the danger that deters me, but the hopelessness of a beneficial result. As we cannot charge any of the evils which exist in the American churches, to the tyranny ór usurpation of the civil government, it follows, of consequence, that all the evils which may exist in them, must be charged to their own account; and the burden of blan must at last devolve upon the shoulders of their officers. I see no use at present in analysing the corruptions and defects of the American churches; because I know, that those things, which I would be inclined to censure most severely, would, by each church in which they are found, be defended as her excellence and her glory. I shall, therefore, leave the present conditions and prospects of the American churches to your own serious consideration, with this simple caution. When you undertake to judge of the state and condition of any church, do not commence with the assumption, that her institutions are either right or wrong; for in the first case you will exhaust your ingenuity, in finding arguments of justification; and in the second case, you will busy yourself in inventing reasons to cherish a censorious propensity.

I shall, therefore, without entering into the Ameriean signs of the times, content myself with breathing a sincere prayer, that the American church may speedily purify herself in all respects, and reduce all things to the standard of a pure Bible church, (which is not the case at present in any of her branches) that she may be prepared to afford a safe asylum to that part of the European fugitives, who may chance to take this direction in escaping from the atheistic monster who is to arise in Europe.

CONCLUSION.

The conclusion of such a discourse, as the present, has for its object the ascertainment of those duties which are incumbent on ministers of the gospel, in times so portentous as those in which we live. We are the more interested in determining our duties at this day, as the present times are manifestly the introduction to an age of unheard and unparalleled apostacies, persecutions, and horrors; an age, which he who lives to see, both his ears shall tingle. Our duties, moreover, have a double aspect; they look towards ourselves, and towards posterity with equal regards. If rightly ascertained and discharged, they will not only secure to us the consolations of a good conscience in the present life, but also the approbation of our master in the judgment day, with a great recompense of reward; and they will extend down their influence to the succeeding age, by meliorating the condition of the christian church, and preparing her to sustain the tremendous shock which she is destined to experience. But if we of the present age should, through false pride and ignorant security; through indolence, and alienation from the labours incident to our office; or through the love of that species of popularity, which is most easily acquired, by flattering the age, that it is enlightened, wise, and virtuous; should we, through these or any other inducements, neglect the duties required of us as officers in the church of God, in existing circumstances; much more should we, through ignorance, or corrupt policy, attempt to give stability and permanency to existing abuses, we will leave our memory to

the execration of posterity, and forfeit our reward în the day of retribution. My own views of ministerial duty, under existing circumstances, are as follows.

1. The first duty which I would mention as incumbent on the ministers of the gospel at all times, and especially in times so full of important occurrences, and so pregnant with great events, as the present, is the duty of abounding in ministerial prayer; I say ministerial prayer, and shall explain my meaning. It is the command of God to all, "pray without ceasing" "praying always with all prayer and supplication for all men;" "watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation;" "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not;" "if any man be afflicted let him pray;" "in all things make your requests known unto God by prayer and supplication;" "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you;" "whatsoever two or three of you shall agree to ask upon earth, it shall be done unto you of my Father." Prayer, say the good old divines, is the crying of the new born infant. And the experience of the christian church in all ages, is, that prayerless persons are graceless persons; that prayerful christians are thriving christians; that coldness in prayer is a symptom of an uncomfortable christian; restraint in prayer, is the symptom of a tempted christian; neglect of prayer, is the symptom of a backsliding christian. I mention these things respecting the importance of prayer to all men and to all christians in general, in order to impress your minds, my brethren, and my own mind, with the unutterable importance of prayer in the system of man's salvation.

And these things have I said, only as an introduction to the importance of ministerial prayer, a subject, which though I expect it to be known to us all, yet I dare not assert, that we all, or indeed any of us, have been duly impressed with it. The ministerial office is of great extent, and the ministerial personage presents us with endless variety of profiles. It is well known, that we are the instructors of the church of God, that our mouths keep wisdom, and that men should ask the law at our lips. It is not disputed, that we are in the place of elders, and that like fathers among their children, our word should be received with reverence, until some one shall be able to prove that it is wrong. But that view of ministerial duty which I mean at present to exhibit, is different from all that has been mentioned. God has constituted ministers of the gospel the official intercessors of his church, and by consequence, the official intercessors of the human race. Even in the duty of prayer they are more than common christians. Not that I would foolishly insinuate, (for to folly not to vanity would the insinuation be referable) that ministers are better than other men. But the Lord Jesus has clothed them with the similitude of his own character. They stand between God and men, like the divine Mediator: turning their faces towards men they preach the gospel; they instruct, exhort, reprove, rebuke, threaten, encourage; and use every means which God has appointed to operate upon human nature with moralising effect. And then turning their faces toward Jehovah, seated upon his throne of grace, they supplicate him by every argument which he has put into their mouths, to have mercy upon his miserable guilty sons of men.

I

Let me put this ennobling idea of our office, beyond the reach, not only of contradiction, but of doubt. call upon you to contemplate the instance of Moses at Mount Sinai, when the Israelites had made their golden calf, and were worshipping it, that it might conduct them back into Egypt. Let me quote the passage, for I cannot bear to use my own language in narrating so sublime a subject.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them; and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people: Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."*

To those whom I address I need not enter into minute explanations; let me give you another quotation. It is from the murmuring of the spies, who were sent out to search the land of Canaan. "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke

*Exod. xxxii. 9-14.