whether it be his duty, only to visit the sick members of his congregation, when specially invited to do so?

Without at present attempting to defend the former of these propositions, I will first state the arguments adduced in favour of the latter, and reply to them as briefly as I am able.

It is urged, that the duty of a Christian minister, is only to visit those who request him to do so, and that this is easily learned from the precepts and example of Christ, which have taught him to adopt, and encourage him to pursue this course, whether it be amidst evil or good report." "His (Jesus Christ's) method was, to visit those who requested his attendance, or to whom his attention was directed by the friends of the sufferers; and this method he pursued, though their circumstances could not be unknown to him, independently of any application; and he even complained of, or reproached the people, that they would not come to him;" and, lastly, that there is "no medium between this plan and that of a minister obtruding himself uncalled for, and therefore, for anything he can tell, unwished for, upon the privacy of the afflicted."

It would have appeared to me, that the language of Scripture, as well as the example of our blessed Saviour, had been sufficiently clear upon this important duty of the ministry, to have prevented much difference of opinion, even among Christians in general, much less among those of a particular sect. Did not our Saviour go about from city to city continually doing good? Was this his own voluntary act, or was it at the request of others who felt more acutely for the sufferings of the afflicted Jews? Was not his whole life a scene of the most active benevolence? "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost;" and, Matt. iv. 23, "Jesus went about all Gallilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." It is scarcely possible to conceive any language to be stronger, clearer, or more to the point, than our Lord's description of the day of judgment, Matt. xxv. 35-46: “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;

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naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me," &c. In Acts 36, we have Paul addressing Barnabas, saying, "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city, where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do;" and St. James says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions, and keep himself unspotted from the world."

With your permission, I will make a short extract from the Christian Pioneer for July last, page 286, in consequence of a testimonial to the Rev. John Porter of Belfast, from his congregation, as I felt much pleasure in reading the following paragraph in his reply:" I am glad to learn that my visitations, in the double capacity of a minister and friend, meet with your approval. Compared with this unostentatious but indispensable duty, the public services of a minister may be pronounced light. To rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep,' to be 'instant in season and out of season,' in paying domiciliary visitations, is a duty which the pastor of a large flock will find it difficult efficiently to discharge; so much so, indeed, that very few can rightly estimate its nature, except those who have made the experiment."

While I bring forward this instance of Mr. Porter's agreeing with my own views, I am by no means inclined to think it singular. Or why do Domestic Missionaries obtain such general support, and their philanthropic exertions receive such general applause? All sects of Christians alike feel interested in their benevolent purposes.

Were I to pursue this subject to its consequences, I should be inclined to attribute to this neglect of one of the most important ministerial functions, the great decay of religious feeling, as well as apathy in, and neglect of, the devotional services of some of our chapels, and the apparent indifference to their several ordinances, which otherwise ought to characterise our religious societies and bind them together.

Again; it may be said that the minister can do but little, he is "only one," and that the congregation are the parties to accomplish the objects to be desired. It is

true; but the minister being the prime mover, ought to suggest plans, and use all the means in his power to further the interests of the society, by extending its sphere of usefulness. And I cannot for a moment suppose, that the members of any congregation would be adverse to such a plan of procedure; much less, can I conceive the members of such congregations, during the time of sickness, would look with unkindly feeling towards their pastor, for his attentions to them under their afflictions. These are the duties and attentions which ennoble the character of a minister and sanctify his labours.

I am not unacquainted with the sick-chamber. I do not advocate an obtrusive forwardness on the part of the minister to get possession of the sick-room; but at the same time, there appears to me a middle course to be pursued, which, under the dictates of prudence and sym-, pathy, might meet with kindness and be received with gratitude. It is with this view that I have taken up my pen, in perfect good feeling towards the ministry, whether they do or do not agree with me upon this question, to invite their attention and remarks.

I have already trespassed too much upon your valuable pages; but I am anxious to draw attention to a subject, which, I trust, is only locally felt, but wheresoever it exists, whether it proceeds from modest diffidence or from conscientious scruples, will be alike injurious in its consequences, and furnish the enemies of our cause with too just an accusation, of "coldness and indifference."That the doctrines and precepts of Christianity may be restored to their primitive beauty and excellence, is the wish of M. S.

PUBLIC CALAMITIES:

A Discourse delivered in the Church of the Messiah, New-York, on occasion of the Loss of the Lexington Steam-vessel, Jan. 13, 1840.

BY REV. ORVILLE DEWEY.

Psalm cxix. 75: "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."

AN event has occurred in our waters within the last week, that has so occupied my mind, that I could not well have prepared to speak to you this morning on any other subject. I feel, too, that I shall probably best con

sult the state of your minds, by making it the subject of your reflections-in a place, too, where such reflections most naturally come for guidance and relief-the house of God. The house of God also mourns with many private dwellings of the land: the groan that arises by their desolate hearths, is echoed from the altar. The church of God mourns the loss of one of its holiest, dearest, and most devoted servants. Dr. Follen-alas! that I must say it, and dismiss all further hope is among the victims of that dreadful catastrophe. That name, whose utterance now fills us with grief-I know not how it was -strangely almost it seemed-stranger as he was—had mingled itself with the home sympathies of many hearts and of many of the best minds among us. Yet, why should I say that I know not how it was when the beauty and purity of his life, the unfeigned sincerity and affectionateness of his disposition, the enlarged and liberal views of his mind, and his martyr-like devotion to truth and duty, had naturally made him a home in that love which knows no boundaries of country or clime. God pity that nearer home, where that name is no longer the familiar utterance and bond of affection-where it is only a broken echo, from a living grave! God knows that our sympathies and prayers have hovered over it in agony; to bring, if it were possible to bring, relief and comfort.

But I must not dwell upon this-it is too painful. Many other names, dear in their circles of home and friendship, are placed, in God's dread Providence, upon this mournful record. The groan that rises from this catastrophe, will spread itself over the world—to kindred in England and Germany, and to friends in France and Italy. I have spoken of the only one I knew in that fated company, and of him you will feel that it was proper that I should speak; though this is not the time to speak calmly and at length of the eminent traits of his ever to be valued and venerated character.

I could have wished, indeed, that I might have been excused from speaking of this event at all. I feel that it does itself utter a stronger language than any I can use; that your own impressions are likely to be too vivid to need any excitement from public discourse; and that the

event of itself, perhaps, teacheth more wisdom than any I shall take occasion to teach from it. Besides, it seems to me as if it were a kind of sacrilege toward such an awful calamity, to take possession of it at once, ere the immediate horror is well over, as a ground even for spiritual improvement. But my original reflection recurs to me, that this event does occupy the public mind to that degree that it can scarcely be excluded even from the sanctuary; and, therefore, I have thought it best to let it be the theme of our meditation, even though I should only express thoughts which are better conceived in your own minds.

Perhaps I may, without impropriety, enlarge the ground of this meditation. This event is but the consummation of a series of calamities, which has made the present winter the most disastrous, perhaps, that we have ever known. Never, within my memory, certainly, have so many lives been lost by shipwreck on our coasts. In our cities, too, the pressure of commercial difficulties-the frequent instances of infidelity to mercantile and public trusts the torch of the incendiary, lighting flames by day and by night, throughout the whole line of our seaboard, have united to spread distress and distrust far and wide in the public mind. We are apt to feel as if never men fell upon such evil times as we have fallen. We are tempted to ask, Where is the good Providence? Where is the security of life and of its possessions? and, taking political considerations into view, Where is the security of nations?

In this season of public calamity, when "men's hearts are failing them for fear," I deem it the duty of the pulpit to offer what it can, of guidance, comfort, and admonition. This, in my place, I shall humbly attempt.

I. In the first place, let us not be driven by these calamities from the conviction that GOD REIGNS. I am not about to offer any argument to prove this truth. If there be a God, we may say indeed that it is an obvious inference that he must reign. If there is a God, he made all things he made this world-he made all its elements, and established all its laws; and this implies his dominion over it. But not to argue for this truth, I say that calamity is the last thing that should be permitted to drive

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