10. In some cases, SEVERAL FAMILIES MAY ASSEMBLE TOGETHER, at a house where you have appointed to be present. This may bring a larger number within the influence of the same visit, prayer and address; and it may tend also to nourish affectionate christian feelings between the members of the same church. This is a plan of visiting especially convenient for young ministers, as it will enable them to accomplish more of this part of their work in a given time, and enable them to be more in their studies. There are, however, some disadvantages incurred by this mode of conducting parochial visits. A pastor cannot be so entirely unreserved, where several families are together, as he may be in the bosom of a single family; nor will the persons present feel so perfectly free in their communications to him. The greatest advantage will be likely to result from the adoption of this plan, when the families brought together are not only acquainted, but intimate with each other.

11. In paying pastoral visits, it is very desi. rable, in many cases, To BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ELDER, and sometimes there may be an ad-' vantage in having with you more than one. This practise tends to make the Elders of the church better known to the private members; and also, at the same time to render the Elders themselves better informed concerning the state

of the church over which they are called to preside, and to give them a deeper interest in its affairs There can be no doubt, too, that the hands of a minister are, in many cases, greatly strengthened by the presence of one or more of those who are appointed to "bear rule" with him in the church. And while it strengthens his hands, it is certainly adapted to make a deeper impression on the minds of those who are thus officially visited.

But I am persuaded, that, in a large number of cases, it is better for a Pastor to visit alone. Some families, and some individuals in other families, can be better approached without the presence of an Elder. To many conversations, which have for their object the removal of offences, it is essential to their prospect of success, that they be private and confidential. To call official witnesses to witness the rebuke and expostulation, which it may become necessary to administer, would often be to rouse the feelings of wounded pride, and to harden the heart. Many persons have bowed with penitence and thanks to an admonition given in private, who would probably have received with rage, if not with violence, the very same admonition offered in publick, or before even a single witness. Of the proper course of proceeding, therefore, in reference to this point, the conscientious and

prudent minister must judge in each particular

case.

12. It will be a very important part of your duty, when you become a minister, to VISIT THE SICK. Whether you are called to act as a Pastor or a Missionary, in either case this most important and delicate duty will frequently devolve upon you. That the faculty of discharging it with faithfulness, and at the same time with prudence and tenderness, is of great value, is too evident to be doubted. Dr. Doddridge somewhere quotes Augustine. as expressing deep wonder and regret, that ministers should take so much pains to prepare their sermons, and bestow so little apparent thought on what they say to sick people, and on the best methods of conducting their visits. He who

does not feel that the task of administering instruction and consolation to the sick and the dying, is one calculated to put in requisition all the wisdom, piety, benevolence, and knowledge of human nature which can be devoted to it, knows but little either of nature or of grace. It is, indeed, an office of awful responsibility to undertake to be, if I may so express it, the pilot of the soul, in passing "the valley of the shadow of death;" to awaken and alarm the unprepared; to counse] the perplexed and doubting; to calm the agi

tation of the timid believer; and to pour the oil of consolation into the wounded spirit.

Be always ready to visit the sick. Do not wait to be sent for. And visit them as frequently as your eircumstances will admit. If they be numerous at any one time, keep a list of them, that none may be overlooked.

Before each visit, lift a word of prayer to the throne of grace, that you may be directed and aided in the solemn interview.

Sometimes the relatives of the sick are unwilling that they should be seen and conversed with by a clergyman It is, obviously, no part of his duty to force his way into a patient's chamber. Yet he ought in common to bear testimony against a repugnance at once so heathenish and foolish.

If you do not previously know the character of the sick person whom you visit, make some inquiries on this subject, and as to his history, and opinions, and the state of his mind. But, besides this, commence your conversation with him, (after a few kind interrogatories respecting his bodily feelings, &c.) with queries and - suggestions, which may tend to draw from himself the degree of his knowledge, and his views, hopes, &c.

Let

Let your manner of address by the bed-side of the sick be studiously mild and tender. nothing be said calculated to jar or agitate, ex

cepting what fidelity to the soul renders neces. sary. Be plain, simple, and studiously faithful in your exhibitions of truth. That is not a time for many nice distinctions, or for extended reasoning. Neither is it a time for unfaithful soothing, or for saying "peace, peace, when there is no peace" Where there is evidently no well founded hope, guard against driving to despair; but guard, no less sacredly, against bolstering up a hope which will be likely to "make ashamed." Let your conversations and visits be short. The effort of even a few minutes, in speaking, or in listening to a speaker, is often very oppressive to the sick. Do not, ordinarily, allow yourself to be seated by the bedside of one who is really ill, longer than a quarter of an hour at any one time, unless the case be very peculiar, or you have very conclusive evidence that your presence is not burdensome.

Let your prayers in the apartment of the sick, be tender,-sympathetick,-appropriate from beginning to end,-short,-and as much calculated as possible to fix, calm, and enlighten the mind of the sufferer, and to direct his meditations. It is very injudicious to make prayers in a sick chamber, as they often are, pointless, tedious, general, inapplicable in the greater part of their structure, or loud and harsh in their Many topicks proper for social prayer, on other occasions, ought to be left out here;

manner.