INTRODUCTION.

REV. ROBERT O. CURRIE :

Rev. and dear Sir,

HAVING requested from me a prefix to your Biography of the Rev. Richard Sluyter, I send you herewith some thoughts on the Gospel Ministry, to be used, modified, or rejected, at your pleasure. That God may greatly bless you in your ministry, and have you and yours now and always under the safeguard of his most holy keeping, is the prayer of your friend and elder brother in the Lord,

Ncw-York, Oct. 21, 1845.

PH. MILLEDOLER.

THE lives of useful men is a department of literature which has been cultivated in all nations and ages. The biography of individuals is indeed so intimately connected with general history as to be inseparable from it. God ordinarily works by means. Those great events, therefore, which have agitated, and in many instances changed the face of communities, nations, or the world, have not occurred without human instrumentality; and we should have a very imperfect view indeed of the changes themselves, if we knew nothing of the agents by whom they were accomplished.

In profane history, we have not only a record of events, but also of artists, sages, statesmen and warriors, who were prominently distinguished in them, and whose memories, on that account, have been embalmed by the world. In like manner, in the history of the Church, we have patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, reformers and pastors, who, by their writings, missionary labours, piety, eloquence and faithfulness, have eminently subserved the cause of Christ, and the best interests of their fellow men. With these stars, the whole firmament of the church is lighted up; or, to change the figure, we have an extended gallery of portraits, the likenesses of men who in their day were signally owned and blessed. On these the eye fastens with more than ordinary interest; and whilst we give glory to God for the splendid gifts with which they were invested, we are also powerfully excited to emulate their diligence, their faith, their zeal, and deeds of noble bearing.

There is, however, an order of men in the Christian Church, whose names have seldom been celebrated, either in historical records or the minstrel's song. I allude to that whole class of retiring but faithful servants of God, who, seeking honour of God rather than men, have produced much fruit of personal holiness, and have largely contributed to the glory of Christ and the extension of his kingdom. Many of these, from an humble opinion of themselves, and a naturally unobtrusive disposition, have shrunk from, rather than courted, popular applause; whilst others, from their local situation, like the sweet mountain flower, have imparted their beauty and their fragrance within a very limited field of observation. Men like these, more especially in the ministry, though undervalued by the world, and unknown to fame, are, nevertheless, our productive working men, and constitute, in fact, the bone and muscle of the Church. To form ministers of this description may be considered a very light matter; but is it so in reality? In sending out missionaries to the heathen, for example, it has been thought that inferior qualifica

tions would suffice. Experience, however, has long since demonstrated, that this work calls for literary and spiritual accomplishments of a very high order. The same observation will apply to many of our country parishes and churches. There are few such which have not their literary men. These, if Christians, have a right to expect, in their spiritual guides, a sound miud, connected with piety and learning. Even infidels, who are sometimes unhappily found in these associations, require consistency : a man, therefore, without learning and good common sense, will be pitied; and, without piety, will be despised. Of the unlearned, there are not only men of piety, who will expect to find a large share of it in their pastor, but also men of strong minds, who if they cannot learnedly criticise his productions, yet have an intuitive perception of their weakness or strength. This being the case, an acceptable pastor in town or village can be no ordinary man. If as a sacred orator-a counsellor of the Church-a man of God, and an ambassador of Christ, he must have weight; he must also have a corresponding weight of character. To say, then, of any man, that he has faithfully served, and for many years, that flock of Jesus Christ over which the Holy Ghost had made him overseer-that he has during all that time laboured among them both in and out of season-that he has not only done this without just reproach, but also with many seals to his ministry-and that he retained to the last the love and confidence of his people-is to speak volumes in his praise.

Such, from the description of him in the Memoir which follows, must have been the life of the Rev. RICHARD SLUYTER. He is described in the house of God, distributing the Bread of Life to his people; in the prayer meeting, that pulse which so truly indicates the weakness or strength, life or death spiritual of Christian associations; among the lambs of his flock, instructing them in their most holy faith; and in the chambers of the sick, the dying, or bereaved, directing, soothing, comforting. And who does not see, in all this, the importance of the servant, in the very nature, and manner, and glory of his work ?

Such indeed is the life and character of many a retiring servant of God, little known, and less regarded by the world, but who nevertheless stands high in the esteem of Him who searches the heart is the Fountain of honour and will