so much the nobler the crown that awaits him at the

last day.

In my first charge, I endeavored to point out the peculiar position of our ministry in this age and land, with some of the effects which that position ought to have, in modifying our professional efforts and our methods of self-culture. I proceed on this occasion to consider the subject of self-culture by itself, and shall confine myself, after a few prefatory remarks, to one of its branches, and to that branch considered under but one of several aspects.

That branch of self-culture which I shall first discuss, may be called the intellectual, as distinguished from that which is moral and spiritual. To form a mind well stored with knowledge, and well trained for enlightened and thoughtful effort, is of course the primary object of intellectual culture. To prepare that mind to convey to others, through language and other modes of utterance, the precise notions and feelings with which it is itself possessed, is another object of the same species of culture; and to qualify it for conducting well and wisely the practical affairs of life, for leading the minds around it to act on their own acknowledged convictions, and to rise gradually through effort and reflection to higher views of duty and enjoyment, is a third and most important end. We have thus three distinct objects of intellectual training, whether that training be conducted by others, or ordered by ourselves. These may be designated by the three words, logical, rhetorical, and administrative,—it being the aim of the first to develop and perfect the power of thought; of the second, to cultivate the powers of utterance or expression, taking those

terms in the most extensive sense; of the third, to bestow the wisdom and efficiency which qualify us for the practical duties of our station. They are objects which must be pursued, of course, more or less in common, and the powers with which we become invested, through a culture so extended, will be employed often simultaneously in one and the same sphere. If we consider them with respect to the duties or responsibilities of a Christian minister, and as pursued by him after he enters his profession, they are powers of which the first will find its most appropriate sphere mainly in the study—the second mainly in the pulpit and desk—the third mainly in the parish and among the people. Whatever I have to offer then, under the head of self-culture for the clergy, will belong to one of the three following topics: THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER A STUDENT.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER A PREACHER.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER A PASTOR, AND SERVANT OF MEN FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.

In thus directing your attention in the first place to the cultivation of the intellect, I mean not to disparage that which must ever be regarded as paramount, the cultivation of the heart. Never would I forget, nor have forgotten the fact, that a devout and conscientious spirit is infinitely more important than any knowledge, though it could compass all mysteries, or any eloquence, though it could speak with the tongue of angels, or any power, though it could remove mountains. I postpone this topic, in form, not because it is secondary, but mainly because, being of primary and universal necessity, it should not only be an object of special care, but should blend itself with

every branch of ministerial self-culture. Whether engaged as a student, or called to proclaim to men the riches of Christ, or employed in the manifold, delicate, and perplexing cares of a Pastor's office, there is no guard, no guide, so needful, as an humble, dutiful, and pious temper of mind; and this, therefore, will be insisted upon at every step of our inquiry.

Beginning life, as we all do, without knowledge or mental development, our intellectual growth is the result, in part, of culture applied in our earlier years by others, in part, of circumstances over which we have little control, and in part, of voluntary efforts of our own, more or less deliberate. It is to the last of these alone that we refer, when we use the terms intellectual self-culture.

As we are never too old to improve morally, so never should we suppose that we are too much advanced in years, or too well accomplished in mind, to supersede the demand for earnest and enlightened effort, that we may enlarge our store of knowledge, correct our intellectual defects, and rise to new and larger views of truth. Life is a race, whose goal stands directly over the tomb, and we are never to count ourselves as having wholly lost or wholly won the prize, till we gain permission to lay aside our mortal, that we may put on immortality. Who will be prepared to enter on the higher progress which belongs to the "life beyond life," but he who has kept his faculties bright by use, and who never ceases to regard himself as a pupil in the school of experience and of Infinite Wisdom?

How inglorious, with a never-ending career before us, to rest on laurels already gained! More inglori

ous still, to rest before laurels have been gained— before one worthy trophy of our fidelity and power has been attained. To underrate our power over ourselves, over our whole intellectual as well as moral state, is the mistake of every period of life-especially is it the mistake of those who have reached its meridian, and who begin to bow beneath the yoke of tyrant habits. Never should we think it too late to supply deficiencies in our knowledge, or to repress evil tendencies in our manner of thinking or reading. Because all may not become deeply learned, because many can never hope to dazzle the world by the splendor of their creative genius, are they therefore to consign themselves to sloth or despondence? Let them rather rise and quit themselves like men. We all can form ourselves to habits of mind more just and active than we have yet attained. All can cultivate those moral dispositions, which predispose us to love the truth, and aid us in understanding it; and all can gradually gather new light to guide them amid the cares and duties appointed by God. To assume, then, that there are in our previous education no mistakes wholly irretrievable, that there is in the way of our future improvement no insuperable obstacle, and that there is hardly any summit of excellence to which we may not at length ascend-this is the true. wisdom; and to act bravely and unflinchingly upon it, is the sure way to do great things for ourselves, and for mankind. We may not win indeed all we aspire to; but we shall not fail of the proud consciousness that we have done what we could, while the pleasure of constant self-improvement, and the privi

lege of rendering increased and ever increasing service to others, will be our sufficient reward.

To a Christian minister, the objects of intellectual culture are both general and special, the former embracing such as are common to him with other men, the latter including such only as pertain to his profession. As a man, he is to aim first of all to unfold and discipline, in due proportion, the several faculties which are employed in the perception and appreciation of truth, such as ory, judgment, imagination, and reasoning; and in the second place, he is to apply these powers diligently and wisely, in acquiring exact knowledge, where such knowledge is possible, and in forming judicious opinions, where they alone are within his reach. As a minister of Christ he is to cultivate the special powers and habits that fit him for the mastery of Divine Truth; and the largest amount of such truth he is to collect, alike for his own edification and for the instruction and benefit of others. These two objects of study-the development of intellectual power and the acquisition of knowledge-are by no means so distinct as may at first sight be thought. They are in truth to be sought and attained, for the most part, by the same methods and in the same line of study. He who would adopt a system of self-culture, which will best furnish and enrich his mind with positive truth, will usually find it in the studies which most contribute also to quicken, strengthen, and subordinate his various faculties of thought. And on the other hand, he who would find the readiest way to develop and invigorate all the higher powers of the intellect, ought in general to select such studies as open to him