tion, and, as such, are essential to salvation, and common to all the Lord's children-that the latter are not intended for the salvation of those to whom they are imparted, but for the use of the church; and are variously bestowed upon various persons-that any one gift of the Spirit, such as that of "the ministry," appertains only to a selected few-that while the faculty of ministry (called by the apostle prophecy) is verbally acknowledged to be a gift of the Spirit, this doctrine is, to a great extent, practically disregarded among the professors of Christianity-that it is the principle of the Society of Friends to admit no ministry, in connexion with the worship of God, but such as is considered to spring immediately from divine influence that their opinions on this subject, as well as those respecting typical rites, are founded upon that part of the divine law which prescribes that God, being a Spirit, should be worshipped spirituallythat, in order, moreover, to be applicable to the mental condition of the hearers, the ministry must be prompted and ordered by Him who alone "searcheth the reins and the hearts"-that the examples of preaching and public prayer recorded in the Bible have, in general, the character of effusions, flowing immediately from the Spirit of truth and righteous

they cause pain to it! And again: consider the droppings of a house; how the little drops, falling upon the earth, work a hollow in the stones. So, in like manner, the least things which come from above, and fall upon the earth, have great force. Wherefore, join thyself to the Spirit which has power; and depart from the other, which is empty; Archbishop Wake's Version of the Apostolic Fathers, p. 255.

ness-that such, more particularly, was the prophesying exercised, in their assemblies for worship, by the primitive Christians-finally, that Scripture and experience, unite in bearing evidence that the immediate influences of the Spirit, as productive of such administrations, were not to be withdrawn from the church on earth, and that they continue to operate to this very hour.

To conclude:-if the weapons, wielded by the Lord's servants, in the cause of righteousness, are to be mighty for the pulling down of strong holds," they must be spiritual and not carnal: if the "preaching of the cross" is to be "the power of God," it must be divine in its origin: if the ministry of the Gospel of Christ is to enliven and cleanse the recipients, it must be derived, with true simplicity, from the Source of life and holiness. Observation may serve to convince us that these sentiments are gradually extending their influence among true Christians. "All the minister's efforts will be vanity and worse than vanity," said a late enlightened clergyman of the Church of England, "if he have not unction. Unction must come down from heaven, and spread a savour, and relish, and feeling, over his ministry." I am persuaded that there are many pious ministers, of various denominations, whose hearts will respond to such a declaration; and who are more and more convinced that, in the exercise of their gift, they must no longer rely on human learning or intellectual effort, but rather on the powerful visitations of that sacred influence which, when it is withheld, no man can command, and, when

4 See Cecil's Remains, p. 12.

it is poured forth, no man can rightly stay. Under such circumstances, it is plainly very important, that Friends should be faithful in maintaining their principle on this subject, in all its vigour and all its purity; and that they should continue, without wavering, to uphold in the church the highest standard respecting the nature and origin of true Christian ministry. May we, therefore, on the one hand, watch unto prayer, that our preaching and praying may never degenerate into the expression of words without life; and, on the other hand, may we be diligent in the use of the gifts committed to us, and exercise a still firmer confidence in that divine anointing, which can impart, even to the foolishness of preaching, an authority not to be gainsayed!

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE SELECTION, PREPARATION, AND APPOINTMENT, OF THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.

THE standard upheld by any body of Christians, in reference to the selection, preparation, and appointment, of the ministers of the Gospel, will ever be found to coincide with their standard respecting the nature and character of the ministry itself. Those who are satisfied with a ministry which requires, for its performance, nothing superior to the powers of man, will look for nothing superior to those powers, in the several steps which lead to its exercise. Those who are accustomed to regard it as the offspring, partly of the influence of the Spirit, and partly of human study, will indeed consider a divine call essential to the object; but they will not, for the most part, admit such a call to be sufficient, without the addition of preparatory intellectual efforts, or without the interference of the authority of man. Those, lastly, whose principle it is to admit no ministry but such as flows immediately from the Spirit of Truth, must, of necessity, leave the whole work of selection, preparation, and appointment, to the Lord himself.

In order to develop this general rule with some degree of precision, it may be desirable to examine, in the first place, how far it is exemplified by the known practices of the Anglican church, and of the generality of English protestant dissenters. I trust, however, it will be clearly understood by the reader, that, in attempting such an examination, I have no intention to throw discredit on any denomination of professing Christians; much less to discourage the sincere in heart from the pursuit of those duties which appertain to their own condition and situation in the church universal. My object is simply to illustrate the subject on which I am treating, and to introduce, in a clear and explicit manner, the sentiments entertained, on that subject, by the Society of Friends.

When the bishop of the Anglican church ordains to the priesthood, he lays his hand on the head of the individual to be ordained, and says, "Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a priest in the church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands." Here is a plain recognition of the doctrine, that the person ordained is to exercise his ministry by means of the influence of the Holy Ghost; and it is in perfect coincidence with such a sentiment that the candidate for the sacred office, in the same church, professes that he is "inwardly moved" to the assumption of it "by the Holy Ghost" -that he is "called" to the work "according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ." My own knowledge of such individuals enables me freely to allow, that there are many among the ministers of this denomination who, in the exercise of their functions, really

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