at St. John's College, loved and cherished by all who knew him, he yearned after a sterner life, and more responsible duties, than a college fellowship without college office afforded, not deeming that a sufficient fulfilment ohis ordination vow. A friend having taken the College living of Fresh water, in the Isle of Wight, he accompanied him thither, as we have before stated, in the capacity of his curate, deserting the literary ease of a college life, and the prospect of those objects of collegiate and university ambition which were open to no man sooner than to Whytehead. Here he resided more than a year, devoting himself to the duties of his office with such assiduity, that this, combined with the relaxing climate, did his health (never robust) serious harm. This combined with doubts which began to perplex him as how far non-residence was consistent with the statutes of his college, determined him to return to residence, and herein he displayed his disinterested nobleness of heart; for, doubting how far he had a right to be a nonresident fellow, he refused to enjoy the income of such, and devoted the year's fellowship to the manufacture of a splendid brass eagle lectern for St. John's College Chapel, where it stands, and may it ever stand, a memorial of a beloved brother and a bright ornament of that noble and religious house, the holy confessor taking his rest beyond the sea. As we stated, he had returned to residence, when the whole current of his existence was changed-how, had best be related in his own words, contained in a letter to a friend : "My dear--: I have scarcely five minutes to write a few lines to you, but I should not like to leave London without your hearing from myself the change that has come over my plans and prospects. In two, or at the most three weeks, I expect to sail from England as chaplain to the Bishop of New Zealand. The call was such as I could not hesitate to obey, that of a Christian Bishop going forth on a most noble mission, and asking me to go forth with him and help him. Lord--had written to- (as the Bishop told me) to empower him to offer me the living which Selwyn by his appointment had vacated; and it seems remarkable how God has knit us for these many years together, taking as we did almost exactly the same degree, fellows of the same college, tutors to the same pupil, presented with the same living, and now going forth on the same mission, or rather to the same far corner of the earth. We shall seem in New Zealand as in some far chantry of a vast cathedral; while you in England are worshipping in the ehoir, but all the while the same mighty roof of the Churh Catholic is over our heads as over yours. My dear- we may never see each other more in this world; see that you be abiding a living member of the mystical body, walking through the gay giddy world as one who belongs to the household of God, and I will seek, God helping me, to do the same, and then we are one though sixteen thousand miles of sea roll between us. In great haste, &c. "I have meat, drink, and lodging with the Bishop, but I believe no salary. 'All things in common,' as in the primitive days, as far as may be." The rest our readers know. We shall never again, till the great doomsday, see him in the flesh; but his spirit liveth, and though his life has been short, and his good deeds therefore few, yet piety and zeal like his will not fail in bearing abundant harvest to God's Holy Church. A PASTORAL ADDRESS ON OCCASION OF THE CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH IN THE PARISH OF- -BUILT AND ENDOWED BY AN IN DIVIDUAL FOR THE ACCOMODATION OF A POPULOUS DISTRICT. (Continued from pape 6.) II. The blessings bestowed in the house of God will next come under consideration. God promises to those, whom he brings to his holy mountain, that he will make them joyful in his house of prayer.-Such has ever been the case in the congregations of God's worshipping people. The book of Psalms, and other parts of the Old Testament will shew you with what pleasure holy men of old called to mind the days spent in the courts of the Lord, and with what delight they looked forward to those days of the Lord, that they might rejoice and be glad in them. But how much more clear the reason for this spiritual joy in the Christian Church! Even of the second Jewish temple, which Christ visited, and so fulfilled the promise that its glory should exceed that of the first temple, it was added by the prophet Haggai, when delivering that promise, "and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of Hosts." How sure are such promises to the congregations of Christian worshippers, to the faithful followers of that Messiah, "who is our peace," through whom “ we have peace with God," and so can "joy in God," as a reconciled God and Father in Christ Jesus. Still indeed we ought in the fear of the Lord, to worship in the Christian temple; but neither should we forget that every motive and feeling hostile to joy is, or may be, removed in that house of prayer. Though we are sinful petitioners to a just and holy God; though he is in heaven and we on earth, and therefore our prayers, even if we were sinless, should be offered in humility and reverence ; —yet we are invited to " draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith," because through Jesus Christ both Jews and Gentiles, now become one body, "have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Say then, my brethren, with the Psalmist, and say it in all the fulness of Christian hope, confidence, and joy : "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be still praising thee." But he who is our Saviour and Mediator, ever liveth to make intercession for us;" and therefore another promise is added in the text. "Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar." Were we still required to offer animal sacrifices upon the altar of God, they would have been accepted at our hands, as were those of his people Israel. But Christ, our great High-priest, having " by one offering perfected for ever them that are sanctified," we are called upon to offer spiritual sacrifices, and they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Doubt not therefore, but earnestly believe, that if you offer and present yourselves, your souls and bodies, to be a holy, reasonable, and lively sacrifice unto him, you will be "accepted in the beloved ;" and when you worship God in the beauty of holiness, you will not be sent empty away. 66 66 This pardon for the past, and this acceptance with God, not only are the only sure foundation of religious peace and joy,-but also describe the sum o' our spiritual wants; for they are attended and followed by all that is pleasing to God or profitable to man. May you therefore thus be brought unto God's holy mountain, and attain the consolation, security, and joyfulness of faithful worshippers! They are promised to all human beings in every clime, and of every church. For, says the text, 66 My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." And when first the Gentile world entered on the enjoyment of" the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of peace," St. Peter professed his conviction that "God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." These declarations are universal; none are excluded from the offer of mercy; yet that offer is conditional. We must, therefore, further set before you— III. The character of those on whom the promised blessings are bestowed. 'The character of such, given by St. Peter, is this, that they "fear God, and work righteousness." And what says our text? "Them will I bring to my holy mountain." Whom? Such as "join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant." In one point of view, we would hope that many will be brought to this holy mountain, to the house of prayer erected among you, to whom such a description is not as yet applicable. Many, we hope and believe, will tread these courts, who have yet to learn the things which make for their peace; we would exhort them to seek the Lord while he may be found; for never did he say to any, seek ye my face in vain. But still you cannot enter on the full enjoyment of the privileges of God's house, until yours be the character described above. There must be a devotedness to the service of God, the fear and love of his holy name, a renunciation of the service of sin and Satan, an enlisting into his happy and richly rewarded service, or you cannot "enjoy the felicity of his chosen, nor rejoice with the gladness of his inheritance.' Nor can you attain this unless his Sabbaths be your delight; not polluted and abused, but sanctified and improved, by the use of the means of grace, and by following meditation and self-examination. Finally, you must "lay hold of God's covenant; "that covenant of mercy which he made through Christ Jesus; a covenant well ordered in all things and sure, which is your salvation, and should be your desire; which was entered into even at the beginning of the world, and has been ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ, that glory may accrue unto God in the highest, that peace may be on earth, and good will be shewn to man. We beseech you, count not the blood of that covenant an unholy thing, and no longer do despite unto the spirit of Grace: but "know ye that the Lord he is God ;-enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; for the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth from generation to generation." Keep therefore his Sabbaths, and reverence his Sanctuary. Let not your idle loitering, and vacant countenance proclaim that a Sabbath is a weariness to you, or a day of merely bodily rest; but let it be a day of spiritual joy, of rest in God; a day on which you tread his earthly courts, in anticipation of an eternal Sabbath, for which you desire to be prepared. And may those who have "greatly polluted" the Sabbath of the Lord, by gaming, revelling, and drunkenness, be persuaded to consider their ways, and turn their feet unto God's testimonies. Such a course of life is on any day sinful. But on the Lord's day, it not only leads you into evil, but also deprives your soul of good, and so becomes doubly criminal. To all I would say, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is." Forsake it not, lest you forfeit the privileges you may in that sacred place enjoy. Many of you may be enabled, by your future attendance here, to bless God . through a happy eternity for its erection, and dedication to God's service. The prayers offered in the hearing of many of you for a blessing on the devotion offered, and the instructions delivered therein, will be answered in the case of those, who do not turn a deaf ear to the accents of mercy which will sound within those walls. At the hour of prayer, then, let that animating sight on that spot be weekly presented, which gave occasion to the description of the Psalmist, "Thither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord God." And let me further remind you, that not only will this be a house of prayer, and of preaching the Gospel, but one in which the Holy Sacraments will be administered according to Christ's ordinance. There will the table of the Lord's Supper be spread. The bread and wine will be received by the faithful, in remembrance of the "death of their Saviour, that they may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood." Fail not to draw near to that holy table, with humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient hearts; and so use all the other means of grace, that you may come holy and clean to such a heavenly feast, in the marriage garment required by God in holy Scripture, and be received as worthy partakers." Thither will your children be brought to the water of Baptism: that "being by nature born in sin, and the children of earth, they may thereby be made the children of grace." Bring them as Christian Parents, in faith, and with prayer to God. Train them up as Christian children, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. See that they be "taught so soon as they are able to learn," the vows and promises made in their name, and "all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health." Take care that they be "virtuously brought up, to lead a godly and a Christian life." Let the opportunities of instruction, offered to them in our Schools, be embraced in such a manner, that the labour of those who conduct them be not in vain. By enforcing regular and punctual attendance, by encouraging them in diligence, and constantly checking and discouraging their faults, you will be their best friends, and be likely to have them grow up a comfort and a credit to you. Once more, brethren, ever remember, and say unto God, with full purpose to live according to such a confession, "HOLINESS becometh thine house for ever." It will be your privilege to offer up your prayers and supplications in a form of sound words which has been the delight and comfort of multitudes now gone to glory. May you so join in its scriptural and comprehensive petitions, that you may pray with the spirit and with the understanding also!" Joining with Angels, and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, in praise and adoration, aspire after that holiness which they have attained, and "without which no man shall see the Lord." 66 "Finally, brethren, pray for us," to whom a dispensation of the Gospel is committed, that "both by our life and doctrine we may set forth God's true and lively word, and rightly and duly administer his holy Sacraments." More especially pray for him who is over you in the Lord," and esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake." Receive with meekness and reverence the word from his mouth, and pray for God's blessing in all your words, and works, and ways. That " our God may supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus," is the sincere prayer of Your wellwisher and servant in Christ, L. V. H. Jan. 6th, 18-, 97 THE HOUSE OF GOD. Oh! the house of God! where our fathers trod "Tis a reverend place, for there the grace "Tis there His praise as in ancient days We sing in a holy strain; 'Tis there we know as onward we go This world to be passing vain. Does the joyous bell with its sweet notes tell Oh no! those chimes in their holy rhymes Six days of toil-that mortal coil By sin around us cast Have passed away; and the sacred day Returned our hope at last. Then enter there its portals fair, Our God demands at the sinner's hands; With earnest zeal now swell the peal, In prayer sincere declare the fear And look around on that hallowed ground, And know that you, when your time is due, Whilst the worldling laughs, as the cup he quaffs, Of sin with its deadly bane, And those holy aisles with sin defiles, Despite that sacred fane; Lo, Christian, go, and on earth below J. B. BRODRICK. |