pressive of unceasing vigilance. To rival the diligence of the merchant, who labours with unwearied toil to obtain the pearl of great priceto have our loins always girt, like the traveller, who pursues his journey with unremitting earnestness-to run the race with the anxious solicitude of a candidate for the Pythian or the Olympic wreath-such are the images employed to illustrate the toils, and the difficulties, of our Christian vocation.

The ambition of pleasing his Creator (and what more glorious ambition can sway the mind of man?) should impel every individual to aspire after the highest attainments of goodness. How elevated, therefore, should be the character of that order of men, which is more immediately set apart for the service of God! To all the disciples of Christ the direction in the text is applicable; but more emphatically so to the appointed dispensers of his Word. And surely it was never more seasonable than in the present age, when the most important truths of Revelation have been boldly contradicted, and the inspiration of the Sacred Writings only not denied; when those writings have been rudely

* Cùm omnes omninò disciplinam tenere oporteat, multò magis præpositos et diaconos curare hoc fas est, qui exemplum et documentum cæteris de conversatione et moribus suis præbeant. (Cyprian. Epist. 62, § 2.)

mangled by the licentiousness of criticism*, and the Gospel of the eternal Son of God nearly reduced to a level with the Koran of Mohammed. Some happy effects, indeed, have hence originated, as evil is frequently productive of good. Of the lucubrations of those persons, who lift up the hand of parricide against that Church to whose bounty they owe their bread, it is sufficient to observe, that they speedily sink into obscurity. The incessant exertions of the avowed enemies of our faith have incited pious and learned men to examine the grounds, and defend the cause, of our common Christianity †. To the laboured apology of one author, and the heterogeneous compositions of another, we owe the successful efforts of true genius and profound erudition.

* Every encomium is due to the judicious and temperate criticisms of a Lowth and a Kennicott, a Blayney and a Newcome on the Old, and of an Owen and a Barrington on the New Testament. The rash hand which, against the authority of MSS. and with all the temerity of conjecture, dares to erase whole chapters, with a view merely to support the hypothesis of the present moment, is here alluded to.

+"It has pleased the divine wisdom never yet to leave Christianity wholly at leisure from opposers; but to give it's professors that perpetual exercise of their industry and zeal. And who can tell if, without such adversaries to rouse and quicken them, they might not in a long tract of time have grown remiss in the duties, and ignorant in the doctrines, of religion?" (Dr. Bentley's Sermon at a public Commencement at Cambridge.)

Need I to add, that the endeavours of a wellknown Historian to sully the purity of our holy Religion have given birth to many truly-valuable publications, in which it's transcendent excellence is powerfully asserted and happily confirmed. And here one rule obviously suggests itself to our notice. The most accomplished critic of antiquity has advised those, who are desirous of excelling in composition, to inquire how the best authors would have expressed themselves on the subjects before them; and thus to catch the spirit, as it were, of these inestimable writers*. Let the same lesson be observed in the regulation of our conductt. Amidst the wild extravagance of opinions, and the open profligacy of manners, which almost every where prevail, when we see the essential doctrines of our Church attacked by the sneer of profaneness-in these and similar cases, let us reflect how ST. PAUL, or ST. JOHN would have acquitted themselves: how the first would have discovered the most fervent zeal in the cause of his Religion, and the latter would have breathed the genuine spirit of charity and love. Or if the examples of men particularly favoured with the influx of divine grace be

* Longin. de Sublim. § 14.

+ Epict. Enchirid. 51. Aliquis vir bonus nobis eligendus est, ac semper ante oculos habendus; ut sic tanquam illo spectante vivamus, et tanquam illo vidente faciamus. (Senec. Epist. xi.)

deemed too elevated for us, let the pattern of the venerable HOOKER*, or the devout HERBERT †, be ever before us. Animated by their trulyapostolical labours, let us endeavour to exhibit in ourselves a faithful transcript of their humility, their placid and sanctified learning, and their pious and primitive deportment. In the history of their lives, as in a polished mirror, we behold the lovely union of those qualities, which adorn the temper and exalt the character of a Christian Pastor. What though neglect, or obloquy, or contempt should be our portion? Such, also, has been the portion of the best of men. Even our blessed Lord himself experienced the bitterness of wrath, and the virulence of censure. How then dare we, his humble followers, hope to

* May I be allowed to adduce the well-known testimony formerly given to the literary merit of this excellent person? The learned Doctor Sanderson having read to Pope Clement VIII. Hooker's first book of Ecclesiastical Polity' in Latin, his Holiness said, "There is no learning that this man hath not searched into; nothing too hard for his understanding. This man, indeed, deserves the name of an author: his books will get reverence by age; for there are in them such seeds of eternity, that if the rest be like this, they shall continue till the last fire shall devour all learning."

+ It will not surely be deemed presumptuous to recommend the diligent perusal of the little Tractate, entitled "A Priest to the Temple," published by Mr. George Herbert. The simplicity of language, and the fervor of piety, which pervade this work, abundantly compensate some singularities observable in it, which may be attributed to the age in which it was written.

escape the same injurious treatment? But let not this prompt us to a relaxation in our endeavours. Let not our light be, in consequence, rashly and hastily extinguished. Rather let it continue to spread it's benign influence around us with unabated lustre.

The Church of England has long been happy, and I trust will ever continue so, under the government of wise and good men; while her parochial clergy have generally merited the highest applause by their learning, their piety, and their moderation. We may affirm, however, without incurring the imputation of temerity, that such bright examples have not conduced to lessen the quantity of vice and profaneness in the degree which might reasonably have been anticipated. And it is painful to remark that, in spite of the exertions of some few individuals, more energetic means are still wanting to produce an extensive and permanent reform. But shall this discourage us? Shall our zeal be slackened, from a notion that the times cannot bear any vigorous display of it? This would be to conduct the work of God by the short-sighted maxims of worldly policy. Our assiduity should never be at a stand. It becomes us, with the ardour of Nehemiah and his faithful builders, to be continually upon our guard. While we dispense the lessons of instruction to the people, and press upon them the necessity of a good life, it is our duty