Preface: By the Editor and Compiler.

I soon began to feel that the calling of a Medical man, which most men will admit to be a glorious calling, could be made still more perfect. I asked myself why should I not minister to spiritual as well as to bodily disease? Why should I not improve the advantages of my position in the far-away hills of this, so to speak, still heathen land, to lead anxious souls to the great living fountain? Our Saviour, Himself, went about "preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people;" and should not I, poor worm of the earth that I am, try, however imperfectly, and though it be only at a humble distance, to follow the example of my gracious Lord and Master?

Such were the reasons which chiefly prevailed with me in coming to the determination to seek admission to Holy Orders.

I had, already, been serving for some time as a catechist and lay-reader (licensed by the Bishops), under the supervision of the Rector of the Parish in which I reside; after assisting him in the Services of the Church,-frequently acting for him during his absence, while visiting the different out-stations of this extensive district.

While acting in the above capacity for some time, I at length began to feel that I must be no longer faint-hearted. I felt that I must come forward openly and boldly before men, to confess the Saviour. I felt, in fact, that I must become a Clergyman, in order to obtain greater power to do good to the souls of men. I desired to possess that greater influence which could only be acquired through my formal and solemn recognition as a Minister of Christ, and through that special blessing which is conveyed, where ordination is rightly received, to God's ministers by the laying on of hands.

Here, I must express my very deep sense of the debt of

Preface: By the Editor and Compiler.

gratitude which I owe to the Bishop of Kingston, the good Prelate who admitted me, first to Deacon's, and then, after a reasonable interval, to Priest's Orders, for the ready acquiescence with which he met my views; and also for the extreme kindness and paternal regard which he has ever shewn towards me.

And now that I have been permitted thus to set an example, and to establish a precedent for similar ordinations in future, my earnest wish and prayer is that very many Medical men in active practice, all over the world, who love their Saviour, and who desire to point sick souls to Him who, alone, can save them, may seek admission to Holy Orders, as I have done.* Those only who feel themselves, from previous training and education, to be fully competent, should thus come forward; and none should think of taking upon themselves this holy office, who do not feel, in their hearts, that they have been inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, and truly called thereto.

There can be no doubt but that the arguments brought forward as a plea for the occasional union of these two kindred professions—twin sisters as they undoubtedly are, -shew also the great power for good which the Christian Medical man possesses, whether he be in Holy Orders or not. I do not wish to underrate the value of such a power. Nay, I would impress its value most urgently on my Medical brethren. They can exercise it without being obliged to

* Resolution agreed to by the Bishops of Guiana, Kingston, Antiqua, Nassau, Barbadoes (Bishop Parry also consenting), at a Conference of the West Indian Bishops assembled at Georgetown, Demerara, in 1873.

"It is the opinion of this Conference that the practice of the Medical Profession is peculiarly compatible with the ministration to sick souls, and with the discharge of the office of a Deacon or Priest."

Preface: By the Editor and Compiler.

become either Priests or Deacons. I must, therefore, not be understood to advocate the union of the two professions as a rule; but such a union is greatly to be desired where a man's lot is cast in the wilds of a distant land, where the harvest is plenty, and the labourers are few. In all such cases, however, I would ask my Medical brethren who may thus come forward as Ministers, with the avowed intention of combining Ministerial and Medical functions, in order to increase their opportunities of usefulness in Christ's Church, if they offer their services at all, to offer them voluntarily and gratuitously.

of the moment, and espethey desire to say,—all I know that this is the

It seemed to me to be necessary to make these preliminary observations before introducing my little Book. I wrote it, or rather I compiled it,-for my own use,.at the bedside of the sick and the dying. I felt the great want of such a Manual, for it is not always that a Bible or Prayerbook can be found, and even then few men, unless they have the gift of language and powerful memories to help them, can do or say, on the spur cially in the presence of grief, all they feel that they ought to say. case with myself, and I have no doubt but that others have felt this great want-the want of a complete VADE-MECUM—a useful and portable manual, such as I hope mine may prove to be, a book, in fact, which might be carried without inconvenience in the breast-pocket of one's coat, so as to be ready for use on any emergency. A brother Clergyman, who looked over the pages of the manuscript, told me that such a book, if printed, would greatly help him in his work; and I doubt not but that others-clergy, doctors, catechists, managers of hospitals, nurses, heads of families, nay, all who are earnest labourers in the Lord's vineyard,-will find it to be an invaluable aid.

Preface: By the Editor and Compiler.

"He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

I shall print my little Book, then, in the hope that it may be useful to very many, and I pray that God's blessing may be with it to the saving of the eternal souls of men.

Kingston, Jamaica

HUGH CROSKERY.