more respectable in the eyes of men, then not to suffer himself to be diverted, by the most importunate solicitations, from the duties of his calling? than to act upon the persuasion, that all the time which he unnecessarly gives to the world, is so much time which he alienates from the building of the holy Jerusalem, and which delays the accomplishment of the work of God upon earth?

IV. In the fourth place, the spirit of our ministry is a spirit of Knowledge. "The lips of the "priest," says the Scripture, "should keep knowledge, and the people should seek the law at "his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord "of Hosts.” We are commanded to read, with attention, the Sacred Volume, devoting to it all the labour of application, and fatigue of study, which the profound subjects contained in it demand; we are to be supported by the bread of life, derived from the heavenly writings; we are to adorn the inward part of our souls with the law of God, as the Jewish priests ornamented the outside of their garments. The Holy Scriptures are the substance, the foundation, of the Christian priesthood. The Ministers of the Gospel have been sometimes compared to the two great lights which are placed in the firmament, to rule over the day, and over the night; over the day, in directing the faith and confirming the piety of Christians; and over the night, in enlightening the darkness of error, and expelling the evils of unbelief. We are the interpreters of the law, appointed of God tọ

resolve the doubts of his people, and to make known his will; the guardians of the Church, in the midst of the schisms which divide, of the troubles which afflict, and of the malignity which distracts it.

Fulfil now, if it be possible, these important duties, in the midst of pursuits which alienate, and of engagements which corrupt, the mind; for the knowledge required of a Clergyman is essential to, and inseparable from, a right and conscientious discharge of the sacred ministry. Now, nothing is more adverse to the love of study, than the love of the world; its pleasures and dissipations first suppress, and afterwards extinguish, the taste for reading, and the loye of meditation; if we would possess and indulge an inclination to read, we must have a mind accustomed to think, to meditate, to be collected within itself; we must feel an ardent desire progressively to advance in useful learning, and professional knowledge; we must so arrange our life, and regulate our time, as to be able to give an account to ourselves, whether the parts of the day appointed for serious study and ministerial avocations, be uniformly applied to the intended purpose. For the want of this proper arrangement of time, and the right application of it, we see some Clergymen more conversant with the nature of diversions, of amusements, and of secular business, than with their professional duties: hence too many, who, by an ignorance of their profession, disgrace the sacred character. When

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once study is neglected, piety declines. The love of books, alone, my Reverend Brethren, can render you superior to the love of diversions; and so long as you do not find within yourselves a resource for indolence, the diversions of the world will, it is too probable, become essential to your happiness; you will not be able to live without them. In vain you may prescribe to yourselves fixed limits, and certain rules; in vain you may form resolutions of appropriating your time in part to your studies, and in part to your amusements: the love of the world will encrease every day, and in proportion as it encreases, the love of books will decline, and knowledge, professional knowledge, will cease to be estimable. Not only so, but your dislike to the study of the Holy Scriptures will hourly gain ground; you will not be able to support a moment of severe application, or serious reading; and idleness and dissipation will have such an ascendancy over your pursuits and habits, that whatever remains of your profession will serve but to reproach and condemn you.

V. The spirit of our ministry is, in the last place, a spirit of Piety. By a spirit of piety, I mean, not only innocence of manners, but that peace of conscience, that love of God, which the very appearance of evil disquiets and alarms: the spirit of piety is the great support of our ministry. We may be said to live under its sacred influence. In the midst of our congregations, in the preaching of

the word, in private prayer, and in the study of the Scriptures, we employ our time; and if such pursuits fail to maintain in our hearts the love of God, and to produce the most salutary effects on our conduct, wretched men that we are, "who "shall deliver us from the wrath to come!"

A life in which the love of the world is. predominant, is incompatible with that dignified and edi fying piety, which should be the distinguishing characteristic of the sacred ministry; it is this spirit of piety alone which can ensure to us utility. For, after having freely mixed in the diversions and follies of the world, can you appear in a Chris tian pulpit impressed with a sense of the importance of the Gospel, and zealous for its success? With what face can you speak of the perils to which we are exposed in the world, of the snares which the Devil lays to beguile our innocence, of the necessity of prayer, of vigilance, of the account we are to render of an unprofitable life, and of all those evangelical graces which are indispensably requisite to adorn our christian character, when scarce a vestige of them can be discerned in your own? in order to "preach Christ, and him cruci"fied," we, like the Apostles, must be "cruci"fied with Christ," dead to the affections and lusts of the world; in order to inspire a love of God, and of the things of heaven, we must possess that love ourselves; in order to impress the hearts of our hearers, we must be actuated by similar impressions. Now, should you even

speak in the pulpit with an apparent zeal, should you pronounce the most lively, affecting, and eloquent, expressions, in what view do you wish to be considered by your hearers? What alternate emotions of shame, of pity, and contempt, will they not feel, when they hear you deplore the prevailing degeneracy of morals? Will not your lamentations sound in their ears as the artificial lamentations of a theatre? You will, it may be, appear to them as having acted your part well; and all the holiness, all the majesty, all the terror of the Gospel, will be no more in their estimation, than a profane exhibition of despicable vanity; no more than the result of a classical judgment, and a refined taste.

It is not easy, indeed, to support, in the midst of the world, all the decorum of our ministry. Success in our calling is only attached to ardor of zeal, and innocence of manners. The appearance of a Minister of the Gospel in places of public diversions, common prudence, therefore, dictates should be rare. In exhibiting ourselves in every place of entertainment, we lose the reverence which is interwoven with our character: it is dif ficult to be every moment on our guard;-and the smallest deviation from the path of propriety, is misrepresented by calumny, and exaggerated by malevolence, into a sin of the deepest dye. It easy to lose, it is difficult to preserve, our respectability, when we enter into the public amusements of life; and, although we do not imitate

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