No. 183.]

divines, by their elder friends and brethren, than that of avoiding the fear of man. I fully admit the great necessity and propriety of the advice, and have to regret only that a somewhat-more distinct specification of the evils to be shunned does not accompany the injunction. When a young clergyman, upon entering a scene of important ministerial labours, is told, that "the fear of man bringeth a snare," what, sir, is usually intended by his friend, and understood by himself, to be the full purport of the observation? Why, evidently, that he is not to shrink from a conscientious promul, gation of his theological principles; that he is boldly to rebuke vice; that he is not to connive at formality or fashionable error; that he is to dispense to his parishioners "the whole counsel of God" with faithfulness, and zeal, and simplicity; that he is to make no sacrifice to the world, or to expediency, or to personal interest; but is to persist in a firm and frank avowal of Christian truth, not excepting the most unpopular and painful topics of bis responsible vocation.

Now, sir, all this advice is excellent as far as it extends: but it is not sufficiently specific to meet some of the peculiar exigencies of the present times. The adviser evidently takes for granted, that all the danger to a young divine of piety, is in the quarter of worldliness and irreligion. Upon entering a parish where the preceding miCHRIST, OBSERV. No. 183.

nister, from whatever cause, has not been faithful in preaching the Gospel in its full meaning and ex

case; but in a parish differently circumstanced, and where the profession of religion is more common, the advice by no means assumes a province sufficiently extensive. The dangers of a pious minister ostensibly begin with his enemies, but they frequently end with his friends; and in every view of the subject, the fear of man is as often likely to bring a snare in the latter case as in the former. I thus deduce the proposition:

Imagine a country town or vil lage in which religion, if attended to at all, is evidently little more than "a name to live while men are dead," a "form of godliness without the power." A minister of active piety, we will suppose, undertakes a cure of this description, impressed as he ought to be with the importance of the above-mentioned maxim, and determined by the grace of God to put it into practice. In such a case, sir, I fully acknowledge that much reli, gious firmness, and a strong and permanent sense of the power and presence of God, and the responsibility of his own sacred vocation, are requisite to keep him, fixed in this arduous resolution. I readily admit, while I deeply regret, that the temptations of the world, and the desire, perhaps, of being ac ceptable to many of his respectable, though not religious, parishioners, may have an influence on his mind which it will require no small share of Divine grace and self-denial to T

overcome. I freely allow that to be, like Milton's angel, faithful where all around are unfaithful, is no easy task; and that in the ease under consideration there is much, very much, to cause an unholy fear of man, and to render a constant recurrence to the above advice highly desirable and salutary.

Yet, on the other hand, all these difficulties will usually meet with a counterpoise. Setting aside, for a moment, the powerful influence of genuine piety, in raising a minister above the fear of irreligious men; the natural ardour of the human mind in pursuit of a favourite object, and sometimes, perhaps, a sort of controversial pertinacity blending itself with really religious zeal, will prevent our young divine from going over to the enemy. There is a conscious feeling of dignity and manliness in speaking one's mind, which, added to a desire of obtaining the approbation of religious friends, will often add an unwonted stimulus even to a wavering character. To many minds also, there is a pleasure in being known and spoken of, even though the notice be accompanied with considerable marks of wonder and disapprobation. In addition to these dubious motives, others of a better description will often combine to check the fear of man in the inculcation of religious truth. A love for the Gospel, a real desire for the salvation of men, a hatred to the sins and vanities of the world, a dread of being found unfaithful at the last day, a dependence upon the Spirit of God for strength and assistance, will all tend to prevent the fear of irreligious men assuming much influence over the mind of a deeply pious young minister. Indeed, it is ra ther more usual, upon the whole, to observe persons of this description somewhat unadvised or unseasonable in their language and conduct, than absolutely shrinking from that portion of the reproach of the Cross of Christ which origi

nates in the formal and worldly part of their parishioners.

But the fear of what is called "the religious world" is oftentimes a principle far more dangerous and delusive. It is much easier to stem irreligious hostility, than to guard against the wish of pleasing those who, though pious, are indiscreet, and would unintentionally lead their minister to peculiarities and excesses of doctrine and conduct by no means consistent with his own personal sentiments and feelings. The persecution of the world usually braces the mind, and urges the sufferer to repose upon the bosom of his Omnipotent Saviour for protection; but the fear of displeasing a really religious, though somewhat hot-headed and ill-judging friend, enervates the soul of a minister, and renders him doubly susceptible of the attacks of our spiritual enemy.

Let us again imagine, for the sake of example, that a devout clergyman, after a few years residence in such a parish as was before described, begins to find that opposition to the peculiarities of the Gospel has nearly subsided, and that it has even become a respectable thing to profess a some, what high tone of religion. Here, then, the snare against which the young divine was more immediately guarded, has ceased to operate; and he, perhaps, even gains credit and popularity by his plainness of speech and mauliness of conduct. In the course of his ministerial labours he has, probably, become gradually encircled with a number of religious friends, who cherish and animate him in proportion to his faithfulness and zeal, and who would be the first to observe and reprehend any degree of worldly concession either in his principles or conduct. Thus surrounded and supported, it is not very probable that he should willingly embitter his own peace, and wound the minds of his friends, from fear of those with whom he has compara

tively little intercourse, and whose good opinion would, perhaps, rather injure than raise his character in the eyes of the religious world.

But, on the contrary, if a temp. tation arose from the other side, as might easily happen, would there not be danger of indiscreet compliance? Suppose, for example, that by any means some of his most affectionate, but least judicious friends, should be drawn off from that soberness of religious views which he had inculcated, to a somewhat overstated and ill-balanced system of doctrines. Imagine that a whisper should begin to prevail, that the minister to whose labours, under the Divine blessing, the whole parish were indebted for their religious knowledge and piety, was by no means duly acquainted with the higher mysteries of the Gospel; and that although a sincere Christian himself, his preaching was fit only for "babes," and did not furnish nutriment sufficient for the more advanced believer. Here, sir, is a case in which the fear of man is especially likely to bring a snarea case, however, not always taken into the account of those who warn the young minister against improper compliances. A clergyman of piety can submit to be censured by the irreligious; he can forgive the sneers of the formal; he does not feel inclined to recede a single step for the persecutions of the profane; -but to be told by his own children in the faith, and to whom he looked as his "crown of rejoicing," that he has withheld from them the riches of the Gospel and been unfaithful to his trust, merely because he has not entered into some unhallowed speculations which may have seduced a part of his flock, is a charge so painful and severe, as to require no small share of wisdom and fortitude, as well as of Christian meekness, to enable him to endure its weight. To find some even of his more advanced converts entering on a new system, and pitying him for not doing the same, is

an acute trial to the constancy of the most steady pastor. It is no easy thing so far to overcome the fear of man as to yield nothing to mistaken piety, to the most tender reproaches, and the most conscientious but mistaken solicitations.

I fully believe that it is a fear of what is usually called the religions world, far more than a paramount feeling of duty, that has induced many pious young ministers of the present age to adopt a style of preaching and conversation, which, though not perhaps substantially false, yet greatly transgresses the sobriety of scriptural instruction. A minister whom the fear of one class of men could not render pharisaical or legal in his preaching, may, by the fear of another class, be driven to the very verge of Antinomianism. dread of his fellow-creatures prevails, he has lost his independence of character, and must be content in future to veer about with every "wind of doctrine" that happens to prevail among his people.

If once the

I would not wish, sir, to have the tenor of these remarks so far mistaken as to imply a supposition that the world has, in this or any other age, ceased to oppose scriptural views in religion; and that, therefore, a young divine has to guard only, or even chiefly, against the excesses of its professed friends. I believe both dangers to exist in undiminished energy, but that the latter is, in many places, really on the increase. I might, indeed, have said the former also, notwithstanding all the increasing piety which exists among us. Indeed, that very extension of piety which has been just mentioned, may, perhaps, be the cause of this; for when religion was scarcely to be seen, except at a distance, men did not think enough of it actively to hate it, and even treated it with a sort of awful veneration and respect. But in proportion as the subject is brought nearer home, and men are forced, as it were, by the