" be procured a sufficient number of pastors for the "supply of our churches. To which I answer; "that it would be abundantly better to expose our"selves to this inconvenience, than to violate the A small num"express laws of the written word. "ber of chosen pastors is preferable to a multitude “of unqualified teachers." [One Elijah was more powerful than all the prophets of Baal.] "At all ha “zards, we must adhere to the command of God, "and leave the event to providence. But, in reality, "this deaths of pastors is not so generally to be ap"prehended. To reject those candidates for holy "orders, whose labours in the church would be al"together fruitless, is undoubtedly a work of piety; "and such alone would be repulsed by the appre "hension of a severe scrutiny and an exact disci"pline. Others, on the contrary, who are in a con"dition to fulfil the duties of the sacred office, would “take encouragement from this exactness and se"verity; and the ministry would every day be ren"dered more respectable in the world." Behold an answer truly worthy an apostolical man!

If it still be objected, by the generality of pastors, that what we require is as unreasonable, as it is unusual: Permit me to ask you, my lukewarm brethren, whether it be not necessary, that you should use the same diligence in your sacred profession, with which your neighbours are accustomed to labour, in their worldly vocations and pursuits?

The fisherman prepares a variety of lines, hooks, and baits; he knows the places, the seasons, and even the hours, that are most favourable to his employment; nor will he refuse to throw his line several hundred times in a day. If he is disappointed in one place, he cheerfully betakes himself to another; and if his ill success is of any long continuance, he will associate with those, who are greater masters of his Tell me then, ye pastors, who make the business of a fisherman the amusement of many an idle

art.

hour, do you really imagine, that less ardour and perseverance are necessary to prepare souls for Heaven, than to catch trout for your table.

The huntsman rejoices in expectation of the promised chase. He denies himself some hours of usual repose, that he may hasten abroad in pursuit of his game. He seeks it with unwearied attention, and follows it from field to field with encreasing ardour. He labours up the mountain : he rushes down the precipice : penetrates the thickest woods, and overleaps the most threatening obstacles. He practises the wildest gestures, and makes use of the most extravagant language: endeavouring by every possible means, to animate both dogs and men in the furious pursuit. He counts the fatigues of the chase among the number of its pleasures: and through the whole insignificant business of the day, he acts with as much resolution and fervour, as though he had undertaken one of the noblest enterprizes in the world.

The fowler with equal eagerness pursues his dif ferent game. From stubble to stubble, and from cover to cover he urges his way. He pushes through the stubborn break, and takes his way along the pathless dingle: he traverses the gloomy mountain, or wanders devious over the barren heath: and, after carrying arms all day, if a few trifling birds reward his toil, he returns rejoicing home.

Come, ye fishers of men! who, notwithstanding your consecration to God, are frequently seen to partake of these,contemptible diversons ; come, and answer by your conduct, to the following questions. Is the flock committed to your charge, less estima ble than the fowl, which you so laboriously pursue? Or are you less interested in the salvation of your people, than in the destruction of those unhappy quadrupeds, which give you so much silly fatigue, and afford you so much brutal pleasure?

Permit me, still further, to carry on my argu ment. Was the panting animal which usually accompanies your steps in the last-mentioned exercise, incautiously to plunge into a dangerous pit; though faint with the labours of the day, and now on your return, would you carelessly leave him to pe rish? Would you not, rather, use every effort to extricate him from apparent death: Could you even sleep or eat, till you had afforded him every possi ble assistance? And yet, you eat, you sleep, you visit; nay, it may be, you dance, you hunt, you shoot; and that without the least inquietude, while your flocks are rushing on from sin to sin, and falling from precipice to precipice. Ah' if a thousand souls are but comparable to the vilest animal, and if these are heedlessly straying through the ways of perdition, may we not reasonably exhort you to use every effort in preserving them from the most alarming danger, and in securing them from the hor rors of everlasting death?

But, passing by those amusements, which so generally engage your attention, let me reason with you from one of the most laborious occupations of life. You are called to be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ." And can you possibly imagine, that less resolution and patience are required in a spiritual warrior, than in an earthly soldier? Behold the mercenary, who, for little more than food and clothing, is preparing to go on his twentieth campaign! Whether he is called to freeze beneath the pole, or to melt under the line, he undertakes the appointed expedition with an air of intrepidity and zeal. Loaded with the weapons of his warfare, he is harrassed out with painful marches: and after enduring the excessive fatigues of the day, he makes his bed upon the rugged earth, or perhaps, passes the comfortless night under arms. In the day of battle, he advances against the enemy amid a shower of bullets, and is anxious, in the most tremendous scenes to

give proofs of an unconquerable resolution. If, through the dangers of the day, he escapes unhurt, it is but to run the hazard of another encounter; perhaps, to force an entrenchment, or to press through a breach. Nothing, however, discourages him; but, covered with wounds, he goes on unrepining to meet the mortal blow. All this he suffers, and all this he performs in the service of his superiors, and with little hope of advancement on his own part.

Behold this dying veteran, ye timorous soldiers of an omnipotent prince! and blush at your want of spiritual intrepidity. Are you not engaged in the cause of humanity, and in the service of God? Are you not commissioned to rescue captive souls from all the powers of darkness? Do you not fight beneath his scrutinizing eye, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords? Are you not contending within sight of eternal rewards, and with the hope of an unfading inheritance? And will you complain of difficulties, or tremble at danger? Will you not only avoid the heat of the engagement, but even dare to withdraw from the standard of your sovereign Lord? Let me lead you again into the field; let me drag you back to the charge: or, rather, let me shame your cowardice, by pointing you to those resolute commanders, who have formerly signalized themselves under the banners of your Prince. Emulate their example and you shall share their rewards.

But if, hitherto, you have neither contemplated the beauty, nor experienced the energy of those truths, by which St. Paul was animated to such acts of heroism; it is vain, that we exhort you to shine among the foremost ranks of christians, as inextinguishable lights, holding up, against every enemy, as a twoedged sword, the word of everlasting life. Instead of this, it will be necessary to place before you, the excellence, and efficacy of this Apostle's doctrines, together with the infinite advantages, which they procure to those, who cordially embrace them. And this we

shall endeavour to do in the second part of this work. Mean-while, we will conclude this first part, with a short exhortation from Chrysostom's fifty-ninth sermon upon St. Matthew. Since the "present life is a continual warfare; since we are "at all times surrounded by an host of enemies, "Jetus vigorously oppose them, as our royal "chieftain is pleased to command. Let us fear nei"ther labour nor wounds, nor death. Let us all con"spire mutually to assist and defend one another. "And let our magnanimity be such, as may add "firmness to the most resolute, and give courage " to the most cowardly.''

END OF THE FIRST PART.