nestness and circumspection in the most unblameable of his clerical associates.

His text is highly appropriate to the occasion and to his purpose; 1 Tim. iv. 16. "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." After briefly adverting to the urgency which the exhortation here given derives from the frequency of its occurrence "in all the apostolic exhortations, in the last charge to the church of Ephesus, in the Epistles to Timothy, and to Titus also," he proceeds to a view of its importance from considering the nature of the ministeral work, and the difficulties attending its execution. On the first of these topics he expresses himself thus:

"The scope and design of the Christian ministry is of the noblest kind. It is no other than to carry on to its perfection that stupendous dispensation of grace, which has been from the earliest time the object of God's providential care, and for the accomplishment of which our Lord was pleased to divest himself of glory, to suffer, and to die. Its concern is not with the fading visions of time, but the unchanging realities of eternity. We are not charged with the present welfare and affairs of men; with the conduct and interests of states and empires, (though they are in

directly, if not immediately, affected by

the influence of our ministry): but we have a greater care than any of these. Our business is with the immortal soul, which, proceeding from God, and happy only in union with him, is in danger, by reason of its pollutions, of a fatal, an eternal separation from the source of life and good. It is here we are to

work; it is here we are to form a spi

ritual dominion; to introduce the saving principle; to turn the eye from darkness to light,' the affections from the power of Satan unto God."" p. 8.

We are very sure that every faithful Christian pastor will most feelingly concur with Mr. Thorp, in the comment which he makes on this short survey of the scope of the Christian ministry, that "the

name of such an occupation as this may not only rouse our vigilance, but alarm our fears," and that those who are best qualified to carry into effect the noble design they are engaged in, are the oftenest "led to ask in profound abasement, Who is sufficient for such things?" Who, indeed, that contemplates the grandeur of man's original elevation, and the depth of his present debasement, the infinite distance between sin and holiness, the terrors of hell and the joys of heaven, is not filed with awful apprehension when he regards himself as the instrument of effecting so mighty a change as the Gospel proposes to accomplish, in the moral condition of man; of bringing back an apostate creature into a state of allegiance to his Creator; of restoring the sinner to the likeness and favour of his God; of translating him from the society of devils and accursed spirits, to that of" an innumerable company angels; and to God the Judge of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant," from the dismal heritage of eternal darkness and woe, to the enjoyment of unspotted purity and unclouded happiness in the realms of light and peace? Who that meditates upon the glorious display of the Divine perfections, exhibited in the wondrous scheme of human redemption, and considers what he himself is who has undertaken to be the minister of reconciliation, the ambassador and representative of Christ; does not feel himself in a situation similar to that of the prophet, when he

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throne, high and lifted up, and saw the Lord sitting upon a his train filling the temple," and almost exclaim, in the language of unaffected humiliation, "Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am

a

man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people, of unclean lips!" and under an overwhelming sense of his un worthiness and insufficiency, pray. that some seraph might, as it were,

be commissioned to touch his lips with a living coal from off the altar of God? We feel ourselves, indeed, utterly incompetent to represent, according to its first dimensions, the magnitude of the design proposed in the ministry of the Gospel. We can only offer up our earnest prayer to Almighty God, that he would be pleased to awaken and keep alive in all his consecrated servants, a deep and affecting conviction of the import ance of their work; and at the same time animate and support them by the amplest assurances of his readiness to impart that strength and sufficiency which none but himself can supply.}

Our clerical readers will also agree with us, in acknowledging the justice of the following observations on the "difficulties which present themselves in the prosecution of this momentous work."

"Of these,” says Mr. Thorp, "the first, perhaps the greatest, is the latent but rooted prejudice which subsists in the unrenewed mind against our message. The truths we have to teach are not of the nature of matters of speculation and inquiry, which want only their proper evidence to be acknowledged and received. We are not in the situation of the advocate, whose arguments are effectual, because the cause he pleads is one in which the judge is no way interested; we speak, where the person who is to decide is himself a party to the question, and where the strongest feelings of a proud and corrupted nature are brought into play against us, and our unwelcome tale. Hardly are men induced, but under the influence of a superior Power, to acquiesce in the humbling and distasteful doctrines, which search the sinner's heart, and bring him mourning, and in repentance, to the cross of his Redeemer. Hardly are they stayed from 'shutting their ears, like the deaf ad

We would particularly recommend to the attentive perusal of all who are unacquainted with it, a most excellent and impressive address, "On the Discouragements and Supports of the Christian Ministry," by the Rev. Robert Hall, already reviewed in this work.

der,' against the prophet of better tidings, refusing to hearken to tlfe voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely!'

"When we are happy enough to seapprehension in the breast, we have cure a hearing, and raise a wholesome other mischiefs to encounter: we have to draw the attention from a present, and agreeable, to an uninviting and distant object; to lead those who are absorbed in things which are seen and temporal, to things which are unseen of the world, which, ever and anon and eternal;' to wrestle with the powers offering its pleasures, incessantly solicits regard, in favour of a new, and unknown authority. It is our aim to break the chains of a strange and deceitful master, whose spells are wound about the heart; to bring the wanderers home to their righteous Lord, from whom they are estranged, and whose rule and converse they dislike. We call them to sacrifice the cherished objects of misattachment on pleasures as yet untasted placed but strong affection; to fix their and unfelt, which, however exquisite or ample they may be, the natural man is wholly unprepared to relish; and though the joys we have to offer, are confessedly superior to those empty and unsatisfying delights, on which they are accustomed to dwell,-too great indeed they are for the eye to. see, the ear to hear, or the heart to comprehend them;

they have little influence on the unhallowed spirit which knows them not, and has no desire to possess them." pp. 9-11.

We were particularly pleased with the sentence which concludes these observations:-"Let us go to our own bosoms, and learn the strength of this indisposition to Divine things, and the skill and care requisite to the task of subduing it." Ib.

We do not hesitate to say, that these few words, dictated, we doubt not, by the genuine convictions of Mr. Thorp's own heart, contain in them a reference to the grand secret of ministerial usefulness, viz. a minister's acquaintance with himself. Without this, vain are all qualifications, however numerous, however brilliant. Though he speak with the tongue of angels, he

will not speak to the hearts of his hearers, unless he have been made to feel the desperate malady which sin has introduced into his own soul and theirs, and be able to testify the sufficiency of the cure proposed in the Gospel, and its suitableness to their case, from happy experience of its efficacy in his own. How shall he rouse the unawakened sinner, or reclaim the wanderer, who is himself lulled in security, and unconscious of the number and extent of his own deflections from the path that leads to heaven? How shall be bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort them that mourn in Zion, who knows not what it is to be affected by a sense of sin, and disunion from the source and centre of all perfection, and all bliss? Let him who would discharge to any purpose his commission as minister of the Gospel, study deeply "the plague of his own heart;" its alienation from God; its indisposition to converse with spiritual and eternal objects; its attachment to those which are visible and temporal; its unfaithfulness to salutary impressions; its pride, self-deceitfulness, and hy. pocrisy. By such communion with himself, and habitual instant prayer for Divine illumination and grace and strength, he will be qualified, and not otherwise, to address the denunciations of God's holy law to sinners slumbering on the brink of eternity, and to apply the promises of the Gospel to the penitent, humble, sincere believer in Christ.

Mr. Thorp proceeds to view the apostolic admonition given in the text, as deriving additional weight from a consideration of the more personal and private difficulties which attend the Christian minister's discharge of his sacred functions. In the front of these, he places the obligation imposed on him, of manifesting a superior sanc tity of character throughout his whole deportment and conversation. He justly observes, that be sides the infirmities and tempta

tions incident to him in common with his depraved fellow-mortals, he stands in a peculiar manner exposed to the assaults of the great enemy of souls, who is well aware, that when the shepherd is betrayed into negligence or infidelity, the sheep become a much easier prey to his devices.

"Nor is mere freedom from offensive

vices," Mr. Thorp adds, "sufficient to satisfy the call of duty: we are to aspire to high degrees of moral excellence; to a holy superiority over the allurements of sin; to exemplary sanctity of life and conversation; and to such a demonstration of the spirit and righteousness of the reproach of those who watch for our Christ, as may not only secure us from halting, but excite in the brethren a laudable ambition to follow the footsteps of their Saviour, and maintain in all things a character becoming their ho nourable profession, and their exalted hopes. Be thou an example to the flock, in faith, in purity, in conversa tion.' Holiness in the priesthood is not of their sacred calling; an instituted only a moral duty, but an essential part mean of salvation; the comment on the doctrine. The guardianship of souls, which Christ died to save, is committed to our hands, and we are bound to consult continually the safety of our preeious trust, avoiding not only what is in abuse lead to evil, lest by any means we itself unlawful, but what might in its become ministers to sin." pp. 12, 13.

The topic here insisted on by Mr. Thorp, is indeed big with im portance, and demands the most serious attention of all who are either about to enter on the sacred office or are already engaged in it. Qur limits do not allow us to en large upon it; one should think, indeed, that it needed but to be stated, in order to be felt, and (did not lamentable experience too often prove the contrary) that it could not fail of inspiring the clergy of every rank with an awful sense of their need of constant vigilance, jealous self-inspection, and earnest prayer. We cannot, however, dis miss this part of the subject, with out just remarking, in addition to what Mr. Thorp has so well said,

that it is not the consideration of the influence of example alone, which urges upon the minister of the Gospel the necessity of keep ing habitually in view the salutary warning of the Apostle: they should likewise remember, that the success of their ministry very materially depends upon the prevailing spirit of their minds. If this be cold or worldly, even though their lives may, to the external ob server, appear strictly exemplary and consistent, their public and private ministrations will want that unction which alone can make their "doctrine drop as the rain; and their speech distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." Let them watch and pray against an undue regard to human opinion; against a solicitude about temporal advantages; against an unsanctified pursuit of literature, or of other objects which, however allowable and useful in themselves, yet if incautiously pursued or en joyed, teud infallibly to impair that devotional frame and habit which is so lovely, so venerable, so influential, and which can only be maintained by continual intercourse with celestial objects; by living near to God in prayer and holy meditation, and entering, as it were, hourly within the vail which separates the sanctuary of the Most High from the tabernacles of men.

To the reasons for vigilance and apprehension already mentioned, Mr. Thorp adds one other, -viz. their exposure to numerous trials and disappointments, calculated to interrupt the constancy of perseverance, and abate the energy of exertion. The principal of these, he considers to be, the deadening influence of worldly objects on their minds, and the chilling, disheartening effect of unsuccessful labours. Profitable, though painful, experience, has, we doubt not, enabled Mr. Thorp to speak feelingly on a subject which those only can fully understand

who have acquired a deep acquaintance with their own hearts and those of others. It is from a want of this experience that young ministers, as M. Thorp remarks, are seldom duly sensible of the difficulties springing from this source.

"It is when they become familiar with disappointment, when their prayers and watchings seem to be in vain, when the seed sown with care and toilsome industry is dead and fruitless; it is then they are put to the proof of constancy and love; it is then they undergo the trial of their stedfastness, a trial no less

severe and searching than the torture or the stake; and then at length they are made to know their insufficiencies, and to feel the impossibility, in any unaided resources of human power, of maintaining their integrity, and holding fast without wavering the profession of the faith."" p. 15.

Lest, however, his observations on this head should be misunder

stood, or misapplied, Mr. Thorp proceeds to point out the just inference to be deduced from this apparently discouraging view of the difficulties attendant on the minister's office.

"Let us not be supposed to complain of a dispensation, which is obviously conducive to our own moral improvement, and will be found subservient to the best ends of our ministry. There is a lesson we are slow to learn; the unpalatable, but salutary lesson of humility; and the crosses and mortifications we encounter, whilst they forbid the cessation of our efforts, serve to chastise the overweening arrogance and presumption of the heart, to bespeak a modest caution, and to inculcate a simplicity of dependence upon the Lord of the harvest;' whose powerful energies are promised to make the fabours of his servants efficacious." pp. 15, 16.

Having illustrated and enforced the first part of the Apostle's admonition, "Take heed to thyself," Mr. Thorp next considers that branch of it which relates to doctrine, truly remarking, that the connection between them is so intimate, that when one is neglected, the other is seldom (he might, we think, have said never) duly attended to. In this division of his