proportion between the depreciation of money and the expense of living is considered, we may confidently assert, that there is not to be found within the limits of Christendom, a body of men so well instructed in the duties of their office, who perform so much service for such moderate salaries, and who receive so little money for saving so many souls.

general give according to their means. In many places the middle rank might and ought to do more. A load of censure will fall upon the rich, few of whom contribute their due proportion. Splendid exceptions are to be found, of persons whose liberality is entitled to the highest praise; but by far the greater part of them do not perform their duty, by giving for the support of religion, in the congregation to which they belong, the proportion which the Gospel demands. To plead for wealth is not our aim. Wealth has seldom done churchmen good. By the possession of it they never became either wiser or better men. Riches too often generate pride and indolence, for the connection between these is much more close and frequent than superficial observers may be disposed to allow. All we plead for is, that where a congregation is able, they should allow the minister a decent support.

SECTION III.

PUBLIC SERVICES AND ASSOCIATIONS OF
DISSENTERS.

AMONG public services, ordination first occurs. That the person, who undertakes the Christian ministry, should enter on his arduous office with solemnity, will be allowed by all who have just conceptions of its nature and design. This important purpose, the ordination service among the dissenters accomplishes with peculiar propriety and effect. Some indeed have asserted the inutility of ordination, which they say savours of priestcraft, and nourishes pride. But when it is considered, that they were men of the new notions in theology, who had thrown away most of the doctrines of the Gospel, their rejection of this service will excite the less surprise. If any of the orthodox thought with them, they were those peculiar individuals who have an unbounded rage for speculation, who imagine that a practice is bad because it is old, and that the introduction of something new is excellent, because it was never practised before".

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Ordination is a service which recommends itself by its suitableness, and its good effects, to the reason, the conscience, and the heart of a Christian. The person who, in this age, would speak of any virtue in the laying on of hands, or suppose that any dissenter thought there was, is far beyond the reach of argument: his disease must be removed by other means. So powerfully adapted are the various parts of this 7 See Protestant Dissenters' Magazine.

service to make a deep impression on the minds of all who have one spark of true piety, that few will depart from it without receiving benefit. During the present period, it has received some improvements; and when properly conducted, an ordination among evangelical dissenters is the most edifying service of the kind which has ever been in any age of the Christian church; and no denomination, either in ancient or modern times, can exhibit a mode equally appropriate and instructive. The first question now usually asked of the person to be ordained is, "what reason have you to conclude that you have been converted to God, and are a true disciple of Jesus Christ?" This is an addition of the present period, and an addition which is an high improvement; for the answer is often peculiarly instructive and affecting to the whole auditory, and gives new interest to all the succeeding parts of the service. The sermon now commonly succeeds the charge, and it is much more appropriate. Formerly it was often of a general nature, and remotely applicable to the occasion; but of late years it is become as explicit an address to the congregation respecting their duties, as the charge to the minister is on the obligations of his office. For this, much commendation is due, as it contributes greatly to the edification of the people, by making them acquainted with what they owe to their pastor, and fixing a sense of duty more deeply on the understanding and the conscience. The place in the service which the sermon formerly occupied, is now supplied by a discourse on the nature of a Christian church, its institution, head, offices, members, design, and end. Such is the method of ordination commonly practised among the independents: it is

adopted also by the particular baptists, except that many of them omit the laying on of hands, The chief parts of this service are also observed by the calvinistic methodists of the tabernacle. Indeed where voluntary societies are guided, not by modes formerly established, but by the reason of the thing, they will naturally fall into the various parts of the ordination service, which is practised by the independent churches.

Associations, which, during the former period, had, in many parts of the country, fallen into disuse, began now to be revived; and with such vigour has the principle of union for the advancement of religion exerted itself, that in the southern part of England scarcely a county can be found in which the different denominations of evangelical dissenters have not their regular meetings. In this line of conduct, the independents, who were formerly the most tardy, are now the most strenuous and active. Some of these associations meet once a year, but the greater part twice; and much of the time is spent in public worship. In addition to the ordinary service, it has of late become the practice to dispense the Lord's supper, in which as many of the ministers as can be employed, take a part, and which the pastors and private Christians from the associated churches unite in receiving as a token of their love to their Saviour, and affection to each other. Most justly may this be numbered among the improvements of the present period, as it is peculiarly calculated to bind them all together in the bonds of Christian love, and to inflame their zeal for the Redeemer's cause. If this practice has not escaped censure from some good men, we can only express

our wonder and regret that a thing so reasonable so beneficial, so agreeable to the example at Jerusalem of the apostles and elders and brethren, and bearing so near a resemblance to the heavenly state, should be disapproved by any of the disciples of Christ.

The benefit, derived from uniting in worship and conversation, and the augmented zeal with which every minister and private Christian returns home to the scene of his ordinary labours, furnish arguments in favour of associations sufficiently strong. But in addition to them, it should be mentioned that one part of their business and design is to form and execute plans for the advancement of religion in the county, by the more extensive preaching of the Gospel, and by such private methods as are best adapted to promote the diffusion of sacred truth. In this department of Christian benevolence, the exertions of many of the associations are entitled to the highest praise; they have received their reward in part, for their labours have in many places been crowned with eminent success: and they enjoy the pleasing prospect of the more extensive propagation of the Gospel through the land, and a great accession of subjects to the kingdom of the Redeemer. To accomplish these glorious objects, many associations employ one, some two, and a few have even three or more itinerant preachers. The only limit of their exertions is the scantiness of their funds. It is to the independents, that the praise of county associations and of the vigorous efforts to do good by these means, is due in the highest degree. Other denominations have been stimulated to follow their example; even the arians and socinians have not been able to withstand its force. Whether new congregations of these creeds