DISCOURSE*

BY B. BOUVIER;

Delivered at the Consecration of an Ecclesiastic† of the

Church of Rome, converted to Protestantism, and

admitted to the Ministry in the Church of Geneva.

THE Pastors and Elders being assembled, the Ministers, the Students in Theology, and the public, were successively admitted; upon which, the Moderator for the week, having first implored the Divine help, addressed the Candidate in the following terms :

* In concluding the present series of the "MODERN DIVINES OF GENEVA" with this beautiful and affecting Address, it has been judged desirable to retain the introduction, comprising the formulary used at the annual consecrations in the Genevese Church, as printed in the French edition of the present Discourse, Geneva, 1828. So highly was this Address approved by the body of the Clergy, that it was unanimously adopted, to be used in that church on all similar occasions; it, consequently, may be considered as presenting a fair specimen of the religious sentiments of that venerable body.

† M. Amand Saintes.―This exemplary Minister was consecrated March 24th, 1828.

"The Company of Pastors of the Church of Geneva, having approved the examinations which you have undergone before them, being acquainted with the purity of your morals and the integrity of your life, entertaining no doubt respecting the continuance of the good dispositions which you manifest, and relying upon the beneficial effects that will result from these qualifications to the Ministry of the Gospel, to which you are about to be called, has charged me to confer that Holy Ministry upon you, and to consecrate you, by prayer and imposition of hands, according to our ancient usages, which are those of the primitive Church.

"You will previously enter into those solemn engagements with which you have already been made acquainted, and which have been appointed by our ecclesiastical ordinances.-Hold up your hand.

"You promise before God and upon the Holy Scriptures open before you, to preach in its purity the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; to acknowledge the Word of God, as it is contained in the sacred Books of the Old and New Testaments, for the only infallible rule of faith and practice; to abstain from a sectarian spirit, and avoid every thing that might give occasion to schism and disturb the union of the Church; to keep secret all confessions that shall be made to you for the discharge of conscience, except such as may concern crimes against the state; in short, to do the utmost in your power for the edification of God's Church,

by living soberly, justly, and religiously, in this present world, and by applying yourself to fulfil all the duties of your holy calling.-Is not this what you promise?"

The Candidate having answered, "I promise it," the Moderator thus resumed :

"In consequence of these sacred engagements, in conformity with the usage of the primitive Church, transmitted down to us from the Apostles, and in virtue of the power which I have received, and the charge which has been entrusted to me this day,* in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I confer on you the Ministry of the Gospel, with authority to preach the Word of God, to pronounce a blessing upon marriages lawfully contracted, and to administer the holy Sacraments, wheresoever the Lord shall call you."

The following Discourse was then, according to custom, addressed by the Moderator to the Minister Elect, before laying hands upon him.

The Moderator takes off his hat.

+ The Moderator replaces his hat.

MY BELOVED BROTHER,

This day is gratifying for the Church, which gains in you at once a new Member and a Pastor; it is gratifying for us who lay hands upon you, and who have the pleasure of finding a brother, and, if it please God, an able coadjutor, where we might have met only with an adversary; it is gratifying for you, in particular, as the accomplishment of your wishes and endeavours; it is to you a proof that a peculiar blessing rests upon you. You were born within the pale of a Church, in which the commandments of men have usurped the place of the Gospel and of the commandments of God; but Divine Providence had given you a mind to comprehend truth, and a heart to love and desire it, at whatsoever cost. You searched for, and as it were "felt after it;" you found it, and immediately you attached yourself to it with ardour; you resolved to devote your life to it; and you have been regardless of every sacrifice in order to accomplish this pious resolution:-you have shrunk from none of those obstacles which alarm the indifference

of men in general. "What things were gain to you, those you counted but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus; for whom you have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as dross, that you may win Christ, and be found in him." You have even said to God, with the Psalmist: "I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children; for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."

God therefore has not left you without help: he has prepared the way before you, wherein you are to walk; "He hath established you in Christ, he hath anointed you, and given the earnest of his Spirit in your heart." Truth this day does for you, what you have done for her-as you have chosen her, she likewise chooses you to be her messenger and witness before men. Be happy then, be blessed: "you have chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from you." Nevertheless, my beloved Brother, take care lest you deceive yourself: whatsoever you may have done in obedience to God and your conscience, look upon yourself