as these are points with respect to which the usages of churches are not entirely uniform. In short, try to guard against their being taken by surprise, or embarrassed by any part of the service. In like manner, in the administration of the Lord's Supper, whether the communicants sit at tables or in pews, take care to have every thing so far prepared and adjusted beforehand, as that there may be nothing likely to occur to jar the feelings, to incommode, or to impair the solemnity of the scene. Let there be no undue haste ; no emission of what is necessary for the comfort of the communicants and others; but every thing studiously ordered in such a manner as to render the whole occasion, as far as possible, solemn, impressive, and edifying to all classes who may witness it.

ever

14. GUARD AGAINST MAKING YOUR PUBLICK SERVICES TOO LONG. The opposite to this advice is a fault which often occurs, and which is always unfriendly to edification. Whenweariness begins, edification terminates. It was well said by Whitefield, that a sermon of more than an hour long, though preached by an angel, would appear tedious, unless the hearers were angels too. Where there is more than one service statedly performed, no sermon ought ever, on an ordinary occasion, to be more than forty-five minutes in length; nor ought the whole service, at any

one time, to be longer than an hour and a half. And if, at any time, you are compelled, by special circumstances, to preach longer, let all the other parts of the service be, in a corresponding degree, abridged. Some ministers manifest a degree of thoughtlessness, or want of judgment, on this subject, truly wonderful. If at any time they are betrayed into an inordinate tediousness in their sermons, they seldom fail, at the same time, to make the portion of Scripture read, the prayers, and the psalms, all in like proportion tedious. This is extremely ill judged, and often interferes most essentially with the edification of many hearers. It appears to me proper to urge this advice with especial earnestness, in reference to those occasions on which the Lord's Supper is dispensed. At such peculiarly solemn and interesting seasons, when the services are, unavoidably, much longer than those of an ordinary sabbath, I have often been surprised to see clergymen take so little care to abridge those parts of the service which easily admit of being shortened. On such occasions, by making the sermon shorter than usual, and by lopping off a small portion from each of the other exercises, a very convenient length of the whole may be readily attained.

15. Never RENDER YOURSELF

REMARKABLE

BY CONTINUALLY MAKING A DISPLAY OF A WHITE

HANDKERCHIEF IN THE PULPIT. I say, by making a display of it. To have such a handkerchief if convenient, in the pulpit, and to use. it on proper occasions, and in a proper way, are by no means objectionable. But to hold it up frequently, and in a flourishing manner, as if to invite the notice of the congregation, is a practice unworthy of a man of sense. deed with regard to every part of your dress, or other appendage of your person, never allow it, on any occasion, to have the appearance of engaging a single thought.

In

16. When you have occasion to REPROVE

ANY DISORDERLY PERSON IN THE HOUSE

OF

GOD, GUARD AGAINST INDULGING OR BETRAYING IRASCIBLE FEELING. It is peculiarly unseemly, and out of season, for a minister of the gospel, in the pulpit, and in the very act of exhorting men to obey the commands of God, to lose his temper, and give way to that which may even possibly be regarded as an effusion of anger. Do not make your reproofs from the pulpit very frequent, or else they will become cheap. When you think yourself called in duty to administer a reproof, do it seriously and solemnly, but mildly. Sometimes it is best to come to a full stop, and look at the individual offending, in perfect silence, until every eye shall be directed toward him. At other times, be proper to request the sexton to attend

it

may

to those persons who are disturbing the congregation, and to direct them, if they cannot be persuaded to behave decently, to leave the assembly. Sometimes a pause, without naming or indicating any individual, and uttering a sentence or two on the importance of reverenceing the name and worship of Jehovah, may answer every purpose. The cases, I presume,

will ever be found few in which it can be necessary to administer a direct and personal rebuke. But, whatever may be the form of admonition which the case requires, deliver it in a grave, mild and gentle manner. Never attempt to taunt the offenders by sarcasm, or to turn the laugh on them by wit. This might do very well in a secular assembly; but is not proper for a minister of religion, and in the house of God.

17. Let your deportment IN QUITTING THE

PULPIT, AND WITHDRAWING FROM THE CHURCH,

be of the same general character with that which was recommended in approaching and entering it. Retire as soon as you can, gravely, silently, and alone. Discountenance the practice which I have known some ministers to indulge to a considerable extent; I mean that of stopping to converse with a number of individuals, at the close of the publick service; with some, as a mere matter of social respect and ceremony; with others, perhaps, on the subject of the

discourse just delivered; and with a third class on the subject of religion generally. In general, give no encouragement to any of these classes of persons to stop for the purpose of conversing with you at this unseasonable time. Not the first class; because mere social conversation is extremely apt, even on the sabbath, and in the house of God, to degenerate into worldly chat, before we are aware, and to banish from the mind the most solemn subjects of contemplation in which we may have been engaged. Not even, in ordinary cases, the second and third classes; because, although it may, on some special occasions, be your duty to gratify those who may wish to remain a few minutes, for the purpose of conversing with you, and it might appear morose to decline it; yet yielding to a practice of that kind, may be very injurious. At the close of the publick service, you will generally find yourself fatigued, and often exhausted. This is a very unfit condition in which to enter on conversation in reference to the most important of all subjects. And, frequently, has a minister, before he was aware, materially injured himself, by pausing to engage in conversation, while fatigued with a preceding service.

Besides, on the score of example, ministers ought, by all means, to be in the habit of retiring from the house of God to their l