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 Isacke Bucke set about his difficult and delicate commission, and how did the contentious pair relish his officiousness? The Puritans were tolerably accustomed to proffering advice. It was part of their social code, as well as a civil and religious duty. They had a happy belief in the efficacy of expostulation. In 1635 it was proposed that the magistrates of Boston should "in tenderness and love admonish one another." And many lively words must have come of it.

Roman Catholics, who studied their catechism when they were children, will always remember that the first of the "Spiritual Works of Mercy" is "To counsel the doubtful." Taken in conjunction with the thirteen other works, it presents a compendium of holiness. Taken by itself, apart from less popular rulings, such as "To forgive offences," and "To bear wrongs patiently," it is apt to be a trifle over-