failed when there has been a becoming measure of perseverance. The experiment will at least be a safe one; while there will be neither safety nor success without it. Let the pastor and the members of the church thus assume their proper responsibilities; and singers in the end will be as easily guided as any class of people. A truly Christian spirit will prove irresistible. It will overcome every obstacle, and lead to the happiest consequences. To the absence of such a spirit is chiefly to be attributed the difficulties which so often arise in the ranks of cultivation.

But not to enlarge on the methods of operation. We have seen that there is sufficient need of effort in the way of reform; and that the work is not impracticable. All that is required by the existing aspect of things, CAN BE DONE. The Songs of Zion can be fully redeemed from existing abuses, and rendered acceptable in His sight. All are interested in such a result; and must share in the responsibility. All as individuals are bound to praise God in the best possible manner. The duty is just as universal as are the obligations to love and gratitude; and amidst the endless diversity of talent there is something that every one can do. God proposes to be glorified in the offerings of praise. Who shall dare to rob him of this glory? And is it no crime to be negligent and heartless in the performance of such a duty? Is it nothing that the offerings of praise often become an offence to God-a vain oblation-an unmeaning service-a system even of solemn mockery? All this, as we have seen, can be prevented; and the methods of operation are before us. Let no one wait for the impetus of public sentiment; but let all awake to the claims of personal responsibility.

And shall not the praises of God ascend from every closet and from every family altar? Shall not the rising generation all be taught to sing? Shall not schools be better sustained and conducted as well as more numerously attended? Shall not the pulpit give instruction, and those who have influence and authority in the churches awake to duty? Or have love and gratitude no longer any claims upon us? Or has it come to pass, that there is nothing so transcendently beautiful and glorious in the Divine perfections, as to demand a purer sacrifice of praise? So thought not the men of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost: "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness ;"-"God is greatly to be feared in the assemblies of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all that come before him." Angels worship him, with veiled faces in the lowest prostration, though filled with the highest raptures of heaven. And while with such affections they cry, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts,"-"Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty,"-" Who shall not fear thee and glorify thy name!"-"Amen, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever

and ever," shall the same hallowed and exalted themes be uttered by the church militant, in a listless, discordant, irreverent manner, or at best be made the favourite subjects for musical enjoyment or professional display? It must not be. Love and gratitude forbid it. The glory of God and the good of his people forbid it. Yet thus it will be, as heretofore, unless Christians awake to effort. There is no other possible alternative. Habitual neglect is universally punished with barrenness; and the principle is as important to individuals as to communities, and as applicable to musical enjoyment as to devotional spirituality. The men who consent to employ their gifts to the best advantage, and they alone, may expect, by the blessing of God, to find acceptance in the songs of praise.

But God is wont to smile upon the right observance of his own institutions. Already he has gone before us in the distribution of his heavenly favours. Religious singing-schools have been places of precious interest; and revivals of religion have been promoted by their instrumentality. Larger blessings of a like nature are yet in store. Who then will not improve, to the utmost, the talent which has been given him for the express purpose of promoting the praise and glory of God?

We have presented only the claims of duty. We might speak of the many advantages of music as a fine art, notwithstanding its occasional liabilities to abuse. We might speak of the beneficial influence of music upon our higher seminaries of learning, and of its importance to an educated ministry. And especially might we speak of devotional song, as a rich source of enjoyment. It is a precious privilege to be permitted to celebrate the praises of God. It is the very employment of angels. It is heaven begun below. It affords a most delightful foretaste of the endless felicities above. Why should the sons and daughters of adoption wait until they arrive at the very threshold of heaven before they begin the celestial employment?

There is one class of readers who are ready to shrink from the full responsibility of this employment. Though they respect religion, they make no pretensions to real spirituality, but have always regarded themselves as supplying the mere machinery, the beautiful mechanism of holy song. Shall the lips of these at once be sealed? No-no. Let every one that breathes pour forth the notes of praise. Every living soul is called upon-" Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise ye the Lord." Let every voice be tuned and put into requisition. We love to see the dear youth, and those of riper age, flocking to the religious singing-school. Many may there learn their lost condition, and find joy and peace in believing. Still the individuals who refuse to employ holy affections while engaged in the work of praise, must remember that God looks upon the heart, and that a heartless offering, whether in praise or prayer, can never be accepted.

Let them prepare to come into his presence with heart and voice, with the spirit and the understanding: and thus coming he will smile upon them with the visitations of his grace.

But who are they that should be foremost in the ranks of improvement? Who shall stand up in the places of Asaph, of Heman, and Jeduthun-in the places of the prophets, and martyrs, and reformers, to lead in the praises of Zion? The disciples of the blessed Redeemer, so proverbial in these modern days for their delinquency, are bound by every consideration of love and gratitude, to be foremost in showing forth "the praise of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light." They above all others should be leaders in the hallowed enterprize. Their children should be the earliest to lisp hosannas to the Son of David. The closet, the family altar, the social circle, the religious singing-school, the house of God, should all bear testimony to the beauty, the frequency, and the fervour of their offerings of praise.

The time is not distant when the glory of the Lord shall fill the whole earth; when the rocks, and the hills, and the valleys, and the islands, and the depths of the sea, shall reverberate with the songs of holy joy. How delightful the thought! What a lively picture will such a scene afford of that place where the pure rivers of pleasure are for ever flowing from the throne of God! There praise is an employment that shall never end. How pure, how sweet, how hallowed, how transporting must be the anthems of the blessed inhabitants above! Let us so cultivate the praises of God below, as to be prepared at length to unite in the universal, endless songs of heaven.

ON THE SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY OF MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL OVER THEIR PEOPLE.

AMONG the various ecclesiastical questions agitated in the present day, it is sometimes asked, What is the scriptural authority of ministers of the Gospel over their flocks? And this inquiry is generally made in a manner implying, that there is a disposition on the part of the churches of our order, to curtail that authority, and to have their ministers placed in a subordinate position. Such passages as "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves," are referred to; and though the Scriptures contain nothing specific on the nature and extent of such rule and obedience, there seems to be an opinion, that the ministerial or pastoral office is regarded with less respect and deference, than may be rightfully claimed for it.

I humbly apprehend, that it is the very nature of this authority which renders it so difficult, if not impossible, to define it by any exact limits, and that it is in harmony with the uniform wisdom af inspira

tion, that it has not so defined it. The proper authority of ministers depends so much on personal qualities, and so little on the mere possession of office; is so much the result of the requisite moral, and intellectual endowments, which seldom fail to procure reverence, whether it be exacted or not; that to wish that its boundaries had been clearly prescribed, and that in every case of dispute, exact law and precept could be referred to, would be to misconceive its nature. And we shall

not act the part of wise men, if, in every instance of disrespect and insubordination shown to ministers, we proceed no further than merely to compare it with the terms in which the Scriptures speak of the veneration and submission with which they should be regarded, and then to expatiate on the contrast. That some ministers have been spoken of and treated, and that by their own people too, in a manner to be deeply regretted, must be confessed. Neither is it denied that the Scriptures invest their character with a sacredness utterly at variance with such treatment. But they always imply certain qualities as the foundation of such sacredness. If, then, we would be governed in our estimate of what is due to ministers by the terms of peculiar reverence in which the Scriptures speak of them, we must keep in view the entire system of which this is a part. In a word, we must look at the constitution and design of the society of which the Christian pastor is the ruler, or president, or guide.

A Christian church, according to the views of Congregationalists, consists of truly renewed persons, united together for their own edification, and the conversion of others, that they may both exemplify and diffuse the religion of their Divine Saviour. The pastor of such a church is its teacher and guide, fulfilling his duties by instructing it in the entire system of revealed truth, watching for its obedience in all things, suggesting or directing all suitable methods for its highest improvement and usefulness, and going before it in whatever he inculcates-himself "an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Two things, then, are implied in all this; a cordial approval of, and sympathy with the great end of its institution in all the members of the church, and the possession of superior intelligence, judgment, and piety in him. Should he be deficient in these requisites, he would, in the degree of that deficiency, be disqualified for his office. If the spirit of piety did not breathe in them, they could neither sympathise with the only end of their association, nor appreciate those qualities in him necessary to fit him for promoting that end, and constituting his legitimate claim to their highest esteem and love; and, consequently, in the event of misunderstanding arising between them, they would be in danger of showing him less deference than those qualities would deserve. Should they be imbued with those holy principles which forbid their making the interests of religion less than their supreme object, and he be unprepared, whether in spirit or

in gifts, to lead them on to this object, it would be impossible to accord to him the honour claimed for ministers in the writings of the apostles. Worldly or inefficient, he could not be a meet guide for such a people. Or if both parties should be wanting in a just estimation for their appropriate object, the one would, in that degree, be liable to fail of yielding, and the other of receiving, what is due to the minister who zealously and ably pursues that object. But were the growth and prevalence of their holy religion supremely dear to both, and he ever stimulating and alluring them to the highest devotedness and zeal, their disposition to honour him would be equal to his right to receive honour; and there would be realized, not the respect merely, but all the love and veneration which even the Scriptures ask for the good and faithful minister.

Supposing, then, both the pastor and his flock to be of the spirit and aim last mentioned, and this is the theory of our Congregational polity, there will be little danger of collision between them, or of his being denied the least part of his just authority. That authority is personal rather than official; the influence and sway of those excellencies which constitute the good, and faithful, and able minister, and not belonging to him simply because he happens to be a minister. "For his work's sake," when performed in the spirit and manner befitting it, the Scriptures claim for him all that heart can wish; but nothing for his office merely; or if for his office, only as identified with those attributes which alone can render it venerable. Those inspired standards to which we are accustomed to appeal for proof of the high respect which should be cherished for the ministerial character, invariably imply, that such respect is eminently merited by those various endowments, which would have been honoured in any situation, but which find their appropriate sphere in serving and superintending the church of God. The minister whom they place on this high ground, is supposed to be a man of eminent piety and benevolence, to breathe the spirit of the Saviour, and to tread in his steps, and to be wholly consecrated to his cause; to have nothing so much at heart as the spiritual interests of those who are committed to his care, to be indifferent to his own ease and convenience, and even to the temporal respectability of his family, that he may promote this sacred object, and to have the requisite knowledge and other gifts for carrying his self-denying and generous wishes into effect. It is supposed, moreover, that these qualities, unless expended on a people singularly perverse and obdurate, will always produce their natural effects, namely, confidence and love; and he who is so happy as to awaken these sentiments in the minds of his flock, will find in them all the authority which it is good for him to possess, and which, I conceive, is just the authority which the New Testament claims for him. When a people see that their minister is single-minded, that he lives only for the increase of their peace and joy in obedience to the Saviour, and that he is as wise and prudent as he is zealous and laborious, they do not