Conn.

MEMBERS BY ELECTION,

Chosen at the Annual Meetings of the Society since 1826.

Rev. William Allen, D. D. Brunswick,

Jeremiah Chaplin, D. D. Waterville

Rev. Joshua Bates, D. D.

James Marsh, D. D.

Hon. Charles Marsh

Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D.
William Cogswell

Hon. Lewis Strong

Edward A. Newton, Esq.

Alexander Jones, Esq.

Rev. William Patten, D. D. Newport

Francis Wayland, D. D. Providence

Oliver Dudley Cooke, Esq. Hartford,

Joseph Battell, Esq.

Benjamin Silliman, LL. D.

Mass. John Morrison, Esq.

Whitesborough

Bloomfield
New Brunswick
Elizabethtown
Philadelphia,

Alleghany-town

FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY.

Addresses made on moving the Resolutions, page 8.

The Rev. JOHN BLATCHFORD, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, on moving the acceptance of the Report, delivered an address of which the following is an abstract, copied from the Christian Watchman.

He alluded to the first efforts made in this association for educating pious young men for the Christian ministry. The Society in its early operations was hardly known; but its influence gradually attracted the favor of the public, and it has rolled onward in its happy tendencies to diffuse its blessings, till we are now told the astonishing fact, that its receipts in the last year exceeded $40,000. But the amount of its pecuniary patronage from the benevolent, is the meanest shade in this picture of benevolence, which has a color, tints and glory, far surpassing anything communicated by man. The Holy Spirit has given the seal of his authority to the labors in this cause. The Son of God has blest it. And thousands shall sing redeeming grace in the realms of glory, in consequence of the blessings which this Society shall be the instrument of diffusing. In the revivals of religion which are spreading over our country, we see a whitened harvest. God is giving answers to prayer, and bestowing his favor in copious measure. Thus is he inviting us to press onward. By means of the heralds of salvation, which this Society will assist in qualifying for usefulness, hundreds of thousands shall know the terrors of the Lord against iniquity, and shall hear the proclamation of pardon to the penitent believer. They shall feel for the ruin in which sin has involved the world, and shall go forward to publish a free salvation in Christ Jesus.

Mr. OLIPHANT, of Beverly, seconded the motion, and remarked on one feature, which the Report disclosed, and which promised success. This was, that the Society encouraged young men to help themselves by their own efforts. Men who are inured to labor, and to feel its necessity, and to practice self-denial, will be able and willing to do much.

The second Resolution was offered by Rev. ARTEMAS BOIES, who remarked in substance as follows:

It is well known that much has been written, and more has been said, against what has been termed the influence of the clergy. But it is in vain to deny this influence. It is identified with their office, and you cannot destroy it without blotting out that ordinance of Heaven under which the ministry is instituted. The Pastor sustains a relation to his flock which is unique. There is no exact parallel to it in any of the affinities of life. He is brought in contact with every cord of the human heart; with every age, and class, and condition in the community, with which he is connected. Like the vital fluid in the animal system, he moves not only through the arteries, but every vein, in the body corporate to which he ministers. There is not a scene of domestic sorrow, or of joy, in which he is not called to mingle-there is not a movement for intellectual improvement-not a scheme for moral and religious effort, but looks to him for the impulse and energy of his example. But above all, he is intrusted with the training of the moral principle, or power in man, which gives shape to his character and settles his destiny.

The teacher whose work is with conscience, sustains a responsibility, and wields a power over the human mind, which no other man can exert. It is to no purpose to say, We are free-we call no man master of our faith. This is true; but I am speaking of facts, not theories; of what man is, not what he loftily pretends to be; and I ask, Where is there a church, where is there a society, I care not of what sect, who do not consider the interpretation of the Bible which they receive from the Pastor in whom they confide, as the true interpretation? So it is historically as well as scripturally true, Like Pastor, like people. Let me repeat, then, you cannot destroy the influence, the diffusive, the powerful influence of the clergy, without annihilating their existence as a distinct body of men-without extinguishing the last pulsation of life in the inner man. Admitting this, of what immense importance is the character of the clergy.

The history of the church and of the world raises a note of admonition on this subject which we cannot easily disregard. It bids us take diligent heed to that apostolic injunction—Lay hands suddenly on no man. It bids us guard with sleepless vigilance every avenue to the sacred ministry. For who, Sir, above all others, have poured out the very life blood of the church like water. Who has rolled in upon the heritage of God wave after wave of corruption, and darkness, and death? Who has grasped with unhallowed hands the pillars of our faith and of our hope, and as far as mortal strength could do, have torn them from their basement? Who has sung a requiem over the guilty sinner through his whole life, and at the gate of death has given him a spurious passport to heaven? Who, by the earthliness of his affections and his life, and the compromising spirit of his ministrations, has done more to blot out the distinctive character of the Christian religion from the earth, than all the open infidels and atheists that ever lived? I answer without the least hesitation-unfaithful, time-serving, graceless ministers of the Gospel, And more; who have leagued with political authorities and crowned heads to wrest from man his dearest rights, and for the luxury of an ample sinecure, for the glory of a mitre, and the magnificence of a palace, have kindled a fire to consume vital Christianity and civil liberty on the same altar? I answer, An ambitious, secular priesthood.

On the other hand-go to the place which has long been favored with the presence of a devoted minister of the New Testament-whose speech and whose preaching is not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and with power-whose example is the light of his flock-whose unfainting purpose is the salvation of souls-whose home -much-loved home, is at the foot of the cross, and you will find the greenest spot on earth. You will find the cup of heaven's blessings full and running over. You will see every domestic relation cherished-every branch of industry prosperous-every civil right respected-every virtue budding and blooming like the rose. You will see vice hanging his head in confusion and giving up his ground in despair. When I cast my eyes over our beloved country-the fairest, the freest, the happiest on the globe-and see our literary and religious institutions, which are the sinews of our republic, the glory of the church, and the admiration of the world, almost entirely under the control and direction of men looking to or connected with the sacred office, I cannot but feel, that not only the welfare of the church, but the destiny of our nation, is, under God, identified with the character of our clergy.

What should this character be? If it were not assuming in me I would say, let that beautiful motto, Light and love, be drawn out and seen a living reality in the character of every ambassador of Christ.

The man who possesses no radiating power, had better be any where rather than in the golden candlestick of the sanctuary. The angel of our churches should be like the angel scen by the apostle John standing in the sun-all

luminous-all fire-flaming fire. They would then be what they were originally the light of the world. Ignorant and incompetent men-who are a reproach to any profession-were never designed by the great Head of the church to disgrace the ministry. "I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Such, and such only, are pastors after God's own heart.

But how are our churches to be supplied with such men? Not by might, nor by power. If I may use the metaphor; the oil and the fire must come from heaven-the trimming of the lamp belongs to us. God must give us the material; and blessed be his name, he is doing it in rich abundance. He must hew the rock from its native quarry-but he leaves it with us to make it a polished shaft, or a majestic pillar in his temple.

He

When there were no churches-when the wealth, and talent, and influence of the world were pressed into the service of the enemy-the ministry was filled up by the putting forth of simple Omnipotence. He said to the moral, as he said to the natural world-Let there be light, and there was light. wrought by miracle, what he now accomplishes by means. There are no cloven tongues of living flame accompanying our Pentecost seasons. If a man would speak in different languages, he must learn them. If he would have a wisdom which none of his adversaries can gainsay or resist, he must search for it as for hid treasure. It must be acquired by toilsome study, continuous meditation, and fervent, persevering prayer. There are no signs in heaven, nor gift of tongues, to help our clerical drones. The effect of a well adapted system of instruction and discipline on the character of young men destined for the holy ministry is incalculably great. Why were the Spartan youth and the Roman legions so invincible? It was owing to their training, which was exclusively military. And it was doubtless in allusion to them that Paul gave this important hint to Timothy, a young soldier of the cross-No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Why did David Brainerd display a moral heroism and a spiritual tact which rendered him so formidable to the powers of darkness? Why, amid the languor of bodily disease, did he exhibit such an energy of soul in his work, and achieve such conquests for Christ, that his name is embalmed in the hearts of God's people, and will be until the end of time? Unquestionably, under God, it was owing to the habits which he adopted, and the circumstances in which he was placed. He placed himself, in a spiritual sense, under Spartan laws. His piety grew, and expanded, and ripened amid the thorns. He threw himself as far as possible above and beyond the attraction of the world. He took his station at his post, midway between earth and heaven-and like the kindred spirits in the night vision of the patriarch, he was constantly ascending and descending, until he was not, for God took him. O, Sir, if we had such men in the field, how would one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.

Where vital godliness is rooted in the heart, and native strength pervades the intellect, you have a foundation on which a character may be reared which will be an ornament to the ministry on earth, and a star of brighter lustre in the celestial firmament. Yet it is not to be disguised, that there are habits and circumstances of life which seriously impede the formation of such a character. Piety, we all know, is an exotic in every heart-but when it lifts its head amidst the luxuriance of wealth, and sheds its fragrance over circles of fashion and of fame, it seems almost like the summer flower opening its bosom to the snows of January. God may sustain it, and in some bright examples he has done so; but it is an anomaly in the operations of his grace. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. There was matchless wisdom, as well as sovereignty, in selecting the first preachers from the fishermen of Galilee. It was not