tions with which the Gospel furnishes us, to entice them from the paths of folly, and the ways of sin; if we do not, "in season, and out of season, reprove, exhort, entreat;" if, content with not doing wrong ourselves, we think our duty discharged, by tacitly disapproving, or gently, condemning, offences against God, and crimes against society, we are not Pastors of the flock; our inactive and lethargic virtue, will be an abomination in the sight of God. Let us not deceive ourselves; regularity of conduct, in a Minister of the Gospel, does not, as some seem to think, sanction indolence; because his people lose the effect of that zeal, which his example would more strongly have enforced besides, however irreproachable his demeanor he has no more than the appearance of piety; he is, in the sight of God, "dead whilst he "liveth :" his regularity of life lulls him into a state of dangerous security; but a piercing sound, and the clamours of the souls of those, who, through his means, have perished, will, one day, awaken him from his languor, will find him with horror, and overwhelm him with dread; he quiets his mind, because he compares the regularity by which he is distinguished, with the dissipation for which some of his brethren may be notorious; but he will see, that his righteousness, was only the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.

How! my brethren, could a Minister of Christ, sent to do his work upon earth, to hasten the building of the heavenly city, and the happiness of the

Saints, observe the kingdom of Satan prevail over the empire of his Master, in that part of the people committed to his charge, and continue unmoved in his mind, and inactive in his functions? But, although vice should not be prevalent in his parish, were he a witness of it in other men, and there remained in his heart one spark of love for his Redeemer, he could not but mourn in secret ; he could not but address himself to God, in anguish of spirit, that he would, in his mercy, impress all unthinking mortals with the bitterness of remorse, and a resolution of amendment: nay, ought he not to exercise the authority, with which the dignity of the Priesthood invests him, to endeavour to inspire those who have forsaken the law of the Lord, with just sentiments of Religion? And would not such a Minister betray his ministerial trust, should a criminal insensibility, or a timid prudence, suppress his feelings, and close his mouth? Could such an one believe himself innocent? But, if observing the same profligacy in his own parish, he should appear equally insensible, would his regularity of conduct dispel his apprehensions, and calm his mind? Can a shepherd see his flock falling into a pit, without running to them, and at least making them hear his voice? for, should only one stray from the fold, it is his proper business, and his incumbent duty, to traverse the mountains, and undergo the greatest hardships, that he may recover it, and bring it back.-No! Such an one is not a shepherd, he is an hireling; he is not a Minister of Jesus Christ, he usurps the

honourable title; and, notwithstanding the idea he may entertain of his own righteousness, he is a vessel of reprobation, and of dishonour, placed in the sanctuary of God.

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But many, it is objected, are so impatient of reproof, so untractable, and so rude, that a Clergyman would expose himself to the mortification of insult, and the brutality of insolence, should he attempt to reform the abuses which he discovers among them. What! my Reverend Brethren, can the enormity of the evil become an excuse and apology for indifference to it? Your parishioners are rude and untractable ! It is for this that very reason, should redouble your cares, and persist in your importunity, in order that you may soften their hearts, and reform their manners: . zeal would be useless, were the exercise of it confined to moderated tempers, and gentle minds: when you perceive those, for whom you must give account, rebellious to the truth, you should allow yourselves no rest, enjoy no comfort, so long as they continue in their criminal dispositions. Because your parishioners have an higher claim upon your paternal solicitude, do you, therefore, think yourselves absolved from the exercise of it? Would you become an useless, ́idle labourer, because the harvest is abundant? Would the Gospel have been disseminated through the world, and the cross of Christ have triumphed over kings and people, had the apostolical men, who preceded us, been disheartened

by the opposition and deterred by the obstacles, interposed through the pride of learning, and menaced by the arrogance of power? What would have been our situation, had the difficulties, insurmountable to human prudence, abated their zeal, and silenced their efforts; and if, in the persuasion of finding us untractable and savage, they had, unhappily, left us in the darkness of our original ignorance? You dread the difficulties; but what has the Minister to dread, who fulfils, with credit to himself, and edification to others, the office which he has accepted? What! contempt, calumny, perverseness? Were such the return he met with-did his people "requite him hatred for his good will" towards them; he would not even, in such a case be without his consolations. What! Insults and provications ?-Proceeding from such a cause, would they not be the most honourable seal of his apostleship? But blessed, for ever "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath called us to this holy calling;" we live in an age in which we are not only authorized by the state, but encouraged by our congregations, to explain the doctrines of the Gospel to the understanding, and to enforce the precepts of it on the heart.

Besides, those whom we represent as so uncultivated in their manners, and so ungovernable in their tempers, seldom shew themselves perverse and violent towards an edifying and zealous Minister. They revere the virtue of a man of God:

rude as they may be, in their deportment, and gross in their conceptions, they are not without a certain degree of the fear of God: their mind is not prepossessed, nor their heart vitiated by the insinuations of scepticism, and the maxims of irreligion, both of which are, unhappily, too prevalent where luxury prevails, or dissipation abounds; they fear, and still reverence, the God whom they offend; and our exhortations are received with more submission, and productive of happier effects, in villages, than in cities and towns, where learning has puffed up some, and wealth intoxicated

others.

Say not, my Reverend Brethren, that morals have undergone an entire change; that the simplicity, for which we esteemed a great part of society, has degenerated into unrestrained licentiousness; that profligacy has with such overwhelming rapidity passed from towns to villages, that we know not how to undertake to re-establish order, and a love of the ordinances of religion; that, when our parishes were less corrupt, a clergyman might hope for success from his labours; but that, at this day, almost all have corrupted their ways, and that indifference to religion, and contempt of heaven, are so visible in the conduct of men, of all ages and conditions, as greatly to discourage, and almost entirely to deter, a Minister of the Gospel from making any attempt at a general, or even an individual, reformation.-Now, allowing this to be true, the question which naturally arises is, whence