MEDITATION II.

"REVEREND Father in God, I present 66 unto you these persons present to be "ordained Deacons." The Bishop: "Take heed, that the persons whom ye present "unto us, be apt and meet for their learn

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ing and Godly conversation, to exercise "their ministry duly to the honour of "God, and to the edifying of his Church." The Archdeacon shall answer, "I have "inquired of them, and also examined them, and think them so to be."

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"TAKE HEED!" Can we, in after years, ever forget the sound of those words applied to ourselves, from the lips of our spiritual Father, acting by the authority, and in the special presence of Him, who has promised to be with His Church "alway, even to the end of the world," and surely present mysteriously in the celebration of this Holy Office?

I trust, indeed, that I have in spirit and in truth presented myself to God in Christ Jesus, long before this hour. In my Baptism was I not washed and dedicated to the service of my Lord, who redeemed me? Was I not grafted into Christ? But, O what vows are upon me from that hour! In my Confirmation was I not selfdevoted, and my self-surrender registered then before God? In my first and after Communions, have I not professed to give myself to Him, who gave Himself for me? But what fruits have followed from those repeated days of grace? Is there reality in all this? Has all this been done by me heartily? Renouncing the world in its light, and riotous pleasures, and its alluring distinctions, abhorring the touch of sensuality under every form, and in a strength from above, bidding defiance to the threats and snares of the evil one? Have I presented myself in body and soul as a reasonable sacrifice, as a willing and enduring soldier of the great Captain of our salvation? Does my heart respond to those words of David, "Thy servant will

"go and fight with this Philistine 2" And is this spirit of confidence derived from the support of Him, who hath delivered, and can deliver, not from a vain estimate of my own power or skill? It is a great gift to be sanguine. But, like other gifts, this must be guarded well; else in some hour of trial we may be tempted to look away from God, and trust to human devices. Surely, I may read a lesson of lowliness and watchfulness, on remembering that the Ministers of the first covenant were not admissible to their office, until thirty years of age had been attained; and let me consider into how great difficulties and snares I must be thrown immediately after Ordination. How fearful should I be, lest a word that may be misapplied or misunderstood, fall from my lips in preaching Christ's Gospel! How careful in recollecting the judgment on Nadab and Abihu, lest I commit some grievous error in the services of the Sanctuary! How watchful in visiting from house to house, lest I

2 1 Sam. xvii. 32.

should drop a word of encouragement, where rebuke is wanted; or alarm a soul which needs tenderness in binding up its wounds!

But there is enough to make me thoughtful in the past, as well as in having regard to the future. "Take heed "that the persons whom ye present, be "apt and meet for their learning." It cannot be expected that in the short interval between leaving the University, and this present hour, I can have attained to any great compass of sacred learning, or that I can have even digested all that I have read. But, at least, I am bound not to offer myself in so solemn a transaction between the Lord and my soul without having laid a solid foundation. The Church needs not the services of those who have been idle, or immethodical, or profligate, and have not recovered themselves. Have I prayed for grace to be "apt and meet," while studying the originals of God's Word, the Apostolic Fathers, the early

Councils, the Evidences of Divine Revelation, the systematic volumes of Pearson, Butler, Hooker, &c., the Constitution, and Teaching, and Ritual of our own Church, and learning practically the sacred duties of a Parish Priest in all their fulness? This is not the work of a day; this should be the business of a consecrated life.

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, "that will I seek after; that I may dwell "in the house of the Lord all the days of "my life, to behold the beauty of the "Lord, and to inquire in his temple "." If an inspired Apostle required that his "books" and his "parchments" should be forwarded to him, which of us can dispense with study, as the appointed means of knowing the will of God, so as to appropriate it to each in his Church in due season?

But it is not enough for us to labour over our books as mere scholars. We must

3 Ps. xxvii. 4.

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2 Tim. iv. 13.

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