ENGLAND. Englishmen, Englishwomen. English Manners, English Morals, English Domestic Life, English Arts and Artist English Literature, English Criticism, English Kifaration, English Universities, English Clergy, English Sectarian Fogy lish Nobility, English Parties. English Politics, English Laws, English Lawyers, English Merchants, English Comuneret, English Charities, English Fashions, In lish Aninserments, and a Variety of other interesting Subjects, including Memorials of Nature and Art, comprised in a Series of free Remarks, the result of Persont Observation during a Residence of Twe Years in Great Britain. By CHRISTIAN AUGUSTUS GOTTLIEB Gang Translated from the original German, by Tuomas HORNE. In one volume, Svo.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIBLE; or, a Description of all the Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles and Insects, Trees, Plants, Flowers, Gen and Precious Stones, mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures. Collected from the best authorities, and alphabetically an ranged By FHADETS MASON BAR D.D. Price in boards, $2.50, neatly bound, $3.

MARY COOPER, OF LONDON: MEMOIRS OF THE LATE MRS departed this life June 22, 1812, to Twenty-sixth year of her age. Extract from her Diary and Epistolary Curre pondence. By ADAM CLAREK, L From the Fourth English Edition. Price 87 1-2 cents.

GERALDINE; or MODES OF By A LADY Froup the second London FAITH AND PRACTICE A Tal Edition. Price $ 75.

There is no virtue more amiable in the sor sex, that than mild and quiescent spirit of der tion, which, without entangling itself in the de mas of religion, is melted by its charities, and hilarated by its hopes-Camper,

To be good and disagreeable, is high treas against virtue,--Elizabeth Smith.

THE

CHRISTIAN DISCIPLE.

NEW SERIES-No. 21.

May and June, 1822.

THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY AT THE PRESENT PERIOD.-AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO THE MINISTERS ASSEMBLED IN BERRY STREET, MAY 29, 1822.*

THE subject given for our consideration at this time is, the difficulties of the Christian ministry at the present period.

Every age has its distinctive character; and the ministry of every time has had its distinctive facilities and difficulties. It was from the opposing circumstances in the state and character of the time, that arose the peculiar difficulties of the ministry of our Lord and of his apostles. Their ministry was a struggle of light against darkness; of truth, in all the divine. simplicity in which it could be taught, against error in almost every variety of form, entrenched by mystery, and defended by all the skill of the learned, and the authority of the powerful. It was reason opposed to sordid interests, and to triumphant vicious passions. In Judea, it was a contest for the precedence of true love to God, and love to man, of spiritual worship and of moral obedience, over ritual observances, beyond which no one looked for the conditions and means of acceptance. And throughout the Gentile world, the apostles were called to warfare, not alone against idolatry, and vices too gross even to be named among christians, which were sanctioned by the examples of the gods that were worshipped, but with a proud and contemptuous philosophy, as ready even as the most arrogant sectarian of Judea to inquire, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? But as our religion became corrupted, the facilities of its ministry were increased;

and for centuries, in proportion to the advance that was made in mystical interpretations of the language of Christ and his apostles; in proportion as men could be persuaded that doctrines were important, in the degree in which they were mysterious; and that faith was efficacious, to the extent to which it implied the sacrifice of reason; for centuries, while the priesthood was considered as the depository of sacred truth, and men were restrained, not alone from unbelief, but from inquiry, by fear of the anathemas of their spiritual guides; the ministry, if so this horrible perversion of the sacred office must be called, was a service as easy, as it was itself debased. And were not the difficulties of the reformation, emphatically, the difficulties of delivering christendom from the spell of mystery, and the bondage of fear, in which the papal power so long had holden it? Much indeed was done, by the transfer of the scriptures from the cells of monks, to the hands of the people. But in the prevailing ignorance of the age, and in the habit, that was universal, of submission to superiors in all the matters of religion, mystery, if it was not still the very soul of religion, was yet felt to be absolutely essential to its existence; and fear was the right arm with which it wielded its sanctions, and enforced its laws. The light that broke out from God's word, in the first interpretations that were given of it, was thought to be all the light that it was designed to impart to man. The people received the dogmas that were taught in catechisms, or were inculcated from the pulpit, without examination, and without doubt; or if doubt was felt and expressed, the united power of great names, and of the civil arin in enforcing conformity, secured the paramount influence of the clergy. Very different therefore are the circumstances of the ministry at the present period; and to a brief view of them I would respectfully ask your attention.

With the eighteenth century began a new era in protestant christendom. Mills' collations were published in 1707; and since that time, every manuscript and version of the New Testament has been examined and compared with the most scrupulous exactness; and the means of judging for himself, concerning the true text of the evangelists and apostles, have been extended to every one, both of the clergy and laity, who can read the Greek Testament. The spell in which the minds of men were long bound, has thus been broken. All the subjects of christian theology have been freely discussed; rules of scripture criticism and interpretation have been established; the exact import of scripture language, on topics once thought to be too mysterious for the investigation of man, has been brought within the reach.

of all, who have desired to read the scriptures for themselves. And great, almost beyond example, is the change which has thus been effected in the character of society. The principles which consequently distinguish our own time are, a general spirit of liberty, and a feeling of independence on these subjects, that pervades all classes of the community; the sentiment and feeling of the right of an entire freedom of opinion upon all the subjects of religion. Inquiries concerning doctrines are now pursued, without fear either of the ecclesiastical, or of the civil arm; and these inquiries have become subjects of interest to all classes of the people. This spirit and feeling, nurtured as it is by our systems of education, and associated with as strong a sense of all personal and civil rights, is the most striking,-and, in the language of the world, the proudest-characteristic of the time in which we live. It has produced results most glorious to our religion, and most satisfactory to the lovers of uncorrupted truth. It has brought many, very many, to the faith, and love, and obedience of Christ, who were unbelievers, till they had learned to distinguish between genuine and spurious christianity. It has also brought many, very many, who still retain the distinctive names, which were once associated with all that is sound in doctrine, and valuable in hope, to explanations and concessions, which make modern orthodoxy as unlike to that of Luther or Calvin, as it is to what is called rational christianity. But let us consider it particularly in its bearing upon the objects of our ministry; and on the peculiar character and duties to which it calls us, as ministers of Christ. It has its great and inestimable advantages. But it has also its difficulties. What are they?

I answer, 1st, they arise from the new character that sectarism has obtained from the progress of society; and from the charac teristic influence which it is exerting throughout christendom,— and no where more than in our own country.

It is not surprising, that christians, even in the age of the apostles, were separated into distinct fraternities, refusing communion with each other. The spirit of the age, with regard to religion, was universally a spirit of sectarism; and a miraculous energy must have been exerted upon the minds of men, to have precluded this effect, not less than was employed in restoring life to the dead. But the sectarism of the age of our Lord and his apostles, had comparatively little interest in, or regard for, the multitude. The scribes and pharisees would not have compassed sea and land to make one,-no, nor to make many proselytes, among the common people. The objects of sectarism in Judea, as of philosophy in Greece and Rome, were the learned, the rich and the powerful. The Sadducees were satisfied with their security, though they were comparatively few in number,

because they possessed in talent, and in all the sources of influence, means to cope with their great rivals, against all the resistance that could be opposed by an unlettered populace. And not very dissimilar was the sectarism of the age of Luther and Calvin. It was a struggle of the learned and powerful with the learned and powerful. The people indeed, from being spectators of the combat, became adherents of one or the other of the contending parties. But as far as they were actors, they were little more than physical agents. Whatever arms reason might employ for the conviction of the few, authority was the instrument for the conversion of the many. Under this character of sectarism, the ministry had its characteristic difficulties to encounter. Sect was arrayed against sect, as the standing army of one country was arrayed against the standing army of another country. The people blindly followed their leaders; and every leader, where his interests were not otherwise to be advanced, was a persecutor. But, God be thanked, the times are changed. Sectarism has now no altar for Moloch. As the public mind has become enlightened on the subjects of religion, the spirit of religion has itself been extended; and thus a redeeming power has been formed, which has arrested from sectarism the instruments of its greatest cruelties. And not only so. In proportion as the people have been enlightened, they have become parties to be consulted, as well as occasionally to act, on the great questions that divide christendom. Sectarism therefore, in all its departments, is thus called to new means and efforts for the accomplishment of its ends. Its spirit now, as from the beginning, is a spirit of exclusiveness. It shuts up all truth, all piety, and all hope, within its own pale; and immolates character with the same temper, with which it offered its bloody sacrifices. It not only arrogates to itself the sole right to any hope to heaven, but it thinks that heaven is secured to itself, in proportion to the number and strength of the bolts and bars, with which it shuts others out of it. But it addresses itself directly to the people. It addresses the strongest passions of human nature, and enlists them in its own service. It fearlessly encroaches wherever it can act; and invites for itself the persecution, which in other circumstances it would exercise. And does our religion less imperatively call those, who would exercise a ministry which disclaims sectarism, to proportionate labour and earnestness, for the advancement among the people of correct religious opinions and sentiments; and for the exercise of that enlarged piety and benevolence, which will at once impose on sectarism the strongest restraints, and most effectually promote the moral objects of the gospel?