few sheep in the wilderness, it is still that beautiful flock,'1 for which Christ shed his blood; and he will one day ask of their pastor respecting each of them, inconsiderable as their number may have been, With whom hast thou left them?' 2

I advert, lastly, and very briefly, to that which, after all, is the crowning point in the history of ministerial usefulness, that FAITHFUL

PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL WHICH SETS FORTH

AND MAGNIFIES CHRIST THE LORD. 'I, if I be lifted up,' said our Lord . . . . . 'will draw all men unto me.' Necessity is laid upon me,' echoed the apostle; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.' In fact, all pastoral experience tends to prove the utter inefficiency of a ministry, which is not faithful in exhibiting the vital truths of the gospel. The experiment has been often tried-it has been tried upon individuals—it has been tried upon parishes-it has been tried upon whole countries, and many a conscientious pen has been constrained to write the record of its utter failure. How indeed could it be otherwise? There can be no efficacy in what has been made palatable only by adulteration. what is not his own.

God will not honour He will not set his seal

to a message which gives no adequate represen

1 Jer. xiii. 20.

21 Sam. xvii. 28. 3 John xii. 32.

1 Cor. ix. 16.

tation of his revealed will, no convincing statement of man's necessities, or of divine love. It is on the word that goes forth out of the pastor's mouth, pure and sincere, as out of the mouth of God himself, that the promised blessing rests'It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.'5

The preacher, therefore, must not be wise at the expense of his faithfulness. Essential and fundamental doctrine must not be sacrificed, to accommodate the taste, or indulge the prejudices of our people. Imperfect or clouded views of truth must not be put forth under the pretence of ministerial discretion. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, it will not effectually warn the wicked, arouse the careless, or instruct the ignorant. Scripture must be preached scripturally. "The gospel is a mighty engine, but only mighty when God has the working of it." 6 The affecting details of our Lord's matchless condescension and grace must be represented to the heart in all their necessary relations to the salvation of man, before the soul will be melted into repentance or quickened into love. It is only in proportion as the true word of the Lord is prophesied upon the dry bones, that a noise' and a shaking'

5 Isa. lv. 11.

6 Adam's Private Thoughts.

dence, seems to make but little account of the measures and contrivances of men, in accomplishing his designs." All our best arguments are good for nothing, unless they are founded upon the distinguishing doctrines of the cross, and honour the Saviour by a faithful exhibition of his grace and love. But when Christ is exalted, and the gospel preached in its integrity and simplicity, in the spirit of a sound mind, Satan falls, like lightning from heaven,' and is dethroned effectually from his empire in man's heart.

Let me commend these suggestions, my reverend brethren, to your thoughtful consideration. Examine them in the balance of your own experience; and give them such weight as may fairly seem to be their due. And may "Almighty God, who has built his church upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone," 1 pour down upon you "his heavenly blessing, that you may be clothed with righteousness, and that the word spoken by your mouths may have such success that it may never be spoken in vain." 2

7 Ezek. xxxvii. 7.

8 Cecil's Remains, p. 310.

1

9 Luke x. 18.

1 Collect for St. Simon and St. Jude.

2 Ordination Service.

And may he inspire continually the universal church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord, that we may be made an holy temple, acceptable unto him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

APPENDIX

NOTE A.

FROM a cursory examination of the visitation returns in the ecclesiastical court at Winchester, I think there is reason to believe that this practice originated with Bishop Willis, who succeeded to the bishoprick in 1723, and died in the seventy-first year of his age, after having administered the diocese eleven years. The series of returns is imperfect, but extends at least as far back as 1572. Some of the visitations are called annual, some ordinary, some triennial, and others primary; but the ground of distinction is not apparent, for it seems that the triennial, and even the primary visitations, were holden by commissaries, as well as the annual and ordinary. The greater part appear to have been holden by the vicar general, or by surrogates. The bishops seem occasionally to have visited at one or two places, when the others were visited by the vicar general.

Wood says of Bishop Morley, (Athena Oxonienses,) that “in the first year of his translation he visited his diocese in person, and went into the Isle of Wight, where had not been a bishop before in the memory of man." Unfortunately, the returns are very defective for the first fifteen years of this distinguished prelate's episcopate; but, from the year 1677, enough