flock." The Minister is to "feed" them, to furnish them with suitable pasture, to provide for all their spiritual wants. This simile, in its application to the church, would imply that the Pastor was enjoined to afford the people that sound spiritual instruction which yields nutriment to the soul; and that this should be so judiciously applied, as to answer the intended purpose. The word in the original, mouaivo, which our translators have rendered "feed," although it contains the idea of giving food, means more than this, and includes guidance and governing, as well as feeding. This rendering might be fully sustained by giving the definitions of the word from the Lexicons. It will, however, be more satisfactory to the Christian reader to have it proved, that the inspired writers of the New Testament used the term in this large sense. The first time it occurs in the Greek Scriptures is in Matt. ii. 6: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." The word translated "shall rule" is the same which in the text under consideration is rendered "feed." It will be immediately perceived, that Matthew did not here use the term in the sense of providing food. He employed it as describing all the duty of a governorship, when exercised with kindness and solicitude towards the people. The same word is also used by our Saviour in His memorable charge to Peter, when He said, "Feed my sheep." (John xxi. 16.) And that Apostle, in the text above cited, simply iterates his Lord's command; and as he had been enjoined to evince the characteristic diligence, watchfulness, and care of a shepherd in his conduct toward the church, so he exhorts the Presbyters of Asia Minor to similar conduct. This is, indeed, the precise meaning of the original term: it specifically includes the whole duty of a shepherd. I am not aware that it is ever used in such a connexion as to require that its import be confined to feeding; but it certainly is employed to express the power and authority of the pastoral office. It is, for instance, the word rendered "rule" in the following texts:-" He shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Rev. ii. 27.) "Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." (xii. 5.) "And he shall rule them with a rod cf iron." (xix. 15.) The language of the Apostle, therefore, is not limited to providing susVOL. VII.-FOURTH SERIES. tenance; but imports, "Act as a shepherd toward the flock, taking the oversight thereof." Men of the world, and carnal professors in the church, may feel inclined to regard this clearly expressed official duty as a high privilege, and as offering the opportunity for a great and most agreeable exercise of power. These were not the sentiments of Peter; nor did he impute such views to the persons for whom he wrote. On the contrary, he regarded, and believed them to regard, this shepherding of the flock as a duty imperative and onerous, indeed, but far from desirable. The Apostle is therefore compelled to exhort his brethren to devote themselves to its discharge in a ready and devoted temper of mind,-"not by constraint, but willingly:" as if he had said, "The duty of watching over the flock is so great,-the anxious care for the feeble and the weak, the firm and godly restraint required for the wayward, and the correction and reproof necessary for the erring, involve so much painful exercise, that men are prone to shrink from duties so uncongenial to their kindness of heart, and to allow evils to creep into the church, and gather strength; dealing only with those that cannot be avoided, and then acting by constraint and reluctantly." Against this form of unfaithfulness the aged Apostle enters his protest; and not only enjoins the guidance and government of the church as a duty legitimately identified with the office of presbyters, but exhorts that its claims be willingly admitted and cheerfully discharged. But, lest this wise and godly counsel should fall on the ear of a Presbyter of unsanctified mind and ambitious spirit, the Apostle adds, "Neither as being lords over the heritage, but being ensam ples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory." (1 Peter v. 3, 4.) The sense is evidently this: Although the church of Christ is placed in the charge, and under the care, of the Presbyter, as the sheep are intrusted to the care of the shepherd; yet, just as the flock does not belong to the latter, but he is responsible to the owner for the tenderness, diligence, and judgment with which he feeds and leads it, so the Minister, because he has the care of the church, must not regard himself as the lord or proprietor of it, but simply as a shepherd, who must give an account of his trust to the chief Shepherd, the Proprietor and Judge of all. The Apostle's choice of language in this, as in the former, instance, is worthy of serious attention. The word here used, kатаkuрieuw, is that which our Saviour employed in cautioning His disciples against attempting to exercise the lordship of Gentile princes: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you." (Matt. xx. 25, 26.) The same word occurs in the narrative of Mark: "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you." (Mark x. 42, 43.) The only other case in which this term is used in the New-Testament Scriptures, is in the narrative of the attempted exorcisms of the sons of Sceva: "And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them." (Acts xix. 16.) It is, therefore, evident, that the word used by Peter to express the lordship which he condemns, implies that government which is based upon power, and enforced by coercion, or, as an excellent Greek critic has rendered it, that which consists in "a selfish and overbearing tyranny over the flock." The judicious reader will perceive that the caution thus given by the Apos tle, instead of removing the responsibility of government from the Ministers of the church, confirms and establishes that responsibility. If no ruling power had been legitimately connected with the office of the Presbyter, he could not have been exhorted to conduct himself toward the church as a good shepherd toward his flock. Still less could he have been cautioned against tyranny. It would be as sensible to guard a slave against the abuse of freedom, as to admonish a Minister of Christ against overbearing, tyrannous behaviour, if he had not been, by Divine appointment, invested with some governing power in the church. This proposition is indisputable; and it is equally certain, that this text pronounces unequivocal condemnation on the enforcement of religious duties by civil penalties,-especially the supporting of ecclesiastical authority by secular privations and punishment. Notwithstanding, the Minister's right of church government, and, more than that, his responsibility for its proper administration, are clearly and peremptorily enforced. But this right, this power, this government, is not political, but religious. It is the power of a shepherd to save the flock from injury; and, consequently, the Pastor is invested with all requisite religious authority for the purpose. (Pp. 71-75.) The question having been thus argued on scriptural grounds, the most plausible popular objections to the doctrine are considered and refuted. This portion of the work is in keeping with what we have already presented to our readers. There is one passage, however, which appears to us to require a little amplifying and guarding. The author is dealing with the plausible assertion, that "this claim of ruling power by Gospel Ministers is priestcraft, and, as such, must vanish before the advancing intelligence of the age." After very pertinently asking, whether, as supreme power must be lodged somewhere, it is "not as possible for the people to err from the order of God, and to evince unchristian behaviour toward their Pastors, and even to exercise tyranny over them, as for the Pastors to do so toward the people?"-he thus proceeds : But we are told, that the advancing intelligence of the age will set all this right. To this statement I reply at once I have no confidence in the religious enlightenment or moral character of this intelligence. Do the men who talk and write in this strain know the intelligence of the age in which the Apostles lived, and the intellectual power of the men who wrote the New Testament ? It was not in a dark era or country that Christianity was cradled, and her infant institutions fostered. Greece had been schooled in philosophy and logic by Plato and Aristotle, in eloquence by Demosthenes and Æschines, in poetry by the sweet songs of Callimachus, the noble epics of Homer, the graceful odes of Anacreon, and the Golden Verses of Pythagoras. Rome, in addition to her imperial power and refined jurisprudence, had been enlightened by the historical compositions of Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Julius Cæsar, Sallust, and Livy ; had been charmed by the elegant num bers of Virgil, the delicate satire of Horace, and the fervid imagination of Ovid. Nor was this cultivation confined to the literati: the populace at Rome could criticise the periods of Cicero. It was, then, at Athens, Corinth, and Rome, in the Augustan age,-when basking in the light of a literature which it is the greatest glory of modern times to approach,--that Christian institutions arose into prominence and stability. When we talk so confidently about the progressive intelligence, the enlightened spirit of the age, let us pause, and ask, whether cultivated intellect and sound learning have yet regained what the world lost in the dark ages. Men may boast of gas-lighting, steam-power, locomotion, electric telegraphs, and thus glory in means and facilities to improvement; but he must be rather a bold man who would poise the intellectual power, cultivated taste, and polished genius of the brightest spots of earth now, against the corresponding attainments of Greece and Rome at the period when the Gospel was promulgated. (P. 87.) We believe this comparison to be, upon the whole, fair. It does appear to us that the civilised and educated people who hung upon the lips of such men as Cicero and Seneca, and from whose ranks numbers of the early Christians were taken, were quite as capable, when brought to Christ, and added to the church, of determining ecclesiastical questions, and administering ecclesiastical power, as any community of British Christians. This is, we believe, what Mr. Smith intends; though we wish his meaning had been more explicitly stated. We seriously doubt whether, with all our boasted advancement and intelligence, the people of the nineteenth century surpass those of the first in the qualifications necessary for such a task. Were we required to empanel a Christian jury from either century for the determination of ecclesiastical causes, we should be strongly inclined to decide in favour of the cultivated and classic people to whom so many of the apostolic epistles were addressed. We conclude, therefore, that what was binding on them cannot, under pretence of superior intelligence, be thrown off by us. As to the intelligence of the community outside the church, an acute writer too truly cha racterized it some years ago when he spoke of "the atheistic indifference, and the scientific and commercial and political 'good sense,' of the mass of the people in these our enlightened times.'"* Nor can we forget to what an extent the worldly spirit, and the absorbing concern for temporal and material interests, have obtruded upon the church, and secularised the minds of multitudes even of good men, during the political and fiscal controversies of recent times. In such circumstances, we cannot imagine a step more fearful, more full of peril to the purity and ultimate ascendency of religion, than for Christ's Ministers-influenced by a cowardly submission to the spirit of the age, or a mistaken confidence in its enlightenment -to hand over to the people, and put in commission, the authority with which He has invested them, and for the faithful use of which they must give account" when the CHIEF SHEPHERD shall appear." Besides, as Mr. Smith reminds us, this really infidel objection ignores the plenary inspiration of the men who laid down the principles, and gave the directions, which have passed under our review. If they wrote "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," it is clear that no progress in knowledge, whether secular or sacred, can emancipate any age or community from obedience to their injunctions. 3. Any assertion of the "scriptural claims" of the ministry will doubtless excite a contemptuous sneer in certain quarters. Yet, if the word of God is true, those who sustain this office have undoubted claims upon the * Preface to Isaac Taylor's "Ancient Christianity." esteem and affection of the church, and upon the willing offerings of Christians for their temporal support. It is melancholy to reflect how completely the laws of the New Testament, as to the sentiments with which Christian Pastors are to be regarded, have been broken; and how assiduously demagogues have striven to degrade the character, and destroy the influence, of men of God! And what shall we say of the attempt to coerce Christ's servants into concessions which they cannot conscientiously make, by the dastardly and unchristian threat of starvation? We are happy that the ability with which this painful subject has been elsewhere discussed, and the noble practical reply which this wicked attempt is calling forth from all parts of the Connexion, relieve us from the necessity of doing more than protesting against it, and thanking God for its utter failure. On this subject Mr. Smith writes with the indignation of an honest and a Christian man. And no wonder that he should express himself warmly in such a case. It was not to be expected that a Wesleyan gentleman, feeling and avowing his obligations to the body of Pastors in whose defence he has come forward, could repress his righteous and indignant abhorrence of such a mode of overcoming the scruples of conscientious and religious men. In behalf of the whole body of Wesleyan Ministers, and of the Connexion at large, we presume to thank our excellent friend for this timely, wise, and valuable publication. We earnestly entreat our readers, not only to peruse it themselves, but to procure for it an extensive circulation in their respective localities. It will do good service to the cause of Divine truth and genuine Methodism. We cannot better close our remarks than by quoting the concluding "counsels" of the esteemed author : 1. If this doctrine is scriptural, if it represents the revealed will of God on this important subject, then let me earnestly advise and exhort that this ministry be steadily, firmly, religiously supported. Give it your earnest prayers. Remember that the very men who were called to this work by the immediate and extraordinary interposition of Christ, -men who were endowed for their work by the plenary effusion of the Holy Ghost,-asked for these intercessions. If Paul could feel it necessary to say, "Brethren, pray for us," (1 Thess. v. 25,) what must be the need of your Pastors! It is common now for persons to be particularly anxious lest Ministers should betray their trust, and abuse their powers. If there is any ground for this anxiety, and if men are faithful to their principles, let them seek protection and strength for the Pastorate in fervent prayer to God, rather than in shackling it with jealousies, suspicions, and penal laws. Pray earnestly, fervently pray, for the Ministers of the Gospel, that the "word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified." (2 Thess. iii. 1.) Support the Minister also by supplying his temporal wants. Place him above the reach of want or care, who has given himself to you by the will of God, who is your servant for Christ's sake. around God's great appointed agency,— the Christian ministry. Give it your hearty, zealous, constant support. 2. Discountenance all systematic attacks upon this ministry, whencesoever they may come. Of all the forms of persecution to which the church has been exposed, there is none more dangerous to the cause of religion, none more Satanic in its nature, than those which have assailed the character of the Christian ministry. I do not, of course, speak now of any charge fairly brought against an individual Minister; but of general, sweeping reflections upon the body of the ministry. This is a course which, I may boldly say, a good man cannot take. He, whoever he is, who assails or maligns the Christian ministry under any plea of zeal for God, is a hypocrite. Exercise, then, I beseech you, a sound discretion in this case; and treat all such assaults in the character of direct aggressions on the religion of Christ, as, indeed, they really are. 3. Let it be remembered, that Christ still exercises sovereign sway in His church. His people are not called the "kingdom of God" by a figure of speech. It is a great fact. Christ reigns supreme. His influence is felt in every spiritual church, not merely in individual conversion and experience, but in the administration of its affairs. Am I told that errors of detail exist, that many things are wrong? Let this mode of cure be attempted. Let the sovereignty of Christ be more distinctly recognised, more fully acknowledged. Let the whole case be treated as His, and every measure be regarded in this aspect. Let men learn to act with a single eye, and to be guided by this principle of allegiance, and many evils will be cured, and many more be obviated. Men will find, in an improved judgment and state of heart, a remedy for a thousand evils over which a morbid melancholy previously gloated as affording cause for murmuring discontent. Let the evangelical piety and judgment of our land be thus brought to bear upon the church; and then, notwithstanding the monstrous aggressions of Popery, the giant strides of error in the Anglican Church, and the revolutionary clamours of religious Chartists, I have no doubt that the sterling intellect and judgment of our country will more and more adopt sound scriptural views on this subject, and, under the guidance of enlightened religious principle, will, in the several sections of the church, rally round an humble, pious, and evangelical ministry, and esteem it as one of the greatest blessings which God in His mercy has continued to the church and the world. (Pp. 121–123.) SELECT LITERARY NOTICES. [The insertion of any article in this List is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] By A brief History of the Wesleyan Missions on the Western Coast of Africa: including biographical Sketches of all the Missionaries who have died in that important Field of Labour. With some Account of the European Settlements, and of the Slave-Trade. Illustrated with a Map and Six Engravings. William Fox, upwards of ten Years Missionary on the Gambia. London: Aylott and Jones; John Mason.When the author first announced this volume as "about to be published," he called it a "brief" History; but as he was writing about matters in which he felt a deep personal concern, he has indulgently suffered it to increase in his hands, till it has attained to the mature It con dimensions of 640 large pages. tains many passages that, in the eyes of a keen critic, would seem to admit of judicious abridgment: but we have only to recollect, that every author who can fairly adopt the plea of a famous Trojan, Quæ ipse vidi, et quorum pars magna fui, obtains a licence which is never granted to a hasty traveller, or to a casual observer. Mr. Fox has visited most of those scenes which he describes ; and has long been an active and honoured standard-bearer in that little band of valorous Christians, who in Western Africa have cheerfully gone up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. In this view his book is full of interest: the production of a practical man, it |