Student Life at Gosport
Dueing the last forty years the system of ministerial education among English CongregationaUsts has undergone a complete transformation; and Mr James’s account of his life at Gosport, under the care of Dr Bogue, has all the interest which belongs to a trustworthy narrative of customs now almost obsolete. Just here and there a few candidates for the ministry are.stiU gathered under the roof of a laborious man, who occupies at the same time the pulpit and the professor’s chair, and superintends the reading of his students in the most dissimilar and remote departments of learning; lectures to-day on Original Sin, and to-morrow on Jupiter’s Satellites; passes from Xenophon to Homiletics, and from Tacitus to the principles of Church Polity; and the earnestness and ability with which these numerous and conflicting duties are discharged, and the ministerial success of some of the students from these unambitious seminaries, awaken astonishment and admiration. But a new epoch, which Mr James himself helped to inaugurate, has now begun. Nonconformist colleges are attempting to secure for the ministry a more liberal and learned education than the private academies were able to impart.
It may, however, be necessary to remind some who read these pages, that the desire for a thoroughly accomplished as well as a devout ministry is not a passion which Dissenters have only recently acquired. The meagre professional education received by the subject of this memoir, and by very many of the Congregational ministers of his age, was the result of necessity, not of choice.
The illustrious confessors who were driven out on Bartholomew’s •Day, 1662, were the flower and glory of the Church from which they were expelled. They were the most learned as well as the most religious of the clergy. But their descendants were excluded from the national universities, and were forbidden to establish private academies for the education of their ministry. Nearly sixty years after the great secession of 1662, a prosecution was commenced in the ecclesiastical courts against Dr Doddridge, by some clergymen of the English Church, for setting up an academy in Northampton, and the prosecution was only terminated by the express order of the King, who declared that “during his reign there should be no persecution for conscience’ sake.” *
When the growing strength of the principles of religious freedom rendered hopeless the malignant attempts to ruin the cause of the Nonconformists, by making a learned ministry impossible, other difficulties arose which delayed among them the restoration of the scholarship, both general and professional, of earlier days. “It had been seen with bitter regret that the elegant classic, the profound metaphysician, often lost the spirit of the man of God in the taste of the man of letters, and studied to recommend himself to the great by his literature, rather than to the good by his usefulness; whUe not a few of those who had ascended the pulpit uneducated, had, by the purity of their aim, and the ardour of their zeal, won from the finished scholar the palm of wisdom which Heaven awards to him that ’ winneth souls.’ Many liberal friends of true religion were induced, therefore, to project the formation of seminaries, in which the time of education should be shorter, and the objects “of attention should be only those which were essential to the formation of the plain, useful pastor. As the modern efibrts for the propagation of the gospel increased the number of congregations in villages and smaller country towns, the slighter species of education given by Calvinistic
* Orton’s Life of Doddridge. Doddridge’s Works, vol. i., p. 148.
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
Methodists, and by some of the evangelical Dissenters, became absolutely necessary to supply the demands of the churches. It lowered, indeed, the standard of general knowledge among Dissenters, so that to the superior information of the old Dissenting congregations, which were often assemblies of divines, succeeded the comparative ignorance of the Methodistic societies. In too many instances the student never contracted enough of the habit to acquire the love of study, nor gained sufficient information to spend his future time to advantage. Where this was the case, the churches were injured, and they not only soon grew weary of the sameness of ignorance, but were sometimes wounded by the discovery that the natural effect of an incapacity for study was indolence, which exposed ministers to dangerous temptations.
“Serious as was this deduction from the benefit, the less finished species of education was productive of immense good. Many came out of the new academies with so much attachment to divine truth, and such solicitude for the salvation of men, that they proved far greater blessings to the Church than the arianised or latitudinarian divines who issued from some of the seats of learning. Though truth was worth the sacrifice, it was stUl an evU to be obliged to forego the advantages of learning. The first race of Dissenting ministers who, to the erudition of the universities, added the piety of minds purified from its dross in the fire of persecution, were as far beyond many of the preachers of modern days, as these are superior to the mere philosophic divines who had just learning enough ’ to corrupt them from the simplicity that is in Christ.’” *
Dr Bogue, from whose “History of Dissenters” this long extract is taken, was himself at the head of one of these private and unostentatious educational institutions. George Welch, a wealthy London banker, having determined to bear the expense of educating a considerable number of young men for the work of the ministry, three were sent by him to Dr Bogue towards the end of 1789, and the number gradually increased. Just before
* History of Dissenters. By David Bogue and James Bennett, (London 1812.) Vol. iv., pp. 299, sej.
Mr James’s student-life began, Mr Robert Haldane having met Mr (now Dr) Bennett, a pupil of Dr Bogue’s, expressed his regret that Dr Bogue’s time and talents were being spent for the benefit of such a small number of students. As the result of that conversation, writes Mr James —
Mr Haldane offered a hundred a-year, for three years, towards Autobiothe education of ten young men, if the friends of religion ysi-’piiicai, Hampshire and other places would raise two hundred a-year more, so as to allow each student thirty pounds a-year towards his maintenance. Upon this foundation I was placed. My tutor was a man of great public spirit in religious matters, and of great weight of character. He had originated the Missionary Society by a letter which appeared in the Evangelical Magazine, and he did much to rouse and direct the public feeling in this noble enterjjrise. Perhaps there were very few of the illustrious band of fathers and founders of that institution to whom so much is due as to Dr Bogue for its existence and success. Soon after the society was formed, he was appointed to be the tutor of such young men as were accepted as missionaries, and who needed the advantages of education. He had before this acted as tutor to young men for home service.
At the time of my entrance upon my studies there were six or eight missionaries going through their preparatory studies, so that I was led from the beginning, by my intercourse with them, to take a deep interest in missionary affairs. All of them, and others who came afterwards, have ceased from their labours and entered upon their eternal rest and reward. Among these was Dr Morrison, the distinguished missionary to China. He was a remarkable man while at college. Studious beyond most others; grave almost to gloom; abstracted; somewhat morose, but evidently absorbed in the contemplation of the great object which seemed to be ever swelling into more awful magnitude and grandeur the nearer he approached it. I remember his coming to me at one time when his mind seemed much depressed, and saying, “James, let us go and pray together we retired to his chamber, where he poured out his burdened spirit to the Lord, and, to use a scriptural expression, which was
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
Autobio- aptly illustrated in this case,” this poor man cried, and the Lord
graphical.
deUvered him out of all his troubles: he looked unto the Lord, and his face was lightened.” I cannot help thinking that there is too little of this occasional united prayer among Christians, and especially among ministers — this saying to each other, “Let us pray together.” How would it lighten our cares and troubles thus to commend each other to God, while it would give a strong and sacred cement to our friendship, and prove to us in the fullest sense of the expression, the blessedness of the communion of saints!
In looking back upon the time I spent at Gosport, I often feel much astonishment and deep regret. In whatever things the moderns are inferior to their progenitors, they certainly are beyond them in the management of coUegiate matters. When I went to Gosport, I passed through no examination either as to piety, talents, or acqukements from any one. Mr Bennett wrote to Dr Bogue to say I was coming; and when I arrived, I called upon my future tutor, who received me courteously, but said little to me, and what little he did say was of a vague charactei’, and ended with a request that I would attend at the vestry with the other students; leaving me, of course, to find out lodgings for myself. There were no college buUdings.
Editorial. Dr Bogue’s chapel and the adjoining vestry are still standing.
The chapel will hold a thousand people, and is a plain red brick building; a slight alteration, which was begun before Dr Bogue’s death, is the only change which it has undergone for sixty or seventy years. In front, on either side of the path to the centre door, used to stand several cottages, which were rented by members of the chm’ch, and in these most of the students used to lodge. But in Mr James’s time there were more than these cottages would accommodate; and he, with another, lodged in a house at the end of Roberts’s Lane. Dr Bogue’s vestry — the theological hall of the Gosport students — is a room of about thirty feet in length and eighteen in breadth. The table, the professor’s chair, the worm-eaten benches which the students occupied, are there stUl. A capital bust of Dr Bogue stands in a recess over the fireplace. A library, which was commenced in the Doctor’s time, but has since been much enlarged, occupies part of one side of the room; many of his books, volumes of old Puritan theology for the most part, are stUl on the shelves.
It was not to be expected that when Mv James went to Gosport, his friends at Poole would forget him, and accordingly he had not been there long before he received a letter, an extract from which will indicate the simple earnestness of his humble friends. It is written in an odd fashion, every line commencing with a capital letter as if it were blank verse.
“The length of time has been so great since your letter was received, that we suppose you are almost ready to conclude that your Poole friends have forgotten both you and their engagements. This, in fact, has not been the case, as you are often the subject-matter of our conversations. At the present time we with pleasure behold you engaged in a work which we hope in time will be for the glory of Christ and the consolation of deathless souls. The promises of God are full of encouragement to the faithfid servants of Jesus Chiist who have embarked m His cause vdth prayer and jiraise. How strong that language we have in the prophet Daniel, ‘They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever! ‘Yes, brother, the ministers of Christ will shine; and what -nlU cause them to sparkle will be the precious souls that will flock aroimd them to whom they have been made instrumental of good.
“How will the faithful minister of his dear spiritual children rejoice before Jesus the glorious Saviour! In this the Redeemer will see the travail of His soul But, dear brother, we must remember, that while we are inhabitants below, we are exposed to many snares and temptations; therefore our Lord’s exhortations should be alwaj’s our practice, ‘Watch and pray.’ Prayer tends to support the weak soul, strengthen the tempted soul, comfort the comfortless soul.
“We hope you will excuse a little plain, honest advice; for it is probable you may be called soon to go out into some of the villages round you, to speak to poor dark souls that are sitting in the region of the shadow of death. To such, be very faithfid, tender, and compassionate; be sure you don’t shoot over their heads, but be concerned that the pkun word of truth shoidd get into the hearts of the people.
“Tell them of the glories, the beauty, the excellencies of the love of Christ — the freeness, the completeness of His salvation, that it is a salvation for all that believe, without exceptioiL 0 brother, the love of Christ is a subject that tends in its very natiure to warm cold D
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
hearts, soften hard hearts; the love of Chi’ist is of a dramng nature, it draws from misery, and leads to happiness.
“There is a happiness in the enjoyment of the presence of Christ below; but how much greater will it be above, where our enjoyment will be all eternal! That we may meet there together, and while below may we enjoy every divine blessing, is the prayer of your real friends,
“L. Phippaed.
“John Poole.
“Thos. Tillet.
“Thos. Silby.”
But to return to the autobiography.
Axitobio- At this time, I had never entered into the fellowship of a church;
^’^^ ’ and, indeed, bad never been baptized, as nay mother was a general Baptist, and my father, like too many others, yielded to her wishes in not having the children baptized. This ceremony was performed before a large company in the vestry, after which I was admitted a full member of the church under Dr Bogue. I have no particular recollection of the state of my mind during this service, except that the publicity of it rather diverted my thoughts from that solemn sense of self-surrender which ought to accompany such an observance. * During the early part of my studies, I often had much spiritual enjoyment and many seasons of solemn communion with God. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that a college life is eminently favourable to godliness. It requires a degree of watchfulness and determination such as few possess, to keep up the life and power of religion amidst studies which, from their very nature, have such a tendency to depress the spiritual state of the soul.* Lessons must be prepared, lectures attended, and all
* “So again, all excitements, not only of a worldly and corrupting sort, — as pleasure, gaming, ambition, and the like, — but even the purer kinds, are adverse to devotion. A higjly intellectual habit of thought, such as students or professional men usually live in, has a very subtle eifeet on the mind; it makes it over-active, so that the stillness and fixedness of prayer are irksome and peculiarly difficult. Also, it tends to dry up and deaden the affections, in which devotion is chiefly engrafted. This is true even of pastors, in the study of divine truth, and in the exercise of their spiritual ministry.” — Archdeacon Blanning’s Sei-mons, vol. ii., p. 349. — Edit.
STUDENT LIFE AT GOSPOllT. the demands of the tutor met; and too often this is done at the Autohiosacrifice of time required by the closet. Subjects hitherto treated ^’“^^^”^’’^ only as the elements of devotion, are now made matters of criticism and discussion. Besides this, any assemblage of young men will usually contain some of more than usual vivacity, not to say levity, the buoyancy of whose spirits will be perpetually rising into boisterous, and not unfrequently unseemly mirth. It is difficult to repress this, and almost as difficult to resist its ensnaring influence. Many are carried away, and not a few are injured by it. Spirituality is damped, the tone of devotion is lowered, and the fine edge of conscience somewhat blunted. I never saw or heard anything approaching to immorality of any kind, and I believe such things are extremely rare in any of our colleges. Still, I am quite sure personal piety, without great care, is flattened, and learning is sometimes gained at the expense of godliness. I do not think I suffered materially in this way, though I am not quite sure that my religion was not below its former level when I left college.
My literary advantages at Gosport were of a most slender kind. The fact is, Dr Bogue, though possessing a great mind and noble heart, was not a great scholar. His forte was theology, — that is, the systematic theology of the Puritan school — the theology of Owen, Bates, Charnock, Howe, and Baxter, together with the foreign divines, Turretin, Witsiiis, Pictet, and Jonathan Edwards.
Here he was at home. His library was extensive; he had read much and was well acquainted with books. But his theology was almost exclusively dogmatic. Of Hermeneutics we heard little, of Exegesis, nothing. His lectures were drawn up in the form of a syllabus, somewhat resembling Doddridge’s, but far less systematic and philosophical. They resembled the skeletons of sermons, with heads and particulars, divisions and subdivisions, with references to books, which we were required to read; and when the lecture was “given in,” as we called it, we read in turn the particulars as they occurred, and the Doctor would ask us as he thought proper what we had to say on each. By this method we certainly acquired a great deal of acquaintance with old divinity, and a relish for the writers and their works of bygone times. We
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
Autobio- were also obliged to work hard. The labour of copvins; out the
graphical ° LJ o
lectures was a drudgery, which we were compelled to do before we could read upon them.
I remember that when I entered the college the class were in the middle of the system of divinity, and the first lectures I had to copy, to read upon, and to study, were on “The Freedom of the Will;” and one of the first books I had to read was Jonathan Edwards’ celebrated treatise on this profound question. To those who are acquainted with that extraordinary piece of theological logic, it will be no surprise that to a youth just leaving the counter, with no previous habits of study, who had gone through no process of mental training, such a volume should prove a most vexatious and discouraging commencement: it was indeed a pons asinorum to my nntutored brain, which, to tell the truth, I did not, and could not pass over, so I tumbled over the side of the bridge into the water, and, narrowly escaping drowning, scrambled up the bank and got into the road again, with the rest of the train, a little further on.
With such a course, which lasted with me only two years and a half, it will be matter of little surprise that I never became a classic, mathematician, or metaphysician.
Editorial. This estimate of the inefficiency of the course of education at Gosport was not the judgment of the moment, but a deliberate conviction to which he gave frequent expression. In a letter, dated September 6, 1811, to his brother James, who at that time was intending to become a minister, he says, —
“I must enter my protest at once against Gosport. I have various objections to your goiqg there. The plan of education is, and must be, from the shortness of the time and the important engagements of the tutors, exceedingly defective — this, therefore, I set entirely out of tha question.”
He goes on to say, —
“The choice must lie between Hoxton and Homerton; on most accounts I prefer the latter. It forms no objection to it in my opinion, at least not a sufficient one to deter a pious young man from going there,
STUDENT LIFE AT GOSrOKT. that there have been several of the students who have proved Socinians. From what I know of some of them, and from what I hear of others, they would have become Socinians anywhere. When yovmg men enter an academy without the grace of God in their hearts, it is not a matter of wonder if they come out without the truth of God in their judgments. There is one objection to Homerton, which is, that the period of study is rather too long for you. Less than five years, with your ignorance of classical literature, you cannot be admitted for; this at your age is rather too long. Everything else meets with my approbation. The qualifications of the tutors I believe are undoubted; Dr Smith is a man of great literature and biblical knowledge, and Mr Hill, I am informed, is quite equal to his department. I should prefer Homerton on every account but the time, which, as I said before, for your age and circumstances is rather too long.
“The system at Hoxton is far more superficial in every point of view, though perhaps more popular. Most of the young men that I have known from there are exceedingly scanty in their ministerial qualifications. In many cases their [ * ], and in some their emptiness, has been their recommendation to the injudicious, who, I am sorry to say, form nine-tenths of the religious public of the present day. I know there are exceptions to this general character, and I know also that very much depends on the vigorous application of the young man himself. Since I began this letter, I have recollected that Hoxton has the pri-ilege of sending four young men to the Glasgow University, after they have studied there; and if you could by diligence procure one of these scholarships, you would, by going to Hoxton, imite the advantages of both the seminaries in question. Of this I will make further inquiries by writing to Mr WUson of London.”
Thus early had he formed his opinions on the importance of a thorough education for the work of the ministry. And these are corroborated by what follows in the autobiography.
When I think of the advantages enjoyed by the students of our Autoi-ioown times, in the present improved system of education in our“^^”^’’^ colleges, and recollect that they have in some cases six years to pursue their studies, I could almost weep to think of my own disadvantages. When I see what men are now presiding over the studies of our colleges, it seems to me as if now I could gladly go and sit down at theii* feet, to repair, at the approaching end of * Unintelligible.
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
Autobio- my course, the disadvantages I suflered at its commencement. 0
graphical.,,,
favoured students, know, value, improve your privileges! No man has ever been more conscious of his defects than I am of mine. No man ought to have more excuse made for him than myself. It is not surprising that I cannot write in such a pure classic style of elegance as they can who have had a more perfect education. How should I? Yet, through God’s most abounding goodness, I have not been idle, or useless, or unknown. I have become an author of works, neither few, nor neglected, nor unblessed, written in good plain idiomatic Saxon language: and most of them written but once. To me my career is more wonderful than anything I have ever known; I mean, that one so partially educated, so limited in his attainments, so confined in his knowledge, should have acquired a standing such as has been assigned me in this extraordinary age. Instead of lifting me up with pride, it humbles me in the dust — for in addition to my original defective education, I have had the disadvantage, as in one respect I may call it, of having been placed in a situation so public, and requiring such constant demands upon me, that I have had little time for reading and study, and for thus making up my original defects.
Editorial. A few years ago, the Rev. Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey, one of Mr James’s fellow-students, published Dr Bogue’s Lectures, in two octavo volumes.* Whether the fault lies with the editor or the printer, cannot be determined, but the book is full of blunders; some of the names of the authors cited are perseveringly and consistently misspelt throughout, others are spelt in a new fashion almost every time they occur. There are eight distinct courses of Lectures. The first, which is on Dogmatic Theology, is not very logically arranged; the Divine Decrees are the subject of Lecture XXVIII, and seventy Lectures on the Creation, Angels, Original Sin, the Person of Christ, the Covenant of Grace, the Freedom of the Will, Regeneration, Justification, the General Judgment, Hell, Heaven, and many other subjects, intervene before the Professor
* The Theological Lectures of the late Rev. David Bogue, D.l>. Edited by the Rev. Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey. New York, published by Lewis Colley, 1849.
discusses the doctrine of Election. The form and character of the Lectures are sufficiently described in the autobiography.
The lectures on what may be called “Introduction,” or as it is here denominated “Divine Revelation,” have the merit, and this is no small one, of not plunging into difficulties and controversies for which the student is wholly unprepared, and from the discussion of which he could derive no profit. The other courses are on Divine Dispensations, Church History from the Creation to the Eighteenth Century, Jewish Antiquities, Sacred Geography, the Composition of Sermons, or rather Rhetoric, and the Pastoral Office, including eighteen lectures on HomUetics.
Of these the best are the lectures on Rhetoric; the most curious and interesting, those on the Pastoral Office.
In the latter course, the Professor entered very minutely into questions of ministerial ethics; inquired, “What proportion as to expense ought a minister’s library to bear to his furniture?” — described what the minister’s domestic economy ought to be, — “1. Plain; 2. Frugal; 3. Decent; 4. Hospitable;” — what amusements he may indulge in, and what amusements he should shun; — gave very sensible advice, very racily expressed, on what kind of a wife to choose, and when to marry; suggesting, for instance, tjiat in addition to piety there should be good temper, for “God can dwell in the heart, when men cannot dwell in the same house. See, therefore,” adds the sagacious old Scotchman, “how she behaves herself in the famUy, to parents, connexions, servants;” — he recommends his students “not to seek for great riches,” not to “marry for money’s sake, but if possible not without money;” and finally, “as to the time of thinking on the subject, — first be married to a church, then to a wife.”
The authors most frequently referred to are Owen, Baxter, Howe, Charnock, Bates, Barrow, Ridgley, and GUI; Edwards, Limborch, Witsius, Carpzovius, and Michaelis.
Singularly enough, neither Calvin nor Turretin is, so far as I have noticed, once referred to, and their names do not appear in the index of authors cited. Mr James thus continues his account of his life at Gosport: —
LIFE OF JOHN AKGELL JAMES.
Aiitfiijio-^ My early efforts at preaching were of a very humble character.
‘The first pulpit I entered was at Ryde, then an inconsiderable village compared with its present extent, beauty, and populousuess. A small chapel had been erected, which was supplied by the students from Gosj)ort. I went over with one of them who was to preach, and he requested me to take the devotional services. Soon after this, I delivered an address in the vestry at a Sunday morning prayer-meeting, and was taken to task by the students for having delivered some unsound theology. The unsoundness was, however, more in the confusion of my thoughts than in any false views entertained by me. Near the chapel was a bed-ridden old Christian, called Rachel Butcher, for whose comfort a weekly service was held in her chamber. My next effort was to conduct a religious service in this abode of piety and poverty. Dr Bogue used to say her room was a cradle which had rocked many an infant minister, and some who became great men. Not long after, I was walking to Stobbington, a village whei’e Mr Hunt, late of Brixton, who was a student of Dr Bogue’ s, resided. He was going to preach in a house that was licensed for worship. He said to me, “I wish you would preach this morning.” Nothing loath or backward, I consented, and as far as I can recollect, got pretty well through.
Within two months after I went to Gosport, — that is, when I was little more than seventeen years and a half old, — I was placed upon the preaching list, and was sent out to preach — it is true, in country places and to village congregations. This was injudicious in my good tutor. There are two extremes to be avoided, — too early and too much preaching by the students of our colleges, on the one hand; and too little, on the other. To set a young man upon preparing sermons before he has entered the theological class, and to have that time thus engaged which is demanded for his classical, logical, and mathematical studies — all a necessary part of his college curriculum — is certainly wrong; and yet, to take him from scenes of usefulness of an humble character, in which he has been engaged, and to put an entire arrest upon his efforts to do good, and thus allow all the fervoxir of his first love to cool down amidst the dry subjects of secular learning, cannot be right, on the other Autobiohand. Surely a medium might be found. To keep up his reli- ^^p*^ gious zeal to a due pitch, let a student, from the time of his entering college, be stimulated to become a Sunday-school teacher, a tract distributor, or a Bible reader. Let him be sent out into poor-houses, hospitals, and any other places where human beings congregate, to read the Scriptures and address the people. Let him deliver cottage lectures, which require no such previous thought and preparation as would interfere with his studies. And before he is allowed to go to town congregations, let him be sent to address village audiences. All this would keep up the divine life, and increase his fervour for saving souls, whUe it would give a habit and facility for free speech, and render him, when he becomes a preacher, independent of his notes. It will also beget a habit of right preaching, both as to matter and manner, and produce that kind of direct address, instead of essay-like stiffness and formality, which is desirable for popular and useful preaching. At the same time, great care should be taken in college that this do not degenerate into a loose way of speaking and a bad style of composition. I have ever felt this to have been, in some measure, my own case. The weakness of the logical faculty in my mind required another kind of intellectual training than it was ever my privilege to enjoy. In public, I always spoke rather interestingly and impressively, but not very accurately. Still, as God has blessed my ministry, and given me great acceptance, both in the pulpit and on the platform, I have cause to be thankful, and perhaps if I had been trained to logic and metaphysics, I should have been spoiled as an effective speaker.
To return to the narrative of my early efforts. When I had been at Gos2:)ort a year, I was sent out to preach in some of the principal places in the county, such as Southampton, Lymington, Komsey. In the latter place I was guilty of an indiscretion, which excited some prejudice against me among the serious people. One of the deacons or principal people gave an entertainment on the majority of his only son and child. A dance was got up, in which I joined and manifested a degree of levity in other ways. Some of the con-LIFE OF JOHN AXGELL JAMES.
Autobio- gregation would not come again to hear me preach. I did v»’rong, clearly wrong; that is to say, the act was a thoughtless folly, and shews upon what slender threads hang our reputation and usefulness. Yet some excuse might have been made for a youth only between eighteen and nineteen years of age. Students for the ministry should be careful when they go out to preach, how they act in the families which receive them. They are watched, and not always with friendly or candid eyes.