by their divine Master. Constrained by the gentle influences of his love in their hearts, they visit the churches which are scattered abroad; and for a time devote themselves, without intermission, to the exercise of their ministerial functions. During the progress and continuance of such undertakings, they cannot be expected to provide for themselves; and it is, therefore, a practice generally prevailing in the Society, to pay the expenses of their journeys, and to maintain them during the course of their labours. Like the seventy disciples, to whom we have already alluded, they eat and drink at the houses which they visit; and if they be found true evangelists, it is universally acknowledged by their brethren, and not only acknowledged but felt-" that the labourer is worthy of his hire;" or, as the sentiment is expressed in the Gospel of Matthew, that "the workman is worthy of his meat."

Although, however, Paul upholds the general rule, that the ox, when actually treading out the corn, is not to be muzzled, he was evidently very jealous of its being in any degree misapplied, or extended beyond its true bearing. Deprived as he was of any permanent home, and singularly devoted, both in mind and time, to the duties of an apostle, he might very reasonably have depended solely upon the churches for his food and raiment; but no sooner did he take up his residence in any place for a considerable length of time, than he began to apply himself to some manual labour, in order that he might earn his own bread, avoid being burthensome to his friends, and throw no impediment in the way of the Gospel. "If others be partakers of this power over you," says the apostle to the same Corinthians," are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ....... What is my reward, then? Verily that, when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the Gospel." As the apostle declined receiving a maintenance from his friends at Corinth, so he observed the same line of conduct at Ephesus; where, indeed, he not only supported himself, but contributed to the support of others. Diligent as he was, during his abode in that city, in the exercise of his ministry-" teaching publicly from house to house," and warning "every one night and day with tears”—he was, nev

ertheless, enabled to address the Ephesian elders in the following terms: "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel; yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." And, after thus adverting to his own conduct, he proceeded to enjoin a similar course upon those whom he was addressing: "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."

On the whole, therefore, while the general rule is to be admitted, that the preacher of the Gospel, during the periods when his time is exclusively devoted to his ministerial functions, may properly derive his sustenance from those among whom he is thus engaged; it is quite evident that, according to the mind of the apostle Paul, any application of this rule, beyond its true limits, is inconsistent with the purity of the divine law, and injurious to the cause of Christianity.

Now, it is the opinion of Friends, that the limits of the rule are transgressed, and the rule itself dangerously perverted, in the practice, so usual among Christians, of hiring the ministers of the Gospel. Here, I must beg my reader to understand that, in using the word "hiring," it is wholly foreign from my intention to express any thing in the least degree offensive to Christian ministers of any denomination. That a considerable proportion of these persons are truly the servants of the Lord Jesus-that many of them undertake the oversight of the flock "not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind," and are incomparably, more intent upon the winning of souls than upon their own temporal advantage-I both know and am happy to acknowledge. But we are here discussing a general principle; and I use the word in question, simply because it is the only one which can properly express my meaning. It is, then, clearly the practice of many Christian societies, to hire their ministers; that is to say, to engage their services in consideration of pecuniary salaries. As a gentleman agrees with his servant, and a merchant with his clerk, to pay them particular sums of money, on condition of the performance of particular descriptions of work; so are Christians accustomed to agree with the preachers of the Gos

pel, to remunerate them with such and such salaries, on condition of their preaching: and instances, sometimes occur, in which the amount of the salary given is regulated, very precisely, by the frequency of the ministry required. Whether this agreement actually takes place between the minister and his flock, as among many dissenting bodies, or whether the contract between the two parties is permanently fixed by the law of the land, as in the Anglican church -the principle which the system necessarily and universally involves, is still the same-namely, that certain work is to be performed, and pecuniary wages given for its performance.

According to our apprehension, this hiring of preachers degrades the character, and corrupts the practical operation, of the ministry of the Gospel. It is evident that such a system is closely connected with the notion, that the preacher may exercise his high functions on the authority, and according to the pleasure, of man; and, in practice, it obviously tends, in a very injurious manner, to confirm and establish that notion. Were it true that the ministry of the Gospel is properly the work of man, requiring no other sanction than his appointment, and no other forces than his exertions, no objection whatever, could be made to such a method of proceeding. In that case, it would arise out of those, fundamental laws of justice, which ought ever to regulate transactions between man and man. But, no sooner is the opposite principle allowed— no sooner is it admitted that the ministry of the Gospel is the work of the Lord; that it can be rightly exercised only in virtue of his appointment, and only through the effusions of his Spirit; and that man has no power to command, and no authority to restrain, the influence which leads into such a service-no sooner are these things understood and allowed, than the compact which binds the minister to preach, on the condition that his hearers shall pay him for his preaching, assumes the character of absolute inconsistency with the spirituality of the Christian religion. "Though I preach the Gospel," says the apostle Paul, " I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me, yea, wo is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but, if against my will, a dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto

me."

11 Cor. ix. 16, 17.

These observations will enable the reader to form a just view of the reasons which actuate the Society of Friends, when, on the one hand, they accede to the doctrine that the ox, when treading out the corn, is not to be muzzled; and when, on the other hand, they totally abstain from engaging their ministers on pecuniary stipends, and from otherwise paying them for the exercise of their gift. Such pecuniary provisions would, indeed, be in total dissonance with our sentiment, that no ministry ought to be allowed, in connexion with divine worship, but such as springs from the appointment of the Lord, and is exercised under the immediate influence of his Holy Spirit. It has never been heard of, in the whole annals of sacred history, that prophecy has been purchased or the true prophets hired: and we apprehend that, whether the immediate gifts of the Spirit operate in a higher or lower degree, they are still in their nature absolutely free. No man can exercise them in pursuance of an agreement with his fellow-creatures. They are delayed, withheld, withdrawn, or poured forth, according to the good pleasure of him who searches the reins and the heart, and who only knows the need of his own church. Those who preach under such an influence, do not preach because their congregation requires it of them; but because their hearts are filled with the love of Christ, and because they are sent forth and impelled by the Spirit of the Lord, and can find no rest for their consciences, but in obedience to that Spirit. Our ministers cannot say to us, "Pay us, and we will preach;" for a wo is upon them, if they preach not the Gospel; and the same injunction is laid upon them as upon the servants of God in ancient times" Freely ye have received, freely give." There is not one of them, who is truly called into the work, who would dare to receive from the hands of men a payment for his labours, lest he should thereby sin against God, who requires of him a willing sacrifice, and should for ever prevent the effusion of that heavenly oil, by which he has been anointed; nor would his brethren dare to propose such a payment to him, lest a curse should come upon them the curse of spiritual darkness and desertion-for presuming that the free gifts of God might be purchased for money; In addressing our ministers, we would use the words of the apostle Peter: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same

one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever;"" and we would add, Cast all your care upon the Lord; for he careth for you.

In point of fact, experience has furnished the Society of Friends with ample evidence that the Great Head of the church, who calls his own servants into the work of the Gospel, and who thus gently constrains them, in behalf of others, as well as on their own account, to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," adds unto them all things needful for their temporal maintenance. When they are travelling from place to place, and when their whole time is thus devoted to the work of the Gospel, the necessary supply of their outward wants is not withheld from them: and when they are at home, they avail themselves, like other persons, of their own industry, and of the openings of a benevolent providence, in procuring, for themselves and for their families, an honest and respectable livelihood.

Such being the sentiments of Friends, respecting the direct spirituality and perfect freedom of the ministry of the Gospel, it evidently becomes their duty, in a plain and consistent manner, to uphold those sentiments in their practice. Not only, therefore, do they refuse to pay or hire their own ministers, but they also decline making any contributions to the paying or hiring of ministers of other denominations. Did they act otherwise, they might justly be deemed unfaithful to the light bestowed upon them, and they would, in fact, be subverting with one hand, the edifice which they are professing to erect with the other.

The reader will be aware that I am now alluding to the course, so generally pursued in our Society in reference to tithes and other ecclesiastical imposts. It is certain that, whenever these demands are made on the true and consistent Friend, he will not fail to refuse the payment of them: not because such a refusal is generally insisted on in the Society; but because the religious sentiments which he has embraced, and which have been explained in these essays, inevitably lead him, if he be faithful, into that result. He feels that

1 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11.