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As some parts of the congregation were situated at rather too great a distance for my voice in its usual key to reach them, I was obliged to make a little more sound than I could well bear, and in consequence am poorly this morning; but these are interesting and blessed seasons. I cannot dispense with their luxury from the idea of dying a little before my time.-The Bethel Flag is again at the mast head, and I promise myself a goodly number of Seamen in the evening. I remain, dear Sir,

Your's, most respectfully and sincerely,

THE FRIEND OF SEAMEN.

From the New Haven Intelligencer.

J. T. JEFFERY

THE Rev. Mr. TRUAIR, pastor of the Mariners' Church in NewYork, has just commenced a tour to the East and North, in behalf of Seamen. Ön Sabbath evening, July 28, he preached in our churches to great acceptance, and a collection was taken up for the relief of the Mariners' Church in New-York.

On Monday evening a meeting was holden, for the accommodation of seamen, on board the steam boat United States, which was kindly offered and fitted up for the purpose by Capt. Beecher. The deck of the boat was covered with an awning, and seats provided for the accommodation of between two and three hundred people. Probably five or six hundred attended, among whom were a number of Sailors and seafaring men, who united with perfect solemnity in prayer and praise to Him who rules the waves and rides upon the storm.

The cause of this long neglected and interesting class of men, was ably advocated by Mr. Truair and Rev. Mr. Merwin, and Christians were earnestly urged to be engaged in behalf of Seamen.

Notices and Acknowledgments.

"ECCLESIASTICUS," and Report of Bethel Union Meetings, shall appear in

eur next.

In our next number we shall conclude Dr. Chalmers' Essay on Sabbath Schools, which has appeared in our pages under the title of The Local System, and if any of our readers have not given these papers an attentive perusal, we invite them to a more thorough examination. We believe those who feel cold and indifferent to Sabbath Schools will be awakened to appreciate their importance, and that opposers will be left without a single argument, behind which they can screen themselves from the meridian light shed upon the subject by the powerful eloquence of Chalmers.

We have been called upon for facts, to show the superiority of the plan proposed in these essays, which it has been our privilege to bring before the American public, over the generalizing system so generally practised upon. Our pages have already recorded many facts which may be referred to, and we are now able to exhibit some of the excellent effects of his plan in Dr. C.'s own parish, which will be found in this number.

The Index to the 8th volume was sent out with the last number: if any of our subscribers did not receive it they may be supplied by applying at the office. See notice on cover.

Health of the City.-Since our last publication, the general health of the city has continued to bear a favourable comparison with former years, when there was no alarm. But there have been a number of cases of malignant fever, all of which appear to have originated in Rector-street (S. W. quarter of the city) er its immediate neighbourhood. That district, however, is nearly vacated by the inhabitants, and we have reason to hope, that the Lord, in mercy, will stay the progress of the disease.

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SIR,-With the single exception of the matter of united prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit in our churches, your miscellany has, I suppose, brought no topic before the public, of any thing like equal importance with the subject of pastoral visitation. With no small interest, have I looked at the successive communications relative to it; and sanguinely have I hoped to see more of them—to see the matter passed through that thorough investigation, which the circumstances of the times seem to demand. It is with no very distinct intention of attempting to alleviate the disappointment, which others, no doubt, have felt with me, in the affair, that I take up the pen. There are a few things, however, which I wish to say on the subject:-And if, in saying them, I should simply keep up the public attention to it, and more especially if I should, in so doing, tempt abler hands to take up the discussion, and to carry it along with becoming spirit, and to urge it on to something like a satisfactory issue, my end will be answered.

I look back then to the articles on this hea; and first, of course, to theReview of Dr. Mason's Farewell," w'ach every body must like for its acuteness and good sense, and for its xcellent temper. Whether, though, it be chargeable with the fact or not, it is remarkable that its effect has been to present the venerated individual in question, as holding those light views, on the subject in hand, which it so justly deplores; and to set him forward as a leader in the sentiment, that the duty of pastoral visitation, is not one of binding authority-that it is not one of ordinary practicability--that it is, in short, no duty at all, and a thing, of the omission of which, it is in the highest degree unreasonable for people to complain.

Now all this is indeed "truly unfortunate," so long as the Church of God remains what it is; there will always be both members and ministers of it, whose maxims and conduct tend to weaken the authority, and to destroy the influence of her most sacred institutions; and who will ever attempt to shelter themselves under the authority of names embalmed in her affections. And in the present case, that an individual so instinctively regarded among us as a father, who has so long been the pride of our community, whose influence is so unbounded throughout our congregations, and whose image and character is so VOL. IX.

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deeply and lastingly engraven on the minds and hearts of so many of the rising ministry, not only of this city, but of almost all quarters of the Union. That such an individual should be made even to appear standing on the wrong side of such a question, is not to be permitted for a moment. It is with a filial and affectionate desire of demanding justice for him, and with an anxious solicitude of for ever ridding the great cause of the prejudice of his supposed opposition to it, that I crave now the attention of your readers, for a moment; for if it be true, that actions speak louder than words, and that the deliberate, and decided, and persevering conduct of a man on a momentous occasion, be a more certain index of his sentiments, than an accidental remark, dropt in a minute of hurried feeling, then is it most true, that the impression gone abroad in this case, is at once utterly groundless, and unspeakably injurious.

Most of your readers then, need not be informed, that the church of which Dr. M. took leave in the sermon of the Review, is not the only one with which he has stood connected as a pastor. They know there is another to which he once bore that responsible relation. A church endeared to us all by the precious bond of Christian brotherhood: a church endeared to him by most peculiar ties: the church of his sainted sire, that devolved on him, in some sense, by inheritance. The church that first called him to the stated exercise of the ministry, and enjoyed the years of his springing manhood, and of his ripened maturity. Now, from his powerful and tender connexion with this church, be one day sought a release, and insisted on it till it was given. If there be a proceeding in a man's life, in which brooding deliberation, and deeply wrought feeling, or any thing that can make an action indicative of principle and sentiment, may be supposed to have had existence, it must be a proceeding like this.

Now what could have been the grounds on which this proceeding was adopted and pursued even unto the end? I turn to the pamphlets of A. D. 1810, and in a most select volume of them, I find Dr. Mason's speech, relative to the resignation of his pastoral charge, in the city of New-York, published by Williams and Whiting: and here I behold documents, most amply explanatory of the interesting transaction.

In the first of these papers, we see Dr. M. making the following simple statements to his presbytery: to the full understanding of which, it is only necessary to remember, that he had, some time previous entered on his duties as principal of the theological seminary.

Reverend brethren, serious reflection, often repeated, and for a considerable time past, habitual-accompanied also, if I do not entirely mistake, with scrupulous caution and fervent prayer against an improper bias, has convinced me that my longer continuance in my present congregational charge will be favourable neither to my own peace, nor my people's benefit, nor to the general interests of our church.

I find, by experience, that parochial cares, to which my own judgment, not less than my ordination vows, attaches high importance, are incompatible with the work which the Head of the church has been pleased to assign to me.

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I see the congregation suffering for want of an efficient pastoral in spection, and I anticipate with alarm the consequences of this evil, unless preventive measures be adopted speedily. I am forbidden by eve. ry Christian principle, and by every honourable sentiment, to retain a station of which I cannot fulfil the duties.

In the second document there is a considerable advance in the evolution of the subject. Here we have Dr. M. addressing the church itself; and in language like this:

Christian brethren-It is now nearly seventeen years since it pleased God to call me to the ministry of reconciliation, and to assign me to this congregation as the immediate scene of my labours. The flower of my days has been spent with you. Being the sole pastor of the congregation, I was bound to perform all the duties of that responsible office, so far as I was really able. For several years after my settlement among you, the state of my health as you well remember, forbade almost altogether, my discharge of those important functions which are comprehended under the general term of parochial duty. When this impediment was removed, others were created by trusts and employments so extensive in their nature, and imperious in their obligation, as to demand my first care,' and to consume the leisure which I should otherwise have enjoyed. Thus, year after year has glided by; duties of high moment to your welfare have been unfulfilled; and the prospect of their being fulfilled by me is more distant than ever.

Perceiving as I do, their absolute necessity to your prosperity, knowing that the omission of them gradually weakens the bond of affection which should closely unite a pastor and his people; estranges the mind of individual members from the sense of their common interest in each other; enfeebles the power of social action; and relaxes the nerves of efficient discipline. Persuaded that Christian instruction, exhortation, reproof, and consolation, are circumscribed in their influence, and lose much of their effect, when they are not brought home by a discreet exercise of pastoral inspection; and accounting the respect paid to merely public talent, but a meagre substitute for that ardent attachment which dies away under the suspicion of neglect; feeling, I say, the weight of these considerations, it is impossible for my heart to be tranquil. * * *** My anxiety is caused by the damage which your interests must sustain in consequence of parochial duties not being performed at all. **** The higher duties which I owe to the church of God, leave no place for the details of a pastoral charge. I am at best but a nominal pastor; and there is no probability of my becoming a real I stand in the way of one who might be such. I cannot consent to remain in a situation so afflicting to myself, and so injurious to you. It is in the "speech" itself, however, pronounced before the presbytery, and which concluded the affair, that Dr. M. placed the subject in its clear, broad light. And it is his testimony on the point as here delivered, when we carry along with it in our remembrance, the momentous transaction with which it was inseparably connected, and of which the matter of it was the explicitly and repeatedly avowed basis, that must effectually correct the misconceptions afloat among

one.

us. In this place, Dr. M. is presented to us, with the following powerful appeal on his lips. Let us listen :

Moderator-The system of every well regulated church, is a system of fixed ministrations. For the lighter services of the pulpit; for social prayer and exhortation; generally for the more public exercises of religion, an itinerant ministry, although with the exception of missionaries, far inferior in labour, in care, in self-denial, in responsibility, may get along and be popular. But for sound exposition of the Scriptures; for giving to every one his portion of meat in due season; for training up the youth; for coercive and preventing discipline; for carrying both the law and the Gospel home to every man's business and bosom; briefly, for binding up and consolidating the invaluable interests of a Christian community, there are no adequate and no appointed means but a stated ministry. Without it, there may be preachers in abundance; pastors, there can be none. This broad and obvious distinction is recognized in the form of a call, customary in our churches, which taken for granted that a minister is to preach, lays the principal stress upon his pastoral character. True it is that no man can be a scriptural pastor, who does not "feed his flock with knowledge and with understanding," but he may provide their weekly food plenty and good, and yet lamentably fail in his pastoral work. For my own part, the longer I consider the nature and design of the Christian ministry, the more does the importance of those functions, which are termed PAROCHIAL DUTY, rise to my view. I am persuaded that without them NO CONGREGATION CAN PERMANENTLY FLOURISH, NOR ANY PASTOR BE PERMANENTLY COMFORTABLE. There are a thousand avenues to conviction which no public institution can enter; a thousand difficulties to be solved which the pulpit cannot reach. There is an adaptation of general truth to particular circumstances, fit only for the private walk, or the fireside. There is a correspondence between doctrine preached and'exemplified, which forces its way silently but most effectually to the heart. By pastoral vigilance and prudence, abuses are to be checked, and scandals prevented, which when permitted to ripen for judicial cognizance, are often beyond remedy. It is of unutterable consequence to couple in the early associations of children, the idea of a minister with that of their Spiritual father, and of their own relations and duties to the church of God---which is impossible without frequent and affectionate intercourse. The want of this is the most fertile secondary cause of that absurd contradiction which reigns among the churches---treating our baptized youth as if they were mere heathen. The feeble are to be strengthened, the lame to be healed, the wanderers to be hunted up and brought back. The drooping spirit is to be cheered, the thoughtless spirit admonished, the impetuous spirit restrained. The presence of a faithful pastor refreshes the soul of labour, and sweetens the crust of poverty. His voice smooths the bed of sickness, and mitigates the rigours of death. In short his people expect from him numerous attentions WHICH ADMIT OF NO SUBSTITUTE. Withhold them, and affection, the basis of confidence and usefulness, gradually wears away. Talent may inspire admiration; it will certainly command respect; but it cannot extort love. On the other hand, there is no

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