of an interest in them, and an attachment to them, in the mass of the poorer departments of society. Let nothing, then, be done by this ministry, by which the poor shall be made to feel that the very religion, which is intended to be a bond of union between them and their fellow men, is itself an instrument of their separation from the more favored classes of their fellow beings. The attempt, by any means, to build up and to increase the number of religious societies, composed of those, who, without bringing themselves into great pecuniary embarrassments, and taxing others to uphold them, cannot support a ministry, I deem alike impolitic, and wrong; and if the ministry for the poor shall be employed for this object, I feel assured that, by this single circumstance, it will be not less exposed to fall into discredit, and to become an utter failure, than it will if it shall be engaged in only as a temporary service, and in preparation for the ministry of our churches.

Having given my judgment, upon these questions, I would state a few great principles of operation in the ministry, which I have tested, and have found to be of increasing value in proportion as I have learned how to apply them. This, I think, will be a better service than I could render by any statements of my own modes of action in particular cases.

I observe then, in the first place, that, either for personal happiness in this ministry, or for success in it, we must regard poverty, and the poor, as Jesus Christ regarded them. We must have a love of man, as man, like that which glowed in the heart of Jesus. We must recognise in every human being a child of our Father in heaven, and go to our work under the full influence

of the sentiment of christian brotherhood with those, whom it may be our privilege to serve as ministers of Christ.

This christian interest in the poor, this affectionate care for them, and this solicitude for their highest improvement and well-being,—for their happiness through their piety and virtue, is the first of all requisites, not only for making the proffered services of the minister acceptable, but even in any considerable degree useful. This is, in truth, no other than the principle of a true sympathy with Jesus Christ in the distinctive object of his religion, that, through its influence, the poor are to be blessed; that, through his teaching, and the spirit of his gospel, even the poorest may be made rich by the acquisition of a treasure, which is infinitely more precious than all outward good. This simple and divine principle in the soul of a minister of the poor will inspire the consciousness, that he has himself obtained a better possession, when he has been an instrument of bringing a family, or an individual, under the influences. of the gospel of Christ, than if, by any other operation, he had even obtained for himself great riches. It will also be to him for light, where otherwise he would have found himself in the thickest darkness; and for encouragement, where, without it, he would have shrunk from the obstacles which will sometimes beset his path. It will even reveal to him the strength and the weaknesses, the virtues and the vices of those to whom he shall minister. It will suggest to him new modes of action when old ones have failed him, and make him patient with the dull, tender and kind to the feeble and susceptible, as affectionate as he is persevering towards the

apparently obdurate, and ever forbearing even towards the most violent opposer. It will gradually soften hearts, which at first appeared to be impenetrable, and call forth in them sentiments of regard, and confidence, and attachment; and it will make him feel, that, in being permitted to minister to the moral recovery and the spiritual advancement of any, even the meanest of his brethren, who would otherwise have been overlooked, and neglected, and left in ignorance, and recklessness, and sin, for whom yet Christ lived and died, he is one of the most privileged, and ought to be one of the most grateful and devoted, of the children of God in this world. I do not say that no one should make a trial of his capacities for this service, till he shall feel the full extent of this religious interest in the poor, and the most exposed of his fellow-beings. But I think that, if, after a fair trial of the work, he shall not find this sentiment to be daily growing in his heart, he may reasonably conclude that this is not the department of the ministry to which the providence of God has called him.

Again. I adduce it as an elementary principle of this ministry, that we should go to it with a true and strong spirit of sympathy with every one, whom we may be called to address, or with whom we may have to expostulate, as a sinner. The first principle to which I have adverted will keep us constantly mindful of the sentiment of our Lord, 'I am among you as one that serveth.' And the second, implying a constant recognition of the fact, I, too, am a sinner,' will dispose and prepare us, as we could not otherwise be prepared, gently, kindly, and affectionately to approach our offending

brother. This second principle, therefore, in my estimation, is not of less importance than the first. Here we are brought into connexion with those, whose lives have passed under far different influences from our own. We have neither been exposed, as they have been, and were never perhaps inclined to the vices and crimes into which they have fallen. But may not our own sins, in the sight of God, and under the circumstances in which we committed them, be as great as theirs? I plead for no false sensibility on this subject; for no artificial and assumed feelings; for no self-accusations of sins of which we are innocent. But it is the truth, and a matter of simple truth, that we are ourselves the fellow sinners even of the greatest transgressors.Let a conviction of this truth, then, be ever present to our minds, when we are speaking to others of their sins. It is, indeed, hardly conceivable by those who have not made the experiment, how close is the intimacy which may be formed in this service of mind with mind; and what a free and willing access may be obtained in it even to minds, which spurn the authority of law, and in mockery laugh at, or indignantly resent, every other indication of an attempt to control them. But, for this end, we must identify ourselves with the transgressor, through that sympathy with which nothing short of a strong sense of our own sins can inspire us. Few are so dull that they cannot perceive, though they may not be able to explain, the actings of this principle in the soul of one who addresses them; and few consciences are so dead, as to be wholly insensible to the motives and persuasions which it will suggest and urge, to impress and win the heart of the sinner. Under its influ

ence, the minister of the poor can never be authoritative, harsh, severe, or reproachful in manners, or in language; for even without speaking of himself, yet feeling this principle, he will but press upon the sinner his own deep felt convictions, his own most dearly cherished interests, his own firm purposes, and his own ardent hopes. Every feeling, therefore, of his own sins, and every effort he shall make for the self-improvement to which the gospel calls him, is an increase of his qualifications for the ministry, in which he would be an instrument of bringing his brother sinner to repentance, and to salvation.

Again. As it is a peculiarity of this ministry, that its objects are to be sought rather through direct personal intercourse, than by preaching, and therefore, that it principally addresses itself immediately to the individual mind, the principle should never be lost sight of, that a constant regard is here to be had to the distinctive circumstances, both personal and relative, of every individual to whom it is extended. Allow me then to say, that, in this service, the inquiries should constantly be present to our minds, 'what are here the prevailing principles, dispositions, and tendencies?' 'What are the effects upon the individual of the employment in which he is engaged, and the company with which he associates? What are the influences at home which are conducing to good in him, and what to evil? What is there in his mind, or heart, which is to be cherished and strengthened, and by the culture and advancement of which the whole character may be improved; and, what is the prejudice there, the passion, or the habit, which it is most desirable,