs. See the volume from 
 which these notes are taken, Art. Parish. 
 
 * There is also another thing which makes me unwilling to 
 omit it the fact that ministers, from motives of delicacy, so 
 seldom preach on this subject. There are reasons beyond 
 those which affect the minister, for informing the people in re- 
 gard to it. It concerns them all to understand it as a duty, en- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 179 
 
 It is, in the first place, a matter of neces- 
 sity that the people support the minister. 
 
 The work of the ministry is such as to 
 forbid his supporting himself; and how is 
 he to live ? The Bible enjoins it on him 
 to give himself entirely to his work. The 
 work of the ministry is to be his one and 
 all-absorbing employment, to the exclusion 
 of every secular avocation. 1 Tim. iv. 13 
 16. 2 Tim. iv. 1, 2. The work requires 
 such exclusive devotion. It is enough, and 
 more than enough, for all his time, strength, 
 and mind. He must therefore either live 
 .of the gospel, or else leave it, or starve. 
 
 If he attempt to support himself, his sa- 
 cred profession must suffer. There is dis- 
 traction between the two objects ; and 
 either in this or in that, and indeed in 
 both, the man must be unfruitful. The ex- 
 periment has been abundantly tried ; and 
 the result is known in too many melan- 
 
 joined on them by the Bible ; and where a common burthen is 
 to be borne, it is due to such as bear more than their propor- 
 tion, that those who are ignorant or remiss should be apprised 
 of their delinquency. 
 
180 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 choly instances of a ministry careworn 
 and barren, if not secularized and half 
 apostate. 
 
 It is therefore a matter of necessity, that 
 he receive his support from the people. 
 
 It is also just and reasonable. For he la- 
 bors for the people's benefit. He leaves 
 other professions, and his own interest, to 
 be useful in this. Others labor for them- 
 selves. The husbandman toils at the plough 
 with the expectation of enriching his own 
 granary. The merchant traffics for gain 
 to be appropriated to himself and family. 
 The mechanic sells his wares at a price. 
 The .physician sends his bill ; the lawyer 
 his amount of fees. The laborer expects 
 his wages. But the minister labors with 
 no such immediate view to his own emolu- 
 ment. He alone, of men, goes and comes, 
 studies, thinks, and labors, ,for the good of 
 others, and keeps no reckoning. He fore- 
 goes emolument, spends his time, wastes 
 his health, is a stranger to ease, for their 
 sake. Upon what principle is it, of justice, 
 or of honor, that he should do this and not 
 
PARISH AFFAIBS. 181 
 
 be so much as furnished with needful food 
 and raiment ? Have they a natural claim 
 to his services ? Have they a right to com- 
 mand them ? Not at all. He is naturally 
 as " free from all men" as others are ; and 
 has made himself " a servant to all," only 
 at their invitation, and by his own consent. 
 
 It is therefore just that he should re- 
 ceive his support, leaving the necessity of it 
 out of view. 
 
 Thirdly, the Bible inculcates the duty. 
 It has no reserve or delicacy on the sub- 
 ject. He that calls ministers to their work 
 has taken care that they be supported. 
 He has manifested even a solicitude on the 
 subject which is very observable. Under 
 the Jewish dispensation he charged the 
 Levites with the service of the sanctuary, 
 and gave for their subsistence the tithes 
 and offerings of their brethren ; and he re- 
 peatedly charges the latter never to forget 
 this duty, lest the former, deprived of their 
 only dependence, should fail for want of 
 bread. "Take heed to thyself that thou 
 forget not the Levite as long as thou livest 
 16 
 
182 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 upon the earth." And again, giving the 
 reason, " The Levite that is within thy 
 gates ; thou shalt not forsake him ; for he 
 hath no part or inheritance with thee."* 
 
 When our Lord sent forth the twelve to 
 preach, he said, " Provide neither gold, nor 
 silver, nor brass, in your purses : nor scrip 
 for your journey, neither two coats, neither 
 shoes, nor yet staves ; for the workman is 
 worthy of his meat. Again, when he sent 
 forth the seventy, he gave them a similar 
 direction, adding, as 'before, that " the la- 
 borer is worthy of his hire." 
 
 Paul is full on the subject. " Let him 
 that is taught in the word communicate 
 unto him that teacheth, in all good things." 
 " Let the elders that rule well be count- 
 ed worthy of double honor, especially they 
 who labor in word and doctrine. For the 
 scripture saith, Thou shall not muzzle 
 the ox that treadeth out the corn : And, 
 The laborer is worthy of his reward."^ 
 " Who goeth a warfare any time, at his 
 
 * Deut. xii. 19, xiv. 27. See Numbers xviii. 20, 21. Deut. 
 xviii. 19 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 183 
 
 own charges? who planteth a vineyard, 
 and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? or who 
 feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk 
 of the flock ? Say I these things as a 
 man ? or saith not the law the same also ? 
 For it is written in the law of Moses. Thou 
 shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that 
 treadeth out the corn. Doth God take 
 care for oxen ? Or saith he it altogether 
 for our sakes ? For our sakes, no doubt 
 this is written : that he that plougheth 
 should plough in hope ; and that he that 
 thresheth in hope should be partaker of his 
 hope- If we have sown unto you spiritual 
 things, is it a great thing if we shall reap 
 your carnal things ? Do ye not know that 
 they which minister about holy things live 
 of the things of the temple ? and they 
 which wait at the altar are partakers with 
 the altar ? Even so hath the Lord ordain- 
 ed that they which preach the gospel 
 should live of the gospel.' 3 * 
 
 Matt. x. 711. Luke x. 19. Gal. vi. 6. 1 Tim. v. 17, 
 1 Cor, ix. 714, 
 
184 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 The duty being established, the follow- 
 ing are obvious inferences. 
 
 1. A minister's salary is not a gratuity, 
 but a just obligation on the people's part. 
 It is that which could not be withheld 
 without injustice, not to say impiety. Of 
 course, each individual, contributing his 
 part, should not say within himself, " I give 
 this," but, " I do it in discharge of an obli- 
 gation." 
 
 2. If a minister be entitled to a support 
 at all, he is entitled to a full support. He 
 is entitled to live of the gospel, i. e. to a 
 living, or support. I will not discuss the 
 quantum. If an expensive education, if 
 talents, industry, laboriousness, if moral 
 worth and exclusive devotedness to the 
 public good, were to be made the basis 
 of the calculation, he would be entitled to 
 as good an estate as the same qualities 
 might secure to him in another profession. 
 But the minister's reward is not of this 
 world. It is not in houses and lands, but 
 in crowns of rejoicing in the day of the 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 185 
 
 Lord Jesus. It is not desirable, probably, 
 that he should be rich ; but he ought not 
 to be absolutely poor. " Give me neither 
 poverty nor riches," may the minister say, 
 as well as others. A comfortable support 
 is necessary ; something more than this is 
 reasonable. He should be provided for, not 
 only as long as he is able to preach, but as 
 long as he lives ; and his children also, 
 till they are of an age to be above depen- 
 dence. 
 
 3. It is the practice of some to withdraw 
 or keep themselves from any legal connec- 
 tion with ecclesiastical societies, because 
 such connection subjects them to a share 
 in the support of the minister, and other 
 current expenses. Let such reconcile 
 their course as they can with honor, jus- 
 tice, and the Bible. They ought to consid- 
 er that there is both impiety in it towards 
 God, and a threefold injustice as it regards 
 man. It is unjust to their minister, but 
 that is the least consideration ; it is unjust 
 to their neighbors, who, in addition to their 
 16* 
 
186 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 own share of the common burthen, are 
 forced to assume that which these delin- 
 quents refuse ; and unjust to themselves 
 and families, who, of all concerned, are in 
 reality the greatest sufferers. 
 
 4. We see how much reason there is for 
 the cry of " hireling" against salaried min- 
 isters. This insidious cry is often raised 
 by the infidel and ungodly ; but not ex- 
 clusively by them. It has been too often 
 raised by mistaken (but I hope well mean- 
 ing) Christians. But all the prejudice they 
 can raise is laid at once by common sense 
 and the Bible. Call it ( hire,' if you will : 
 what does the Bible call it ? It says the 
 laborer (meaning the minister,) is worthy 
 of his hire. Let no Christian hold this il- 
 liberal language till he is wiser than his 
 Bible, and would have his minister to be 
 more disinterested than Paul. 
 
 All denominations of Christians have 
 found it necessary, notwithstanding some 
 experiments to the contrary, in some mode 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 187 
 
 or other, to provide for the support of their 
 ministers. The Presbyterians, Episcopa- 
 lians, and others, do it by fixed salaries. 
 The Methodists support their preachers 
 liberally, but in a manner peculiar to them- 
 selves.* 
 
 5. The consequences of the non-fulfilment 
 of this duty. 
 
 Whatever these may be as they affect 
 the minister, personally, they are more dis- 
 astrous as they affect the people. The 
 
 *The allowance to a traveling preacher is, for himself $100 
 and his traveling expenses j for his wife $100 ; for each of his 
 children under seven $16, over that age and under fourteen, 
 $24, annually. Preachers whose wives are dead are allowed 
 for each child a sum sufficient to pay the board of such child, 
 or children, while under the specified age. 
 
 A house is also to be provided for the family of the preacher, 
 and famished " with at least heavy furniture/ 7 rent free 5 also 
 fuel and table expenses. 
 
 A house, fuel, and table expenses are to be furnished like- 
 wise for the presiding elder of the district. 
 
 The support of the preacher does not cease with his actual 
 service. " The allowance of superannuated, worn out, and 
 supernumerary preachers shall be one hundred dollars an- 
 nually. 
 
 " The annual allowance of the wives of superannuated. 
 
188 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 minister is a man of like infirmities as oth- 
 ers. He is as naturally cheered or depress- 
 ed, stimulated or disheartened by circum- 
 stances, as other men. And it should be 
 remembered that whatever loss of vivacity, 
 
 worn out, and supernumerary preachers, shall be one hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 u The annual allowance of the widows of traveling, superan- 
 nuated, worn out, and supernumerary preachers, shall be one 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 " The orphans of traveling, supernumerary, superannuated, 
 and worn out preachers, shall be allowed by the annual confe- 
 rences, the same sums respectively, which are allowed to the 
 children of living preachers." Book of Discipline. 
 
 I quote these things because it is the idea of some that 
 Methodist preachers live on air ; but more especially because 
 some of these provisions, which respect superannuated and 
 worn out preachers, and their dependent offspring, are very 
 commendable, and worthy of the consideration of other de- 
 nominations. 
 
 As to supernumerary preachers, I presume there are not ma- 
 ny among the Methodists. If there are, the propriety of sup- 
 porting them I should think questionable. The Laborer is wor- 
 thy of his hire<$ but the Bible says nothing about " supernume- 
 raries" men for whom no employment can be found in the 
 vineyard of the Lord. 
 
 The money for defraying these expenses comes, of course, 
 as it ought, from the people either directly or indirectly. In 
 no denomination are collections more frequently called for. 
 with a view to the support of its preachers, and to other cur- 
 rent expenses. 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 189 
 
 or efficiency, or time, his ministry suffers, 
 in consequence of the people's neglect to 
 provide for him, the loss is eminently theirs. 
 The work of the ministry, his proper work, 
 is to them the most important work in 
 which he can be occupied. If the defi- 
 ciency of a too slender support is to be 
 made up by somebody, it had better be 
 done by them than by him. If I hire a la* 
 borer to do an important work for me, 
 which shall require his exclusive attention, 
 to tend my field, for example, it were 
 better to give him his meals than to com- 
 pel him to earn them elsewhere, at the ex- 
 pense of half his time, Weeds and a 
 starveling crop will tell me so, in the end. 
 
 A people who are not willing, or not 
 careful, duly to provide for their minister, 
 are not in a state of mind to be much profi- 
 ted by his labors. There is evidence that 
 they do not esteem him very highly in love 
 for his work's sake. 
 
 They have no right to expect the blessing 
 of God. If it be covetousness, or indiffe- 
 
190 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 rence, which causes their neglect, these 
 are not the feelings which God approves. 
 We have seen that such neglect is contrary 
 to his requirements. He considers it a 
 wrong done to himself. He has remarka- 
 bly shown himself interested in the just 
 claims of the laborer ; and expresses his 
 indignation at those who withhold their 
 wages. Jas. v. 4. Does God concern 
 himself thus for the wages of the laborer 
 of the field, and is he indifferent to the sus- 
 tenance of his ministers ? Nay, doth God 
 take care for oxen 1 for the faithful labor- 
 ing animal ; and not for his faithful ser- 
 vants who labor for him ? 
 
 He has called them to their work with a 
 scripture provision before their eyes, of 
 support. If this is withheld, he will take 
 care of his servants, but it will not be for 
 the good of the delinquents. He calls it 
 robbery, a robbing of him ; and declares 
 it to be a reason of his withholding his 
 blessing.* 
 
 * Mai. iii. 8 10 Compare with Numb, xviii. 20, 21, 31. 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 191 
 
 Finally ; it is no less the interest than it 
 is the duty of the people to support their 
 minister. It is their privilege to do what- 
 ever is necessary to make his ministry 
 among them, unembarrassed, cheerful, and 
 efficient. They can well afford to do this, 
 even in a pecuniary view. There is no de- 
 voted minister who does not benefit even 
 the pecuniary interests of his people great- 
 ly beyond the amount of his stipend. All 
 that his influence does to save them from 
 sin, saves them from that which is more 
 expensive than godliness. Look at the 
 parish which is blest with a faithful minis- 
 ter, and at another whicb is blest with 
 none : compare the sobriety and thrift of 
 the former, with the vices which prevail in 
 the other, its inebriates and idlers, its frol- 
 ics and extravagances, its litigations, and 
 many other tax-levying iniquities, more ex- 
 orbitant than the publicans of old ; and 
 this shall settle the point, that the Chris- 
 tian ministry is worth more, incomparably 
 more, I say, in a pecuniary view, than it 
 costs. 
 
192 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 But what is it worth in a religious view ? 
 If it hath pleased God by the foolishness of 
 preaching to save them that believe, and if 
 thus you and your children be saved ; if 
 while you spare something of your tempo- 
 ral substance for the support of your minis- 
 ter, he is instructing you in that wisdom 
 whose fruit is better than gold, and leading 
 you up to an inheritance incorruptible and 
 undefiled, and that fadeth not away, how 
 immeasurably are you the gainer ! How 
 much is received beyond what is given ? 
 And how blind, how miserable the policy, 
 which prefers the incomputable costs and 
 losses of sin, pecuniary and moral, tempo- 
 ral and eternal, to the trifling burthen of a 
 minister's subsistence averaged upon the 
 community ! 
 
 DIFFERENT MODES OF PROVIDING FOR PAR- 
 ISH EXPENSES. 
 
 1. The original mode of raising the Pas- 
 tor's support, in New England, was by tax. 
 Meeting-houses were built, and other par- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 193 
 
 ish expenses provided for, in the same 
 way. 
 
 This mode is strictly equitable. Taxa- 
 tion is graduated according to individual 
 ability. It is right that each member 
 of the community, enjoying a common ben- 
 efit, should bear his part of the common 
 burthen according to his means. This 
 principle is so obvious, that it is universal- 
 ly acted on in civil affairs. Any other 
 mode of raising subsidies would occasion 
 a murmur from one extreme of the land to 
 the other. 
 
 This was the mode originally establish- 
 ed by God himself for the support of reli- 
 gion. Under the Mosaic dispensation, and 
 earlier than that, each man paid his tithes, 
 or tenths ; which was strictly a tax. It 
 was a levy graduated to each person's abil- 
 ity, or means, as our parish rates are. 
 The same principle, or what is equivalent 
 to it, is recognized in the New Testament, 
 (1 Cor. xvi. 2) where each person is re- 
 quired to lay by for the purpose of the gos- 
 17 
 
194 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 pel as God hath prospered him; i. e. accord- 
 ing to his ability. 
 
 For a century and a half there was no 
 objection to this mode in New England, 
 the people being all of one denomination, 
 and sensible enough ,of the importance of 
 religion to be willing to support it. But as 
 the state of society has changed, taxation 
 for the support of the v gospel has met with 
 many obstacles from unreasonable and dis- 
 affected men, and has been laid aside, to a 
 greater or less extent, for other modes. 
 
 2. A common mode has been an annual 
 sale, or rent, of pews. This method has 
 one advantage, as it has done away, where 
 it is adopted, the old custom of seating the 
 meeting-house ; a custom which still exists 
 in some places. This was a delicate busi- 
 ness, and too often occasioned unpleasant 
 feelings. It never could have been prac- 
 ticed so long and so amicably by a people 
 less characterized by deference for public 
 order than the descendants of the Pilgrims, 
 is method has also other advantages. 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 195 
 
 By appealing to the selfish principle, it se- 
 cures generally a prompt and cheerful ac- 
 complishment of the object. The money 
 is raised, and every body is, or ought to 
 be, satisfied. It calls the people together, 
 and annually revives their interest in the 
 society's concerns. And it heightens the 
 value of a seat in the house of God, in 
 each man's feelings^ as he has voluntarily 
 paid a sum for it. What is bought is valu- 
 ed ; and especially what is bought in com- 
 petition with others. 
 
 But this method is not without its faults. 
 It makes no appeal to duty ; or at least 
 makes but a secondary and feeble appeal 
 to it. Its direct appeal, is to selfishness. 
 In that respect its tendency would seem to 
 be bad. The more people are accustomed 
 to be actuated by principle and public spir- 
 it, the better. Appeals to selfishness are 
 soon exhausted ; appeals to duty, never. 
 Again, this method does not distribute 
 burthens equally. A public spirited indi-^ 
 vidual bids off a high-rated seat, or more 
 than one perhaps, for the sake of securing 
 
196 
 
 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 the object, while seven selfish spirits will 
 make a joint-stock business of one, and 
 that a cheap one. There is no mode 
 which is unattended with difficulties. Per- 
 haps this has as few as any. It is not, 
 however, practicable where the seats are 
 held as private property, as in many in- 
 stances they are, this being now the pre- 
 vailing plan of building. 
 
 3. A third mode is subscription. This 
 mode is probably destined to be universal. 
 It was practiced by the primitive chris- 
 tians. It is a mode of which there can be 
 no complainers ; unless it should be the 
 most liberal, who, though they have the 
 best right to complain, are the least dis- 
 posed to do so. The evils of this mode 
 appear to be these. It is more precarious 
 than other modes. It encourages the idea 
 of the support of the gospel being a gratui- 
 ty on the part of those who contribute, 
 removing the idea of obligation. It draws 
 upon the generosity of individuals, rather 
 than upon their ability, which is the equi- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 197 
 
 table principle ; and thus bears unequally 
 on the liberal and the selfish. The obsta- 
 cles it meets with are those which selfish- 
 ness always interposes to the raising of 
 money without the aid of legal constraint ; 
 obstacles which are the greater in the 
 present case, as the call is repeated from 
 year to year, and as many of those who 
 are expected to subscribe, not only love 
 their money too well, but are indifferently 
 affected towards the cause itself for which 
 the subscription is wanted. 
 
 The idea of a subscription is, of course, 
 that each gives what he pleases. But it 
 should be remembered that the mode of do- 
 ing the thing does not alter the duty. Ev- 
 ery one is bound in duty, and, in honor, to 
 do as much by subscription as he would be 
 required to do by tax. What ! are we 
 such recreants to principle, and honor too, 
 that it shall require the constraint of law to 
 induce us to do our part? This may be 
 c pagan? and it may be ' man? but it is not 
 ' Christian,' nor republican. 
 17* 
 
198 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 The result of a subscription commonly, 
 and indeed of most other modes, is, that 
 some do more, and others less, than their 
 just proportion. The former, though not 
 actuated by the motive of the unjust stew- 
 ard, experience the benefit he aimed at. 
 They secure the good will of their fellow 
 men. 'They raise themselves and their 
 families in the estimation of the communi- 
 ty ; and make to themselves friends of the 
 mammon of unrighteousness, on earth at 
 least ; and in heaven too, if they are influ- 
 enced by love to Christ. With what meas- 
 ure they mete it shall be measured to them 
 again. The latter have not the conscious- 
 ness of self-respect, and do not escape the 
 pity and censure of others ; though the 
 pity may be silent and the censure unex- 
 pressed. 
 
 4. Funds. It has been the policy of 
 many societies to secure the support of the 
 gospel by means of a fund. Funds may 
 be well in certain cases, and to a certain 
 extent : I will not say they are never well. 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 199 
 
 But as a general thing, they are of a doubt- 
 ful expediency. To societies able to do 
 without them they are a positive evil : es- 
 pecially where the fund is sufficient, or 
 nearly sufficient for all expenses. 
 
 It is a general objection to them that 
 they are at variance with an important 
 principle of human nature. There is a 
 disposition in human nature to value that 
 which is obtained at some expense, or sac- 
 rifice. That which costs nothing is noth- 
 ing valued. God has implanted this feel- 
 ing in our minds, and himself acts with 
 reference to it. He has so ordered our 
 circumstances, that all which we enjoy, 
 and heaven itself, is attained with effort 
 and self-denial. The bounties of his provi- 
 dence are obtained by labor ; and are en- 
 joyed the more because of the labor. The 
 sleep of a laboring man is sweet. He has 
 regarded the same principle in religion. 
 He made the religion of the Jews an expen- 
 sive religion. It had its tithes and offer- 
 ings, and sabbaths, and feast days, in- 
 volving sacrifices of substance and of time: 
 
200 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 and as long as the people were willing to 
 make these sacrifices for it, it retained its 
 hold on their minds ; but when they sought 
 to get rid of them, and began to rob God 
 in tithes and offerings, declension ensued, 
 and religion gradually perished. The 
 same principle is regarded in the Christian 
 system ; its author having ordained that it 
 should be supported by those who enjoy its 
 privileges. 
 
 But funds overlook this principle. By 
 making religion cheap, they make it to be 
 cheaply prized. A fund is all the while 
 teaching the lesson, and making the im- 
 pression, that sacrifices are not to be made 
 for the gospel, at least not habitually ; and 
 out of this ere long grows the impression 
 that it is not worth such sacrifices : and if 
 it be not worth the pecuniary sacrifices, it 
 will not long be worth the time and atten- 
 tion which it requires. 
 
 I do not doubt that parish funds have 
 been often raised and given from very 
 pious motives, and that the pious dead are 
 now reaping the rewards of such acts of 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 201 
 
 beneficence and proofs of love to the cause 
 of Christ. But in too many instances I 
 fear the motives are rather those of selfish- 
 ness and impatience of religious burthens 
 than those of enlightened piety. The sup- 
 port of religion is a tax which the people 
 are willing to get rid of. It is to be per- 
 manently provided for, if possible, by means 
 of some pious bequest, a spirited subscrip- 
 tion entered into once for all, a lottery, or 
 some other expedient. A feeling is betray- 
 ed like that of an old colored domestic, 
 who being impatient of family prayers, 
 used to say, " Come, let us go in to pray- 
 ers, and have it over and done with." 
 
 A people released by a fund from giving 
 for the support of religion, soon become 
 confirmed in the habit of not giving, and 
 such a habit is poverty itself. As an ex- 
 ample of this, I am acquainted with a so- 
 ciety which was formerly able to erect an 
 expensive meeting-house, and to support 
 its minister with a handsome salary, and 
 which is as populous now and as abundant 
 in means as it then was, and probably 
 
202 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 more so ; but having been blest with a 
 fund for some fifteen or twenty years, it is 
 become so poor as to have voted, that " the 
 fund money," which is less than the minis- 
 ter's salary, is all they can raise. Alas ! 
 what would become of them if their fund 
 should fail ? Of course, a missionary 
 agent, " begging for money," can hardly 
 be welcomed there ; for how can they do 
 for others who cannot do for themselves ? 
 
 A fund, when adequate to all the wants 
 of the society, dispenses with the action of 
 the people. Where there is no fund the 
 question is whether to have the gospel or 
 not. It comes up to every mind. It is a 
 topic of conversation. It calls the society 
 together for joint counsel and co-operation. 
 This is of great benefit. It keeps alive the 
 interest. Its effect is specially good on 
 the young men, who as they successively 
 come forward to manhood, are called on to 
 act in the counsels and sustain the inter- 
 ests of the endeared community to which 
 they belong. 
 
 A fund naturally abates the mutual inter- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 203 
 
 est of minister and people. This may be 
 said without impeachment of the feelings 
 or motives of either party. Such is our 
 nature. When a minister sees his people 
 making efforts from year to year to sustain 
 him, it is a different thing to his feelings 
 from receiving the cold avails of a fund. 
 It is a different thing to the people. They 
 love him more and profit more by his la- 
 bors, while they are actively concerned for 
 his welfare, and can feel that they thus en- 
 title themselves to his affectionate regard. 
 
 And this is among the reasons for a peo- 
 ple supporting their minister ; and should 
 stand for an argument on that head. It is 
 desirable that they should, duty out of the 
 question. It is sometimes advanced that 
 the church alone ought to support the gos- 
 pel, without calling upon the unconverted. 
 It ought, if it must. But so long as the 
 unconverted are willing to contribute to 
 the object, they ought to be called on, as 
 one of the best means of interesting them 
 in it. That it is their duty to contribute 
 cannot be questioned ; and if it be their 
 
204 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 privilege also, as it certainly is, it is not ex- 
 pedient, if it be morally right, to withhold 
 it from them. There is a moral influence 
 connected with giving for religious objects, 
 which appears to me to entitle it to an es- 
 sential place among the means of bringing 
 men to Christ. 
 
 A fund is liable to be lost. Then dis- 
 couragement ensues. The society, like a 
 rich heir made poor, comes to the ground . 
 without its accustomed means, and without 
 the habit of supporting itself. It cannot 
 dig : to beg it is ashamed. 
 
 However, such a catastrophe commonly 
 proves to be more startling than ruinous. 
 I do not doubt that the loss of their funds 
 would be the best thing that could happen 
 to many churches. Instead of indolently 
 reposing upon their much goods laid up 
 for many years, they would then place 
 their reliance, as they ought, upon God 
 and their own exertions ; and would begin 
 to know a prosperity, which they had not 
 known for years. Instead of lying secure- 
 ly and supinely, like soldiers in a fort, they 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. P*J ^05 
 
 would set up their banners in God's name, 
 and go forth to action. Action is essential 
 to life. But there must be a necessity for 
 action, or such is man's sloth he will 
 not act. Hence the little spirituality, as a 
 general thing, of rich churches. The luke- 
 warm Laodiceans it would seem were rich 
 as to their worldly resources ; for " thou 
 sayest, I am rich, and increased with 
 goods, and have need of nothing," says 
 Jesus in his message to them ; while the 
 church in Smyrna, which he commends 
 without rebuke, appears to have been poor; 
 " I know thy works, and tribulation, and 
 POVERTY (but thou art rich) &c." So the 
 churches of Macedonia of their " deep pov- 
 erty" abounded in spiritual things. I do 
 not say that poverty is a desirable thing in 
 itself ; but it is less an enemy to grace, 
 than great wealth laid up in funds.* 
 
 * When a certain bank failed, a few years since, in Connec- 
 ticut, and carried down with it the treasured funds of a large 
 number of ecclesiastical societies, may not the designed de- 
 struction of those funds have been among the providential rear 
 
 18 
 
206 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 None are supinely good : with toil and pain, 
 And various arts, the steep ascent we gain. 
 
 It is among the evils of funds, that they 
 give an undue influence to unworthy and 
 wicked persons. They are a public bonus, 
 thrown among the many, in the disposal 
 of which the veriest heathen in the place 
 has as loud a voice as the most worthy in- 
 habitant. They give such persons a con- 
 sequence in society which they never 
 would purchase for themselves by their 
 own liberality and public spirit. They 
 sometimes give them an afflicting control 
 over the society. Viewed as an instru- 
 ment of power, they are a temptation to 
 wicked men ; who if they can find means 
 to get a legal possession of them, are little 
 concerned about moral right. I could men- 
 tion an instance of a society and it is but 
 one among many which might be mention- 
 
 sons of the failure of the institution ? Were not those funds 
 the Jonah of the ship ? And how is it with those societies now ? 
 Are the}' not more vigorous, and more blest than they were 
 before ? 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 207 
 
 ed where a party, enlarging itself with 
 all the wicked that could be induced to 
 join it, was able by its majority of votes to 
 control the fund and house, and appro- 
 priate them to a most unworthy deposed 
 man (to say no worse of him,) for a series 
 of years; a thing which never would have 
 been done, had the support of their pseudo- 
 minister depended upon the purses of those 
 who employed him, and not upon the be- 
 quests of the pious dead. 
 
 Finally ; funds are liable to be perverted. 
 In how many instances are they now em- 
 ployed for the support of heresies, in this 
 and other countries ? Guard them as you 
 will, experience has shown it to be difficult 
 to secure them from perversion. 
 
 I do not suppose that all the evils which 
 I have mentioned, and others which might 
 be mentioned, exist in every case. Per- 
 haps in many instances none of them are 
 experienced*. The evils are, of course, 
 modified by circumstances by the manner 
 in which funds are constituted, by their 
 
208 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 amount, and by the habits of the people. 
 As a general thing however, the objections 
 appear to be well founded. 
 
 As a means of supporting the gospel, 
 funds, then, do not appear to be the mode 
 which is either best adapted to the nature 
 of man, or most consonant to the will of 
 God. They are of doubtful efficacy to 
 hold societies together, and to perpetuate 
 religion. They operate through selfish- 
 ness, which is itself an enemy to the cause. 
 The more selfishness is fostered in ,the 
 support of religion, the more certain it is 
 that religion will eventually fail. It is not 
 selfishness, or the bonds of selfishness, that 
 can hold men together in a healthful reli- 
 gious capacity. It must be principle that 
 does this, Principle, and a living, active 
 interest, with looking to God, are infinitely 
 better than funds. 
 
 And it seems to me preposterous, that 
 one generation should think to discharge 
 the duties of all posterity. God never de- 
 signed this. Has he not made it as much 
 the duty and privilege of one generation to 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 209 
 
 support the gospel as of another, as much 
 our children's as ours ? We cannot dis- 
 charge them from the duty, we ought not 
 to deprive them of the privilege. And, es- 
 pecially, if funds be attended with so many 
 evils, as we have seen, we ought not to be- 
 queath those evils to our children. 
 
 5. Sabbath Collections. It is the prac- 
 tice of some congregations, (though of very 
 few In New England) to have collections 
 every Sabbath for the support of the gos- 
 pel. To this mode the following seem to 
 be objections. 1. The amount of such 
 collections is generally small. 2. They 
 induce a habit of giving little, instead of 
 liberal sums, the plates being filled with 
 cents and sixpences. An agent of one of 
 our great benevolent institutions remarked, 
 that he found this to be the fact, generally, 
 where this method was in use. 3. They 
 operate to keep some from the house of 
 God. 4. They take up considerable time, 
 and necessarily divert the minds of the 
 congregation, in some degree, from the 
 18* 
 
210 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 sacred exercises to which they have been 
 attending. 
 
 However, I would not discourage any 
 practicable mode of supporting the gospel ; 
 and in some places this may be the best. 
 
 MEETING HOUSES AND LECTURE ROOMS. 
 
 Religion itself being not naturally agree- 
 able, should be aided with whatever at- 
 tractive accompaniments it innocently may; 
 and, next to an acceptable preacher, noth- 
 ing more invites people to its public assem- 
 blies, or elevates their feelings more, than 
 a beautiful house. God himself has re- 
 garded this principle. He has shown it in 
 the expressive and beautiful language of 
 the Bible ; in the splendor of the temple ; 
 in the attractive and even exhilarating ar- 
 rangements of Jewish festivals ; and in 
 many ways. 
 
 Congregationalists have been behind no 
 denomination in the number, commodious- 
 ness, and good taste of their church edifi- 
 ces. It may almost be said that the trav- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 211 
 
 eler in New England is never out of sight 
 of one or more of their spires. 
 
 But the zeal of the sons has not always 
 equalled the liberality of the fathers. There 
 are occasionally seen houses which from 
 their ancient and neglected appearance 
 might be imagined to have belonged to a 
 by-gone religion, as well as by-gone age. 
 They seem to stand as a mouldering me- 
 morial of the piety that was, and a mourn- 
 ful emblem of that which is, decayed and 
 yet decaying. 
 
 It is in vain for a people to profess a 
 lively regard for religion while they show 
 no concern for the beauty of its temple. 
 Neither God nor man is likely to perceive 
 it. God reproves such neglect.* 
 
 Societies often imagine themselves too 
 poor to build a new house. It is a great 
 mistake. They are in reality too poor to 
 endure with the old one ; for nothing tends 
 so much to indifference, and lean congre- 
 gations, as a gloomy or comfortless house. 
 
 Hagg 
 
212 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 If you wish to encourage the growth of 
 other denominations at the expense of your 
 own, let your old house stand while they 
 build new ones. 
 
 A society commonly finds itself surpri- 
 singly increased in ability and vigor in 
 consequence of erecting a new house of 
 worship. By awaking its long slumbering 
 public spirit to the holy and delightful en- 
 terprise, by mustering its resources, and 
 interesting many who before were indiffe- 
 rent, or not known to the society as mem- 
 bers, it has found itself, at the conclusion 
 of the enterprise, with increased numbers 
 and diminished burthens. The effort that 
 threatened to exhaust its resources, has 
 greatly increased them. All feel a new 
 impulse. The preacher is more animated, 
 the congregation larger and more attentive, 
 and a new respect is felt for the sanctity 
 of God's house and worship. 
 
 The lecture room also, as well as the 
 church, should be made cheerful and at- 
 tractive. It should be well warmed in 
 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 213 
 
 winter and well aired in summer, and well 
 lighted. A meeting, especially in the 
 evening, suffers more than most people are 
 aware by being held in a dim and cavern- 
 like room ; where only a lamp or two dim- 
 ly illumines the locks of the speaker, whose 
 hearers abide in darkness. We are by na- 
 ture strongly affected by the scenery about 
 us. The cold, the gloomy, the dark, the 
 cheerful and bright, the silent and the stir- 
 ring, impart their qualities to our feelings. 
 The children of this world understand 
 this ; and it is one of the things in which 
 they are practically wiser than the children 
 of light. How does the ball room surpass 
 the lecture room, and the theater the 
 church for brilliancy of illumination ? The 
 primitive Christians, poor and distressed, 
 and few as they were, gave the cheerful- 
 ness of bright lights to their meetings. 
 When Paul was preaching at Troas, 
 " there were many lights in the upper 
 chamber in which they were gathered to- 
 gether." 
 
214 P.ARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 FREE SEATS. y 
 
 Though there should be a few free seats, 
 perhaps, in every house of worship, it is 
 not desirable that they should all be free. 
 Besides that it is not agreeable to most 
 people to sit promiscuously, it is desirable 
 on many accounts that each family should 
 have its own pew. They can then be 
 seated together, the children with the pa- 
 rents ; and can go to the house of God se- 
 cure of the seat they are to occupy, with- 
 out the care and embarrassment of finding 
 one on each occasion. God himself, in all 
 his institutions, has paid great regard to 
 the family relation, and we ought not to do 
 otherwise in our arrangements for public 
 worship. 
 
 But while it is not desirable that the 
 house should be open for an entirely pro- 
 miscuous occupancy, there ought to prevail 
 a most liberal spirit of accommodation to- 
 wards all who may wish for room. It is 
 unreasonable and wicked that any family 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 215 
 
 should be excluded from the house of God 
 so long as there is a single slip whose oc- 
 cupants could make room for more. 
 
 \ 
 
 SECULAR USE OF CHURCHES. 
 
 It has been a practice with Congrega- 
 tionalists, to some extent, to open their 
 meeting-houses for other purposes than 
 those which are religious. The practice 
 originated perhaps in the desire which our 
 fathers had, in common with other puritans 
 and reformers, to discountenance that ex- 
 treme superstitious regard which Catholics 
 were wont to pay to consecrated places ; 
 and also in the fact that their civil af- 
 fairs were closely blended with those of 
 religion. 
 
 How far the practice may be justifiable 
 in the view of others I cannot say ; but to 
 me it has seemed desirable that it should 
 be discontinued. 
 
 There is a certain feeling of respect for 
 sacred places and things which is not su- 
 perstitious, but natural and proper ; and 
 
216 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 which it is desirable to preserve and cher- 
 ish, but which the practice in question is 
 calculated to destroy. The principle of as- 
 sociation must necessarily operate in this as 
 in other cases. When we enter a theater, 
 or a senate-chamber, the very walls tell us 
 of the things transacted there. When we 
 enter a church our associations with the 
 place should be naturally and only reli- 
 gious : but if within those walls we have 
 witnessed the strifes of a warm political 
 election, or town meeting, or have seen 
 the pulpit occupied by a political orator, we 
 can hardly exclude such things from our 
 recollection. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that thus to fa- 
 miliarize people to all sorts of uses of the 
 house of God has a tendency to make them 
 less scrupulous about their behavior in it ; 
 and less scrupulous as to the persons who 
 shall be allowed to enter it as preachers. 
 To day God is worshipped in it, and 
 Christ is preached ; to-morrow it is the 
 place of some secular transaction ; and the 
 day following it is, without much compunc- 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 217 
 
 tion, made to accommodate some minister 
 of heresy. If these, and such like, are to 
 be the allowed uses of the edifice, they had 
 better be mentioned in the act of dedica- 
 tion, and the house be dedicated to God, 
 the town, and other objects. There seems 
 to be inconsistency, if not irreverence, to 
 dedicate it to God, and call it his, and then 
 make it as common to other uses as to his 
 worship. 
 
 I would by no means encourage a super- 
 stitious reverence for w r ood and stone ; nor 
 would I object to as liberal a use of our 
 churches as may be consistent with the 
 professed design of their erection. To 
 open them to objects which, though not 
 strictly religious, are obviously related and 
 subservient to religion, may be admissible ; 
 but beyond this their use is questionable. 
 God has said, "Ye shall reverence my 
 sanctuary." Christ was offended at the 
 secular concerns which he found within 
 the precincts of the temple, and drove 
 them out. 
 
 19 
 
218 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 Civil communities, as such, have no right 
 to claim the use of our churches. They 
 are able, and should be willing, to provide 
 buildings for their own purposes. 
 
 PARSONAGES AND LIBRARIES. 
 
 As a society will always want a minister, 
 and the minister will want a house, it were 
 well if every society would own a parson- 
 age. It is often difficult for a minister to 
 rent a house, and embarrassing to build. 
 If he depends on renting one, he can occu- 
 py it only so long as may suit the conve- 
 nience of the proprietor. He moves about 
 a tenant at will. That he should be obli- 
 ged to build, in these times, is hardly rea- 
 sonable. For it is not improbable, dismis- 
 sions being now so lamentably common, 
 that by the time he has completed the 
 building, having exhausted his narrow re- 
 sources upon it, and more, perhaps, he is 
 obliged to leave it to stand empty, or else 
 to part with it at a sacrifice by means of a 
 forced sale. 
 
PARISH AFFAIRS. 219 
 
 It is obvious that a society can more 
 easily furnish a house for its minister than 
 he can for himself. Indeed the society 
 can do it with little difficulty and consider- 
 able advantage. The use of the place will 
 in part support the pastor ; SQ that less 
 will have to be raised in money. And by 
 being the known family residence of the 
 minister, it becomes, like the meeting- 
 house itself, a common object of attach- 
 ment, and a bond of union to the people. 
 
 If, in addition to the parsonage, the peo- 
 ple would create a library for the use of 
 their pastor, they would do themselves a 
 further service as v well as him. Most min- 
 isters find themselves unable, after the 
 large expenses of their education, to pro- 
 cure for themselves near as many books as 
 it i$ desirable, and almost indispensable, 
 they should have. In what way could 
 their hearers better appropriate a moderate 
 sum, annually, than to aid them in this ob- 
 ject ; since the excellence of a preacher's 
 library cannot fail to- add to the richness of 
 his instructions ? 
 
220 PARISH AFFAIRS. 
 
 The books should be placed in a distinct 
 case, and deposited with the pastor for his 
 exclusive use, so long as he continues with 
 the society ; and should then go to his 
 successor. 
 
 THE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Young men, as one of their first acts, on 
 coming of age, should become members in 
 form, of the ecclesiastical society, or, where 
 more than one exists, of some one of them. 
 I will not urge this on the ground of their 
 worldly advancement : though I might do 
 this ; for there is no more favorable intro- 
 duction of a young man to the notice and 
 esteem of the community : but I urge the 
 nobler plea of citizenship and duty. Not 
 coming forward to act as citizens, they 
 might as well be minors still, they are mi- 
 nors as it Regards society. 
 
 They often keep back from modesty ; or 
 from not knowing the mode of becoming 
 members. The requisite information may 
 easily be obtained by inquiry. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE OF CHURCHES 
 WITH ONE ANOTHER. 
 
 THE churches are equal, as well as min- 
 isters and members. This equality is re- 
 cognized in their mutual dismission and re- 
 ception of members, in associations, coun- 
 cils, and other forms of intercourse.* 
 
 DISMISSION OF MEMBERS FROM ONE CHURCH 
 TO ANOTHER. 
 
 Members proposing to transfer their re- 
 lation from one church to another receive 
 letters of dismission and recommendation 
 to that effect. 
 
 When a member goes to reside in anoth- 
 er place for a season only, expecting to re- 
 
 * See Camb. Plat, chapter xv. on the communion of church- 
 es with one another. 
 
 19* 
 
222 INTERCOURSE 
 
 turn, and not choosing to dissolve his ex- 
 isting connection, he receives a letter cer- 
 tifying his membership and good standing, 
 and commending him to the fellowship of 
 the church where he goes to reside, for the 
 time being. For an example of such a 
 certificate, or letter of introduction, see 
 Romans xvi. 1, 2. Also 2 Cor. iii. 1 ; 
 Acts xviii. 27. 
 
 If the member dismissed is not received 
 by the sister church, he remains connected 
 as he was, and his letter of dismission is 
 void. " The church cannot make a mem- 
 ber no member, except by excommunica- 
 tion."* 
 
 And here let us observe f ,he importance 
 of good faith in this business, on the part 
 of the dismissing church. No church 
 should dismiss and recommend to another 
 as in good standing a member who in real- 
 ity is not so, or ought not to be so consider- 
 ed. If he be a member under qensure, or 
 justly liable to it, let him be retained and 
 
 * Camb. Plat. 
 
OF CHURCHES. 223 
 
 properly dealt with, till by his amendment 
 he shall be worthy of the fellowship to 
 which we recommend him, or else be ex- 
 communicated. Why should one church 
 be unwittingly burthened with the disor- 
 derly members of another ? whom they 
 must either discipline, or bear the oppro- 
 brium of their names. The tendency of 
 such a procedure, besides its other mis- 
 chiefs, is, to destroy the mutual confidence 
 of the churches. 
 
 The church also to which we dismiss a 
 member must be a church in good stand- 
 ing. How can we commend a disciple of 
 Christ to the fellowship of heretics ! a be- 
 liever in Christ to the communion of those 
 who deny the Lord that bought them ! Or 
 how can we commend one striving to keep 
 himself pure, to the watch and care of 
 them that are corrupt ! 
 
 For the same reason, we cannot dismiss 
 a member to the world. 
 
 A member is not at liberty to withdraw 
 himself from the church to which he be- 
 
224 INTERCOURSE 
 
 longs, without its consent, whether to join 
 some other church, or to return again to 
 the world. 
 
 If a member wishes to transfer his rela- 
 tion to another church, for good reasons, 
 (of which he must ordinarily be the judge,) 
 the church cannot, consistently with usage 
 and propriety, refuse his request. 
 
 But " if his departure be manifestly un- 
 safe and sinful, the church may not con- 
 sent thereunto ; for in so doing, they should 
 not act in faith, and should partake with 
 him in his sin. If the case be doubtful, 
 and the person not to be persuaded, it 
 seemeth best to leave the matter unto God, 
 and not forcibly to detain him."* 
 
 If in any case a Church declines recei- 
 ving a member dismissed to it from anoth- 
 er, it ought to apprise that church of the 
 fact, and assign its reasons. 
 
 Every church has an acknowledged 
 right to examine those whom it receives by 
 letter, in the same manner as it examines 
 
 * Camb. Platform. 
 
OF CHURCHES. 225 
 
 those who are received on profession. But 
 this is not generally practiced. Nor is it 
 generally desirable. It would imply a 
 want of confidence in a sister church, 
 whose written testimony (unless it is 
 known or supposed to be unfaithful or cor- 
 rupt) should be sufficient. Some churches 
 however are so circumstanced as to ren- 
 der such examination necessary. In such 
 cases it is well to make it general, for the 
 sake of avoiding invidious distinctions. 
 
 No member of a church should perma- 
 nently change his residence from one par- 
 ish, or part of the country, to another, 
 without taking a regular letter of dismis- 
 sion. This is due to all concerned. As a 
 professor of religion, he is bound always to 
 maintain a responsible connection with 
 some particular church ; and be subject to 
 its watch and discipline. 
 
 This is too often neglected. It is a sub- 
 ject of growing complaint in our churches ; 
 and some of them, in order to remedy it, 
 have very properly adopted a rule, that no 
 person coming from abroad, and neglecting 
 
226 INTERCOURSE 
 
 to bring such letter, shall be admitted to 
 their communion, after a certain time. 
 
 COUNCILS. 
 
 Councils are the representative bodies 
 of the churches. They are composed of 
 ministers and laymen, each church send- 
 ing a delegate with its pastor, and are con* 
 vened usually from churches of the same 
 neighborhood, or district, but sometimes 
 from places more remote. 
 
 The occasions on which councils are 
 called are such as these : the gathering of 
 churches ; the ordination, dismission, or 
 deposition, of ministers; troublesome cases 
 of discipline, dissentions, or other difficul- 
 ties in a church, which the church itself is 
 unable, or indisposed, to settle ; and in 
 general, all those occasions which require 
 the advice, or concurrent action, of more 
 churches than one. 
 
 They are convened by " letters missive," 
 as they are termed ; which are addressed 
 to the moderator, in the case of a consocia- 
 
OF CHURCHES. 
 
 tion being called, and to the churches sev- 
 erally, in the case of a select council. The 
 letters state the subject matter on which 
 the advice or action of the council is want- 
 ed ; and it confines itself to that business. 
 
 Councils convened for the adjustment of 
 difficulties are termed mutual and ex-parte. 
 Mutual councils suppose the existence of 
 two parties who agree to refer the matter 
 between them to a council ; each choosing 
 an equal number of the churches compo- 
 sing it, with an additional church chosen 
 jointly by the parties if it be thought expe- 
 dient. An ex-parte council is a council 
 called by one of the parties, the other not 
 concurring. In this case the letters mis- 
 sive are sent in the name of the party con- 
 cerned ; in other cases, in the name of the 
 church ; in the case of an ordination, in 
 the name of the church and society. 
 
 In Connecticut, where the churches, 
 with some exceptions,* are consociated, they 
 have standing councils, called consociations. 
 
 * About ten or twelve. 
 
228 * INTERCOURSE 
 
 A consociation comprises the churches of a 
 county, or, in the larger counties, half the 
 county ; tfiose few churches being except- 
 ed which prefer not to be consociate<jl. It 
 is expected that churches belonging to the 
 consociation will resort to it rather than to 
 a select council, on all occasions when a 
 council is needed. 
 
 Councils have properly no juridical, but 
 only advisory power. It being a first prin- 
 ciple in Congregationalism that churches 
 are independent, and that each church is 
 charged by Christ with the execution of 
 his laws in respect to its own members, 
 other power than this could not consistent- 
 ly be granted them. 
 
 The decisions of councils will of course 
 be more or less respected, both by parties 
 and by the community, according to their 
 weight of character and the object and 
 manner of their convention. In most cases 
 their " result" is " a final issue ; and all 
 parties therein concerned sit down and 
 are determined thereby." The moral rea- 
 sons for submitting to their advice are such 
 
OF CHURCHES. 229 
 
 that the parties seldom have the courage, 
 if they have the disposition, to reject it. 
 Embodying as they do, the wisdom of as- 
 sembled churches without the odium of 
 power, of which men are naturally jealous, 
 their decisions are endued with the better 
 efficacy of truth, opinion, and persuasion.* 
 
 * It should be mentioned, however, respecting 1 the powers of 
 the Connecticut consociations, that there is some difference of 
 opinion} some claiming for them juridical authority. The 
 Saybrook Platform, which is the original constitution of these 
 bodies, is susceptible of different constructions. It was no 
 doubt designed to be so, with a view to a comprehension of the 
 diverse opinions of those times. It was openly construed dif- 
 ferently by those who framed the instrument, and by the church- 
 es. It is said, Art. V. that the decision of a consociation shall 
 be " a final issue, and all parties therein concerned shall sit 
 down and be determined thereby." By " a final issue/ 7 it may 
 be meant that the matter shall be considered as settled judicial- 
 ly ; and that the church shall have no further cognizance of it : 
 or it may be meant that it shall be final as to the action of coun- 
 cils in the matter. The parties shall not be at liberty to pro- 
 long the agitation of their difficulties before the churches, and 
 to multiply councils till a result shall be had that suits their 
 wishes a course which for many reasons is not to be encoura- 
 ged. If the parties conscientiously believe that for good rea- 
 sons they cannot acquiesce in the decision given, the case must 
 then revert to the church itself in which it originates. " And if 
 any pastor and church doth obstinately refuse" a due regard to 
 
 20 
 
230 INTERCOURSE 
 
 ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 These are composed of ministers alone. 
 They meet statedly for mutual counsel, 
 
 the decision of the council, " they shall, after due patience, be 
 reputed guilty of scandalous contempt." 
 
 From a view of the several articles of the instrument which 
 concern this question, and still more from the history of those 
 times, this latter construction appears to be authorized, if not 
 demanded. The great evil which it was designed to remedy, 
 and which has been remedied, by the consociation plan, was 
 the calling of successive councils to revise and reverse the do- 
 ings of one another. " As there was no general rule for the 
 calling of councils/' says Trumbull, [Hist. Conn. Vol. I. c. 
 xix.] council was called against council, and opposite results 
 were given upon the same cases, to the reproach of councils 
 and the wounding of religion. Aggrieved churches and breth- 
 ren were discouraged, as in this way their case seemed to be 
 without remedy. There was no such thing, in this way, as 
 bringing their difficulties to a final issue." 
 
 Whichever construction be adopted, a judicial power in 
 councils is at least inconsistent with a fundamental principle in 
 Congregationalism the self-government of the churches 5 and 
 the general practice, in Connecticut as well as elsewhere, 
 agrees with this view of the subject. 
 
 The plan of consociations was discussed in Massachusetts 
 many years previous to its adoption in Connecticut. Many of 
 the ministers were for it : and a general synod at Boston in 
 1662 gave its opinion in favor of it. But owing partly to the 
 jealousy of the churches, whose experience in England had 
 made them averse to the least semblance of ecclesiastical pow- 
 er, and still more perhaps to its being mixed up and embar- 
 
OF CHURCHES. 231 
 
 sympathy, and prayer. They consult to- 
 gether respecting their personal difficulties 
 
 rassed with other and very unpopular subjects, particularly 
 that of the baptism of the children of unregenerate parents, the 
 plan was not adopted. It has been proposed and agitated at 
 different times since, particularly in the western counties, but 
 without success. 
 
 The operation of the plan in Connecticut appears to have 
 been eminently salutary. And a conviction of this, it is be- 
 lieved, is gradually drawing into it, the few pastors and church- 
 es which heretofore have not been consociated. 
 
 Without, however, instituting a comparison between these 
 and Select councils, I will state what are conceived to be some 
 of the advantages of consociations. 
 
 1. They have entirely done away with the evil which they 
 were originally designed to remedy, the calling of council 
 against council. 
 
 2. They are, virtually, always a mutual council j for though 
 the consociation may be called by a party, it is never created 
 by a party. They are formed without reference to specific 
 cases, or parties. The consequence is, that an ex-parte coun- 
 cil is a thing nearly unknown in Connecticut. 
 
 3. Being permanent bodies, they can have their established 
 and known rules of proceeding, and their permanent and ac- 
 cessible records. 
 
 4. They bring the churches into a more practical union with 
 one another, and bind them in closer bonds. 
 
 5. So long as the churches themselves are not corrupt they 
 furnish, as ordaining councils, as well as in other ways, a con- 
 siderable protection to the churches against the intrusion of 
 heresy. 
 
 6. Their stated annual meetings furnish convenient opportu- 
 nities for consultation and hearing addresses in relation to mis- 
 sionary and other benevolent objects. 
 
232 INTERCOURSE 
 
 and duties as pastors, and respecting the 
 interests of their churches ; and make it a 
 part of their business to devise, recom- 
 mend, and execute useful plans. 
 
 It is expected that all ministers will be 
 connected with these bodies ; but it is not 
 perhaps strictly required, and there are in- 
 stances of ministers not associated. 
 
 It is the province of associations to li- 
 cense candidates for the ministry. 
 
 The minor associations are composed 
 of the ministers of a county, or smaller dis- 
 trict. The General, or State Associations 
 are composed of delegates from these. 
 
 DISCIPLINE OF MINISTERS. 
 
 In case of improper conduct in a minis- 
 ter, it is the duty of the association to 
 which he belongs to take notice of it. The 
 following is the direction in such cases, of 
 the Saybrook Platform, and is, so far as I 
 know, the general usage. " The said as- 
 sociated Pastors shall take notice of any 
 among themselves that may be accused of 
 
OF CHURCHES. 233 
 
 scandal or heresy, unto or cognizable by 
 them, examine the matter carefully, and 
 if they find just occasion, shall direct to 
 the calling of the council, where such offen- 
 ders shall be duly proceeded against." 
 
 As an association has a right to inquire 
 respecting the conduct of members, it has, 
 of course, a right to reprove and admonish 
 them, if the case so require. 
 
 No settled minister is deposed except by 
 a council. In the case of an unsettled min- 
 ister, it has been assumed by some that he 
 may be formally tried and deposed by the 
 association alotie. The correctness of this 
 is doubtful. If he was ordained by a coun- 
 cil he should be deposed by a council ; 
 since only the power which makes, or an 
 equivalent one, would seem to be compe- 
 tent to unmake. If however the accused 
 be an evangelist, who was ordained by an 
 association (which is itself a questionable 
 procedure, as it appears to me) he may 
 doubtless be deposed by the same. It is a 
 general law in respect to the conferring 
 
234 INTERCOURSE 
 
 of office, that the power which makes may 
 unmake. 
 
 But though an association is not compe- 
 tent to depose a minister, in form, it may 
 do that which is virtually equivalent. It 
 may declare him to have forfeited his 
 standing with his brethren, and publish 
 him as unworthy of the public confidence : 
 and that act will generally close all pulpits 
 against him, as far as it is known. Such 
 is the confidence which is generally re- 
 posed in these bodies as the guardians of 
 the purity of the ministry, that when a 
 minister forfeits the confidence of his breth- 
 ren, he loses that of the churches. 
 
 What is a church to do, or what is the 
 part it has to act, in case its pastor becomes 
 heretical or scandalous ? Its members, and 
 especially its officers, may, and doubtless 
 ought to converse with him in a serious 
 and respectful manner on the subject ; and 
 if they deem the case of sufficient magni- 
 tude, it would seem to be their duty, ac- 
 cording to the foregoing paragraphs, to ap- 
 prise the association of it, if that be neces- 
 
OF CHURCHES. 235 
 
 sary, that they may take such steps in re- 
 gard to it as the case requires ; or if the 
 pastor be not associated, which seldom 
 happens, it may be their duty to call a 
 council. In what mode they shall do this, 
 will commonly be pointed out by circum- 
 stances. It will be well, in most cases, to 
 take advice of judicious neighboring minis- 
 ters.* 
 
 It has been held by some, and especially 
 among the earlier Congregationalists, that 
 a pastor is directly amenable, in his official 
 character, to the church of which he is the 
 pastor ; and that the church is competent 
 to arraign and depose him. And this, 
 with an important modification, is quoted as 
 
 * I do not see how a church in such circumstances, or at 
 least in certain supposable circumstances, can act in its collec- 
 tive capacity at all. Who is to convene the church ? and who 
 is to preside? The pastor may refuse to convene it ; and if it 
 do convene, may claim to act as its moderator by virtue of his 
 office, [Cam. Plat. c. x. 8.] and in that capacity, if he be a 
 bad man, may effectually embarrass its proceedings. In such 
 an emergency, if it ever arise, (and I have known instances 
 nearly analogous) the members, a part or all of them, may act 
 as aggrieved brethren, and have recourse in that character to 
 the association, or a council. 
 
236 INTERCOURSE 
 
 the doctrine of the Cambridge Platform. 
 (Chap. X. 6.) The modifying clause is 
 the following : " the council of other church- 
 es, where it may be had, directing thereto ;" 
 which is as much as to say that a church 
 may not proceed to the trial and deposition 
 of its minister without a council, where a 
 council may be had ; though in theory (ac- 
 cording to the old doctrine of strict inde- 
 pendency,} and in an isolated condition 
 practically, it might be competent to do so. 
 The Saybrook Platform is constructively, 
 if not directly, opposed to the doctrine. 
 (Arts. Ill and XIII.) 
 
 If a church has power to depose, it has 
 power also to ordain. And indeed this 
 doctrine of a deposing power in laymen 
 originally grew out of the assumption of 
 the right of lay ordination ; an assumption 
 which never proceeded far, even among 
 the most rigid Independents. It is not 
 agreeable to Congregational usage, and is 
 contrary to the scriptures. 1 Tim. iv, 14 ; 
 v. 22 ; Acts xiii. 3. 
 
 A church would, in most cases, find it a 
 
OF CHURCHES. 237 
 
 most embarrassing and unsafe business to 
 undertake the discipline of its minister. 
 It is wisely relieved from such a duty. 
 
 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OF MINISTERS. 
 
 It may be proper to inquire here respect- 
 ing the church membership of ministers. 
 It is insisted on by some that a minister 
 shall be a member of the church of which 
 he is the pastor, and subject like any other 
 member to its watch and discipline. But 
 neither the reasons, nor the passages from 
 scripture, which are adduced in support 
 of the position, are satisfactory ; and by the 
 great majority of the denomination it is not, 
 I believe, admitted.* 
 
 * See Upham's Ratio Disciplinae, Chap. XIV. " It is settled, 
 (says the author of that very valuable work) both in principle 
 and practice, that the minister is accountable to his church/' 
 first, '" in virtue of his membership/ 7 and secondly, " in virtue 
 of his pastoral engagements 5" and that " no person becomes 
 the minister of a church without also transferring his relation- 
 ship and becoming a member of the same." Mr. Upham must 
 have been misled by the practice, probably, of his own vicini- 
 ty 5 or by some of the early writers whom he consulted. As it 
 regards the great body of the denomination, it is believed that 
 the contrary is " settled, both in principle and practice." 
 
238 INTERCOURSE 
 
 It seems inconsistent with the relations 
 the pastor sustains to the church as one 
 whom the Holy Ghost hath made its over- 
 seer, and with the respect which is re- 
 quired to be paid to him for his office' 
 sake, that he should be subject to its watch 
 and oversight in the same manner as any 
 other member. 
 
 If he is to all intents a private member, 
 just as the others are, then every precept 
 of the New Testament which concerns 
 them as members, concerns him in like 
 manner. But there are many passages 
 obligatory on them which it would be diffi- 
 cult to apply to him. For example, 1 
 Thess. v. 12, 13 ; Heb. xiii. 17. Who is 
 it whom he, as member of the church, is 
 required to " know," to " obey," and " sub- 
 mit" to, as being " over him in the Lord ?" 
 It will be admitted that his circumstances 
 as a pastor necessarily render these and 
 similar precepts inapplicable to him ; and 
 that, so far as they are concerned, he does 
 not sustain the character and responsibili- 
 ties of a private member. We have only 
 
OF CHURCHES. 239 
 
 to carry the admission a little farther to 
 say that his character as a pastor entirely 
 removes him from that of a private mem- 
 ber. The truth is, as it appears tome, 
 that while those precepts which respect 
 mankind as moral beings are alike obligato- 
 ry on ministers and members, as they are 
 on all men, of whatsoever grade or condi- 
 tion, those which respect their relations to 
 the church, regard them as being in distinct 
 capacities, and in different ways responsi- 
 ble. Their relations are such, respective- 
 ly, that the two characters cannot, with 
 any appearance of congruity, be united, 
 practically, in the same person. Such is 
 the natural impression left on the mind 
 from a perusal of the scriptures, as they 
 speak of the relations and duties of the 
 two conditions ; and such obviously is the 
 propriety of things. 
 
 When a minister ceases to be a minister, 
 he then, as I suppose, reverts to his former 
 condition as a private member, and be- 
 comes, in that character, amenable to the 
 church to which he belongs : it may be 
 
240 INTERCOURSE 
 
 that of which he was the pastor, or some 
 other. It is a matter of indifference, if the 
 above reasoning be correct, of what church 
 he is a member, whether his own or anoth- 
 er : it does not affect his relations as a 
 minister.* 
 
 I must observe further, that the requisi- 
 tion in question, is an unnecessary precau- 
 tion. That a minister shall be formally 
 
 * A minister is always a member, nominally, of some church j 
 either of that in which he first made a profession, or of another 
 to which he last transferred his relationship. If owing to dis- 
 tance, or other circumstances, it is impracticable for that church 
 to act in relation to his church standing, after he is silenced as 
 a preacher, he may be received, or acknowledged, as a mem- 
 ber by the church where he resides, by recommendation of the 
 council, or perhaps of his association, on proper evidence of 
 his repentance ; agreeably to the following minute of the Gen- 
 eral Association of Connecticut. " If a minister has been de- 
 posed for crime, and afterwards gives evidence of penitence, 
 the ecclesiastical body by whom he was deposed may restore 
 him to all the prerogatives of a minister of Christ, or recom- 
 mend that he be admitted to the privileges only of a private 
 member of the church, according to the aggravations of the 
 case." [Minutes, 1837.] It would seem, from this quotation, to 
 be the opinion of the Association that a minister by virtue of 
 his ordination ceases to be a church member any 'where, and 
 being deposed, can become a member only by being received 
 as such by some church, on his profession of penitence. And 
 perhaps this is the true doctrine. 
 
OF CHURCHES. 241 
 
 subjected to the watch and care of his 
 own church, that he shall be required to 
 become a member for this very purpose, 
 while it exposes him to the impertinent 
 annoyances of weak, or officious and ill 
 disposed brethren, (to which under any 
 circumstances he is sufficiently exposed 
 perhaps) adds nothing to the safeguards of 
 his character. The church has a much 
 higher guaranty for the rectitude of his 
 conduct in his official character and re- 
 sponsibilities than it can have in its own 
 supervision. A minister, as such, is under 
 far higher obligations to a holy life, and 
 far stronger motives, than he is as a church 
 member ; and if those are not sufficient to 
 restrain him from iniquity, what will the 
 weaker restraints of the watch and care of 
 the brotherhood be but the spider's web ? 
 
 Leave a minister to the watch and dis- 
 cipline of his peers. This is the common 
 privilege of the brotherhood, and ought to 
 be his. His brethren in office will, for va- 
 rious reasons, be far less likely to sustain 
 or countenance him in case he becomes 
 21 
 
242 INTERCOURSE OF CHURCHES. 
 
 corrupt than a church would be. Respect 
 for their own character, as well as their 
 public obligations, forbid their doing so. 
 
 I hope not to be misunderstood. I claim, 
 in the above remarks, no exemption for the 
 minister from any of the moral duties of 
 Christianity ; no right to lord it over God's 
 heritage ; and would by no means create 
 an unnatural distance between him and 
 the people of his charge. The relations 
 of pastor and people are of the most inti- 
 mate and endearing kind, and ought mutu- 
 ally to lead to the most free and affection- 
 ate intercourse. I desire only to free the 
 pastoral office from those impositions which 
 tend to embarrass it, and are of human 
 origin. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS OTHER DENOMINA- 
 TIONS. 
 
 THE division of the followers of Christ 
 into sects, as they are at present, is a mat- 
 ter much to be lamented, and one which 
 calls for the serious and prayerful consider- 
 ation of all Christians. The causes, evils, 
 and remedies of these divisions, are quite 
 too large a subject, (if it were a pertinent 
 one,) for these pages ; and too large a sub- 
 ject probably, to be soon compassed by hu- 
 man wisdom. The church of Christ was 
 originally one body ; and I cannot doubt 
 that it will be again restored to unity, in 
 effect, if not in form. In what manner it 
 may be difficult to see. 
 
 Meantime, as different denominations do, 
 and will exist, it becomes an important 
 question what should be our deportment 
 towards those who differ from us. And, 
 
244 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 1. We should cheerfully allow them the 
 same liberty of opinion and of conscience, 
 and the same freedom of discussion and 
 dissemination of their sentiments, which 
 we claim for ourselves. Intolerance is no 
 part of Christianity. 
 
 2. We should be willing to see and ap- 
 preciate whatever of excellence they do 
 possess ; and should own them as fellow 
 disciples, so far as they appear truly to 
 possess and exemplify the Christian spirit. 
 We should admit their virtues, though we 
 may not be able to admit their pretensions, 
 and ought not to countenance their errors. 
 
 3. We should scrupulously refrain from 
 misrepresenting either their doctrine or their 
 practice. " Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
 ness against thy neighbor." And though 
 we may see much in them to disapprove 
 of and regret, yet we should exercise as 
 much of that charity as we can, (consis- 
 tently with fidelity to Christ and to souls,) 
 c which envieth not, thinketh no evil, be- 
 lieveth all things, hopeth all things.' 
 
 4. We should use no endeavors to prose- 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 245 
 
 lyte away their people, provided we have 
 reason to believe that they have truth and 
 godliness enough among them to save 
 souls. From any decidedly heretical com- 
 munion, where souls are certain to be de- 
 stroyed, I would think it not only lawful, 
 but a duty, to draw away as many as by 
 honest means I could, as brands out of the 
 burning ; but I would entice none from any 
 evangelical preacher, church, or family. 
 " Thou shalt not steal." " Thou shalt not 
 covet." Dr. Doddridge acted both upon 
 the divine command, and a common senti- 
 ment of honor among men, in the injunc- 
 tion which he habitually gave to his theo- 
 logical pupils, to " avoid every thing which 
 looks like sheep-stealing." 
 
 But, on the other hand, 
 
 1. We have a right to prefer our own 
 belief and order to those of other commun- 
 ions, provided we have taken suitable 
 pains to inform ourselves, and are intelli- 
 gent and conscientious in our preference. 
 It is no breach of charity to read and un- 
 derstand the Bible for ourselves. 
 
246 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 2. We have a right to show our prefer- 
 ence by adhering to our own communion 
 with pious constancy, and taking our child- 
 ren and friends with us. It is what we 
 ought to do, in obedience to our convictions. 
 
 3. Though we should be forbearing and 
 charitable towards other denominations, it 
 is not incumbent on us directly to build 
 them up to the pulling down of ourselves. 
 We need not, out of a false charity, extol 
 their doctrines, ways, or preachers, in dis- 
 paragement of our own ; nor is it our duty 
 to forsake our own assemblies to encourage 
 theirs ; especially when we have reason 
 to believe that they have set up their meet- 
 ings, or are conducting them, with prose- 
 lyting designs. If we do honestly believe 
 that they are more right than we are, the 
 ingenuous course is to join them and be- 
 long to their fraternity. But if we have no 
 such conviction, it is the part of consisten- 
 cy and duty to be steadfast where we are. 
 Let us search the Scriptures, prayerfully 
 and diligently, for the right way ; and hav- 
 ing found it, let us be settled ; and not be 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 247 
 
 moved out of our places by every sound of 
 novelty, and carried about by every wind 
 of doctrine. 
 
 4. It cannot be wrong, w r hen attempts 
 are made illicitly to draw away our mem- 
 bers, to endeavor, by suitable means, to 
 prevent them. If we honestly believe that 
 the truth is with us, we cannot be willing 
 that our children and fellow-worshippers 
 should be alienated from us. We love our 
 own, and cannot wish either that they 
 should be estranged from our acquaintance, 
 or lost to our privileges. And if, moreover, 
 we are persuaded that the denomination 
 with which we are connected, is more val- 
 uable for its influence on the community, 
 and the world, than others which would 
 gain converts from it ; if we believe it to be 
 more faithful in its exertions to repress 
 vice, and to promote intelligence and vir- 
 tue among men ; that it is more instructive, 
 scriptural, and energetic in its sermons ; 
 and that it is doing more in the great work 
 of sending abroad the gospel into all the 
 earth ; we cannot, as Christians or as men, 
 
248 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 wish that its numbers should be diminish- 
 ed, or its influence curtailed. 
 
 The ways of proselytism are many. It 
 would be neither a grateful, nor a very easy 
 task to specify them all : the following are 
 some of the most common ; and they need 
 only to be mentioned to show how little 
 they truly have to do with the spirit and 
 objects of the gospel. 
 
 (1.) Flattery. There are individuals 
 who, though they cannot be won to Christ 
 by faithful dealing with their souls, can be 
 won to a party in religion by assiduous 
 flattering attentions. The convert and the 
 converters, in such cases, commonly, are 
 alike worthy of the means employed, and 
 of the fellowship thus formed. 
 ' (2.) Prejudice. One of the most effec- 
 tive modes of exciting prejudice against 
 our own and some other denominations, is 
 to misrepresent their doctrines. How 
 many odious things have been called " Cal- 
 vinism /" and published as such for popu- 
 lar effect. The " doctrines of .grace," as 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 249 
 
 they have been called, the doctrines which 
 were embraced by the great body of the 
 Reformers of the sixteenth century, as 
 their harmonious Confessions show, em- 
 body more of the truth and power of the 
 gospel, and have done, and are doing, 
 more for the renovation of the world, intel- 
 lectually and morally, than all other 
 schemes beside, as facts declare. But 
 those doctrines, because of their truth and 
 power, are not agreeable to the natural 
 heart ; which hateth the light, neither 
 cometh to the light, lest its deeds should 
 be reproved, which hates especially God's 
 sovereignty and man's dependence : and 
 nothing is easier than to excite that natural 
 prejudice of the heart into active odium 
 and disaffection towards both the truth and 
 those who hold it ; especially when a lit- 
 tle distortion is resorted to, and when, 
 moreover, the attempt is made, under an 
 appearance of zeal for God and charity to 
 souls. How often have pious Arminians 
 and open infidels been collaborators in a 
 work of this kind, though not associates, 
 
250 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 assailing the same " walls of strength 5 ' 
 with the same carnal weapons ; though on 
 opposite sides ! 
 
 How ungrateful a thing it is, to be obli- 
 ged to defend the truth of God against both 
 friends and foes. But this we are often 
 called to do. The writer of these pages 
 has seen copies of the "Saybrook Plat- 
 form/' (meaning the Confession attached 
 to the Platform,) printed a hundred years 
 ago, privily circulated among the members 
 of a Congregational Society, he is ashamed 
 to say by preachers, for the perusal of con- 
 verts and inquirers, during a revival, hav- 
 ing certain passages underscored, and with 
 exclamation points and other significant 
 notes affixed, together with verbal com- 
 ments, designed to mislead the simple ; 
 and with these insidious constructions on 
 them, declared to be the faith which we 
 inculcate and require. A similar use is 
 made of that Confession and of the Assem- 
 bly's Catechism by allusions to them in 
 pulpits. Does Religion need such practi- 
 ces as these ? such bad means to her 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 251 
 
 good ends ? Non tali auxilio, not such aid 
 to her holy cause, nee defensoribus istis ! 
 
 (3.) High Church pretensions ; such as 
 claiming to be the only true church ; hav- 
 ing the true order and succession ; whose 
 ordinances are alone valid ; and consign- 
 ing all without its pale churches, minis- 
 ters, and all, along with the common world, 
 to " uncovenanted mercy ;" in a word, 
 advertising passengers that " we are the 
 only safe ship." 
 
 (4.) By troubling tender consciences about 
 modes and forms'. As an example of this, 
 how many young converts, and even un- 
 converted persons under concern of mind, 
 have been embarrassed, and distressed, 
 and kept halting, by an officious obtrusion 
 on them of a certain mode of baptism as 
 indispensable to a due obedience to Christ. 
 How often is the question put, Are you not 
 going to follow Christ into the water ? 
 when the real question is, Are you not go- 
 ing to unite with us 1 
 
 (5.) Appeals to selfishnessi " Come with 
 us, and you shall have nothing to pay /" 
 
252 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 That is, come with us, and we will exempt 
 you from that which Christ has made your 
 duty, Gal. vi. 68. 
 
 (6.) Favoring disaffection. All societies 
 of men, religious as well as others, will 
 sometimes fall into disagreements about 
 the management of their affairs. When 
 such things happen in parishes, then is the 
 time to introduce, or to build up, another 
 denomination ! How easy is it to gain the 
 confidence of a party to a quarrel ! " See y 
 thy matters are good and right ; but there 
 is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. 
 Oh that I were made judge in the land, 
 that every man which hath any suit or 
 cause might come unto me, and 1 would 
 do him justice !" Indeed, how easy it is, 
 but how ungenerous ! to pull down a 
 house already divided against itself, and 
 out of its ruins to build another ! 
 
 Another case in which the disaffected 
 are encouraged, is when a member of the 
 church is under its censure. We some- 
 times see such an one received, listened 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 253 
 
 to, and soothed, by those who would seem 
 to be glad of a convert, of whatever char- 
 acter, and by whatever means obtained. 
 
 Such are the arts of proselyting. How 
 little creditable are they to religion ! 
 
 To preach the gospel according to one's 
 own convictions of it, however earnestly or 
 abundantly, to all who are disposed to 
 hear, is what no one can reasonably object 
 to. That is not proselytism : it is honest 
 duty. Let such zeal be as successful as it 
 will. So far as the simple force of the 
 truth which any denomination holds and 
 teaches, so far as their good example and 
 the blessing of God prosper them, let them 
 be prospered. Every Christian must re- 
 joice : for such success is success to the 
 cause of Christ. But the simple zeal of 
 making proselytes to a sect, invading es- 
 tablished and peaceful congregations and 
 creeping into houses, with arts of flattery 
 and seduction, cannot be too much rep- 
 robated. 
 
 22 
 
254 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 5. Though it is " good and pleasant for 
 brethren to dwell together in unity," yet 
 there are some modes of union, which, as 
 the feelings of sects are, do not seem to be 
 advisable. 
 
 One such mode is the building of union 
 meeting houses. The plan is, for the sever- 
 al denominations of a place, they being too 
 few to build several houses, to unite togeth- 
 er in the erection of one for their common 
 use, to be occupied in turns. Now this 
 appears well ; and if they all could truly 
 rise above their sectarian feelings, and 
 keep above them, it would be the happiest 
 thing they could do. But it too generally 
 happens that jealousies begin to arise ; and 
 contentions follow, with other unpleasant 
 consequences. " Yonder," said my infor- 
 mant, as I was passing a small village at 
 the west, pointing to a handsome building, 
 but now apparently neglected, and storm- 
 worn through want of painting, " Yonder 
 is a church which was built by three de- 
 nominations. They begun and finished it 
 in much good feeling, but soon got into a 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 255 
 
 quarrel about the occupancy of it, till final- 
 ly it is occupied by none of them, but is 
 fallen into the hands of the Universalists, 
 and is used by them and by any body that 
 comes along." Such is the history of one 
 joint-stock meeting house. 
 
 Another union measure of questionable 
 expediency is the temporary union of dif- 
 ferent denominations during a revival. 
 This may be well in particular cases; but 
 generally, so far as my own limited obser- 
 vation of the results of such unions enables 
 me to judge, the measure does not appear 
 to be best. The union is avowedly but 
 temporary : it is entered into in the known 
 expectation of soon dissolving it. There- 
 fore, the principle of union cannot be very 
 deep : it is a superficial feeling, though not 
 altogether insincere. If it were that love, 
 " strong as death," which "many waters 
 cannot quench, nor floods drown," the 
 union would be permanent. And as to the 
 motive which induces the union, since it is 
 known that the parties mutually expect to 
 
256 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 separate, and probably with increase, the 
 motive will look questionable, however dis- 
 interested in reality it may be. As a dis- 
 play of charity and good feeling, therefore, 
 (for which we hear them commended,) 
 such comminglings do not appear to be ve- 
 ry valuable especially if the parties do 
 not separate as amicably as they came to- 
 gether. They might have found quite as 
 many means of mutual courtesy and good 
 feeling, remaining separate. 
 
 But it is difficult to keep out the appre- 
 hension, at least, that one party may use 
 undue means to get advantage of the other. 
 It is difficult, indeed, to keep out the thing 
 itself. And how little are the distrust and 
 the disquietudes which hence arise, favor- 
 able to the spirit which is proper to a revi- 
 val ! They pervade the thoughts, the con- 
 versation, the prayers of individuals, if 
 not of all ; they become visible in inter- 
 course ; they divert attention, corrupt the 
 feelings, and grieve the Spirit : and in 
 the end, probably, the great interest is little 
 benefitted by the union. 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 257 
 
 If, as we before remarked, they all could 
 merge their sectarian feelings in the meas- 
 ure entirely ; if they could alike forget Paul, 
 Apollos, and Cephas, in their common at- 
 tachment to Christ, and had grace enough 
 entirely to fulfil the precept of the apostle, 
 Phil. ii. 2 4 ; the expediency of the meas- 
 ure could not be doubtful. But then, 
 if they had so much grace as that, they 
 would cease to exist as separate denomi- 
 nations. 
 
 On the whole, then, our imperfections 
 being such as they are, it seems best, in 
 the particular case before us, that each de- 
 nomination should go on in its own way ; 
 with as much good will, however, and 
 as little embarrassment to the others, as 
 it can. 
 
 Whether all denominations of Christians 
 will ever be merged in one, even in the 
 millenium, may admit of doubt ; and many 
 question whether it is even desirable : but 
 surely in an age like this, so near the mil- 
 lenium, as we flatter ourselves, it becomes 
 every disciple of Christ to be cultivating, 
 
258 DEPORTMENT TOWARDS 
 
 within and around him, the spirit of that 
 union which will then certainly prevail. 
 
 As to our own denomination, I cannot 
 but hope that there is much in its existing 
 polity and spirit which is favorable to 
 union. They have no imperative human 
 standards to operate as a bar to such an 
 union. The word of God, upon which the 
 union, if it ever exist, must, with a most 
 noble and Christian magnanimity, be form- 
 ed, is already their only authoritative Con- 
 fession and Directory. They are ready 
 to turn, with all churches, to the great 
 position with which they all set out at the 
 Reformation, that the Bible alone is the re- 
 ligion of Protestants. They are not only 
 free to commune with Christians of every 
 name at the table of the Lord, which is a 
 small thing, comparatively ; but they are 
 ready to co-operate with them, with good 
 faith and heartily, in any benevolent work. 
 Of this spirit in them, nearly every truly 
 liberal and unsectarian institution in this 
 country is their witness. The American 
 
OTHER DENOMINATIONS. 259 
 
 Bible, Tract, Education, and other kindred 
 institutions, in which it has been aimed to 
 secure the co-operation of all denomina- 
 tions, were originated solely, or mainly by 
 them, and have been eminently sustained 
 by their counsels, labors, and contributions. 
 They have their partialities, doubtless, for 
 their own faith and order ; they believe 
 them to be founded on the Bible : yet they 
 set up no exclusive pretensions of being 
 the only legitimate church. They have, 
 in their numerous colleges and seminaries, 
 scarcely a single professorship whose duty 
 it is to inculcate their particular scheme 
 of polity ; it is little discussed in their pul- 
 pits, or even in their books : and so little 
 pains is taken to cherish sectarian partiali- 
 ties in their members, so little are their 
 children nursed up in the narrow faith of 
 distinctives and exclusives, and jure divino 
 pretensions, and so little are* they in fact 
 attached to the body by mere sectarian 
 feeling, that, of all people, Congregational- 
 ists, when deprived of the privilege of wor- 
 
260 DEPORTMENT, &LC. 
 
 shipping with those of their own com- 
 munion, most easily attach themselves to 
 others. 
 
 I would not, in these remarks, in the 
 least discredit the liberality of other de- 
 nominations. There is much in them all 
 and much, I would hope, in the spirit of 
 the age, that is liberal and catholic. Nor 
 is it pretended that Congregationalists 
 have not their share of human imperfec- 
 tion, or that they are in no degree secta- 
 rian ; yet, I would fain believe, that of 
 them it may be said, if of any, they have 
 little of the narrowness of sect. The sal- 
 vation of man is their object, their field the 
 world, the word of God their directory, and 
 their " pale" the kingdom of Christ. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DOCTRINES AND MEASURES. 
 
 THERE are a few things which I have 
 reserved for this chapter, respecting doc- 
 trines and measures. 
 
 The doctrinal system of the Congrega- 
 tional churches is that which comprises 
 what are commonly called the doctrines 
 of the Reformation ; or the doctrines of 
 grace. To their attachment to these, and 
 the constant and faithful exhibition of them 
 in their pulpits and by their authors, still 
 more than to the excellency of their polity, 
 they have owed their beauty, stability, and 
 moral power. And as it has been hereto- 
 fore, so it must be in time to come. If ever 
 they depart from these doctrines, ex- 
 changing them for others less scriptural 
 but more agreeable to the natural man, or 
 
262 DOCTRINES 
 
 cease to give them their proper place and 
 prominence, their strength and glory will 
 be gone. Their piety will fade away into 
 worldliness and formalism ; their zeal be 
 dead, or else erratic ; their numbers scat- 
 tered ; and " reprobate silver shall men 
 call them, because the Lord hath rejected 
 them." God hath said, "In vain do they 
 worship me, teaching for doctrines the 
 commandments of men." 
 
 While therefore I would urge upon the 
 members of our communion an enlightened 
 and firm attachment to the order of our 
 churches, I would still more earnestly per- 
 suade them to adhere with constancy to 
 their accustomed faith. And I urge this, 
 not simply on the ground that this system 
 of faith is the system of the Bible, and that 
 therefore we are bound to believe and teach 
 it ; but I urge it on the ground of its prac- 
 tical importance to the prosperity and effi- 
 ciency of the denomination. 
 
 Let it be remembered that the energy 
 of the gospel is chiefly in its doctrines. Its 
 precepts are, it is true, a perfect rule of 
 
AND MEASURES. 263 
 
 life ; and, as such, are a lamp to our feet 
 and a light to our path : but as a means 
 of reforming men, and of edifying church- 
 es, they are powerless without the doc- 
 trines. The doctrines are the foundation 
 of the precepts, and furnish the motives to 
 obey them. All duties are prescribed, all 
 invitations and warnings uttered, all ap- 
 peals to the affections and conscience 
 made, in view of those great facts, or 
 truths, which form the doctrinal part of 
 theology, which respect the attributes 
 and government of God, the fallen state 
 of man, the retributions of eternity, the 
 mediation of Christ, the necessity of regen- 
 eration, the work of the Spirit, with other 
 connected truths. In proportion as these 
 are denied, impaired, or sunk out of view, 
 the gospel loses its consistency and mean- 
 ing, and like a temple robbed of its key- 
 stones and columns, is reduced to a shape- 
 less ruin. To desert or surrender these, 
 is to abandon the heavy ordnance of Chris- 
 tianity and put a period to her conquests. 
 Hence we are directed to " contend earn- 
 
264 DOCTRINES 
 
 estly for the faith once delivered to the 
 saints," and to " hold fast the form of sound 
 words." And hence, also, almost all the 
 enmity of ungodly men is vented against 
 the doctrines rather than the ethics of the 
 Bible. 
 
 This is not the place to state at large, or 
 to discuss, the doctrinal system of our 
 churches. But when it is considered that 
 the doctrines embraced by them are the 
 same with those which were embraced by 
 the Reformers of the sixteenth century, 
 those great lights whose glory shall never 
 be extinguished that it was by means 
 of these doctrines, and of the men who 
 held them, that God wrought so great an 
 overthrow of the Papal domination ; that 
 these were the doctrines of the Puritans, 
 the Hugenotts, and of all kindred and per- 
 secuted men, of every age and country ; 
 and when we perceive that wherever this 
 system of doctrines has been faithfully in- 
 culcated, the effect has been most singular- 
 ly happy on the habits and institutions 
 of the people ; we cannot doubt that they 
 
AND MEASURES. 265 
 
 are essentially the faith which was once 
 delivered to the saints. God does not 
 effect so great and happy changes by 
 means of error. He does not thus connect 
 his agency with doctrines of man's de- 
 vising, " working with them, and confirm- 
 ing the word with signs following." 
 
 It is no proof of the unsoundness of these 
 doctrines, that they are hated of wicked 
 men : it is rather a proof of their divinity. 
 The truth of God, whatever it may be, was 
 not made to please men, but to reform them ; 
 and when was it ever known that wicked 
 men were delighted with any doctrine 
 which demanded and enforced their refor- 
 mation ? And what denial or modification 
 of the truth of God was ever made, but to 
 accommodate objectors, replying against 
 God and saying, " Why doth he yet find 
 fault ? for who hath resisted his will ?" and 
 "This is an hard saying; who can hear 
 it?" That which pleases men in their 
 sins, is self-evidently not truth ; but is 
 some " persuasion" which " cometh not 
 of him that calleth you." 
 23 
 
266 DOCTRINES 
 
 The enlightened, practical disciple, I re- 
 peat, then, will not surrender, nor timidly 
 conceal, the essential doctrines of the gos- 
 pel ; nor tremble, through fear of the preju- 
 dice or displeasure which may be awaken- 
 ed by them in sinful minds, to hear them 
 preached. 
 
 I fear there is a tendency in the times to 
 lose sight of the importance of this subject. 
 It is almost a necessary consequence, that 
 in the multiplicity of our religious engage- 
 ments, and in the abundance of our reli- 
 gious intelligence, in this age of benevo- 
 lence, we should become diminutive in 
 doctrinal knowledge. And herein is a 
 danger to be guarded against. In all our 
 plans and labors for Christianity, let us not 
 lose sight of its doctrines. These, as we 
 would promote a healthful state of things, 
 must be " the light of all our measures, 
 the soul of all our preaching, the stimulus 
 and guide of all our zeal, the antidote to alf 
 confusion and wild disorder." How frank- 
 ly, how lucidly, and how constantly will 
 the great doctrines of the gospel be preach- 
 
AND MEASURES. 
 
 ed, and how complacently listened to, in 
 the millenium that happy period of which 
 it is written, "Wisdom and KNOWLEDGE 
 shall be the stability of thy times, and 
 strength of salvation." 
 
 In connection with these remarks on the 
 importance of adhering to the faith of the 
 gospel, may be urged the almost equal im- 
 portance of adhering to those methods 
 of exhibiting it which are prescribed by its 
 author. In revealing his will to us God 
 has also informed us in what manner, chief- 
 ly, he would have it taught and propaga- 
 ted. The gospel includes within itself a 
 system of means for carrying it into effect. 
 This system comprises, as its leading fea- 
 tures, the Sabbath ; organized churches, 
 with their appropriate sacraments and or- 
 dinances ; a settled ministry, with its pul- 
 pit and pastoral duties ; the godly lives 
 of the pious ; and the religious education 
 of families. On these means, if on any, 
 we may expect the blessing of God. 
 
 It is true this system is not so fully pre- 
 
268 DOCTRINES 
 
 scribed, in respect to all its details, as to 
 leave nothing to human discretion. But 
 far less is left to the' wisdom of men than 
 some will believe. In all ages of the 
 church there has been a readiness on the 
 part of some to imagine that the ordina- 
 ry means of grace become worn out by use, 
 and lose their efficiency ; and that the con- 
 version of souls may be hastened, and the 
 progress of the cause of Christ accelerated, 
 by new methods. And in this way great 
 extravagances have been committed, and 
 great mischiefs have ensued. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that it is wise and 
 proper sometimes to resort to special means 
 for calling the attention of men to the con- 
 cerns of the soul ; and that so far as such 
 means are not nnscriptural, and are used 
 judiciously, and in a due dependence on 
 God, we may expect his blessing on them. 
 But w r e must never suffer ourselves to un- 
 dervalue God's institutions. We must 
 never presume to forsake the ways which 
 he has appointed for the conversion of sin- 
 ners and the up-building of his kingdom. 
 
AND MEASURES. 269 
 
 or cease to rely on them, in dependence on 
 his Spirit, while we go after the more nov- 
 el and exciting, and, as we may conceive, 
 more effective arrangements of man's de- 
 vising. 
 
 God never designed that his great cause 
 on earth should be sustained and carried 
 forward by a succession of novelties by a 
 series of expedients, such as the wit of man 
 (fruitful as he is in expedients) might be 
 able to find. He has devised his own sys- 
 tem of means; which he designs shall be 
 as permanent as the cause itself, aad 
 which he will never fail to bless. 
 
 Nor can the kingdom of Christ be health- 
 fully and permanently promoted in any 
 other way, than in the proper use of those 
 means. If religion were only, or chiefly, 
 to be promoted by means of occasional and 
 extraordinary movements, it must of neces- 
 sity become a religion of times and sea- 
 sons, a series of alternate short excite- 
 ments and long declensions, instead of a 
 settled habit and a regular and healthful 
 growth. And thus our Savior's instructive 
 03* 
 
270 DOCTRINES 
 
 and beautiful image of " a city that is set 
 on an hill," always visible, might be 
 changed for a city hid in the desert, or 
 sunk in the shades of a valley, and seen 
 only in the light of an occasional confla- 
 gration. 
 
 Whatever special measures we may re- 
 sort to at times, therefore, our habitual and 
 main reliance should be upon the stated and 
 v ordinary means of grace. Especially, 
 should we look to the Sabbath and the 
 preaching of the Sabbath, as the great means 
 appointed of God for the salvation of men. 
 The Sabbath with its appropriate services 
 is set apart for the special purpose of pro- 
 moting religion ; and though God may 
 bless other judicious and prayerful endeav- 
 ors of his people, it is not to be supposed 
 that he will forsake his own appointments 
 to follow theirs ; or that he will honor hu- 
 man arrangements above his hallowed day. 
 It was the Sabbath which God hallowed 
 from the beginning of time. It was the 
 Sabbath when Christ rose from the dead. 
 The Sabbath is " the Lord's day." It was 
 
AND MEASURES. 271 
 
 devoted by Christ and his apostles, in an 
 especial manner, to public preaching. " As 
 his custom was, he went into the synagogue 
 on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to 
 read." " And Paul, as his manner was, 
 went in unto them, and three SABBATH 
 days reasoned with them out of the Scrip- 
 tures." And he reasoned in the syna- 
 gogues every Sabbath, and persuaded the 
 Jews and the Greeks.* It was on the 
 Sabbath, the day of pentecost that the 
 Spirit of GDC! was poured out in a most 
 wonderful manner, and three thousand 
 were converted.f More souls have been 
 converted, probably, and will be, to the 
 end of time, by means of the Sabbath than 
 by whatever means beside. There is a so- 
 lemnity, a sacredness, ,an authority, about 
 the Sabbath, above every other season, 
 which gives peculiar weight to the word 
 dispensed, and is eminently favorable above 
 other and more exciting occasions, to those 
 
 * Luke iv. 1622. Acts xvii. 2 5 xvi'ji. 4. 
 t See Gurney on the Sabbath, Chap, 4. 
 
272 DOCTRINES 
 
 distinct, calm, and conscience-reaching im- 
 pressions, which ever belong to a genuine 
 work of grace. What Cowper says of the 
 pulpit may be said of the Sabbath pulpit 
 pre-eminently : 
 
 I say the pulpit, in the sober use 
 
 Of its legitimate, peculiar powers, 
 
 Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, 
 
 The most important and effectual guard, 
 
 Support, and ornament, of virtue's cause, 
 
 To the Sabbath then, should our thoughts, 
 our prayers, our hopes, habitually turn for 
 the reviving of God's work. On other en- 
 deavors we may indeed expect his bles- 
 sing ; but let us beware, in looking to 
 these, that we do not suffer ourselves in- 
 sensibly to undervalue the Sabbath. Let 
 us beware how we induce or encourage an 
 impression, that the Sabbath and its ser- 
 vices are but an ordinary thing a matter 
 of course, from which little effect is to be 
 looked for ; and that sinners are not to be 
 converted, and the church built up, except 
 in connection with extraordinary measures, 
 and by extraordinary men. 
 
AND MEASURES. 273 
 
 There are many " new measures," as 
 they are technically called, which I have 
 neither the disposition nor room to discuss; 
 but there are several objectionable practi- 
 ces which may not be unworthy of the at- 
 tention given them in the following pages. 
 
 LAY PREACHING. 
 / 
 
 There is an order of men specially set 
 apart to the work of teaching and preach- 
 ing. Their duties and qualifications are 
 made the subject of careful instructions in 
 the scriptures. It must therefore be wrong 
 for other men, not qualified and ordained, 
 to assume their place. At the same time, 
 there are certainly some things to be done 
 by laymen. The injunctions, to ' do good,' 
 to ( bear fruit,' to be ( always abounding in 
 the work of the Lord,' are to laymen as 
 well as to ministers ; and plainly teach that 
 there is active service for them. Moreover ; 
 action is important to healthy spiritual as 
 well as bodily. They cannot be very 
 
274 DOCTRINES 
 
 growing and lively Christians, who do 
 nothing, actively, for Christ's cause. 
 
 " An angel's wing would tire if long at rest, 
 And God, inactive, were no longer blest." 
 
 But it is difficult to draw precisely the line 
 where the forwardness of the layman be- 
 gins to trench upon the appropriate duties 
 of the minister. What is lay-preaching ? 
 The question was put to a meeting of min- 
 isters, who answered somewhat hesitating- 
 ly and variously. Is it wrong for the breth- 
 ren to pray together ? to exhort one anoth- 
 er ? to read and comment on the Bible to- 
 gether, for their common edification ? ,,No. 
 Is it wrong for a layman to warn the im- 
 penitent ? to reprove sin ? or even to ad- 
 dress a promiscuous assembly on the con- 
 cerns of their souls ? No : it were to be 
 wished that pious laymen would abound, 
 according to their gifts and acceptableness, 
 in all these things more than they do. But 
 it is agreed, I suppose by all, that for an 
 unordained, or unlicensed man to take a 
 
AND MEASURES. 275 
 
 text, or larger passage of scripture, and 
 make a formal discourse from it, whether 
 in a pulpit or in a private room, would 
 make him a preaching layman. It does 
 not alter the case materially, whether he 
 be a private brother, or an unlicensed stu- 
 dent in divinity, or \vhether he be gifted, 
 or otherwise : so long as he is not regularly 
 authorized, he is out of his province. Fur- 
 ther ; for a layman to give out his own ap- 
 pointments, except, perhaps, with the ap- 
 probation and under the eye of the pastor, 
 and expect the people to attend where 
 he is to take the lead, and in all things ex- 
 cept a text, or a sermon, to speak and act 
 as a minister does, would generally be 
 thought, I suppose, to be going beyond his 
 line. 
 
 The Bible addresses ministers respect- 
 ing their duties thus: "Preach the word; 
 reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long- 
 suffering and doctrine" "These things 
 command and teach :" i. e. teach authorita- 
 tively, as men authorized to speak and be 
 
276 DOCTRINES 
 
 heard. " Charging them before the Lord, 
 ^c." " Rightly dividing the word of truth, 
 fyc." 
 
 From these instructions to ministers to 
 take no notice of the instructions which 
 are given to the people we must infer 
 that for those who are not ministers to 
 " preach the word/' or in any manner to 
 teach or speak authoritatively, or with any 
 appearance of eminence above their breth- 
 ren, is improper. Let every brother use 
 his gifts and influence to the best he can, 
 for the glory of God arid the good of man ; 
 but let him do it with becoming modesty, 
 as an uncommissioned disciple, and as 
 claiming no more for himself than an equal- 
 ity with his brethren. 
 
 It cannot be difficult, I think^ for piety 
 and good /sense, with a proper attention to 
 the Bible, to discern where, or about 
 where, the line of propriety runs. Mean- 
 time the line .exists, and is of great impor- 
 tance. Let all distinction of duties be 
 done away between minister and people, 
 
AND MEASURES. 277 
 
 and ' confusion,' if not c envying and strife' 
 and c every evil work/ must be the conse- 
 quence. 
 
 It was such confusion among the Corin- 
 thian Christians, all ambitious of exhibit- 
 ing their gifts, that Paul reproved by de- 
 manding, Are all apostles ? are all proph- 
 ets ? are all teachers ? It is not necessary 
 that every one who becomes a Christian 
 should become a preacher. " Let every 
 man abide in the same calling wherein he 
 is called." 
 
 FEMALE PRAYING, OR SPEAKING, IN PROMIS- 
 CUOUS ASSEMBLIES. 
 
 What are our objections to this practice ? 
 
 1. It is expressly forbidden in scripture. 
 " Let your women keep silence in the 
 churches : for it is not permitted unto them 
 to speak ; but they are commanded to be 
 under obedience, as also saith the law. 
 And if they will learn any thing, let them 
 ask their husbands at home : for it is a 
 24 
 
278 DOCTRINES 
 
 shame for women to speak in the church."* 
 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. " Let the woman 
 learn in silence with all subjection. But I 
 suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp 
 authority over the man, but to be in si- 
 lence." 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Respecting the first of these passages, it 
 is to be noticed, that the apostle is upon 
 the very business of correcting disorderly 
 practices in Christian assemblies ; and he 
 mentions females' speaking as one of these 
 practices, and unequivocally disallows it. 
 And of the other passage it is to be ob- 
 served, that it occurs in an express letter 
 of instructions to Timothy as a minister, 
 and to all ministers. The design, there- 
 fore, of both these passages is as obvious 
 as the language is explicit. 
 
 * The word church, in the New Testament, does not mean a 
 public assembly in a synagogue, or house of worship like ours, 
 merely, but it often means such small assemblies as met in pri- 
 vate houses, and ' upper rooms. 7 " Salute Nymphas, and the 
 church which is in his house 3" that is the church which meets 
 at his house. Col. iv. 15. See also Rom. xvi. 5. Philem. 2 3 
 and the New Testament everywhere. 
 
AND MEASURES. 279 
 
 How is it possible to misunderstand an 
 injunction so plain and so repeated ! " I 
 know (says one) that these texts have 
 been explained away ; but so have the 
 proof texts which teach the divinity of 
 Christ, the depravity of man, the reality 
 of the atonement, and the necessity of re- 
 generation. Any thing may be explained 
 away by those who are determined to obey 
 their own will instead of the Bible." 
 
 Let us attend to the reason which the 
 apostle gives. He says c it is a shame for a 
 woman to speak/ on account of her rela- 
 tion to the other sex, or her place in socie- 
 ty. In the passage in Timothy he gives 
 the same reason coupled with another, 
 namely, the proper modesty of her sex. 
 He evidently means to imply that it is un- 
 becoming for females to be so^forward as 
 to speak in promiscuous assemblies, for the 
 same reason that certain styles of dress 
 are unbecoming. Read the passage in its 
 connection. " In like manner also, that 
 women adorn themselves in modest appa- 
 rel, with shame-facedness and sobriety ; 
 
280 DOCTRINES 
 
 not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, 
 or costly array ; but (which becometh 
 women professing godliness) with good 
 works. Let the woman learn in silence, 
 &c. For Adam was first formed, then 
 Eve. Arid Adam was not deceived, but 
 the woman being deceived, was in the 
 transgression." 1 Tim. ii. 9 14. 
 
 The propriety of this reason of the apos- 
 tle has been universally felt and acted up- 
 on by mankind ; in refined nations, as well 
 as in barbarous. They have universally 
 felt that it is unsuited to the modesty of 
 woman to speak in public assemblies. 
 The bar excludes her ; so do the legislature, 
 and the popular assembly. The reason of 
 the thing is founded in nature, not in 
 prejudice, or custom, but in nature. It has 
 generally been deemed monstrous for a 
 woman's voice to be heard, as a speaker in 
 any promiscuous secular assembly. Nor 
 is her appearance in such assemblies ever 
 anticipated in any scheme of female educa- 
 tion. It is in religious assemblies chiefly 
 that this anomaly is seen : nor has the 
 
AND MEASURES. 281 
 
 sanction which has been given to the prac- 
 tice by some preachers and churches, made 
 the practice, as yet, respectable there, in 
 the eyes of intelligent people. Notwith- 
 standing the commonness of the thing, it 
 is still felt to be an impropriety : and it 
 will be, so long as nature shall control the 
 sentiments of mankind. 
 
 2. Besides that the practice is prohibit- 
 ed by Paul, there are no examples, or 
 none which can be taken for precedents 
 throughout the history of the several reli- 
 gious dispensations. Of the " preachers 
 of righteousness" before the flood, that we 
 have any account of, none were women. 
 Nor do we find that females ever officiated 
 in the public services of religion, under the 
 Patriarchal and Mosaic, or Levitical, dis- 
 pensations. Nor did Christ send females 
 forth to preach and teach as he did the 
 seventy ; or leave any commission or give 
 any instructions for their doing so, in suc- 
 ceeding times. There has been but one 
 law about this business from the beginning 
 of time. All that is said of woman in the 
 24* 
 
282 DOCTRINES 
 
 Bible, from the day she was formed until 
 now, all that is said of her character, her 
 relations, her demeanor, is of a piece with 
 the above citations from the apostle, and 
 may stand as an impracticable commentary 
 on them. 
 
 3. She is not fitted for speaking in pub- 
 lic. She may have mind enough, but she 
 wants the physical qualities the voice and 
 nerve, which are requisite. The voice of 
 woman, like the susceptibilities of her 
 heart, is delightfully formed for her sphere, 
 for the tones of love in her family, for 
 the enlivening converse of the parlor, for 
 the tender offices of sympathy ; but it is 
 no more formed for the public assembly 
 than the lute is formed for the camp. She 
 is not fitted, I say, for speaking in public, 
 and it is not to be supposed, therefore, that 
 her Creator expects her to do that for 
 which he has not fitted her. He does not 
 gather where he has not strowed. 
 
 4. It is not the design, or nature of reli- 
 gion, to impair by its requirements the 
 proper character of its subjects. On the 
 
AND MEASURES. 283 
 
 contrary, it seeks to heighten and adorn 
 whatever belongs to our nature as God 
 originally made us. It regards the propri- 
 eties of sex. It condemns effeminacy in 
 man, and masculineness in woman. It 
 does not require woman to cease to be 
 woman because she becomes a Christian ; 
 but on the contrary, inculcates an amiable 
 modesty of feeling and demeanor beyond 
 what she possessed before. But no fe- 
 male, and no young female especially, in 
 whom naturally there is the timid reserve 
 of youth, as well as of sex can engage as 
 an exhorter, or leader of prayer, in the 
 presence of men, without her delicacy be- 
 ing blunted, in proportion to the frequency, 
 and boldness, with which she engages in 
 the unseemly and forbidden exercise. 
 " There is generally, and should be always, 
 in the female character, (says Dr. Beecher) 
 a softness and delicacy of feeling which 
 shrinks from the notoriety of a public per- 
 formance. It is the guard of female virtue, 
 and invaluable in its soothing, civilizing in- 
 
284 DOCTRINES 
 
 fluence on man ; and a greater evil, next 
 to the loss of conscience and chastity, 
 could not befal the female sex, or the com- 
 munity at large, than to disrobe the female 
 mind of those ornaments of sensibility, and 
 clothe it with the rough texture of mascu- 
 line fibre. But no well educated female 
 can put herself up, or be put up to the 
 point of public prayer, without the loss of 
 some portion at least of that female delica- 
 cy, which is above all price ; and whoever 
 has had an opportunity Ho observe the 
 effect of female exhortation and prayer in 
 public will be compelled to remark the ex- 
 change of softness and delicacy for mascu- 
 line courage, so desirable m man, so un- 
 lovely in woman ; and if we need farther 
 testimony, the general character of actress- 
 es is a standing memorial of the influ- 
 ence of female elocution before public as- 
 semblies."* 
 
 There is one passage, and only one, so 
 far as I know, which is supposed to favor 
 
 ' * Letter to Beman. 
 
AND MEASURES. 285 
 
 the practice of females speaking in the 
 church ; which I will notice directly. 
 
 There are, however, a few instances 
 which I believe are sometimes pleaded ; as 
 Deborah, Anna, and the daughters of Phil- 
 ip. But these were inspired women, and 
 are therefore not to be taken for prece- 
 dents, unless our women also claim to be 
 inspired. If God, who has a right to make 
 exceptions to his general laws, has at dif- 
 ferent times imparted the spirit of prophe- 
 sying to holy women, for the same end 
 that he endued the apostles and others 
 with the power of healing and working 
 miracles and speaking with tongues, name- 
 ly, for confirming the truth of religion, this 
 cannot be pleaded to set open a door for all 
 the sex to speak. 
 
 The passage referred to above is 1 Cor. 
 xi. 3 16. On this passage I observe, 
 
 (1.) That the best commentators, and 
 all the commentators which I have been 
 able to consul t 3 understand the females 
 here alluded to, to have spoken under a 
 
286 DOCTRINES 
 
 i 
 
 miraculous influence.* Of the correctness 
 of this interpretation he who will may sat- 
 isfy himself by an intelligent reading of the 
 passage, and its context. The passage 
 speaks of women that prayed and prophe- 
 sied, a word which never signifies speak- 
 ing in an ordinary manner. And through- 
 out the context, read from the beginning 
 of the eleventh to the end of the fourteenth 
 chapter, the apostle is speaking of mirac- 
 ulous gifts. These females then were 
 prophetesses, and being such, are not a pre- 
 cedent for us, unless, I say, our female 
 speakers are prophetesses likewise. They 
 belong to the class of. Deborah and the 
 others. 
 
 (2.) The apostle reprobates the practice 
 as inconsistent with woman's modesty, 
 even in prophetesses, except under certain 
 regulations, namely, with the head veiled. 
 
 * As most of my readers, probably, have Scott's commenta- 
 ry at hand, I refer them to that. They may read, if they 
 please, what he says on the several passages before us 5 1 Cor. 
 xi. 216 5 xiv. 34, 35 3 and 1 Tim. ii. 1114. 
 
AND MEASURES. 287 
 
 " Judge in yourselves ; is it comely that a 
 woman pray unto God uncovered ?" And 
 he demands if even nature does not teach 
 them, that what is becoming in a man is 
 not becoming in a woman. 
 
 (3.) To make the most we can of the 
 passage, it is not so clear that it favors the 
 practice in question, as it is that the other 
 passages cited do positively forbid it ; and 
 according to a well known law of interpre- 
 tation, if two passages appear to be at va- 
 riance with each other, that which is most 
 plain is to determine us. The clear is to 
 interpret the obscure or doubtful, and not 
 the obscure the clear. 
 
 There is, however, no obscurity in the 
 case ; nor any collision between the passa- 
 ges. The fact undoubtedly is, that some 
 females endued with the gift of prophesy, 
 spoke in the meetings of the Corinthians, 
 where some also spoke with tongues, and 
 some wrought miracles of healing ; but 
 these were special cases belonging to those 
 times. The general law, is laid down in 
 
288 DOCTRINES 
 
 the passages first quoted. In those passa- 
 ges a modest silence is enjoined on females 
 in all mixed religious assemblies. 
 
 What then can be said in defence of the 
 practice, when, as it appears, both revela- 
 tion and nature are against it ? 
 
 Is it said that women are often better 
 qualified to exhort or pray in a meeting 
 than the men that are present, and can 
 speak more to edification ? It may be 
 true ; but what then ? This does not alter 
 the scripture. So too are some unordained 
 men better qualified to preach than some 
 ministers are ; but this does not justify 
 their taking the pulpit. So too are some 
 wives, and mothers, better qualified to lead 
 in family devotions, or family government, 
 than their husbands are ; but are they 
 therefore warranted to do so in the pres- 
 ence of their husbands ? We are not at 
 liberty to bring in our particular case of ex- 
 pediency to supersede God's standing 
 laws. If God says, let your women keep 
 
AND MEASURES. 289 
 
 silence in the churches, it is presumption 
 and impiety to answer, that they are quali- 
 fied to speak and therefore they shall ! 
 
 Is it alledged that good comes of the 
 practice ? that you can name the individ- 
 uals that have been impressed and convert- 
 ed by hearing a female speak? Tne an- 
 /swer is still the same. If it be not in the 
 I Bible, if it be prohibited there, it cannot be 
 / justified. How much good or evil it does, 
 I is not the question ; but whether it is 
 agreeable to the scripture. People are 
 I impressed by a great many things and 
 good comes out of evil. I was acquainted 
 with a youth who was powerfully awaken- 
 ed by an instance of anger and profane- 
 ness ; but I never thought of enlisting an- 
 ger and profaneness into my system of 
 means for converting men, on account of 
 the good which they did in that particular 
 instance. 
 
 But as for the good which is done, or 
 supposed to be done, by means of this 
 practice, it is the conviction of multitudes 
 25 
 
290 DOCTRINES 
 
 of sensible people that the mischief infi- 
 nitely surpasses the good. It may serve 
 to give notoriety to a meeting, and to draw 
 a multitude together, some in the simplici- 
 ty of their hearts to approve and be edifi- 
 ed, perhaps, but more to gape and look on ; 
 it may serve to make converts to a name, 
 a sect, a party, or a fashion in religion ; 
 and it may serve, possibly, to make some 
 converts to Christ, I will not affirm that 
 it never does ; but that it is, on the whole, 
 calculated to glorify God and advance the 
 cause of Christ ; that it tends to elevate 
 religion in the view of the world, and to 
 increase the aggregate number of convert- 
 ed souls ; and that it would be well to in- 
 troduce it into all churches ; is unhesita- 
 tingly disbelieved,i nay, upon the basis 
 of the Bible is confidently denied. 
 
 But females need not feel that they are 
 debarred from usefulness because " it is not 
 permitted unto them to speak" in the 
 church. There are many ways in which 
 they may be, and are, to their credit, ex- 
 
AND MEASURES. 291 
 
 ceedingly useful. In many ways of effi- 
 cient, but unobtrusive influence, they are 
 winning souls to Christ. They that are 
 acquainted with woman's history, from the 
 beginning till now, or with the signs and 
 movements of the times, will hardly think 
 her behind the other sex, in the service 
 of Christ. And I doubt not, when they 
 that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament, and they that turn many 
 to righteousness, as the stars forever and 
 ever, that then woman shall receive her 
 full and enviable share of the glory. 
 
 Thy works, and alms, and all thy good endeavor, 
 Staid not behind, nor in the grave were trod ; 
 
 But, as faith pointed with her golden rod, 
 Followed thee up to joy and bliss forever. 
 
 HASTY ADMISSIONS TO THE CHURCH. - 
 
 There has been much futile reasoning 
 and appealing to apostolic example, in fa- 
 vor of the practice of receiving persons 
 into the church immediately on their con- 
 version. 
 
292 DOCTRINES 
 
 That this was done by the apostles is 
 true. But they did it with reasons which 
 do not exist at present. A willingness to 
 profess Christ then, was, in itself, a great- 
 er evidence of genuine faith than such a 
 profession is now. The times themselves 
 " tried men's souls/' and rendered proba- 
 tion unnecessary. For when believers 
 were " made a gazing stock, both by re- 
 proaches and afflictions," and were beset 
 with " manifold temptations ;" when to be 
 cast out of the synagogue, and to be scat- 
 tered abroad by persecutions, and to be 
 killed, as a service rendered to God, was 
 the price of a Christian profession, it was 
 not difficult, generally, for the disciples to 
 know the spirit of those who proposed to 
 join them. The thing most to be appre- 
 hended was, not that the unsanctified 
 would come forward, but that true con- 
 verts would keep back. And there were 
 reasons which more nearly concerned the 
 candidates themselves. They needed im- 
 mediately the sympathy and fellowship 
 
AND MEASURES. 293 
 
 of the church, to sustain them against the 
 pressure of the times. 
 
 But the practice was early discontinued. 
 It was discontinued, there is reason to be- 
 lieve, by the apostles themselves, but cer- 
 tainly in the first century, as the reader 
 of church history knows. When ( the 
 churches had rest,' and were multiplied, 
 and it was less embarrassing, if not more 
 popular, to join them, there was some de- 
 lay usually before candidates were re- 
 ceived ; both that the church might be bet- 
 ter assured of their piety, and that they 
 might receive, if necessary, the requisite 
 instruction in the truths of the gospel.* 
 
 It is doubtless an error to put off' pro- 
 fession too long ; but that there should be 
 some interval between conversion and uni- 
 ting with the church, the following reasons 
 may satisfy us. 
 
 1. There should be some time for the 
 convert to examine himself. For not all 
 
 * See Murdock's Mosheim, Vol. I. p. 97, 5. 
 
 25* 
 
294 DOCTRINES 
 
 who suppose themselves converts, and that 
 with rejoicing and confidence, really are 
 so. There are some whtf ' anon receive 
 the word with joy,' but c have no deepness 
 of earth ; and when the sun is up they are 
 scorched ; and because they have no root 
 they wither away. 5 "But let a man exam- 
 ine himself, (says the apostle,) and so let 
 him eat of that bread, and drink of that 
 cup/' 
 
 2. There ought to be some opportunity 
 for the church to be satisfied. The candi- 
 date comes to them, as a new subject, to 
 be received to their communion and fellow- 
 ship. But this fellowship, to be real, must 
 be justified by evidence. It must be found- 
 ed on a satisfactory knowledge of the per- 
 son's previous and present habits, feelings, 
 motives, and views of truth. But all this 
 cannot be taken at sight, and upon the in- 
 dividual's simple profession, however appa- 
 rently sincere ; when, for aught we know, 
 he may be as ignorant of himself as we are 
 of him, and when we have too much cause 
 to remember that in hundreds of cases the 
 
AND MEASURES. 295 
 
 goodness of such as have' made similar 
 hopeful professions has proved but as a 
 morning cloud, and as the early dew. 
 
 It is therefore due to the members that 
 they should have some time for a more pri- 
 vate and familiar acquaintance with the 
 candidate, than they can have from his 
 confession, or from an immediate public 
 examination, at the instant of his supposed 
 conversion. 
 
 3. A just concern for the purity of the 
 church. If we are required to purge out 
 the old leaven that we may be a new lump, 
 it is certainly proper that we should exer- 
 cise due care to Iceep it out. Who does 
 not know that often there are many more 
 who are disposed to press into the church 
 than are actually pressing into the kingdom 
 of heaven. Especially is this the fact in 
 times of great and general awakening. 
 Who does not know enough of revivals, 
 and of mankind, to know, that it is a diffi- 
 cult thing to detach so large a mass from 
 the world and add it to the church, as is 
 often done, without drawing some portion 
 
296 DOCTRINES 
 
 of the world along with it ? How many 
 secret ties there are, binding the renewed 
 and tmrenewed together, ties of kindred, 
 of companionship, of love, which inspire 
 the resolve that the one shall not be taken 
 and the other left ! Alas for our church- 
 es when this shall be our practice when 
 all that self-delusion encourages, or sym- 
 pathy moves, or'interest draws, or remorse 
 and fears impel, shall be admitted without 
 delay ! 
 
 What is the object of examining candi- 
 dates at all ? It is to keep our churches 
 pure. If once this practice be given up 
 (says Owen,) " a world of unqualified per- 
 sons will soon fill, and pester and corrupt 
 the house of God, and cause him to go far 
 off* from his sanctuary." But we may al- 
 most as well dispense with the practice 
 of examining at all as to admit persons im- 
 mediately upon their professed conversion. 
 
 I do not know that any definite rule can 
 be laid down as to the length of time which 
 should elapse before admission, or that this 
 is desirable. It depends much on circum- 
 
AND MEASURES. 297 
 
 stances the previous habits of the candi- 
 date, his natural temperament his knowl- 
 edge his years, perhaps, and the clearness 
 of his present views and feelings. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVANCE OF ORDER. 
 
 This chapter, and this volume, may be 
 properly concluded with some remarks on 
 the importance of a general observance 
 of established order. 
 
 An interest so extended as the church 
 of Christ, and in which so great a variety 
 of persons are concerned, must have some 
 general rules of propriety according to 
 which its affairs are to be conducted. All 
 societies have such rules. They are not 
 always exactly defined and written, but 
 they are such and so far known that it is 
 not difficult for modesty and good sense to 
 keep within them. 
 
 These rules must not be disregarded. 
 Every essential departure from them is 
 of mischievous tendency. It may be con- 
 
298 DOCTRINES 
 
 venienl to do certain things, in certain 
 cases, when it would not be best on the 
 whole. It might be convenient sometimes 
 for an unlicensed student to preach, or for 
 an unordained licentiate to administer or- 
 dinances ; it might appear to be well, in 
 the view of some, for the ardent brethren 
 of one parish to push their labors into 
 another ;, or for a "revival preacher" to 
 throw himself with violence into the parish 
 of a minister whom he thought deficient in 
 zeal ; it might be pleasant to some, and 
 very lively and edifying, according to their 
 notions of edification, that every one, when 
 we come together, should have a psalm, a 
 doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an inter- 
 pretation. But think of the consequences 
 of these things. What confusion and dis- 
 order are introduced among us ! What 
 disgusts and alienations ! What discredit 
 to religion ! 
 
 If one, following his own particular hu- 
 mor, may break down the fence on one 
 side, another will do the same on another 
 
AND MEASURES. 299 
 
 side, till we have no acknowledged order, 
 and are become "like a city broken down 
 and without walls." There may be, pos- 
 sibly, too much regard to order, too punctil- 
 ious an observance of forms ; but too much 
 is better than none. 
 
 The founders of the Congregational or- 
 der were eminently lovers of liberty ; and 
 they introduced into their system as much 
 freedom as they could without licentious- 
 ness. They set up no superfluous land- 
 marks. They run no unnecessary lines. 
 But they respected decency not less than lib- 
 erty, and feared licentiousness not less than 
 despotism. " There is a liberty, (said one 
 of their excellent magistrates,*) which is 
 affected both by men and beasts to do what 
 they list ; and this liberty is inconsistent 
 with authority, impatient of all restraint. 
 By this liberty sumus omnes deteriores ; 
 [we are all debased] 'tis the grand enemy 
 of truth and peace, and all the ordinances 
 of God are bent against it." They estab- 
 
 * Gov. Winthrop. 
 
300 , DOCTRINES AND MEASURES. 
 
 lished their regulations with great prayer- 
 fulness and consideration, and with equal 
 knowledge of the Bible and of men. Un- 
 der these regulations our churches have, 
 for above two centuries, enjoyed unparal- 
 leled prosperity. And it were impiety, it 
 were treason now, to break down a system 
 which has been blessed of God, and respec- 
 ted of men, so eminently and so long. 
 
BOOKS 
 
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 BY J. H. BUTLER, 
 
 Northampton, Mass. 
 
 THE SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHER ; 
 
 designed to aid in elevating and perfecting 
 the Sabbath School System. By Rev. JOHN 
 TODD, Pastor of the First Congregational 
 Church, Philadelphia : Author of " Lec- 
 tures to Children," " Student's Manual," &c. 
 
 NOTICES. 
 From Rev. Henry Althans, Editor of the London Edition. 
 
 Happily for the cause, Mr. Todd has not only made the first 
 attempt-to take an enlarged view of the power of Sunday 
 Schools, but he has also given decided evidence of his compe- 
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 sires to see them prosperous, to notice how Mr. Todd brings 
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 and delight in pursuing it, with proper motives, well regulated 
 habits, and settled dispositions to self-improvement, patient la- 
 bor, watchfulness and fervent prayer. With a happy instinct, 
 he has seized upon the main points and features of the system, 
 and has admirably brought them out. 
 
 From the Sunday School Teacher's Magazine London, De- 
 cember, 1837. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of being ambitious to strike out some 
 new-fangled scheme for the management of Sabbath Schools, 
 
Mr. Todd has availed himself of existing- elements, and moulds 
 them to his purpose, after a symmetrical design. And whatev- 
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 cannot be charged with having performed his task slenderly ; 
 in short, he has tasked his utmost powers 3 as though he had a 
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 ject with wonderful power. We give our entire approval of 
 the work, as being, without con trovers}', the most extensive 
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 THE STUDENT'S MANUAL ; designed by 
 specific directions, to aid in forming and 
 strengthening the intellectual and moral char- 
 acter and habits of the Student. By Rev. 
 JOHN TODD, Pastor of the Edwards Church, 
 Northampton. 
 
 NOTICES. 
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 We will venture to predict that no student who will gird 
 himself to the perusal of this work, more especially the two last 
 chapters, which contain " the conclusion of the whole matter," 
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 I thank you very cordially for your Student's Manual. 
 I have not found time yet to read it through ; but I have read 
 a number of chapters, and highly approve of both the design 
 and execution. It cannot fail to do good. It will attract by 
 its manly independence of tone, as well as by the sparkling 
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 ow*n advice, and it cannot be that you will not reap a bountiful 
 harvest. 
 
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 From the Knickerbocker. 
 
 We do not often meet with a book which contains a greater 
 amount of sound counsel, and honest sense, than this. The 
 views of the author are in general most judicious ; the plans he 
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 remarkable perspicuity, and the whole scope and intention of 
 the volume cannot be too highly praised. 
 
 LECTURES TO CHILDREN ; familiarly il- 
 lustrating important truth. By Rev. JOHN 
 TODD, Pastor of the Edwards Church, North- 
 ampton. 
 
 NOTICES. 
 
 From the New York Evangelist. 
 
 We take peculiar pleasure in recommending this little book 
 to our youthful readers as an important acquisition to the juve- 
 nile literature of our country. The author has succeeded in 
 adapting his style to those for whom he writes. His illustra- 
 tions are so simple, that we think they cannot fail to bring his 
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 his illustrations attractive, beautiful and satisfactory. 
 
 Testimony of Children. 
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 thank you for taking the trouble to write it. 
 
 Your affectionate little friend. 
 
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 From Abbott's Magazine. 
 
 his book is, in our opinion, written in the right style, and 
 ic right principles for interesting and benefitting children. 
 
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 of use. By Rev. JOHN TODD, Pastor of the 
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