a great work remains to be done for them-"their eyes are to be opened;" they are to be turned "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Je

sus."

3. Its difficulties. Disgraceful as it is to human nature, that any, who enjoy the blessings of revelation, so lightly esteem them as to pronounce them unnecessary to the Hindoo, the African or the Indian; unhappy as the reflection is, that there are thousands in christendom whose hearts have never been touched by the love of Jesus, and whose minds are no more enlightened to any valuable purpose, than the minds of the New Zealander and the Caffrarian, yet the fact must be known, and confessed, and published, till pious tears flow freely enough to wash out the foul stain from the page of Christian history. Before the age of missions commenced, infidelity busied itself with vain attempts to tear down and destroy established institutions to bring the church, with her ministers and ordinances into discredit-to snatch the Scriptures from the hands of the young, and degrade them in the eyes of the old. But since that period, it has studied the concealment of its most odious features, and contented itself with directing its energies, in one shape or other, against that whole system of measures concerted for evangelizing the world. Hence, the encomiums now so freely lavished on the morality of nations, whose most sacred rites are marked with obscenity and murder; -on the purity and magnanimity of nations, whose very courts of justice are scenes of

continual perjury-and on the innocence, the harmlessness of nations, whose proudest virtues are displayed in the wanton effusion of human blood.

Although representations so foreign from truth are daily losing their influence in proportion to the diffusion of light, yet there are not wanting those, that bear the Christian name, and partake perhaps in some measure of the Christian spirit, on whose feelings and conduct toward the heathen, such representations have produced the most unhappy effect. The correct impression, in regard to the moral state of the world, is by no means so deep, so general, nor so operative, as it would have been but for these efforts of infidelity. And while every Christian acknowledges, in general terms, his obligation to do what in him lies, that the Gospel may be preached to every creature, he is apt to realize but very faintly his individual responsibility; and so long as many around him do nothing--and even deny the obligation to do any thing; and so long as he has not been an eye witness of the wretchedness that he hears of, he easily soothes his conscience, and generously applies all his resources to that more certain species of charity, which begins and ends at home! Now, must not all missionary operations be retarded by such a state of feeling among Christians? Even the most devoted missionary cannot escape moments of enervating despondency, when his supplications for more help are disregarded; and when that voice of the Christian public, in obedience to which he entered the vineyard, now says to him, "You must labor alone" -"save such as you can, and leave others to go down to everlasting burnings." Well may his heart sink

within him; the unbroken sceptre of the prince of darkness extends over millions around him; multitudes are yearly hurried to the tomb, on which not one ray of hope falls from Him, who is the light of the world; his own arm is too weak to stay for a moment the tide of desolation rolling at his feet-and they, who have pledged their bodies, their spirits, their substance, their all to aid him in the mighty labor, turn a deaf ear to his entreaties! Say you, that the missionary ought not to be so sensibly alive to the deficiency of Christian liberality at home? and that he has nothing to do but to prosecute his labors to the best of his ability and wait for his reward from heaven? Strip him then of the finest sensibilities of nature-give him a heart of stone-put scales on his eyes-and bind around him a triple coat of steel. What! may he not feel! May he not weep over miseries that he cannot relieve! Shall he harden himself into marble, rather than give way to the sorrows that rush into his soul, and extort from him the Macedonian cry! O no! A missionary that could do this, we would never send to publish a Gospel that breathes tenderness and love. But if you employ missionaries, who have the feelings of men mingling with the softest Christian sympathies, and who are best qualified for usefulness, they are men who must be hindered in their work by a parsimony that ill becomes the followers of Jesus,

And who can describe the difficulties existing on the very fields of missions! What eye that has not seen them, what hand that has not held over them the light of revelation, can portray the vices, the corruptions the superstitions that flourish in dreadful luxu

up

riance over the whole extent of the region and shadow of death! Ignorance, gloomy as the shades of fabled Erebus-depravity, bold and daring as that which once opened the windows of heaven and broke the fountains of the great deep, are to be encountered by every missionary that attempts to plant the cross at the door of the mosque, or of the temples of Brama. Had I time to remind you of the sufferings of Egede from the Angekoks, on the frozen shores of Greenland;-or of that devoted band, that have at length secured the conquest of Otaheite;-or of Henry Martyn, pouring forth the sweetest strains that ever angels sung, on ears as deaf as the rocky mountains of Himmaleh-and dying unheeded by the cruel Hassan in the wilds of Turkey;--nay, could I enter into the details of those labors and sufferings, in which our own missionaries have abounded, both in the east and the west-lead you into their closets and show you their tears over the hard-heartedness of men, who more eagerly listen to the winds that whistle through their forests than to Christian instruction-and open your ears to their lamentations over some that began to run well, but were afterwards hindered-I am sure you would be convinced that the life of a missionary is chequered with seasons of painful suffering, that demands your deepest sympathy.

Can it be a light thing to overturn a mass of superstition and idolatry, consolidated by the lapse of thirty or forty centuries? The very attempt awakens a thou sand fears--and calls into action a thousand jealousies in those, who have been taught from infancy to venerate a long established system of polytheism. And

the Gospel admits of no compromise with the Vedam of the Hindoos, the Zendavista of the Persians, or the Koran of the Turks and Arabs. It promises none of its rewards to the devotees of a false religion; and condemns no system of faith more unequivocally, than it condemns the policy of Loyola's disciples in blend. ing the religion of Christ with the religion of Confucius;—or in submitting to the austerities and assuming the habits of a brahmin in order to persuade the brahmins and their followers, that Christianity is merely an adjunct to their old religion;—an improved edition of it! The Gospel system, in its essential character, is exclusive. It cannot betray itself and yet admit the truth of other religious systems; "for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?" "What concord hath Christ with Belial?" "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"

It is a well known fact, that the Romans granted complete toleration to every shade and shape of polytheism, prevailing in their territories. But when Christianity found its way into the empire it became at once the object of unrelenting persecution. Wild beasts were fed with the flesh of Christians till glutted-the fiercest executioners became wearied with shedding such quantities of human blood; and why this fury? because the Christians prayed together, and sung their hymns in praise of Jesus? No; but because the toleration of Christianity must involve the destruction of polytheism. If the same species of persecution is not adopted at this day in all pagan countries, look for the reason in the extended arm of Christian power-in commercial policy-not in the annihi