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stances alluded to have been seized by a large proportion of the resident students with an ardor, and pursued with a steadiness, which are honorable to their character as Christians, and which afford a pledge of future usefulness in the ministry. The duties which the Sunday School establishment necessarily brings along with it, of impressing religious instruction on the minds of the children, and visiting the parents and endeavoring to excite in them some regard to their everlasting interests, constitute a most excellent preparation for those which are required by the parish; and the candidate for the ministry, who has been trained in this school, as useful as it is humble, may well be supposed to bring to the ministerial office abilities and habits which will facilitate its duties, and increase his practical usefulness.

Without entering any further into detail, which the necessary limits of a discourse, rather than any want of materials, forbids, I trust that the first point proposed for discussion, has been made sufficiently prominent; to the student of divinity, in our own time and country, much is offered and "much is given." According to the equitable principle of the text, then, it is certain that from him "shall much be required." To illustrate and enforce this inference was the second point to be brought into view.

II. To the members of the Seminary the appeal of St. Peter applies with more than ordinary force;—"what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness!" "Much is given to you, and much shall be required."

1. In the first place, the Church in general has a right to require much. The general convention, which is the representative and highest ecclesiastical body of our Church, founded the Seminary, and has a superintending care of all who are connected with it. It cannot be that this religious assemblage, in part venerable for hoary wisdom, in part sacred by authority as ambassadors of CHRIST, in part dignified by character and standing among the highest ranks of the community, and altogether worthy of honor from the delegated rights which they meet to exercise, should look with indifference upon the conduct and qualities of those, who, in more respects than one, may well be denominated their children.

It is not to be doubted, that an eye of affection will be directed towards this place, and that the sons of the prophets will not be out of remembrance. God's holy Church, my brethren, assists your preparation for serving in her courts, and she will not fail to observe whether the talents she commits to you are improved or neglected. And after you shall have entered upon the work of the ministry, her solicitude will still be extended, and she will be anxious to know that you are workmen of whom she "needeth not to be ashamed."

2. The trustees of the institution have a right to expect much. They are the more immediate guardians of its interests, appointed by the proper authorities "for this very thing." It is an honorable charge with which they have been entrusted, and it cannot be supposed that they will regard it with indifference. It is to be presumed that they feel a deep and parental interest in whatever concerns the institution, and, of course, in those who are studying under its auspices. It is to be presumed, that, knowing in detail the whole course of study, the duties enjoined and the advantages connected with every part of it, they are best competent to form a proper and judicious estimate of the benefits that may be derived, and consequently they must have a proportionably clear view of the nature and extent of the claims which rest upon you. And if these claims are properly appreciated, and if this is shown to be the fact by your present attention to duty and future labors to be useful, there need be no stronger motive on them to continue their exertions. The proper direction through life, of those abilities which God hath given you, will be to them no insufficient reward.

3. Again: the patrons of the Seminary, who contributed to its original establishment, and who have continued to support it in various ways, have a right to expect much. If some good men have given a part of the property with which God hath blessed them; if others have given, what is no less valuable, a portion of their time and superintending labors; others, the influence of their station, or of the talents with which he "who distributeth to each man severally as he will," hath endowed them; and all in order to advance the great work of qualifying young men for the ministry of the Gospel, that they may with more effect "call sinners to

repentance," and "prepare the way of the LORD;" is it not plain, that they may fairly and reasonably expect an equivalent for their money, or their land, or their laborious exertions, or their influence and talents, not returned to them as individuals, but to the Church of GOD, for the sake of which they gave them, and gave them to you? Holy men, who have felt the necessity of a Theological Seminary, for the welfare of the Church, and have therefore raised and supported one, look to the students of the Seminary for that joyful retribution which it lies with them to give, the retribution of zeal and industry in the Master's cause. Some of these

men of GoD have gone to their reward in a better world; but if "the spirits of the just," released from the oppression of sin and the cares of the present state, may be supposed to look down with regard upon those beneficial objects which engaged their solicitude while on earth, it is possible that this school of the prophets may even now be remembered by them with affection. And that shepherd of the flock of JESUS, whose "face," beaming with intelligence and religious mildness, was looked upon by many "as it had been the face of an angel," who was never seen without the desire to know him, and never known by the Christian without an affectionate and reverent desire to be like him, may now in the mansions of blessedness, behold with complacency the institution which he did so much to establish, and for which his friends and his Church have uniformly cherished an affection.*

4. Lastly, my young brethren, GOD may reasonably expect much. If it be true that "in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men," "as many as have sinned under the law shall be condemned by the law;" and if it be equitable to require much of him to whom much is given; and further, if the "judge of all the earth" cannot but "do right;" then, provided the statements before made be admitted to be correct, he will demand much of you, be

* The regard which the diocese of South Carolina has uniformly shown for the Seminary, is one among many illustrations of the profound respect which they entertain for the memory of their late much beloved diocesan, Bishop DEHON. They cherish an affection for the object which lay so near the heart of that most estimable man, and venerated and holy prelate.

cause he hath given you much. Merciful God! forbid that these reasonable demands should, in any instance, fail of being complied with. You have voluntarily devoted yourselves to his service in the ministry of the Gospel; you have advantages in preparing for it of which the great proportion of the clergy were formerly destitute. The claim upon you is solemn, the call is loud.

In the conclusion, you will permit me to impress upon you the necessity of continuing to be studious. The whole period which the course requires is short; it is but three years. And how little of theology can be acquired, even by the most industrious, in three years, is well known by all who have applied themselves to it for half that time. Languages which, in an academical course, have been in many instances very imperfectly studied, are to be revived or improved; others, or at the least the Hebrew, are to be acquired; the Scriptures are to be studied, their criticism examined, their interpretation accurately and fundamentally settled and prudently applied; ecclesiastical history and church polity are to be investigated, the principles and facts which they disclose are to be weighed with sagacity and wisdom; Christian divinity is to be drawn from the Bible in its original sources, and formed into a coherent system; pastoral theology, comprehending whatever is necessary in the desk and pulpit, and out of them also, for the care of souls, is to be appreciated by the understanding and felt by the heart; all these subjects are comprised in a theological course, and well may it be said, that they are the study of a man's life, and that in three years not much more can be given than a sketch, which must afterwards be filled up and enlarged. Here, then, let it be yours to seize upon its prominent points, and to form a correct outline, that hereafter, as GOD may give you opportunity, the beautiful design may be completed in all its fair proportions.

Lastly, let me urge upon you, on the ground of the motives. already introduced, to cultivate a spirit of exalted piety. The candidate for the ministry "must be conscious of being, as to inward character and outward conduct, an approved subject of that dispensation of grace of which it will be his duty to invite others to be partakers." This is the language of our Right Reverend President, in one of his addresses. Now he cannot be an approved VOL. II.-28

subject of that dispensation without personal religion; and as he is to illustrate this, and urge it upon others, he ought to possess it himself in a more than ordinary degree. It is a great and solemn service which he is about to undertake, and one which may well make a man tremble at the responsibility, after repeated self-examination. He that would enter on it with proper views and feelings, must discipline his mind by pious exercises; he must feel his own weakness and look up to the mighty God for assistance; he must engage his heart in frequent prayer, and by habitual devotion must acquire a heavenly temper of mind, leading him to estimate with moderation whatever has no immediate connection with the great end of man's being. The infinite value of the soul must be with him the paramount consideration, and to be instrumental in saving the souls of his fellow creatures, must be the governing principle of his life. My brethren, if this be the character which you are endeavoring to cultivate, we implore God's blessing upon your efforts; and as, on the one hand, our LORD's language, "to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required," brings to view your obligations; so, on the other, his gracious declaration, that "to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundance," must be an irresistible motive to improvement.

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