cannot be supposed that God will sanction the efforts of that man who, though arrayed in the sacred attire, sacrilegiously attempts to rob God of that glory which is his inalienable right, which he will not give to another.

Immediately connected with this self-distrust is confidence in God. This no man is prepared to exercise until he has felt his own insuffi. ciency. And even then it requires an experimental acquaintance with God, by faith, before we are prepared to exercise confidence in him in reference to the great work in which we are engaged. We must have personal experience of his wisdom, power, and love, or we shall not be prepared to confide in those perfections of his nature which constitute the basis of all our hopes as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And without this holy confidence it will be in vain for us to read the promises which cheer the heart of the faithful minister: "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your enemies shall not be able to gainsay or resist." And how much an humble reliance upon these assurances of our divine Redeemer enlivens and strengthens the man of God is known to none but himself. It relieves him from those anxieties and solicitudes which, having no respect to his duty, but only to the issue of its performance, would only distract his mind and depress his spirit while attending to his sacred work. Without this habit of confidence in God he will either neglect the duty of prayer altogether, or else attend to it without any profit, from an absolute incapacity for the exercise. No man can rationally make his wants known unto God by prayer and supplication unless he believes that God will hear and answer his requests. And if a man should be so unreasonable as to approach the throne of grace without a spirit of humble confidence, he may rest assured that God will not be so preposterous as to respect his petition." Let him ask in faith," says the apostle, "nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like the wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." And the Scripture makes no dis tinction between those prayers which we offer exclusively for ourselves, and those which we offer for others. Neither the one nor the other will be regarded unless offered in faith. The Lord Jesus, when upon earth, required the same confidence in his ability and willingness to bless, on the part of those who applied to him for others, as on the part of those who applied to him for themselves. Now if these sentiments be incontrovertible, in what a position do they place that man who, professing to be a minister of Christ, has not learned where his great strength lieth, and is absolutely unprepared to discharge a duty which is of the greatest importance to a private Christian, and especially characteristic of him who ministers in holy things! Imagine to yourselves, my brethren, a prayerless minister! Surely your imagination must possess unusual strength to conceive such a monster. Why, my brethren, while one half of a minister's duty is to speak for God, the other half of his duty is to speak to God. And unless he attends to the latter, attention to the former is only a solemn farce. Can a man expect that God will sanction his fabors, and support and bless him in their performance, while for these things he has not been inquired of to do it for him? No, verily; the munificence of the VOL. XI.—July, 1840.

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divine Being does not thus degenerate to prodigality. Nor is he so inconsistent as to secure that success to prayerless ministers with which he favors those holy men who bow their knees before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and pour forth the fervent petitions of their souls at the throne of grace. Even his well beloved Son can obtain no blessing for the church or the world without presenting his intercessory prayer. He must "ask" of the eternal Father before he can receive "the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." And we would do well to remember that the servant is not above his Lord.

True piety is, moreover, the parent of that zeal which characterizes a faithful minister. It is its parent and its nurse. Indeed, a man may have a factitious zeal, which he may, for a time, palm upon his people for that sacred fervor which alone deserves the name. But they will soon discover that there is an essential difference between a mere effervescence of spirit and noisy burst of feeling, and that holy animation and sacred energy which true religion alone inspires. A man will, sooner or later, be detected in offering strange fire before the Lord. His spirit, his manner, his entire conduct will soon reveal his true character, and show the baselessness of his pretensions. It is utterly impossible for a man to possess true zeal, which is nothing but the pure flame of love, unless the love of God be shed abroad in his heart, by the Holy Ghost given unto him. He must be a subject of the grace of God before he can possess zeal for the glory of God. He must be constrained by the love of Christ before he can manifest zeal for the cause of Christ. He must so feel the worth of his own soul as to give diligence to secure its salvation before he can feel true concern for the souls of others, and labor earnestly to secure their salvation. Nor is the possession of this zeal a matter of secondary importance. Only consider, my brethren, the great work in which you are engaged, and the important interests which you are called to subserve, and then ask yourselves if tameness be not a sin which scarcely admits of forgiveness. Surely the powerful motives to an energetic employment of your talents should induce you so to act as that you may be justified in the adoption of the Saviour's language, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." Thus it was with the blessed apostles-they served the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations; they taught the people publicly, and from house to house; warning every one night and day with tears; not counting their lives dear unto themselves, so that they might finish their course with joy, and the ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

To true piety also belongs the grace of patience, which is necessary to give perpetuity to our zeal and success to our operations. Consider the nature of the ministerial work, the difficulties which are in the way of its discharge, with the numerous discouragements which they originate; and then ask yourselves if you should not let patience have her perfect work. In the absence of this grace, admitting that you possessed every other, it would be impossible for you to succeed. For then if you did not immediately discover the fruit of your labors you would be thrown into a state of doubt and despondency, which would paralyze all your powers, and cause a suspension of all your efforts.

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And the circumstances of the case will rarely admit of your seeing at once the fruit of your labors. 'Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain." And shall he manifest patience in reference to these inferior things, and we, who have to culture the Lord's husbandry, refuse to wait until he shall give the increase? Ah! my brethren, it is not the work of a day to ascertain the character and habits of those we are called upon to serve, to dispel their ignorance, to remove their prejudices, to chain their attention, to mold their feelings, to regulate their lives. Nor is it the property of philosophical stoicism to bear with their dullness, to endure their ingratitude, and to repay their insults with the kind returns of love. Nothing short of that patience which Christianity claims as her exclusive right, which she alone can inspire, is adequate to such a task. A thirst for popular applause may induce a man to make powerful efforts to discharge himself well in the pulpit; but what is it, my brethren, that will incite a man to place himself with the apostles, who could say, "Even unto this present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwell. ing place; and labor, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the earth, and the offscouring of all things unto this day?" And again: "In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings." When we see a minister descending from the pulpit to mingle with his people in the various associations of life, visiting them from house to house, admonishing them when rejoicing in the smiles of the world, sympathizing with them when suffering beneath its frowns, encouraging them to persevere in piety, and reproving them faithfully and fearlessly when they depart from the holy commandment; when we see him comforting the aged and the dying by unfolding to them the glories and felicities of the future state; guarding the middle aged from being swallowed up in the vortex of the world; and guiding the young into the paths of piety and virtue ; when we see a minister performing such services as these, then do we see one who, in imitation of the apostle's example, and in obedience to his instructions, "does the work of an evangelist, and makes full proof of his ministry."

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Again the piety of the minister recommends his teachings to the people of his charge. On this point it is totally unnecessary for me to dwell. All the world acknowledges the force of example, and probably in no case is it felt so powerfully as in the case before us. Hence the apostle charges his son Timothy to be "an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." And we ought so to practice upon this advice that our people may be equally safe in obeying our precepts, and in copying our lives. Yes; the genius of our piety ought to stand prepared to give the challenge, "Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" And we ought to be always ready to use the language of St. Paul, "Be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ." O what a solemn thought, that our pulpit labors may result in a mere abortion if our lives do not corres

pond with our teachings! that our conduct constitutes the mold by which the lives of our people will be shaped, the rule by which they will be regulated! What an overpowering consideration! What a motive to holy living! And how should it influence us to meditate on these things, to give ourselves wholly unto them, that in so doing we may both save ourselves and them that hear us!

My brethren, the reasons which we have submitted constitute an arch which finds its key in the positive command of God: "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." "But thou, O man of God, flee evil things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." "Keep thyself pure." And, remember, these commands are given to us, as ministers of the sanctuary, in addition to all the other injunctions which are binding upon us, in common with private Christians.

In view of these considerations, let us be holy. Let the congruity of personal piety with the clerical profession, its necessity to make us acquainted with our work, its indispensableness in the origination and perpetuation of those graces which are inseparable from success, the exemplary influence which ministers exert, and, above all, the command of the eternal God, induce such an attention to this important subject, that our loins shall be always girded about, and our fights burning, and we ourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, that when he cometh we may open unto him immediately. Upon such the Saviour himself has pronounced a blessing, and they shall be blessed. Having gone forth weeping, bearing precious seed, they shall surely return with joy, bringing their sheaves with them.

For the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review.

THE PRESENT AGE FAVORABLE TO INTELLECTUAL CULTIVATION.

THE subject on which I propose to offer some thoughts is by no means uninteresting, viz., the present age, &c. It is interesting in its bearing on individual character, and, if properly pursued, is inte resting in the details it may lead us to survey. And if my effort on this occasion shall encourage one laborer in the fields of intellectual toil, or arouse the latent energy of some slumbering genius, it will be amply, richly rewarded.

The importance and duty of mental culture have never been questioned, except by ignorance, prejudice, or bigotry. So long as the mind is the avenue to the heart, furnishing it with subjects on which, and motives from which, to feel either joy or sorrow, duty or interest, so long as the mind is the great instrument employed in accomplishing the objects of our desires, purposes, and convictions, the instrument without which art and science, law, government, religion, and social life itself would be a perfect blank, so long must its improvement demand our serious attention.

The great object of education, whether pursued in set form of school instruction, or by one's own exertions in practical observation and experiment, should be, so far as the mind is concerned, to stimulate

and strengthen its faculties, that it may become capable of itself to understand and appropriate every subject within the range of human comprehension, or, at least, within the circle of the pursuits of the student. Knowledge is good; but that knowledge only is power which finds its measure and master in the understanding, and can be applied by its possessor to the promotion of some object of profit or happiness. I acknowledge the importance of the three great branches of edu cation, physical, intellectual, and moral. To train man best to accomplish the high purpose of his being, body, soul, and spirit should be improved in the highest possible degree, and all be entirely sanctified to the service of God. The employment of the mind in the neglect of the supremacy of the moral feelings has produced disastrous results. But religion needs the aid of intelligence and reason; and her glorious conquests have been achieved, under God, by minds en. dowed with power either by superior intelligence, or by inspired and miraculous gifts.

Though the improvement of the mind be always important, yet there have been times and places (and such places still exist) in which it has been exceedingly limited, or altogether prohibited. It is a matter of some consequence, therefore, to ascertain the bearing of our present position on this point. As social, intellectual, and religious beings, we have a momentous interest in whatever passing events indicate of human privilege and duty. We cannot, with impunity, fold our arms, and sit down in haughty indifference to "the signs of the times." As American citizens, and as members of the great family of man, we are called on to contribute our share of influence on the side of knowledge, virtue, and benevolence in the various crises of affairs through which we may be passing. And how can we tell what we must do, without a comprehensive survey of our various relations, and without a consideration of what is to be done, and of what is already doing?

The subject of my lecture presents a wide field of inquiry and ob. servation, of which but a few prominent and general features can be surveyed within the limits of this hour.

That the present age is favorable for intellectual cultivation appears from considering,

I. The opportunity given to the action of proper motives. II. The occasions which tend to stimulate mental culture. III. The means and aid afforded for the improvement of the mind. I. As far as human agency is concerned, scarcely any thing is more necessary to prosperity than the free operation of proper motives. They are motives of pleasure, interest, and duty, in a thousand varied forms, which prompt men to action. When, in their influence upon character and conduct, motives of duty are supreme, or when pleasure and interest do not interfere in their action with duty, or when all these classes of motives harmonize, a man may be said to be governed by proper motives. To these motives, at least when thus guarded, society ought to give freedom of operation. Proper motives may be repressed or extinguished. And this result may be effected either by the action of government, or by popular prejudices,-by public or private causes. For instance:

When the moral motives which ought to impel men to action are