vantages which this will confer upon you in the transaction of business, will be numberless, and of inestimable value. It will not only prevent you from falling into many a blunder yourself; but will also give you an influence among your brethren, and impart a weight to your opinion on points of order, which no man ought to deem of small value. Besides; in the course of the business an appeal to the “Form of Government" of the church often becomes necessary. If you have no copy of your own in your pocket, you must walk from one part of the house to another to obtain a sight of it. This, unavoidably, gives rise to noise and disorder. Only suppose a number of members in this destitute situation, and under the necessity of doing the same thing, and how much confusion becomes inevitable!

9. I would earnestly advise every young minister To SPEAK VERY LITTLE THE FIRST TWO OR THREE TIMES THAT HE OCCUPIES A SEAT IN THE HIGHER JUDICATORIES OF THE

CHURCH.

The late venerable Dr Rodgers of NewYork, often mentioned to me, that during the first two or three sessions of the old Synod(then the highest judicatory of our church) which he attended, when a young man, he never opened his lips, unless it were to ask a question, or, by a word or two, modestly to so

licit information. And he often expressed the deepest disgust, when he saw young men, the very first time they appeared in a Synod, or a General Assembly, making more frequent and longer speeches than, perhaps, any other individuals in the body. Many a young minister, in the outset of his official career, has lowered his own character for wisdom and discretion, a number of degrees, in the estimation of his brethren, by allowing himself to take such a course. So flagrant a violation of every principle of dignity and prudence is apt to be long remembered.

The art of transacting business wisely, expeditiously, and with suitable temper, in a deliberative assembly, is not to be learned in an hour, or a day. To do it well, requires close observation; considerable experience; watching the manner, course, and success of the best models; much attention to the discipline of our own feelings; and a frequent conning over of the lesson-which we are always slow to learn that other people have knowledge and wisdom, as well as we; and that opposing us, is not, always, infallible testimony that our opponent is wrong. All this requires time.

The first two sessions of ecclesiastical bodies. that you attend, then, are by no means too much for you to pass as a close, vigilant, silent learner. Rely on it, for any young min

ister to wish that distinguished precocity should mark his efforts as a speaker in church courts, is seldom-never wise.

Your own good sense, my dear Sir, will readily suggest to you, that the general rule which I have here laid down, is, in some cases, at least, to be followed with much allowance, Sometimes a very young minister may be the only member present from a quarter of the church from which important information is desired. In this case, he must give it, or it cannot be received. It may happen, too, that when a deeply interesting cause is about to be decided, a member who attends for the first time, may be in possession of facts and views in relation to it which appear to him exceedingly important in leading to a just decision. In such a case he certainly ought not to shrink from the task of imparting them. But, in all cases whatsoever, in which a very young member rises in a Synod, or in a General Assembly, let it be manifest that he does it reluctantly. Let it be seen that he is actuated by an unavoidable call of duty. Let modesty and humility mark every word he utters. there be no impassioned oratory, no positiveness, and no reference to what has been said by others, but with the most filial respectful

ness.

Let

10. During the first ten years of your minis

try, do not, in ordinary cases, rise to express your opinion in church judicatories, UNTIL YOU

HAVE HEARD SOME OF

THE MORE AGED AND EXPERIENCED EXPRESS THEIR'S. If there be any situation in which we should suffer age to speak, and grey hairs to teach wisdom, it is in church courts, where experience and piety are the best counsellors. In the earlier periods of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, young men seldom rose to speak until they were invited by the Moderator, and never until a number of their superiours in age had previously delivered their judgments.—In later times the practice has been in a considerable degree different in that respectable body. In the Associations of New England, a very dignified example in this respect has been long set, and is still, it is believed, retained. My advice is that you imitate this example. The more carefully and uniformly you do so, the more likely will you be to judge wisely, to speak to the purpose, and to prove a blessing instead of a nuisance in every church court in which you appear.

11. GUARD AGAINST VERY FREQUENT, OR VERY LONG SPEAKING, IN

RIES, AT ANY AGE.

ECCLESIASTICAL

JUDICATO

No member of any deliberative assembly, either ecclesiastical or civil, ever allowed himself to be a very frequent, or a very long

speaker, without depressing his influence, and of course diminishing the respect with which he was heard. Whatever a man's talents may be, he must not be upon his feet on every question or he will soon be made to feel that he cannot command the undivided and respectful attention of his audience on any question.

The celebrated Dr. Witherspoon spoke very seldom in church courts; and his speeches were very rarely longer than from ten to twenty-five or thirty minutes. He gener

ally waited until he had heard a number of other speakers, and until, from the debates on both sides, he was confident that he was in possession of all the principal facts, and of the principal arguments on which each party relied. Hence his speeches were always directly to the purpose; never tedious; and commonly in a high degree lucid and convincing. He was able, in this way, to disentangle the most complicated subjects, and to take the most impartial views; and seldom failed of carrying with him a large majority of the body. Few men, indeed, can be compared with Dr. Witherspoon, who was entitled and expected to take the lead in every assembly of which he was a member, and who was, in every view, warranted in reserving himself for important occasions. Every one, of course, is not qualified to aim at that which he, often, most happily