they are solemnly derstood as instructing us in the same terms Against do- in which he instructed them? The man that ing which saith or fancieth so, hath need to learn warned and again what be the first principles of the docbeseeched. trine of Christ; and I warn him to beware how he taketh from or addeth to the words of the prophecy of this book, lest God shall add unto him all the plagues that are written in this book; how he break one of the least of these commandments, or teach others to do so, that he be not called least in the kingdom of heaven. If he, the King and Founder of the spiritual kingdom, in whom dwelt all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, did not understand and know the full provision and furniture for his own envoys and ambassadors, the strength in which they should fight, and the weapons with which they should overcome the powers of darkness, I marvel, indeed, who should understand and know them; and if his rules fail to be applicable to our case, I marvel who shall help out their inefficiency. The Church, say you; but what is the Church without its Head? and where is its counsel without its Counsellor? and where its authority without the Spirit of Christ? Therefore, let no man nor body of men, no Christian nor society of Christians, nor the whole visible Church, in their presumption, dare to say, these instructions of Christ to the messengers of the kingdom are now inapplicable, are Utopian, are extreme, are to be cautiously interpreted, and prudently carried into effect. For if these be cast aside, I, for one, see not upon what scriptural basis a Missionary Society resteth. Nor do I see by what principle a Christian Missionary is to guide himself. But these instructions remaining, I perceive the use of a Missionary College, to see them carried into effect; and I see the calling of a Missionary to be the highest upon earth, and the nearest unto God; I see that he is a messenger not of time but of eternity; that his soul is dressed not in the confidence and trust of time, but of eternity; that he is a man of faith, and of faith alone, and therefore able to plant faith whereever he is permitted; and I perceive that the world is his diocese: and if the world is mad enough to dispatch him away from its coast, then I find a haven of rest and glory provided for him by these his instructions. In short, without this document, I am all at sea upon the Missionary question, and must handle it like a question of state policy, or of church management: but preserving this, I have the Magna Charta of the Missionary Constitution, the description of the Missionary character, the scale of his qualifications, the directory of his procedure, his safe-conduct from the court above, and his assurance of success upon earth, and of immortality in heaven. 80 ORATION III. Why this ar gument should double strength. THE PERPETUITY OF THIS MISSIONARY CON- II. From the Analogy of the Christian Faith and Discipline. HAVING thus established beyond a question, from the document itself, that it is written for be wove of all ages; and having shown that it was acted upon in the spirit, and beyond the letter, by the Apostles and first Missionaries of the Church, I see not what remains further to be said in order to prove that it ought still to be regarded as the constitution of the Missionary estate, and the directory of the Missionary course; but I feel, while I speak, a certain inward admonition, to weave the tissue of my argument as it were of double strength. For I seem to see the apparition of many enemies, and to have the foretaste of a fiery trial, for these thoughts which I have adventured forth. The warlike Spirit of the Crusaders, who unsheathed the sword which the blasphemous Father of Christendom had blessed, and unfurled the consecrated banner of the cross, there with to spread the Gospel of peace, and the artful Spirit of the Jesuits, who brought all the stores of human wit and worldly wisdom to the same great undertaking, and the Spirits of this monied and prudential age, who preach the crusade of gold as eagerly as Peter the Hermit preached the crusade of steel; all these seem to arise to overwhelm the poor wight who shall say that neither gold, nor steel, nor worldly wisdom, are essential to the equipment of a Missionary; but so far from being the allies of Christ in the propagation of the spiritual kingdom, are the three chief powers against whose combined strength his servants have to make their way, and upon whose humbled pride they have to lay the foundations of His empire. author pur poseth to do, Therefore, I oft pause and look to my instruc- Which the tions, and see whether I be well sustained in the cause which I plead, and a still small voice whispereth to me that I am. The monitor within me saith unto my hesitating mind, Beholdest thou not that the deficiency of earthly means is balanced by the sufficiency of unearthly promises? and that though there be no purse wherewithal to purchase the means of life, there is an admonition from Heaven to all men, to take the unprovided Missionary to their home, and give him bread and water? and though there be no steel with which to cleave obstacles in twain, there is the Word of God, which is a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? and though there be no defence of Jesuitical wiles, there is the eye of Providence which counteth every hair upon their head, and holdeth their lives more dear than the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven, for which he liberally provideth? G because it ment of many bear ings and re involving the most vital interests of the Church, Perceivest thou not that the former and the latter end of these instructions balance and sustain each other, and that if the former be taken away, the latter hath no counterpoise, and the whole proportion and wisdom of the passage is destroyed? Therefore, seeing it will not permit of mutilation, or of abrogation, or of temporizing, what can I do but redeem my pledge of upholding the truth of my Master, with that, liberty of prophesying which this grave and revered assembly, taking example from those three still more venerable assemblies, mentioned at the beginning, will not hinder in him whom they have set up to prophesy to them out of the word of the Lord. It is not for the words, purse, scrip, raiment, is an argu- staff, and friendship, that I contend. Whether a man shall have money, provisions, comforts, lations, and conveniences of travel, and friendly sustenances, or shall not have them, is not the question: Whether a man shall hide himself from all the şecondary means of prosperity, or shall profit by them, is not the question. The question is concerning those fields of interest, those spheres of ambition, and refuges of trust, which the words, purse, scrip, raiment, staff, and friendship denote: Whether the Missionary shall occupy any of them, or shall not; Whether he shall go forth independent of them, or dependent on them: Whether his character shall be moulded and modelled after the fancy of the times, and the current maxims of the Christian world, or shall stand unalienable and unalterable, |