the more flattering and more fatal theories of those, who would pluck the crown from Emmanuel's head, and degrade the Lord our Righteousness to the rank of a fallible man.

We charge you to admister the ordinances of the Gospel. To the professed friends and followers of Christ, dispense the memorials of his body and blood; and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. When called to invest others with the same sacred office, which you now sustain, lay hands suddenly on no man. The things which ye have now received, commit to faithful men, that they may teach others also.

Dear Brethren, you are not only ministers of the Gospel, but are destined, in the providence of God, to a peculiar work. Your labors are to be directed to the immediate benefit of those, who are in the dark parts of the earth, degraded with ignorance, and debased with sin. The Board of Commissioners, under whose immediate direction you act, will address to you those instructions which are specially applicable to your respective circumstances. The wisdom and experience of that Board entitle them to the confidence of the Christian public, and their persevering exertions to diffuse, as extensively as in their power, the blessings of the gospel, demand our gratitude. To their more special instructions, we therefore commend you. But to us, as a Council, it pertains to impress, if possible, very deeply on your minds, that the great work to which you are called, the work to which every thing you do should be subservient, is to publish the gospel; the pure gospel, in its glorious simplicity; those precious doctrines of the cross, by which men are sanctified and saved. In connection with this, much is to be done in imparting the rudiments of literary instruction, and to this no small share of your labor will probably be directed. But wherever you may go, and with whatever nation or tribe of idolaters you may fix your residence, whether among heathen, or Jews, or the worshippers of the Beast, or of the False Prophet; we charge you to resolve, as Paul the Missionary did, to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Think not of gaining loyal subjects to the King of Zion, and spreading the triumphs of the cross, by accommodating the gospel to the . feelings, and mixing it with the superstitions, of men. The

simple gospel is the instrument which God has appointed to elevate the character of man on earth, and to bring him to mansions of eternal glory. This is the instrument, which God has appointed, for pulling down the strong holds of sin, and bringing into subjection every thought to the obedience of Christ. It is this, which has civilized the Hottentot, tamed the savage, made the fruits of righteousness to grow on the dreary coasts of Greenland, and on the islands of the western ocean.

To one of you, although, with the others, devoted to the missionary work, an important station is, for the present, assigned in our own country, as an officer, and an agent of the Board. You cannot expect, Sir, that we, as a Council, should so minutely understand the duties to which you are called, as to render it suitable for us to address to you specific instructions. We cannot, however, but know, that the duties devolving on you, are arduous, and perplexing, and of high importance. The disposition in the Christian community to support missions, and the success of missionary operations, must, under God, depend much on the wisdom and fidelity of those, who superintend and direct them. On this day of your consecration to the work of the ministry, we charge you, that, in all your correspondence, in all your business at the Missionary Rooms, where so many of the friends of missions call, in all your journeys on the business of the Board, and in all your intercourse with men, you set the Lord before you; look to Him for wisdom to guide you, and exhibit the character of a meek, and faithful, and devoted minister of Christ.

To you, dear Brethren, who are about to depart to the distant shores of India and Palestine, and to us who are called to act on this solemn occasion, the thought is an affecting one, that we shall probably see each other's faces no more. We say again to you, take heed to yourselves, and to the ministry which you have now received, that ye fulfil it. Devote your souls and bodies, and all your faculties, to the Lord Jesus. How consoling is his promise, Lo, I am with you alway. The circumstances of your life and death are at his disposal. If to his infinite wisdom it seem best, you will be sustained in hardships, and defended in

dangers, and rejoice for many years in beholding the fruit of your labors, in turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. And if, in his mysterious providence, you should, like Martyn, and Parsons, and Fisk, and Richards, and others, at an early age be removed from this world of trial and toil, he can soften your dying pillow, and make death your gain.

To the great Lord of Missions, who has commanded us to preach his gospel to every creature; to the exalted Redeemer, who is made Head over all things to the church, we commit you. May his providence direct you, his grace sustain you, and his blessing attend you. Be faithful unto death, and he will give you a crown of life. Amen.

THE

RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP,

BY REV. L. IVES HOADLEY,

OF WORCESTER, MASS.

TO MR. ANDERSON,
1

IN discharging the duty assigned me on this occasion, I would first address myself to you, my Brother, Assistant Secretary of the American Board. You present yourself, dear Brother, with these other Brethren, and request ordination. You are not expecting, in your present circumstances, to go as a Missionary to the Heathen; nor to be an Evangelist, in the same sense that most are, who are ordained under that name. The Council, however, think your reasons for wishing ordination sufficient. They think your ordination will facilitate your discharge of official duty in your present station, and increase your general usefulness in the church. They have, therefore, proceeded to set you apart to the sacred work of the Christian Ministry; and, in behalf of the Council, I ask you to accept the RIGHT HAND OF

FELLOWSHIP.

And, in giving you this right hand, dear Brother, let me assure you of the deep interest which we, and the whole Christian community, feel in the success of the sacred enterprise before you, as an officer of the American Board. Your cause is their cause; and I may assure you, on this occasion, not only of the prayers and sympathies of this ordaining Council, but of the whole Church in general. What she has done already, and what she is still doing, is but a pledge of what she will continue

to do. Indeed, we hope and trust it is not too much to say, she will do more and more-that her ability and disposition and exertions in behalf of the Heathen, will increase and multiply, till, with the labors of brethren from other countries also, the whole world shall be brought to the obedience of Christ.

With this prospect in view, we give you this token of Christian affection for ourselves, and our churches. As an Evangelist we wish you success in all the opportunities you may have of discharging the functions of the ministry; and as an officer of the Board also, we commend you, in all your arduous labors, to the Great Head of the Church.

TO THE MISSIONARIES.

I Now turn to you, dear Brethren. You, too, have been consecrated to Christ, and set apart to the work of the Christian ministry by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery; and you too have been charged with the embassy of our Saviour's love to perishing men. How responsible, dear Brethren, as well

as honorable, the work!

We could welcome you, as fellow laborers in the harvest here at home. Your aid is greatly needed. As personal friends to some, and dearly beloved, you have been expected in the vineyard with many fond anticipations, and the day when you should be duly invested with the sacred office, has been waited for with not a little interest. It has been a luminous, cheering point in the prospect of Christians, as their thoughts have dwelt upon you.

But man is selfish, and human foresight blind. The occasion calls me to welcome you not to labors in your native country, among relations who love you, but to the work of Christian Missions, beyond the deep. In the name of this Ecclesiastical Council, convened by letters missive from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, I give you the RIGHT HAND OF

FELLOWSHIP TO GO UNTO THE HEATHEN.

sional

Your continued acquaintance here, your friendship and occacompany, your counsel and mingled sympathy as changing scenes may rise, have no doubt been calculated upon by affectionate kindred. But are we in consequence to be embar