serve, and obey God; we must repose, as guilty and helpless sinners, by faith in the atonement of our Redeemer; we must live a life of devotion, holiness, and diligence in every good word and work. And if wishing and endeavouring so to do, and trusting to the gracious assistance of God's Holy Spirit to enable us so to do, we yet feel, as we shall, our own weakness and insufficiency, we may turn even the affecting declaration of the text to the purpose of consolation and encouragement, remembering that our days are few, that our trial will speedily be ended, and that we shall soon enter into the joy of our Lord, where we shall be for ever secure beyond the possibility of change or affliction.

For the Christian Observer. ON THE CAUSES OF WANT OF

SUCCESS IN THE MINISTRY.

(Continued from p. 333.)

THE remarks in my former paper related to those causes of want of success in the ministry which are referable (alluding to the parable of the Sower) to the nature of the seed and the soil, and to a failure in imploring those genial influences from above, that "dew of God's blessing," which are necessary for the success of the spiritual husbandry, and which must be diligently sought for by prayer, and in the use of every appointed means of grace, by all who desire a genuine and abundant harvest. There is, however, to drop the metaphor, another large class of impediments to pastoral usefulness, arising from the frailties and failures of ministers themselves; who, being men of like passions with others, need constantly to pray and study and labour, that the beneficial effects of their office be not impeded by their own errors or misconduct. It may be useful to the clerical reader to specify a few of these causes of failure, not for any invidious pur

pose, but with a view to induce each member of the sacred profession diligently to examine his own heart and conduct, in order that no unnecessary obstacle may be thrown in the way of his ministerial usefulness. Nor will the subject be unprofitable to the lay reader also, if it excite him to take heed how he hears; which is quite as much his duty, as it is the duty of the ministers of Christ to take heed how they preach; and also if it lead him to detach the imperfections of ministers from the sacred truths which it is their office to propound, so as not to suffer any unworthiness in the messengers of the Gospel to make him neglect what is essential in their message to his own eternal interests.

Without attempting any regular classification, a few particulars will be cursorily suggested, which may be expanded and applied at the discretion of each individual to whose case they may be suitable.

1. And, first, one large class of failures in the usefulness of ministers who are really pious themselves, and interested in the duties of their vocation, may be traced to defects of the understanding, as distinguished from those of the heart.-Every good man is not in all respects a wise man; and the want of wisdom will operate injuriously throughout every part of a minister's character and conduct. In his sermons especially, the absence of a sound judgment will be particularly baneful: for it requires. much wisdom "rightly to divide the word of truth;" to exhibit the doctrines and precepts of revelation in their due proportion; to embrace them in all their amplitude; to illustrate and enforce them by suitable arguments and appeals; to discriminate and classify characters; to adapt the exhortations of the pulpit to the various cases of a miscellaneous congregation; to trace the human heart in its multiplex windings; to unweave the numerous sophistries of the careless

the hardened, the profligate, the self-righteous, the deluded, the antinomian, and the evangelical hypocrite-in short, to act worthy of an ambassador for Christ, a steward of the mysteries of God, from the first exhibition of the credentials of Revelation before the sceptic and avowed infidel, to the highest points connected with the edification of the most advanced believer. It is to be feared, that, among some otherwise conscientious men, there is often exhibited a very inadequate compliance with that apostolic injunction, "Give thyself to study:" and the evil consequences are felt in all their ministrations. A religious instructor should be a wise man and "a full man:" he should be deeply acquainted with the word of God, as the foundation of all his other acquisitions; and on this he should build as much varied intelligence, connected with the character and actions of mankind, and particularly the peculiar habits and necessities of his own flock, as an incessant course of diligence and observation can amass. Little can be Little can be hoped for from the exertions of a clergyman, however devotional his own spirit, if his parishioners have ground to think him weak, or wayward, or fanciful, or eccentric, or in any respect deficient in sound wisdom and useful knowledge.

2. Another cause of ministerial failure, is the want of greater spiritual-mindedness in the clergy.To those who are wholly thoughtless respecting their own salvation and that of their hearers, these remarks are not intended to apply, for such cases are beyond our present consideration; but even among ministers of real piety, there is often a deficiency in those devout spiritual attainments which add lustre to the Christian and pastoral character. The flame burns indeed, but it does not burn brightly, and it consequently affords but little light to the surrounding world. This failure arises from the infirmity

of our fallen humanity; from the infection of nature, which remains even in them that are regenerated; the flesh striving against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. But it is a defect of a most dangerous and insidious character, and against which every Christian, and, if duty admitted of degrees, still more every Christian minister, is bound to watch and pray. It is not enough merely that a servant of Christ is on the right, and not on the wrong side of the line which separates the children of darkness from the children of the light and of the day; he must be diligently advancing in devout affections; he must be striving to acquire a more refined taste for spiritual objects, a greater delight in prayer and holy meditation; he must walk more closely with his God, and be more decidedly a man o fanother world: for unless he is thus advancing, he is going back, and may finally be among " them that go back to perdition." "Let the word of Christ," said the Apostle, " dwell in you richly:" now, for want of this "rich in-dwelling," a clergyman, even though in the main sincere, soon relaxes into a frigid, perfunctory, official spirit. He is not habitually in a frame for his sacred duties. He finds, if summoned unexpectedly to any spiritual office, that a secret preparation of mind, which he would be almost ashamed to confess, is necessary before he can take a due interest in the employment. He cannot bring into the sick man's chamber, or to the abode of a spiritually-minded Christian, the train of feelings which far too habitually colours his thoughts, and occupies his hours. His sermons, however excellent in other respects, are deficient in that almost undefinable charm, which carries the hearer at once, and without effort, to holy and celestial contemplations: they are not the compositions of a man who, so to speak, lives in heaven, and has uo employment so dear to him upon earth, as

descanting on the delights, and we might almost say conversing in the language, of that blissful world; endeavouring by every means to allure thither his perishing fellowcreatures. But an habitual spiritualmindedness in a minister, casts a holy radiance around his path: it diffuses, as it were, an atmosphere of piety in his family and his parish; it spontaneously gives birth to the "thoughts that breathe and words that burn" in his sermons and conversations; it not only teaches men that they ought to be Christians, but it shews them practically what it is to become such; it kindles their hearts by contact; it persuades almost before it convinces ; and leaves on the minds of those who witness its simple and unostentatious coruscations, an effect somewhat similar to that felt by the disciples in the journey to Emmaus: "Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and opened to us the Scriptures?" For want of this devout ardour of soul, many sincere and pious men are very languid pastors; and the defect is the more to be dreaded in the present day, because the widely prevalent, and, to a certain extent, just, terror of fanaticism, is too apt to furnish an excuse for this coldness and secularity of spirit; as if there were any thing in the highest elevations of an habitual spiritual-mindedness contrary to truth and sobriety; any thing enthusiastic in a life of the most intense devotion, or in the hallowed communion of the soul with its Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

3. Another frequent cause of ministerial failure, even among good men, is the absence of an affectionate and tender spirit.-A clergyman, however wise or pious, if he is deficient in the kindly sympathies of the heart, must be content to forego a large measure of useful ness, especially among the poor, the young, and the afflicted. Even though there should be no assign

able error of doctrine, or inconsist ency of conduct, a coldness of heart, or even of manner, in a minister, will usually prevent his gaining access to the affections of his people. Tenderness was the predicted and the fulfilled character of Him who is the great exemplar to his church in Christian and ministerial attainments. He did not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax; bis, whole life was a career of mercy, benevolence, and disinterested affection. How deeply his immediate disciples drank of his spirit, may be seen, not only in the Epistles of his be loved Apostle St. John, whose memory is proverbially characterised by tenderness and sympathy, but even in those of a perhaps naturally less gentle spirit,-St.Peter; yea, of him who was once a 66 persecutor, and injurious," who "breathed out threatenings and slaughter," but whose altered character is evinced throughout his writings, and no where more so than in his Epistle to Philemon on behalf of his fugitive but penitent slave. It will instantly be felt, in perusing this affecting Epistle, or indeed almost any page of the New Testament, how efficaciously an affectionate spirit in the ministers of Christ finds its way to the human heart; and how very different would have been the effect, if, instead of such a spirit, had been exhibited the mere coldness of scholastic admonition, or the imperiousness of official dignity. Against nothing should a minister, who values his pastoral usefulness, more strenuously guard, than against unkind or objurgatory habits of address, either in the pulpit or in his private intercourse with his flock. Yet this is not enough: his heart must be imbued with amiable affections; he should feel a prompt and unsolicited expansion of soul towards his fellow-creatures; he should love them as Christ loved him, and bear with them as his heavenly Father has borne with

him. It is impossible to calculate the ill effects arising from a hard, unfeeling discharge of clerical duties; or from austere or morose habits in the more retired walks of pastoral intercourse. Unhappily, the largest heart is not always accompanied with suavity and kindness of deportment; yet, without these, a minister, however justly respected, cannot hope to be the friend and adviser of his people; except so far, indeed, as the weight of his character, and a consciousness of his real excellence, may be a counterpoise for his external defectfor if the defect be a defect of heart, nothing can atone for it. The urbanity of the most accomplished courtier would be an utterly unworthy and inefficacious substitute for that Christian affection which urges a pious minister to 'spend and be spent" for his people.

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It would be tedious to enter into particulars on this inexhaustible subject; but it may not be inapposite to remark, that a clergymau of piety, if he would be generally useful in his parish, should especially beware of indulging a harsh spirit towards those who slight or oppose his efforts for their welfare; and also towards religious persons who do not quite accord with his own views of Christian doctrine. He must not be a man of party-spirit: his parish is his family, and it is his duty to be zealous for the benefit of all its members. He will, indeed, like the Royal Psalmist, make his delight with "the excellent of the earth;" but this just preference will be far from leading him to display an acrimonious, or censorious, or supercilious spirit towards others. If he could fully imitate his Saviour, no degree of vice, no species of provocation, would be able to overcome his gentleness and patience.

The importance of this tender and affectionate spirit is the greater, because "man is born to trouble," and the majority of those scenes, in which the presence of the mini

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sters of Christ is most welcome, are those of pain, and want, and suffering, and dejection. A minister, therefore, must weep with them that weep;" his sweetest melodies must be attuned to a somewhat plaintive key. For his sake, his Redeemer became "a man of sorrows;" and though, for that very reason, his followers are privileged to rejoice, yet their joy is allied to a tenderness of spirit which is not very remote from sorrow; or which, at least, even in its most elevated moments, is not unapt for the tenderest sympathies of our nature. Habitual cheerfulness is the frame of mind which a minister will desire to cherish; but, at the same time, it must be a cheerfulness so chastised, and so growing out of devout affections, as readily to blend with the solemnities of religion, and the most afflicting scenes of human misery. His whole conduct should seem to say, The world is full of vice, and pain, and depres sion; but religion suggests an allpowerful remedy. His flock should ever feel that he is the bearer of this remedy. Whether he visits the sick or the healthy, the destitute or the prosperous, the young or the old, his presence should be hailed as the harbinger of good. His very remonstrances and reproofs should be more in affection and sorrow than in anger. The most erring of his flock should feel that he loves their souls, and seeks their happiness; and, however much they may at first neglect or despise his message, such a line of conduct will in time usually melt the hardest heart, especially when those visitations of sickness, desertion, or bereavement arrive, which sooner or later fall to every person's lot: at which periods the presence of a devout and affectionate pastor will be often valued as the visit of a ministering angel, even by those who least courted his admonitions in their hour of prosperity.

(To be concluded.)