when most employed. Ministers lose their relish for their work as they relax their toil. There is, there can be no charm in the severer labors of the sacred office for a negligent laborer. He has few pleasant scenes to look back upon;--few pleasant recollections waft their fragrance over his languid mind. The joy of a clear conscience belongs not to such a man. Nor is he comforted in his present labor, however intermitted and light it may be. He has a complaining spirit; such a spirit is the natural growth of an indolent mind. He is perpetually making unhappy comparisons; and, instead of rejoicing in the successes of others, complains only of the want of it in himself. And he has no vivid expectations to cheer him; there are few blossomings of hope springing up in his path. It is always winter with him,-never seed-time, never harvest; he wanders amid leafless trees, and shivers under the keen, cold wind.

The life and death of the late Dr. Chalmers, presents a most delightful view of that high degree of enjoyment which attends a laborious minister. In all the voluminous productions of his pen, I do not recollect a gloomy, or pensive thought. The most grave and weighty subjects he treats, not indeed without solemnity, but with a buoyancy and vigor that indicate a cheerful and happy mind. I love to

think of such a man, and to dwell on the undying verdure of his clustering thoughts. Even his stern and struggling career interests me, it was so light and gladsome. I love to think of him, climbing up the sides of Mount Zion, holding on sometimes by the jutting rocks, and sometimes by the green boughs, ever tasking his fortitude as he ascends, till, like Moses on the top of Nebo, he looks for the last time on the plain below, and scarcely conscious of the change, finds himself by the men of light and love, and in the presence of God and the Lamb. I sometimes think of such a man, and say I would not be a Lazzaroni. "I have no desire to be a weed on the shore."

Ministers must soon be called to their final account. Those who can look back upon their ministry with thankfulness, can look forward to that day of reckoning with joy. He who has given them grace to be diligent and faithful, has laid up for them an incorruptible crown.

They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." There remaineth a rest for God's faithful ministers. Blessed rest! glorious and everlasting rest! where the curse of labor is passed away, and the blessing only remains of serving God day and night in his temple. Will it not be the sweeter to those, who in the present

world were "in labors more abundant?" It is not "a heap of cares and toils they are snatching at," who look for the "crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give them at his appearing."

Are there no misgivings, in view of the judgment, in the bosom of a negligent minister of the Gospel? Can he look forward to it with peace, with hope, with joy, with triumph in that Saviour, who so tenderly requires him to feed his sheep and lambs? Has he taken to himself the whole armor of God, and fought the good fight? Has he so run that he may obtain? Is he sensible that there is a day of reckoning, and endless retribution to ministers, as well as their people? Is the thought present to his mind, that when he stands with them at the bar of God, it is no impossible thing for the blood of souls to be found in his skirts? The office of a minister of the Gospel imparts deep interest to this day of final account, in regard to those who are committed to his trust. The words which he has spoken will bear testimony for or against those who have listened to them; while, if he himself has been negligent and faithless, nothing can shield him from the appalling doom of the unprofitable servant.

But I will not pursue these thoughts. There is a reproach attached to the character of an idle minister, the stain of which is not easily

wiped away. An idle minister of the Gospel of the ever blessed God,-what a paradox! Such a man belongs not to the class of ministers whom the Saviour had in his thoughts, when he said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest!" He is not of the class of ministers whom the Church prays for; he should fear lest he is out of his place, and lest the sentence should go forth against him, "Cut him down, why cumbereth he the ground!" Instead of standing between the living and the dead, that the plague of sin may be stayed, such a minister is like the dead among the living. He buries himself alive, and is much more fit for the graveyard, than for the busy scenes of God's Church on the earth, and her unsleeping conflict with the powers of darkness. And when he dies, he "leaves nothing behind him but a tomb."

It is of great importance that we should form a just estimate of the true character and work of a minister of the Gospel. We are not responsible for the number of our talents, but for the diligent use of them. We need not be afraid of toil. There are sufficient inducements to effort, and effective incentives to fear. Ministers may hope for a grateful return from men; but if this is denied, the promise

is good, "Lo I am with you.". They have the light of God's countenance; there is no such pleasure in any of the toils of earth; this world cannot do for them what God their Maker so often does, when he "gives them songs in the night." It is no time to rest on the field of battle. Shall ministers be negligent, when their mighty and malicious Foe is so indefatigable to gain the victory over them, and the souls committed to their care? Who would not rather labor and die like Payson, than live in inglorious repose in such a work as the ministry of reconciliation? O for such a spirit! O for such a race of ministers,-ministers who could say with Paul, as they look back and look forward, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course!"