visitation of the clergy for the purpose of counselling, admonishing, and urging them up to their duty; and that these self-commissioned apostles, two and two, have gone from town to town, and from district to district of the country, making inquisition at the mouth of common rumour, and by such methods as might be convenient, into the conduct and fidelity of clergymen whom they never saw; and, having exhausted their means of information, have made their way into the closets of their adopted protegés; to advise, admonish, pray with, and for them, according as they might need. Having fulfilled their office, they have renewed their march, staff and scrip,' in a straightforward way, to the next parish in the assigned round of their visitations, to enact the same scene, and so on till their work was done. "Of course, they were variously received; though, for the most part, I believe they have been treated civilly, and their title to this enterprize not openly disputed. There has been an unaccountable submission to things of this kind, proving indeed that the ministers thus visited were not quite manly enough; or that a public opinion, authorizing these transactions, had obtained too extensive a sway in their own connection, and among their people, to be resisted. By many, doubtless, it was regarded as one of the hopeful symptoms of this age of religious experiment. "I have heard of one reception of these lay apostles, which may not be unworthy of record. One pair of them-for they went forth two and two,' and thus far were conformed to Scripture-both of them mechanics, and one a shoemaker, having abandoned their calling to engage in this enterprize, came upon a subject who was not well disposed to recognize their commission. They began to talk with him: • We have come to stir you up.' 'How is the shoe business in your city?' said the clergyman to the shoemaker, who was the speaker; for it was a city from which they came. The shoemaker looked vacant, and stared at the question, as if he thought it not very pertinent to his errand; and, after a little pause, proceeded in the discharge of his office: We have come to give your church a shaking.'Is the market for shoes good?' said the clergyman. Abashed at this apparent obliquity, the shoemaker paused again; and again went on in like manner. To which the clergyman: "Your business is at a stand, sir, I presume; I suppose you have nothing to do.' And so the dialogue went on; the shoemaker confining himself to his duty, and the clergyman talking only of shoes, in varied and constantly-shifting colloquy, till the perverse and wicked pertinacity of the latter discouraged the former; and the shoemaker and his brother took up their hats, to shake off the dust of their feet,' and turn away to a more hopeful subject. The clergyman bowed them very civilly out of doors, expressing his wish, as they departed, that the shoe business might soon revive. Of course, these lay apostles, in this instance, were horror-struck; and it cannot be supposed they were much inclined to leave their blessing behind them. "I believe I do not mistake in expressing the conviction that there are hundreds, not to say thousands, of the Presbyterian and Congregational clergy, who will sympathize with me thoroughly in these strictures on the encroachments of the laity upon pastoral prerogative; who groan under it; who feel that it ought to be rebuked and corrected, but despair of it; and who know that their usefulness is abridged by it to an amount that cannot be estimated.* * "The Rev. Mr. Reid mentions a very whimsical instance of the interference of the laity in every possible way. He says, that being at church one Sabbath,' there was one reverend old man, certainly a leader among them, who literally, as the preacher went on with his sermon, kept up a sort of recitation with him; as, for instance, the preacher continuing his sermon The duty here inferred is, to deny ourselves— Preacher. It supposes that the carnal mind is enmity against God It can hardly be denied, I think, that the prevalence of this spirit has greatly increased within a few years, and become a great and alarming Elder. Ah, indeed, Lord, it is. Preacher. The very reverse of what God would have us to be Elder. God Almighty knows it's true. Preacher. How necessary, then, that God should call upon us to renounce everything— Elder. God help us! Preacher. Is it necessary for me to say more? Elder. No-oh-no! Preacher. Have I not said enough? Elder. Oh, yes, quite enough. Preacher. I rejoice that God calls me to give up every thing Elder. Yes, Lord, I would let it all go. Preacher. You must give up all— Elder. Yes-all. Preacher. Your pride Elder. My pride. Preacher. Your envy Elder. My envy. Preacher. Your covetousness Elder. My covetousness. Preacher. Your anger— Elder. Yes-my anger. Preacher. Sinner, then, how awful is your condition! Elder. How awful! Preacher. |