INTRODUCTION.

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND

REGINALD COURTENAY, D.D.;

LORD BISHOP OF KINGSTON, JAMAICA.

A

N Introduction by the Bishop to whom it is dedicated is hardly needed for a work like this. Anyone may gather from the title-page alone that the Clergyman by whom it has been compiled possesses the confidence and esteem of the Bishop under whom he serves; and may ascertain from it the most salient and remarkable fact in his history, and in that of his book, -that it was compiled, originally, for his own use, by one who combined the duties of a Medical man and of a Minister of religion. How all this occurred is more fully explained in the Preface, in which are related the circumstances in which the writer was placed, and the motives which led him to desire to possess full power and authority to minister to the soul as well as the body.

The Manual must speak for itself. It is only by close examination, or rather by actual use, that its real value can be ascertained: The passages of Scripture, of which the first part chiefly consists, seem to me to have been judiciously selected and grouped together;

Introduction:

and the short devotional pieces of sacred poetry, which are interspersed between them, to be appropriate and beautiful. As regards the second part, it is scarcely possible to compose prayers which shall perfectly harmonize with the habitual tone of devotional thought in the minds of all religious persons who may use them. But I may at least say that, in my judgment, these prayers manifest true love of God, and love of souls; and are so suitable, under a great variety of circumstances, that anyone who will peruse them carefully beforehand, and indeed it would be an act of sinful presumption to use them otherwise, will be enabled to select from them, in almost every case, fitting words in which to clothe his petitions.

Here I might close this brief introduction.

That union of the Clerical and Medical offices, however, of which the case of the Author of this Manual affords an example, though not wholly without precedent in the Colonial Church, is still so infrequent,--so much less frequent than in my judgment it deserves to be,— that I gladly avail myself of the present occasion to point out, though very briefly, the great blessings to the members of our Church which will follow whenever one who is engaged in the professional practice of medicine is found willing to devote himself, in the spirit of selfsacrificing love for souls, to the work of the Ministry also, and can obtain Episcopal ordination.

Few, indeed, are the parishes, even in England, in which the personal influence of the Clergy is so great with men of all classes and conditions, and of all religious views, that they can secure a welcome in every sick room. But the Physician is gladly received everywhere.

By the Lord Bishop of Kingston.

If he be a truly Christian man, he can, and he will, seize the most favorable moments, in the intervals of comparative freedom from bodily pain, or of worldly anxieties, to turn the thoughts of his patient to the state and prospects of the soul. He can, and he will, give spiritual counsels; and, sometimes, offer a prayer by the bedside; will, of his own accord, make the case known to some Minister of religion, or advise that such should be besought to attend. But, alas! in how many of our populous towns and cities are the Clergy willing in spirit, but in the flesh half-worn-out; and, overwhelmed by numbers, utterly unable to exercise that close spiritual supervision, that sedulous attention to the care of each sick soul which it urgently needs,without which it will wander on in darkness, unable to find the Saviour. How great their need of help,—of all the help that Christian piety can give them!

WHY NOT, then, enable the Physician, when duly qualified by piety and learning, and by his readiness to engage in this holy work, to perform the priestly office? Why not empower him, to whom, perhaps, the soul owes its first conscious movements heavenward, and who is fully competent to conduct its further progress, by the ministry of God's holy word to convey the benefit of absolution; and, in the last dread hour, when the flesh and the heart are failing, to administer the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, who shall be its portion for ever?

If help be required in England, surely still more in the Colonial branches of the Anglican Church! The need of more labourers is universal. On our great day of intercession,- on the 20th of December 1872,-our

Introduction.

Church confessed before God and man her deep sense of its urgency.

The district of Chapelton,* in Jamaica, lies amid the interior mountains of a tropical Island, over which the residences of the peasantry are scattered far and wide. "The Rector is no longer young. His most remote station is at a distance of more than twenty miles from his residence, to be traversed, for the most part, by bridle path, narrow, steep, and rugged. He has an Assistant, qualified and empowered as I have above described, who, with the following Manual in his breast-pocket, its texts and its prayers in his heart, aids him in the priestly duties of this overwhelming curse,―receiving an income from his public and private Medical duties, but for spiritual ministrations accepting no recompense, and desiring none, until the resurrection of the just.

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In Jamaica alone, there are many places like Chapelton; in India, in our vast Colonial Empire, hundreds, if not thousands such and there must be many Medical men, of earnest piety, and with a sufficiency of sacred learning, and with a true love for Christ and for the souls which He came to save, who would, with due encouragement, offer their aid.

Would to God that my Episcopal brethren, laying aside their too exclusive rules, would recognize the work which such men are doing already; would give them the right-hand of fellowship; would receive them into the Ministry as Deacons; and bestow on those that were most worthy the honour even of the Priesthood.

R. K.

* NOTE. This introduction was written during the Author's residence at Chapelton, when the publication of the Manual was first contemplated.

PREFACE:

BY THE EDITOR AND COMPILER.

I'

T may be unnecessary for me to say that I am a Medical Practitioner; but it is quite necessary to add that I am also,—and I feel every day more and more thankful to be able to say so,-a Minister of Religion.

My professional work, for the past twenty years, has been, as-D.V.—it will continue to be, to administer such earthly means as God's good providence has supplied for the relief of sickness and disease amid the mountains of Jamaica.

Some seven years ago, I began to feel my position to be one of the gravest responsibility. I felt, in my intercourse with the sick and the dying, that I was not "ready, always, to give an answer to every man that asked me a reason of the hope that was in me, with meekness and fears." I felt, sometimes, a feeling of extreme weakness and helplessness when dealing with patients to whose sickness I felt unable to minister, because it was often a sickness of body and soul combined. The two seemed to be so bound together, so intimately connected,-as only to be considered one living thing! Cases occurred in which I was appealed to for spiritual aid. A sick and heavy-laden soul has cried out to me in piteous accents,-" "Pray for me, doctor!" And many there are who will be willing to bear me out in saying, that, in medical practices, such is not an unusual occurrence.