Production Note
Cornell University Library produced
this volume to replace the
irreparably deteriorated original. It
was scanned using Xerox software and
equipment at 600 dots per inch
resolution and compressed prior to
storage using CCITT Group 4
compression. The digital data were
used to create Cornell's replacement
volume on paper that meets the ANSI
Standard Z39.48-1984. The production
of this volume was supported in part
by the New York State Program for the
Conservation and Preservation of
Library Research Materials and the
Xerox Corporation.	Digital	file
copyright by Cornell University
Library 1994.THE POSITION, DUTY, AND PROSPECTS OF UNIVERSALISTS.
A
FAREWELL SERMON,
DELIVERED IN THE
ORCHARD STREET CHURCH, NEW YORK,
SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 4th, 1849.
BY REV. OTIS A. SKINNER.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES.
»
NEW YORK:
S. 0. BULKELEY <fc CO.
OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER, 3 ASTOR HOUSE, BARCLAY STREET.
1849.
~T">SERMON.
“ For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and
beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him : rooted and built up
in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with
thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in
him, which is the head of all principality and power.”—Col. ii. 5—10.
The attachment which a minister forms for a people with
whom he is settled, is of no ordinary character. It is
holier and far more enduring, than that which is formed from
mingling in the mere social enjoyments of life. That
depends in a great degree upon congeniality of tastes, man-
ners and habits, upon the pleasures of an hour, upon an
interchange of civilities and kindnesses. The cheerful
social circles of to-day, may be broken to-morrow, and those
who compose them form other circles equally as cheerful.
Those now delighted with each other’s company, may be
separated without feeling any deep regrets, if they can form
other acquaintances with manners equally agreeable. The
reason is, their attachments spring from a love of amuse-
ment and society; and any who satisfy that love, are pleas-
ant to them, and make them happy. In a minister’s attach-
ment for his people, there is something far more sacred and
binding. His interest in them is not that awakened by
agreeable manners, cultivated tastes, and social powers.
He is, it is true, not indifferent to those qualities which make
persons attractive companions. His heart is not unlike other3
hearts; and he is as gratified as any are, to have acquaint-
ances who are refined and courteous. But his attachment
to his people springs not mainly from causes of this
nature. He is placed over them as their spiritual teacher
and guardian. They are those for whom he is appointed
to break the bread of life ; for whose religious culture
he is clothed with sacred vestments; and in his mind,
they are associated with the high and holy aims of his min-
istry. His interest in them therefore, is created by that fer-
vent, earnest and devoted feeling which induced him to
assume his office. His relation is not a commercial one,
not a literary one, not a mere social one, but a divine one.
Paul referred to this, when he said, tc Who is weak, and
I am not weak ? who is offended, and I burn not ? To
the weak, became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I
am made all things to all men, that I might by all means
save some.5’ He was their spiritual instructor and protec-
tor; their minister in the Lord; and this made their happiness
his happiness, and their sorrow his sorrow. Every true
minister feels as Paul felt. He looks beyond the personal
exterior of those he serves, and studies for ways to reach
their hearts, that he may awaken into life their higher and
nobler energies. He may study perhaps more than any
others their peculiarities; but it is not for the purpose of
making their faults the themes of idle talk, of proclaiming
them to every lover of rumor; but it is, that he may be the
better able to suit his ministrations to their characters, and
be the more instrumental in doing them good.
But the nature of his office is not the minister’s only tie
to his people. They cherish the same hopes by which his
heart is blessed. His faith is their faith, and his God their
God. Around the same altar they bow in worship, and in
one spirit their prayers and thanksgivings ascend to heaven.
Their union is cemented by mutual counsel, mutual labor,
mutual devotion. It is cemented also, by mutual sympathy
in seasons of sorrow and of joy. What minister who has a
kind and faithful people, with hearts all alive for his success4
and the success of religion, can fail to love them? If they
are punctual in their attendance at church; if they listen
with fixed attention to his preaching; if they second wil-
lingly, heartily and faithfully his exertions for the advance-
ment of the Gospel; if they regard him with those feelings
of kindness and affection which should ever be cherished
for a minister ; if they are generous in contributing for
those purposes which are intimately connected with the suc-
cess of the cause which he advocates; if they treat him with
courtesy and ever greet him with cordiality, he cannot but
love them with an enduring affection; and though circum-
stances may call him to another field of labor, he will never
forget them, but in spirit be always in their midst; and the
recollection of their attentions, and favors, and sympathy will
be ever fresh in his heart, to stimulate him to unwearied
exertions in behalf of his Master.
Such, brethren are the feelings with which I close my
labors with you. I have formed for you a strong attachment,
an attachment created by the high ends for which I have
labored among you; by your love of religion and this altar
of prayer, and by your many, many expressions of kindness
and sympathy. Gladly would I remain with you, for I have
been happy here; I have felt that the lines had fallen to me
in a pleasant place, and that I had a goodly heritage. I
leave for one reason, and only one. The interests of the
cause in the field where I was settled, before I became your
minister, appear imperiously to demand my return. I do
not expect to be happier there than I have been here; I do
not expect kinder treatment then I have received here; I do
not calculate on a better support than you have given me,
and guaranteed to continue. I go simply in obedience to
what seems to be the call of duty. I may have mistaken
the call. I may regret the step. You know with what re-
luctance it is taken. I go back to old and tried friends; and
though I have full confidence in their integrity and friend-
ship, I have not more in theirs than I have in yours. I have
not a distrustful heart. I never look with a suspicious eye5
upon those around me. If such had ever been one of my
failings, it would long since have been cured by a happy
experience. I have been in the ministry for about twenty
years; and I have ever found the people among whom I
have labored, kind, honest, faithful and true. And if there
is any people on earth that I would trust, and trust with un-
reserved confidence, it is the people who believe in God as
the infinite Father and Savior of the world. They are not
perfect; but there is something so noble, so kind, so excel-
lent in their religion, that they seldom descend to anything
like treachery or baseness. I frequently meet with clergy-
men who seem to have no confidence in human nature, whose
experience has destroyed every confiding feeling of their
souls, and who say that they would sooner trust the world
than the church. But they have been associated with those
of a different faith from ours; and would they attribute their
misfortunes to their creed, rather than to human nature,
they might learn from them, lessons that would render them
wise, and lead them to the truth.
Universalists, though perpetually assailed as a graceless
and faithless people, have many of the noblest qualities
that ever adorned and dignified a Christian sect. They are
the best fitted for the mighty work which the Father has
committed to their hands, of any class with which I am
acquainted. They are not of the white gloved class who are
afraid of work. They are not of the purse proud class who
think labor a disgrace, and who are spoiled by their im-
mense possessions. Neither are they of that poor class who
have been so crushed by poverty, so discouraged by ad-
verse circumstances, that they have no heart to engage in
a great enterprise; no courage to battle with mammoth
evils; and no confidence in a regenerating power which can
rectify all disorders and make all things new. They are
the very people fitted by their natural endowments, by their
position, by their earnest zeal and manly firmness, for the
work of evangelizing the world. I use the phrase evangel-
izing the world, in its true import, and not in its common6
one; far I am far from thinking those evangelized, whose
religion consists in believing a human creed; in being gov-
erned by a proselyting zeal; in cherishing sectarian hatred
and bitterness, and in opposing every great movement in
behalf of freedom, love and humanity. I shall call the world
evangelized, when the Gospel takes the place of human
creeds, freedom of bondage, peace of war, justice of injus-
tice, plenty of want, equality of inequality, love of hatred.
I look for this chiefly through the instrumentality of our
people. I do not expect that they are to do it all, but
they have the doctrines by which it is to be done; and they
are imparting the light which shall ultimately warm, enliven,
and guide all hearts.
The position therefore, which is occupied by us is one
of the most important of any ever occupied by a Christian
sect. The position of Luther and his co-laborers was impor-
tant. It was for them to lead men out from the darkness
and thraldom of a corrupt church, and awaken the human
mind to freedom of thought and of speech. But they saw
through a glass darkly,—they did not comprehend the
whole truth; they did not see all that was necessary in
order to make the Gospel triumphant; they made creeds and
fettered the minds which they had freed ; and they claimed
infallibility, just as much as the church which they had left.
They were not willing to trust religion without throwing
around it the strong bulwark of human creeds. They must
set a limit to free thought, and to free speech.
On this point, and on the doctrines of the Bible, we are
radicals. Our radicalism however, is not of that destruct-
ive character which distinguishes the radicalism of some.
There are those whose radicalism leads them to reject every
thing that men have believed and supported. They are uni-
versal destructionists; and think that the greatest evidence
which they can have, that they are right, is differing as widely
as possible from every popular opinion. According to them,
the world is all wrong, and has gone wrong, ever since the
birth of time. Turn it directly around, inside out, and up-7
side down, and then it will be exactly right. They would
destroy the Scriptures, destroy the ministry, destroy the
church, destroy the Sabbath, destroy all jails and prisons,
and destroy all human governments. They think that if all
light, and all help, and all restraint, and all control were
taken away, the millennium would burst in an instant upon
the world in all its splendor and glory. Thank Heaven, we
have no such radicalism as this. So far as it relates to
supporting the Bible, the ministry, the church, the Sabbath,
penal laws and human governments, we are as conservative
as any man who ever resisted the destruction of anything
that he knew to be sacred and good. We are radicals,
because we go for that which is primitive, original, and not
because we would destroy every thing. Hence by some we
are denounced as cold conservatives. But those who thus
denounce us, cannot see the difference between change and
reform, between the Bible and its false expositions; the min-
istry and its prostitution to pride and wealth; the church,
and a pslam-singing, canting body of men, leagued for the
support of antiquated errors !
But while we would preserve the Bible as containing God’s
word, his revealed will to man, without which, the world
would be in the darkness of heathenism, we are radical in
our views of its office. We will not allow with the Cath-
olic, that it is useless, unless we have an infallible church
to explain it; nor with creed-makers, that it is not sufficient,
unless accompanied by a human creed. We say, that the
Bible should be the only guide, the only rule of faith and prac-
tice, and that it should be the only test of Christian faith.
We are also radical in our views of the teachings of the
Bible. We do not believe, that it is more possible to prove
by it, that three are one, and that one is three, than it is to
prove these by mathematics. Neither do we believe, that it
is any more possible to prove by it the eternity of misery,
than it is to prove that justice can be unjust, love regardless of
human good, and mercy be cruel. In regard to the ministry
we are equally radical. We have no sympathy with those,8
who think that a minister is a mere priest, whose chief
office is to prevent God from injuring his people. We
think that he should be a man who can work as well
as pray, battle error as well as sing pslams, and help the
needy and down-trodden, as well as preach the Gos-
pel. In regard to penal laws and human governments,
we are just as radical. We would have no penalty
cruel or vindictive; we would not allow the good of the
criminal ever to be overlooked ; and we would have all
governments, so paternal in their character, that they will
look after the poor and unfortunate, just as a father looks
after his defenceless children.
Thus, it will be seen, that though radical, we are conser-
vative. But ours is not a dead conservatism. We are the
movement party of the church. We have no favor for those
who are chained to the past, and who dare not step for fear
of stepping wrong or too far ; we know that the world is
but just in its infancy; that on many subjects day begins
only to dawn; and that if we will move forward, we shall
find light increasing in the moral world the same as in the
world of science and art. Because we cannot find God out to
perfection, we do not suppose that we have comprehended
all that can be learned of him, his government, his plan of
mercy, the riches of his grace and love.
We are the reform party. As the church moves on, and
obtains new light, and looks at the Bible from new stand points,
it will see not only existing evils, but the way to remove those
evils, so that war and slavery and intemperance and extreme
poverty, may be done away. Accordingly we sympathise
with those revolutions by which the people overthrow
kings, demolish thrones, break down oppressive institutions,
and secure to themselves freedom and independence. And
we are the only religious sect that can fully do this. Cath.
dies cannot; for these revolutions show the people their
rights and their strength, and break away those mighty bul-
warks by which the church has been made the strong hold
of injustice, and the state the citadel of unholy power. The9
believers in an arbitrary God, one who governs with tyranny
and punishes with cruelty, cannot fully sympathise with these
revolutions, for they sweep away all those despotisms which
are the product of a false Theology, and without which such
a Theology cannot long retain its sway. We say, let rev-
olutions go on, till every obstruction is removed that blocks
the path of progress, till every chain is sundered that fetters
the nations, till every oppressive government is broken down,
and till all church establishments which are the allies of des-
potism and bigotry and superstition, shall crumble to ruin.
Here then is our position. Standing upon the Bible, which
we receive as containing a revelation from God, and which
represents him as the infinite Father, the just Judge, and the
righteous Governor and Savior of all men, we would have
our excellent and glorious religion, the guide of states; the
counsellor of rulers and judges; the instructor of teach-
ers; the guardian of the weak and the poor and the wronged,
that the world may realize the infinite paternity of God, the
brotherhood of the race, and the blessedness of having all
men live together in love. This is a position of fearful
responsibility. We stand at the head of all who are in favor
of movement and reform. We are in the front rank of the
army by which the battles of freedom are to be fought, and
the kingdom of the Savior is to be established from sea to
sea.
Out of our position grow great and important duties. It
is our duty to keep our radical views always prominent in
our preaching, our writings and our measures. There
is a growing neglect of this duty among some of our clergy.
You may hear them preach for months, without listening to
a clear and full defence of one of those great truths on which
hangs the fate of civil and religious freedom, and which
are never enforced without weakening some oppressive
chain. I would not be understood to convey the idea, that
a minister must devote every sermon to prove the salvation
of all men. I have no patience with him who pursues such
a course. He is a mere treadmill preacher; a one idea
210
man, who rides his hobby till it is jaded to death, and his
people are sick of his eternal sameness. But while I have
no favor for such preaching, I have as little for that which
studiously avoids those great questions on which we differ
from the advocates of error, which never speaks out fully
upon those questions, and which if it had the ear of all
nations would never fully indoctrinate them in the great
truths of the Gospel. They are called practical preachers;
but you might hear them till time ends, without having one
clear idea of what it is to be like God, like Christ, or how
to build up a government like God’s government. Much of
what is called practical preaching, is the flattest and most
insipid and unpractical of all the poor preaching with which
the church is afflicted. There is but one way to preach
practical sermons; and that is to apply the doctrines of Chris-
tianity to the hearts and lives of the people.
It,is our duty then, to keep our prominent doctrines, those
which are to regenerate the world, always distinctly before
the world. We should inscribe them upon our banner in
such bold letters, that those in the lowest rank of the vast
army shall be inspired by them, and be nerved to duty by
their mighty power; that they shall be read by every soldier
marshaled for God, and make him strong and valiant in bat-
tle. Every doctrine of Christianity is so connected with
some great practical question, that one cannot be enforced
without the other. In what way can the duty of equity in a
judge be so efficiently enforced, as by setting forth the infi-
nite equity of the Supreme Judge? In what way can men
be made so effectually to realize the worth of equal laws
and mild punishments, as by setting forth the administration
of the infinite Governor of the world ? In what way can the
duty of loving enemies and forgiving injuries be rendered
so binding, as by unfolding God’s free and full and impar-
tial love for the world ? Doctrine is the power of God unto
salvation. Doctrine is the omnipotent agent by which the
world is to be carried forward to its glorious destiny, and
by which every reform is to be effected. As we have re-11
ceived Christ then, we must walk in him, and be rooted and
built up in him. We want no philosophy but the philoso-
phy of Christ; no doctrines but the doctrines of Christ; no
precepts but the precepts of Christ; for in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead; and in him we are complete, for
he is the head of all principality and power. The immortal
Adams when breathing out his life on the fiftieth anniversa-
ry of our freedom, said, “ Liberty now and liberty forever.”
What liberty was to this patriot and statesman, the religion of
Christ should be to the Christian; and in the field of battle
and on the day of triumph; in the race for victory and in
the struggles of death he should cry, “ Christianity now and
Christianity forever /” For it is by Christianity, that all
tyranny shall be destroyed, all oppressions be brought to an
end, all the wicked reformed, and the kingdoms of this world
be made the kingdoms of Christ. It is the Christian revolu-
tionist’s battering power by which old thrones are to be bro-
ken down; it is the soldier’s weapon by which the enemies
of God are to be conquered; it is the spiritual husbandman’s
ploughshare by which desolated lands are to be converted
into blooming fields; it is that divine genius by which all
civil, social and religious evils are to be removed, society
reconstructed, and the world saved.
As a denomination we have been singularly true to our
fundamental principles. Here and there a few have dealt
too much in abstractions, and failed to be sufficiently practi-
caL And here and there a few in seeking to be especially
practical, have forgotten the fundamental principles, and la-
bored in vain. But the mass have been true and consistent.
And hence the mighty work which we have accomplished.
We have toiled with such determined zeal, and with such sin-
gleness of purpose, that the sun of universal love is already
reaching the mid-day heavens, giving light and life and
hope to all nations.
Our prospects are of the most encouraging character.
The victory is just as surely ours, as light will dispel dark-
ness, and as truth is mightier than error. Some may per-12
haps have felt a little disheartened, because here and there
one has departed from the faith, and been spoiled by philos-
ophy and vain deceit. But this should have been expected.
There are some men, who have not logic enough, to see the
difference, between liberty and anarchy, between human
creeds and a divine creed. Then again, there are some who
are so inflated by one idea, which in some mysterious
manner finds its way into their minds, that they cease to
belong to the solids, and float about in mist and vapor like
gossamer. They are airy creations, and we should expect
that they would float off into the regions of empty space.
The loss of such is a gain to us; for it is an evil to have
those in our ranks who are capable of being thus inflated.
The past two or three years have been a kind of harvest
time, in which the chaff has blown away, and the wheat
made more visible. We shall grow the faster for it, and be
the stronger. Our triumphant car may have been jostled
upon its track, and its speed momentarily checked; but its
propelling force has not been diminished; and it will still go
on, moved by the omnipotence of love, justice and mercy.
It is not thrown from its course, and though our enemies may
raise the shout that it is carrying us on to ruin, and that
our defections are but the presages of our final destruction,
they will soon see that our foundations are untouched, our
course unchanged, our strength unweakened, and the day of
our victory not carried one hour into the future. For what
can they hope ? Our doctrines are spreading through all
Christendom, and theirs are every where on the wane.
Why, if Calvin were to rise from the dead with the faith
which he advocated, he would denounce all his professed
followers as heretics. So would Arminius. The truth is,
the doctrine of endless misery is fast losing its power.
Ministers preach it as though they do not believe it; and the
people hear it, as though it were a legend of superstition.
It has no longer power over the mass—its days are numbered.
But it is not alone in this country that changes are going
on of the most signal character. What glorious prospects13
does all Europe present! So fully have men there imbibed
the idea of fraternity, equality and liberty, that republics are
born in a day, and a throne is a frail thing which an unarmed
man can demolish in an hour. Look at France. In its for-
mer revolution it was infidel, and therefore, brutal and treach-
erous. Hence it failed. In its recent revolution, it was
guided chiefly by men of a liberal faith; and it has triumphed
gloriously. Germany, Spain, and Italy are struggling to be
free; and though their success may not be complete, they
will gain much, and prepare the way for an ultimate triumph.
In all the revolutions that have succeeded each other in
such quick succession, the leaders have inscribed upon their
banners, mottos borrowed from the cardinal points of our
glorious religion. By these they have been inspired, and
by these made strong. Their cry as in the dark ages, the
ages of revenge and cruelty, has not been blood ! blood!
but fraternity} equality, and liberty! They were mighty, not
through carnal weapons—not through well organized and
disciplined forces of vast numbers, but mighty through the
power of truth—truth that made kings weak even though
surrounded by institutions and armies that had defended
thrones for centuries on centuries. How full of encourage-
ment are these changes. It is the movement of the people,
not to make them other kings, but to obtain their rights and
be free ! The days of despotism are hastening to a close.
Liberty will soon be freed from its chains, and come up out
of its dungeons. The clanking of fetters and the groans of
the oppressed will soon cease, and the song of freedom be
heard from sea to sea.
The true church, like liberty, has been in bondage for
ages on ages. Tyrants have oppressed it, the ambitious
ruled it, the haughty trampled upon it. But it is rising in its
majesty, and coming up from its iron servitude, terrible as
an army with banners, and glorious as the sun in his meridian.
There are many other encouraging prospects. The piety
of the church is assuming anew character. Once piety was
austerity, gloom, sadness. It smiled not, and indulged in no14
pleasures. With distorted visage and measured pace, the
pious man walked forth in society, condemning cheerfulness,
and dooming to perpetual woe all who were gay and happy.
Though all nature was lighted up with joy; though the sun
rose in glory and set in beauty, and though the flocks sported
in the fields, and the woods were vocal with songs, the pious
mourned and moped and looked sad ! The ministers of
those days were men of powdered wigs and austere dignity.
They spake in sepulchral tones, with commanding airs, and
threatening frowns ! Their piety had no connection with
kindness, humanity, or love ! It was something foreign
from regard to each other, from dealing justly and loving
mercy. If you can conceive of a man without heart, with-
out feeling—a kind of living, moving, breathing being with-
out soul—a man in shape, but a statue in coldness and
hardness, you can have some faint idea of what a pious man
was. Against this piety, we have contended—we have fought
it as the relic of a barbarous age—a monkish superstition.
And we have labored to show that true piety has dignity
without austerity, sobriety without sadness, devotion with-
out gloom, pleasure without licentiousness, and amusement
without excess. Thank God our labor has not been in vain.
The powdered wigs have been thrown away; and the man
of piety is no longer regarded as a ghost which haunts the
social circle, which sighs over our joys, and laments over
our gladness. It is cheerful in health, quick in the discharge
of duty, and free in the performance of all friendly offices;
but it is solemn in prayer, reverential in worship, and
resigned in adversity. It guides parents in training their
children, and renders neighbors obliging and kind. It
visits the widow and the orphan in their affliction, watches
at the door of poverty, lingers at the couch of the dying,
and goes about doing good. This is the piety which is glad-
dening the earth. Her hospitals are multiplying, and her
means of mercy are increasing. You will find her in the
temple of praise, in the homes of the Christian, in the gath-
erings of friends, in the shop of the artizan, and the store
of the merchant.15
Thus, brethren, we have not toiled in vain. Success, glo-
rious success has attended our efforts. In this great work
brethren, you have performed a noble part. When error
has assailed you, and poured upon you its abuse, you have
stood unmoved. And from you has gone out a light which
has had a vast influence upon all the churches of this great
city. From you too, have sprung, in a great measure, all
our sister societies in this city and vicinity. You are the
parent of them all. And I feel that I ought to thank you in
the name of the denomination and of all liberal minds, for
your noble firmness, courage and zeal.
And now I would say—Go on as you have done for years
past. If opposing sects assail you, be not dismayed, for
you know the strength of truth and the weakness of error.
Be zealous. Let nothing cause you to grow cold. Be firm.
Let nothing turn you aside from your religion. Be honest.
If men come to you, ana say, other religions are more pop-
ular, tell them that the day will come, when they will wish
that they could be like you, pillars in the vast temple of re-
ligious freedom and love. Never suffer divisions to weaken
you. Be united. Love your own altar. Let your hearts
be bound to it by all the memories of the past and the hopes
of the future. Neglect none of your means of growth.
Nurse the Sabbath school. The Superintendent is faithful,
and well fitted for his office. The other officers and the
teachers are zealous and worthy of their station. The schol-
ars are your children, and you will encourage them. Neg-
lect not the conference meeting. We have had in it happy
seasons of worship, and when I think that I am to enjoy
it no more with you, my heart is sad indeed. Neglect not
the Communion table, but love it as one of the holiest privi-
leges of life. Neglect not the regular service of your sanc-
tuary. Whenever its doors are unfolded, be present here,
to encourage your minister, and be guided to higher attain-
ments in holiness.
Brethren—accept my thanks for all your efforts to aid
mein my work. Accept them, also, for your attendance16
at church, and for all that you have done to make my labors
pleasant. To the choir and the Sabbath school teachers I
tender my thanks. Accept my thanks also, brethren, for your
many kind attentions to me and mine. We are grateful
for all your favors, and we shall not forget you. We re-
gret to leave, for we have been happy with you. But duty
seems to call me back to my former field of labor. Though
absent in body, I shall be with you in spirit. I will not say
farewell, for I shall see you often. I shall speak to many
of you every week through the press. But I will say—Be
perfect—live in peace, and the God of love and peace be
with you.
Nearly three years ago my Brother, your former Pastor
who is here to-day, delivered this Society up into my hands.
How faithfully I have served it, I will not say. I would
gladly now deliver back into his hands; and could I know
that he would accept it, my heart would be relieved of much
of its sadness, and I should go back to my former devoted
people, happy in the remembrance of all your kindnesses,
and give myself with all my energy and heart to the promo-
tion of the cause of truth in their midst. Should he feel that
duty demands him to remain in the important position he
now occupies, may you obtain a minister who will faithfully
preach to you the Gospel of divine grace, and be a bright
example to you in all things.