peace, and feel the longing for purity and fruitfulness in good works, characteristic of such as serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Attend punctually on the ministrations of grace, desiring that your souls may be edified, and your minds filled with that heavenly wisdom which can guide in difficulty and sustain in trial. Receive the word spoken in the sanctuary as that not of man, but of God; which, when accompanied by the power of His Spirit, worketh effectually in all that believe. Thus may you hope to find it answer the great purpose for which it has been given, and thus may your profiting be known. Remember, then, the obligations incumbent on every hearer of the gospel, the account of warning and instruction that must be given in at last. Hold fast the Word of Life, press forward to the hope of glory make the Word of God the subject of your thoughts and prayers. Damp not the heart, nor chill the energies of your minister, by a listlessness and carelessness which must but too fatally re-act upon yourselves; give him not cause to say that he has stretched out his hands to a "disobedient and a gainsaying people." Commend him much to the care and guidance of his heavenly Father. Receive him kindly for his own and his Master's sake, remembering whose representative he is amongst you. Finally, be zealous to "redeem the time," knowing not how soon the period may come to each when ordinances will be for ever past, and when the wrath of God must be revealed to such as have not known nor obeyed the truth. And may "the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Ordination of Elders. The Elders, who are chosen from amongst the most respectable and pious members of the congregation, and who, if worthy of the office, and having proper views of the duties which it involves, can do much to strengthen a Minister's hand, constitute along with the Minister, the Kirk Session of the parish When it is considered to be desirable that their number should be augmented, the persons deemed best qualified, are nominated and conferred with by the Kirk Session. On signifying their willingness to comply with the invitation, intimation of the proposed appointment is made to the congregation at least ten free days before their admission. An edict is served, and on its return, if no objections be stated, the Minister, after the forenoon service, proceeds to set them apart to the officefirst proposing the following questions, to which their individual assent is required. He then offers up an appropriate prayer, and proceeds to address the newly admitted members of Kirk Session and the congregation in some such manner as follows: Ordination of Elders. The Kirk Session of this parish and congregation having, in conformity to the laws of the church, elected to the office of the Eldership; and the edict of these gentlemen having been duly served and returned without objections; this day was appointed for their ordination, to which act I am now about to proceed. But before doing so, it is requisite that the following questions should be put, to which all candidates for the office of Eldership in the Church of Scotland are required to give their assent : Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the word of God, and the only rule of faith and manners? Do you believe the Presbyterian form of worship and churchgovernment to be founded on, and agreeable to, the Word of God; and will you, to the best of your ability, maintain and defend the same against all heresy and schism? Do you engage to be diligent and faithful in discharging the duties of the office of the Eldership in this parish, and to administer, with impartiality, the discipline of the Church amongst this people? Will you submit yourselves, in the spirit of meekness, to the admonitions and discipline of the judicatories of this Church? Do you own and adhere to the Confession of Faith of this Church; and do you declare your readiness now, or at any time when it shall be demanded of you, to sign the same? In consequence of the answers which you have now given to these questions, I proceed to ordain you as Elders of the Church, by prayer and supplication, and your brethren in office will give you the right hand of fellowship, after the blessing is pronounced. PRAYER. ADDRESS. In declaring your willingness when conferred with in private, and again in presence of this people, to accept the office of the Eldership, you have given unequivocal testimony, both of firm adherence to the Church of Scotland, and of your desire to afford aid to those who have already in charge the oversight of this parish and congregation. We rejoice in having found men from whose cooperation we trust to derive happiness and comfort; and feel assured of a continuance of the same harmony and desire of working together for good that have hitherto characterised the Kirk Session of this place. I feel persuaded that it is unnecessary to say much in regard to the obligations that flow, and the duties that arise from your entrance upon this honourable and important office in the Church of Christ. It is a charge implying diligence and zeal, prudence and fidelity, in which, we doubt not, that you will seek, by the divine blessing, to abound. The constitution of the Church of Scotland recognises the exercise of no control over those who are entrusted with the ministerial office, save on the part of the higher judicatories of the Church, in regard to their purely spiritual functions. To the Master only whom they serve, and to those to whom has been committed that aggregate authority which constitutes a peculiar feature of the system of church government to which we adhere; are those who have been put in trust with the ministry of the gospel viewed as responsible in the work of public instruction and of pastoral admonition. But in whatever concerns the exercise of discipline and the maintenance of jurisdiction over the people committed to our charge, we desire to derive benefit from the counsel and assistance of those who can aid us in giving heed unto the flock, and, in the exercise of Christian wisdom, impart advice in cases of difficulty, and help in the superintendence of those whose spiritual benefit and growth in grace is our most anxious wish and prayer. As those who would not lord it over the Redeemer's heritage, and would not even be suspected of exercising despotic and dictatorial power, we seek the help of individuals whose station and means of acquiring information enable them to act beneficially; and who, by their unblemished conduct and Christian worth, may afford to others an example of those things which are "pure and lovely and of good report." We do not claim for the office to which you have been called such imperative and essential necessity as to say that no Church of Christ can lawfully subsist without it; but we imagine that it is not impossible to find traces of its existence in apostolic times ;* we find it recognized in the writings of those ancient authors, from whom information may be obtained in regard to the proceedings in the early communities of the faithful who desired to be of one accord and mind, and to continue steadfastly in the love and practice of those doctrines, which are according to godliness; while experience has amply shown its beneficial tendency in contributing to the regulation and enlargement of that Church which the Redeemer has purchased with His blood. As members, then, of this Kirk Session, we look to you in order that our hands may be strengthened; and welcome you as fellowlabourers who may give us material aid in the cultivation of the vine yard; ruling well, and "careful for the flock, wise, and above all things fearing God." To you we look as contributing, according to your power, towards the rebuke of vice and irreligion; as desirous of taking an interest in, and exercising superintendence over all measures that may be adopted, and establishments that are intended in this parish for the relief of temporal distress, and for the imparting of sound education and religious knowledge; bearing in mind that whatever words of counsel you may give out of unfeigned love to Christ; whatever efforts you may make to instruct and to benefit others; whatever time you can spare to discharge the several duties of your office; whatever you may do, even by the silent influence of example-by holy and consistent lives-to recommend to others the practise of true religion; whatever the missions of charity and love on which you may proceed ;-all will be so much done in conformity with His example, who came "not to be ministered unto, but to minister;" whose soul expanded in love towards His brethren, according to the flesh; who laboured unweariedly for 1. Corin. xi. 1-5. their good; who “came to seek and save that which was lost," who had compassion on the ignorant, and on them that were out of the way. Nor let your hearts be dismayed if, in the course of discharging those duties which pertain to the Eldership, you should occasionally meet with circumstances of discouragement, or with instances in which your endeavours to do good are rewarded with ingratitude. It is a small thing to have censorious and unfair estimates formed by man ; if we are privileged with the approbation of the Judge of all, who will not forget our works of faith, and our labours of love. Be not then ashamed of the testimony of the Lord; nor be moved from the way of truth and the path of rectitude by the "fear of man which bringeth a snare;" but seek to admonish, to reprove, and to exhort with all long-suffering and patience. Nor despair of those who seem to be unaffected by your first counsels and admonitions; for the fruit of your exertions, if deferred for a time, may ultimately appear; and even though, unhappily, no good may be effected and no abiding impression made, relief is found in the thought that we have done whatever lay within our power-that we have cleared our consciences by having fulfilled our part. For discharging creditably to yourselves and advantageously for others many of the ordinary functions of this office, little more is required than the exercise of the same prudence, wisdom, and Christian discretion which belong to a more private station. No demand is made for any very active interference in ecclesiastical government, or for any peculiar insight into its details. But you may occasionally be called upon to share in the deliberations of higher judicatories than the Kirk Session, in which questions may be agitated of a more general interest and more public nature. For understanding and taking part in these, some measure of acquaintance, derived from thought, observation, and knowledge of our ecclesiastical polity, will be found of great advantage. If time and opportunity permit, such details may form a profitable subject of examination for those who are admitted to the Eldership, and who may be possessed of such leisure as admits of their giving a larger degree of attention than others to the general welfare of the Church. But mainly, the duties of your office are such as pertain to its ordinary exercise; those are its most important functions in which good may be done within that portion of the vineyard, and amongst that people with whom you are now connected by a nearer and stronger tie; and in discharging which you will look for something far loftier and more |