Fain, however, as I would have avoided the position I now occupy, I felt that it was impossible—I felt that I had a double duty to perform, from which it would have been unbecoming in me to shrink. The respect I owe, in common with you all, to our justly-esteemed Archdeacon, would alone have deterred me from declining his request to officiate at this Visitation; but beyond this—that paramount duty I owe to our blessed Lord and Master as His ordained Minister, now, and at all times, inspires me to attempt to discharge, to the utmost of my ability, the performance of any duty in His cause, which may lie within the humble sphere of my usefulness. Conscious however, as I am, how many of you, my Reverend Brethren, far more competent than myself to this task, might have been selected for addressing you to-day; yet strong in the conviction of integrity of purpose, and yielding to no one in zeal for the unity and prosperity of the Church of Christ, I rely _mainly_ on that Divine support which can supply strength to the weak, sanctifying them to be “meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work;” {9b}—and next, I look with confidence to the candid and generous indulgence of you, my Reverend Brethren, whom I am now addressing, whose holy Christian calling so pre-eminently qualifies you to carry out that divinely-taught precept of doing unto others as you yourselves would be done by,—to grant me the meed of lenient criticism, and believe me when I assert that, in any thing which I may this day address to you, I am earnestly desirous of avoiding all personality, or seeking to give offence to any—that in my humble endeavour to promote the good of the Church and the glory of God, I am solicitous of bearing in mind that I am addressing Ministers of Christ, acting, with myself, under the same Apostolical commission—pledged all to walk by the same rule, and to speak the same thing—bound all by the same vows, with interests, and pursuits, and duties identical; and that we should all be guided by those words of the great gentle Apostle, which I have selected for my text:—“With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, and endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” {10}