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An Ordination Address. Delivered at Holywell Mount Chapel, to the Rev. J. Andrews, Missionary to Jamaica.

DEAR BROTHER,-When the Divine Master sent forth "his twelve disciples" to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," his memorable words to them were these, Matt. x. 16: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Now, if such counsel was tendered to those who had "power given them over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease," and who, when they were "brought before governors and kings" for Christ's sake, were to "take no thought how or what they should speak," because it was to "be given them in that same hour what they should speak," I think you will readily admit its peculiar appropriateness to the ordinary and uninspired missionary, as he proceeds to his difficult and arduous work, in states of society requiring, on his part, an amount of sagacity and character equal to that of the twelve when they went forth among their own unbelieving and prejudiced countrymen. If the modern missionary of the cross is stripped of all miraculous equipment,-if he is to look for no preternatural signs in the fulfilment of his mission,-if he has no original message to deliver, but one of which all may judge who have the Bible and are able to read it,-it must follow as a consequence, that he, of all men, should be "wise as the serpent, and harmless as the dove."

In the first age of the gospel, it was necessary that miraculous gifts should be imparted to accredit both the messengers and their message; but this once done, never required to be repeated, the simple testimony of it in the inspired records being equal in force to the prevalence of standing miracles in the church. We have lost nothing by the cessation of miracles, inasmuch as the progressive triumphs of the gospel, through a succession of ages, and in various countries,

are more than a compensation for the mere temporary and local display of miraculous power.

But if miracles are now withheld because no longer necessary, it is an unspeakable consolation to the Christian teacher, at home and abroad, that be is not deprived of the promised presence of his Lord, nor of the promised power of his Spirit, to give effect to the message of reconciliation, which it is his work and his delight to proclaim. The assurance, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world," is the stay and confidence of Christ's faithful servants wherever they are called to lift high the banner of the cross, and to point guilty men to "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

In proceeding, however, on their mission of mercy, it cannot be too strongly impressed upon the minds of Christ's servants, whether with or without miraculous qualification, that they are to look well to the character of the field which is given them to cultivate, and to the state of mind which they are to bring to bear on their work. Apostles themselves, with all their high endowments, and with all their miraculous aid, were not permitted by their Divine Lord and Master to overlook these essential elements. He apprised the twelve, when he commissioned them for their high service, of the kind of treatment they were to expect to meet with, and of the states of mind with which they were to be prepared to cope with it. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

Now, dear brother, your first DUTY

WILL BE, TO ESTIMATE Aright the pOSI-
TION YOU ARE CALLED TO OCCUPY.

You go, as a missionary, under this Society, to the West Indies; and although the difficulties of your sphere will not be what they would have been twenty years

ago, when slavery with all its myriad crimes existed; yet you must not forget that that accursed thing has entailed upon our colonies in the West a train of evils, which it will require years, if not ages, to eradicate.

may find, as others have done before you, that, forgetting "what spirit you are of," an advantage will be secured by your enemies, which neither you nor the Directors of this Society can ever take from them.

Let me impress you, dear brother, with the necessity and importance of being duly prepared to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Irrespective of all local difficulties which may pertain to particular stations, it seems next to demonstrable, that the missionary is not at all qualified for his work who is not prepared to take upon himself a large share of hardship and self-denial, in fulfilling the duties of his mission. The man who would look for ease and exemption from trial in the missionary field, is not the individual whom this or any other society could look to for great and devoted service. The softnesses of life must be relinquished by him who would be an imitator of Christ and his apostles, and who would expect when he dies to be ranked with those men of renown who have been willing "to endure all things for the elect's sake." Missionary societies were never formed for the purpose of destroying the finest specimens of missionary

By the sincere converts connected with your station you will be welcomed with heartfelt gladness to your post of labour, and among the coloured population in general you will find that the missionary is regarded as a benefactor and a friend; -but these are the very reasons which, with certain other minds, will constitute you an object of distrust and jealousy. Though slavery has ceased, the old spirit of domination in which it originated, and by which it was upheld, has not yet expired; and the missionary who goes to the West must make up his mind to bear that measure of the cross which the cir❘ cumstances of the case may naturally involve. In such a country he is not to expect, with all the success which has attended missionary effort, that his path will be smooth and easy before him; but will rather look for great difficulties, and prepare to meet them in the spirit of his office. When the apostles were commissioned to their work, they were sent forth "as sheep amongst wolves;" an intimation at once fixing their own cha-character; and whenever the reliance racter, and predictive of the opposition with which they would have to contend. With well-defined law on your side, and with the spirit of British liberty in your heart, you must nevertheless proceed to your station with strong convictions of the difficulties which attach to the position of a West Indian missionary, and with the resolute purpose, that, if there are wolves in the field before you, they shall find in you, not the lion or the tiger to resist their onset, but the meek and unoffending lamb, whom it would be the height of cowardice to assail. If difficulties arise, in this state of mind, you will be sustained in the colony and by your brethren at home; but if you place yourself in a hostile attitude to those who might seek occasion to damage both your character and your work, you

they create tempts a man to shrink from the hardships of his calling, and to look at missionary life as sphere of easy and elegant preferment, rest assured, that, in so far as this is done, their design is perverted, and their benefit, in a great measure, rendered nugatory.

No, my brother, you must expect to be called on daily to crucify yourself. Your best motives will be misapprehended, and your best actions traduced; but this will be part of the cross which you are gracefully to bear, and to bear with unruffled meekness and gentleness; for the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle toward all men; patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover

themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." If I understand your position aright, dear brother, this night you offer yourself a willing sacrifice upon the altar of missionary service; you part with country, and home, and friends, that you may "spend and be spent for Christ," under a burning sun, and for the salvation of an interesting and long-oppressed and injured race. And though "a great door and effectual" has been opened to the missionaries of the cross among that people, you go to your sphere of labour with a deep sense of the many perplexities and difficulties connected with your mission;—with the full view of the enmity of worldly-minded planters, to the spiritual objects which you seek to accomplish; with a due estimate of the infirmity of character which pertains to the immediate objects of your mission ;-and with a determination to sink all other considerations in the maintenance of that meek, and lowly, and self-denying habit of mind which belongs to him who is fitted to labour with advantage among the coloured population of the West. But, II. NEXT TO A PROPER ESTIMATE OF

THE

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POSITION YOU ARE CALLED TO OCCUPY, WILL BE THE ATTRIBUTES OF MIND AND HEART YOU BRING TO BEAR ON YOUR WORK.

You mus be wise as the serpent, and harmless as the dove. And if ever this rule was of importance, I believe it to be pre-eminently so, in reference to the state of society which exists in the West Indies.

1. Be wise, then, my brother, as the serpent. You will have to encounter, unless you are exempted from the trials of your honoured brethren and fathers in the work, with cold, unfriendly, and it may be, cruel men. Your innocence will not always be your protection. In such circumstances you will require a large share of practical wisdom, and sound discretion and forethought, to avoid collisions and dangers which might prove fatal to your success. The image employed by our Lord, to enforce upon

his disciples the idea which I now seek to convey to your mind, is strikingly appropriate to the occasion on which it was employed. In the face of all that Dr. Adam Clarke has said to the contrary, it may be affirmed with confidence, that ever since the devil, in the form of a serpent, tempted our first mother Eve, that reptile, or the class to which it belongs, has been the emblem of wisdom and cunning. It is well known that the serpent finds a place in the Egyptian hieroglyphics as the symbol of wisdom, "The serpent," we read, "was more subtle than any beast of the field." And the Vishnú Púrana, of the Hindoos, recognising the wisdom of the serpent, declares that the serpent tribe sprung from the head of Brahma. It is needless, however, to dwell upon the truth of a statement which had grown, in the days of our Lord, into almost proverbial He did not resort to a figure of speech which the disciples would not understand, and which had no foundation in the actual facts of the case. It could not be the venomous or cruel qualities of the serpent that our Lord intended his disciples to imitate. The quality referred to by him is expressly named. It is the wisdom of the serpent they are to cultivate. Now, it is well known, that most of the serpent tribes are remarkable for the rapidity and skill which they evince in escaping from any threatened danger. May not this be the express point upon which our Lord intended to fix the penetrated attention of his disciples, in proceeding to accomplish a mission of mercy among hostile powers?

use.

Dear brother, the greatest caution and circumspection will be necessary in avoiding that collision of feeling, and those misunderstandings of motive and conduct, to which the missionary is peculiarly exposed in that transition-state of society which obtains in the West. True, indeed, slavery is no more; and every man who sets his foot on British soil is free; but you would greatly err, were you to imagine that the effects of slavery had passed away, either from the

minds of those who once claimed property in their fellow-men; or in those who had so long borne the sad yoke of an unrighteous bondage. Nothing short of the wisdom of the serpent-in other words, nothing short of a wise and prudent estimate of the circumstances in which you will be placed, will preserve you from those practical blunders which have marred the peace and interrupted the usefulness of many a West Indian missionary. You will need large measures of sanctified wisdom and consummate prudence and forethought, that you may, without compromising the integrity of your character, walk in such a manner before adroit and eagle-eyed observers of your conduct, so as to deprive them of all reasonable occasion or opportunity for assailing your mission. In the exercise of this wisdom of the serpent, you will do well to discriminate between what belongs to your proper work, and what does not.

You will seldom interfere between the planters and their servants; and in matters of colonial politics, often very stormy and unprofitable, you will act a wise part in keeping that reserve, which few missionaries have violated without finding just cause for subsequent regret.

Nor will your wisdom and prudence be less in requisition for the direct objects of your mission. You have to act with brethren beloved, and you must ever pursue a line of conduct strictly brotherly, and such as may be calculated to conciliate their regard, and inspire their confidence and love. You cannot be wanting, to any great extent, in practical wisdom, without bringing the blush of shame over the countenances of your brethren, and who will suffer the inconvenience of any serious mistake which you may commit. Therefore, ponder well, my brother, the path of your goings; and let it be seen that all your plans are the result of deliberate thought, and of calm and holy decision, taken under a deep and prayerful sense of your responsibility to God, and to the interests of this great and holy cause. But,

2. You must be harmless as the dove.

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As you would be wise to anticipate and eschew danger, so must you be meek, and gentle, and unoffending, so as never to provoke danger. Whatever obloquy you may at any time be called to endure, you must make it your constant study never to rouse the anger and resentment of those who think meanly or wrongly of your office and your work. The dove has always been the chosen emblem of whatever in human character is gentle, inoffensive, and winning. Many, through mere folly, might destroy a serpent, though perfectly harmless; but he must be a man of wanton cruelty who would kill a dove. The missionary of the cross must be harmless as the dove; a pattern and an example of those gentle and benevolent qualities which will draw towards him the warm current of human affections, which will conciliate the favour of the restless and the turbulent, and which will ward off the assaults even of those who would seek occasion for blame. Nothing will more hide you from the strife of tongues, or shed a brighter lustre on your character, than this dove-like temper which the Master you serve enjoins you to cultivate. And if wisdom and gentleness are combined in your missionary career, how eminently will you be equipped for your work, and how invulnerable will you be to the assaults of those who would impede you in your progress, or seek to deprive you of your fair fame. With such elements of character combined in your daily walks of usefulness, you may meekly defy the power of the enemy; your wisdom will never degenerate into cunning, nor even into a cold and calculating prudence; nor, on the other hand, will your meekness and gentleness be confounded with feebleness of purpose, pusillanimity of feeling, or irresoluteness of character.

Go, then, brother, to your appointed sphere, clothed in these graces of the missionary calling. You have devoted yourself to the noblest of all undertakings, and you serve the best of all Masters. Arduous and consuming may be the struggle which awaits you; many and

overwhelming may be the dangers and difficulties which you will be called to surmount; but, with the truth of Christ on your lips and in your heart, with the spirit of Christ regulating your dispositions and moulding your conduct, and with the power and presence of Christ to cheer your spirit and succeed your enterprise, you may expect, whenever called to retire from the field of conflict, to be hailed as one who has been faithful unto death, and for whom there has been prepared a glorious and an immortal crown.

Go, my brother, to exalt your Saviour's name, in the distant and fair islands of the West; and while you unfold the mysteries of redeeming love to the once enslaved, but now free and happy labourers of the western soil, may a still

nobler freedom take hold of their spirits. May they be taught to glory in that liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free!

Go, dear brother, with your amiable and beloved partner in life, to the scene of your toils, your conflicts, and your hopes, with your trust firmly fixed in God, your heart glowing with love to your Redeemer, compassion for souls the very element of your being, and full confidence in your brethren at home, that they will think of you, pray for you, sympathize with you, in all your joys and sorrows, and, when you fall on the high places of the field, will drop a tear over your honoured grave, and tell to coming posterity that you were a faithful and devoted missionary of the cross.

ON COMMERCIAL

I HAVE often had occasion to notice the calm and prudent foresight of the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends. The Annual Address issued in the fifth month (May) 1845, contains much salutary counsel on the speculative state of affairs at that time, which has been followed by so many commercial disasters. Happy would it have been, if all the members of that society, as well as many others, who had the opportunity of reading it, had acted upon its wise and Christian contents. I send the paragraphs to which I particularly allude, in the hope they may be useful at the present time.

B.

Birmingham, 23rd of 10th month, 1847.

"Every period of life, every variety of circumstances, in the condition of man, has its peculiar temptations. The schemes now afloat for the employment of capital, some of them holding out the promise of large and rapid accumulation of wealth, render the present, to many, a day of great danger. Our desires are strong that those engaged in trade and commerce, and such as already possess a competency in life, may be duly aware of the snares which surround them; and that we all of us may stand open to the

SPECULATION.

secret checks of the Spirit of the Lord, which are at times sensibly felt within us, even whilst we are actively engaged in our daily avocations, and which would often hold us back from prosecuting our own purposes. And may those of our dear friends, whether in earlier or more advanced life, who may be endued with talents which seem peculiarly adapted to the affairs of this life, and whose temptation it may be to enter very largely into its concerns, duly appreciate this inward restraint thus graciously vouchsafed. This would set limits to the pursuit of the things that perish, and bring them to that quiet and contented mind, in which, taught of the Lord, they would see the infinite value of heavenly over earthly things, and seek to devote the whole man to him. The secret working of the Spirit of God within us—that which enlightens, reproves, condemns, and warns us- is amongst the chiefest blessings that he confers upon man. It is a gift for which we must render an account to the Giver; and happy will it be for those who, in the day of their visitation, have been brought by such means to Christ, and to a living interest in his great salvation.

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