either injuriously or lightly, I have still one word more. Remember then, that there is a God who judgeth in the earth, and that he will recompense you for the injury you do to the character of his servants. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again!" It may not be long before your actions or motives shall be treated with unsparing severity. Your character, to which you are so alive, may be blackened by the foulest aspersions. And if you persist in the practice of evil speaking, you may by and by be subjected to general reproach, which will be the more insupportable to you, because you will feel it to be just. An attack may be made upon you, which you will be unable to resist. Public indignation may be kindled against you; infamy and contempt may overwhelm you. This may be your recompense even in the present life. And remember, that a

day of final reckoning is at hand, when the Lord will judge you for all your evil surmises and hard speeches against his ministers, and in the presence of angels and men will say to you; inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my servants, ye did it unto me.

Permit me to remind ministers of the gospel of the regard which they owe to each other's reputation. Would to God that this duty were properly attended to, and that the language of Christian ministers respecting one another were always the language of mutual forbearance, candor, and love. If it is so criminal for other men to slander ministers, it is still more criminal for ministers to slander one another, or in any way to detract from one another's reputation. It ought to be our invariable resolution, that no one who sustains the sacred office, shall ever have his character or usefulness injured by any injustice or heedlessness on our part. On the contrary, let us do all in our power, by fair and honest means, to shield the reputation and increase the usefulness of every one of our brethren; so that the world around us may have occasion to say; behold, how these ministers love one another!

But important as this duty is, there is one of still greater urgency; I mean the duty of taking care of our own character.

Our friends may be ever so solicitous for our reputation, and ever so watchful to shield us from calumny. But what will their solicitude avail us, unless we ourselves are awake to the subject, and carefully avoid whatever would expose our character to reproach. With an unsullied reputation, we may do much for the cause of Christ; without it, all our labors will be of little value. Let us then guard this precious treasure with unceasing vigilance.

Are we not too inattentive to the importance of this subject? The word of God makes it essential to every one who bears the ministerial office, that he should be of good report. We cannot trifle with our own reputation, we cannot neglect to guard it from injury, without neglecting a most sacred duty. For in truth, our reputation is not our own. We owe it, and all the power which it gives us to do good, to our blessed Redeemer; and we should faithfully use it, as we should every other talent intrusted to us, for the promotion of his cause. Let us then, for the sake of our usefulness, and for the credit of our holy calling, be solicitous, by all proper means, to preserve and increase our reputation. For this purpose, let us be good men, and good ministers of Christ; full of faith and good works. In the exercise of Christian discretion, let us scrupulously avoid not only what is positively sinful, but what is of a doubtful character. Be vigilant and faithful, brethren, and you may quietly trust your character with God, who will hide you in the secret of his pavilion from the strife of tongues. Never return railing for railing, or evil-speaking for evil-speaking, but contrariwise blessing. Look unto Jesus, who endured the contradiction of sinners, and copy his meekness, love, and forgiveness. And if, amid the agitation of this changing world, your reputation is sometimes obscured by a few dark clouds; those clouds will pass away. Even in this life, the righteous providence of God will generally bring to light the integrity of his ministers. And the all-revealing day is at hand, when the voice you will hear, will not be the voice of reproach from your enemies, nor of complaint from misjudging friends; but the voice of your merciful Saviour and Judge, who, will say to

you, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of your Lord. And there, in that holy, happy kingdom, which no minister can ever deserve, you will forget the reproaches and sufferings of your earthly state, and be crowned with glory, honor, and immortality.

MY BELOVED BROTHER, THE PASTOR ELECT,

The circumstances of the present occasion are peculiarly interesting to my feelings; and I am sure they must be so to yours. It is now three years since it became my duty, as a committee of the American Temperance Society, to announce to you your appointment as general Agent of that Society, and by various considerations to persuade you to undertake the arduous work of pleading the cause of Temperance before the American public. That you might be at liberty to do this, it was found necessary that you should resign the charge of a very beloved church and society. We know in some measure what a sacrifice you made, when, from a regard to the good of the community, you gave up the pastoral care of your flock. And it affords me pleasure to recal to mind the regard to the public welfare, which your people evinced, when they consented to part with a minister, who had so successfully labored for their good, and who in so high a degree enjoyed their love and confidence. During these three years, it has been my happiness, so far as my other duties would permit, to be associated with you in consultation and in effort, for the suppression of a far-spread and destructive vice, and the promotion of a great public virtue. The benevolent enterprise, in which you and others have been engaged, has been prospered far beyond our most sanguine hopes. Let this be wholly to the praise of God, from whom come all good designs, and all good endeavors, and all success. And let it be a comfort to your heart, that God has made you an instrument of so much good to your fellow-men, and that this good has been accomplished in so short a time, and that you are so soon permitted to return to the office which you love above every other.

And as you have now closed the agency which you undertook,

suffer me, my brother, not only for myself, but in behalf of the American Temperance Society and its Executive Committee, in behalf of the community at large, and in behalf of the thousands who have been benefitted by your labors, sincerely to thank you for your faithful services. These services, I well know, have cost you many a sacrifice, many a season of exhaustion, and weeping, and agony of heart. But you have enjoyed that, which is among the best pleasures ever enjoyed on earth, the pleasure of laboring successfully in a great and good cause. Amidst your exhausting labors and your various exposures, your life and health have been the care of a watchful providence. And while you have been making a fearless and uncompromising attack upon the favorite indulgences and deeprooted habits and prejudices of men in every rank of life, your character has been safe. And you are now receiving the most pleasing proofs of the gratitude and confidence of an enlightened public. Through the kindness of God, you are called to resume the pastoral office with most encouraging prospects of usefulness. I rejoice, my dear brother, that after the efforts, so wearisome to body and mind, which you have made to help forward the Temperance Reformation, you are now to resume the pastoral office with very encouraging prospects; to settle here in this united church and society, so near to your former charge, and in the midst of your beloved brethren and friends. The Lord command his blessing upon you, and upon your household; and for many happy years, give you the privilege of feeding this beloved church and society with the bread of life, and of beholding in this place, and all around you, the growing prosperity of Christ's kingdom. And when you shall have finished the work which God has given you to do, may you be a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Amen.

A SERMON

DELIVERED AT THE INSTALLATION OF THE REV. THOMAS MATHER SMITH, CATSKILL, N. Y., JUNE 15, 1881.

1 Cor. 3: 7.-SO THEN NEITHER IS HE THAT PLANTETH ANYTHING, NEITHER HE THAT WATereth; but GOD THAT GIVETH THE INCREASE.

As the agency of God in the concerns of his spiritual kingdom is so inexpressibly important, and is made so prominent in the instructions of his word; why are we so prone to overlook it? How comes it to pass that we make so low an estimate of the agency of God, while we assign so high a place to the agency of man?

This, I think, may be accounted for in part by the fact, that man's agency is visible, while God's agency is invisible. When a Christian minister is laboring to make known divine truth and bring sinners to repentance, the agent and the agency are both objects of our senses. But God is invisible; and so is the agency he exerts. The effects of his agency come under our observation; but the agency itself lies wholly concealed from our view. When God accomplishes the most conspicuous work, his hand is unseen, and all we can behold is the work accomplished. This circumstance, which weighs much by itself, has an increased influence, by being connected with another, namely, that in the very in